Rick Green [00:00:07] Welcome to the intersection of faith and culture. Thanks for joining us today on the WallBuilders Show. You can listen to more of our programing on our website, WallBuilders.Show WallBuilders.Show. For all the recent programing last few weeks and months. Check it out there and share it with your friends and family there. Wallbuilders.com is our main website. That's where you can make that one time or monthly contribution. Invest in liberty, invest in rebuilding the walls literally lay in the right bricks, put the right mortar in place, rebuilding the culture so that it's strong for future generations, not just one presidential term. Folks, we've got a lot of work to do and you can be a part of it right there at wallbuilders.com wallbuilders.com. I'm Rick Green here with David Barton and Tim Barton. Guys later in the program, Jonathan Feldstein will be with us. We'll be talking about Israel. And of course, when we had him on Genesis 123.CO is his website. When he had it, we had him on a few months ago. We were talking about more Americans getting involved in businesses, getting involved in the Middle East, investing there, helping to rebuild all of those things. And then we scheduled the interview to have him on. And before we even knew Donald Trump was going to say something about America, you know, going in and rebuilding Gaza. So the timing is perfect. Looking forward to having him on later today. 

David Barton [00:01:11] You know, there's some really interesting things happening with Gaza as Trump has started escalating his rhetoric about Gaza, talking about it more, talking about America's going to take it and fix the problems and solve it. And this American intervention stuff, it has really raised the focus and I think put pressure on Hamas, Palestinians and others to have to do something, because I know the Trump can and will weigh in. We don't know how it's going to look like if he does or what it's going to look like. But that's putting pressure on them. And so with that pressure, we've started seeing more releases of hostages. But it's been interesting to me watching the condition of the hostages as they're coming out. The early ones were in a lot better shape than these most recent ones were. And these most recent hostages that that have come out in much more poor physical shape, which makes me wonder, are there going to be many more hostages after this? Are we going to get the 100 and something that were promised? And I'm not sure that they're even going to be there when that time comes. We'll see. 

Tim Barton [00:02:08] Well, and to add to that point, it's interesting that, you know, President Trump was so adamant that they reach a peace deal that this needs to be done and over with. But. Because of the Biden administration, because of the pressure from the UN and etc., etc., etc.. You know, Israel had their hands tied a couple of times. Maybe even not having the ability to access certain missiles and replenishments and things they needed to deal with Hamas. And then as you mentioned, you know, we're getting more and more hostage release. It released, well, it's, what, three at a time and is a very small number at a time. It's being released. Israel's having to give up far more of these Hamas like individuals. 

David Barton [00:02:54] It's like 100. It's like 100 to 1 or 50 to 1 or something. I mean, for every Israeli that they release, you're having to give up 50 or 100 terrorists. It's a big number, isn't it? 

Tim Barton [00:03:04] Yeah, I don't I don't know that it's that large, although it could be, you know, it could be a different number released each time. It could be like for these three, we want, you know, these 35 individuals. We want those 47 individuals. I don't know how that's exactly going. We certainly could look up and try to research and find out more about that. But all this to say, I mean, you are correct that had President Trump been the president, this would have gone very differently for the beginning for lots of reasons. But where it is now, it certainly is is good that they have a peace agreement, but there's a lot yet to be determined. And that's your point. I'm not sure that all of these hostages are going to be released. And the negotiation wasn't even for all of the hostages to be released. It was for 100. Whatever the number was, it wasn't it wasn't the full number of hostages, which is just kind of mind boggling on some level. Nonetheless, it is really great news that that President Trump is there. He's taking a very strong position, even with his statement about Gaza. I mean, nobody wants to deal with Gaza as though President Trump all these like, all right, we'll take care of it. Right. Well, we're going to make this the best thing ever. President Trump is just being a leader where there's been such a lack of leadership for so long. And of course, we've discussed is ready to. Do you really want this? No. And because of his bow, the leadership, now you have places like Egypt and other Jordan, other nations saying, hey, you know, we'll come in, we'll help do this. He he is very prone as a negotiator to take a very strong position and then be willing to work with in that position. But but having a strong leader makes such a difference, which is also why when they reached their peace agreement, negotiation, they thank President Trump. Not not Joe Biden, his administration. They think President Trump, who wasn't even inaugurated, wasn't sworn in yet, and they gave him credit for reaching that peace deal. But certainly there's still a lot to be navigated in the midst of this. 

David Barton [00:05:00] Yeah, there is. And again, I'm not sure how many hostages are actually going to come out on the Israeli side. I'm not sure they've got many left. I just think they're running out and that's why there's so few coming out. But for you guys, it won't be deja vu. For me, it was some déja vu, This most recent group, I think, of four hostages that came out the way they had them stop and read pro-Hamas messages to the media and filmed those Israeli hostages talking about all the PR doing PR for for Hamas and, you know, great group. That's exactly what happened as they started releasing people in Vietnam back in Vietnam War, they would take the American soldiers, they would put them in front of communist cameras. And the Americans talk about how great the communists were. And, you know, they treated us really well while we were here. And it was just a deja vu kind of thing. And for, you know, there's a ton of people who listen who never saw anything about the Vietnam War part of it. But it had that same feel for Israel that we had as Americans back in the 60s and 70s when that war was going on. So, again, I think Trump is going to be a good part of the solution on this. But having Jonathan Palestine, I mean, Jonathan, such a good friend, we have him several times, is a good friend personally. And just getting an update on what it looks like in Israel from their side, folks who live there, it's going to be good. 

Rick Green [00:06:17] Jonathan Feldstien, our guest. Stay with us. Folks will be right back on The WallBuilders Show. 

Rick Green [00:07:26] Welcome back to the WallBuilders Show Thanks so much for staying with us. Always good to have Jonathan Feldstein with us. What timing? We had set this interview up a week or so ago just to get caught up on what's going on in Israel. And then, of course, President Trump's announcement about Gaza. And there's just so much going on. But great to have you back, sir. Thanks for some time today. 

Jonathan Feldstein [00:07:41] My goodness. It's always a delight. I'm glad when you reach out for me for a regular catch up and then I'm able to orchestrate the news. So it's really substantial. 

Rick Green [00:07:51] You've got a magic wand somewhere. Man, I hate to I hate to put off the big news, which is, you know, Trump's announcement with Netanyahu the other day. But but I guess first, before we get to that, just catch us substance. Last time we had you on with with where we are in terms of not just Israel's continuation to try to get rid of Hamas and no longer have the attacks as they had in the past, but also just international kind of pressure both ways. Just your sense of where we are in all of this prior to President Trump's statement. 

Jonathan Feldstein [00:08:25] Right. Well, you know, as we've learned this and we know this in the Middle East, anything can change on the turn of a dime. And it did. But up until now, dragging ourselves through a a hostage slash cease fire deal that's been months in negotiations. If reports are correct, this is more or less the same deal that was on the table last May that only went into effect, in which, thank God, I mean, really, we've seen the release of 14,15 hostages, including including five Thai workers who were kidnaped October 7th, a year ago and others that are coming. And that's creating tremendous ecstasy here. But at the same time, because part of this deal is the release of as many as 1900 hardened terrorists coming back out on the streets, people who have killed or masterminded the killing of hundreds, if not thousands of Israelis were were crying tears of joy from one eye and tears of grief from the other. And I was speaking with a major journalist who wanted my input. And, you know, I said, I think that in everything that we do, there's there's just trauma. It's euphoria and it's grief and it's euphoria and it's grief. And then there's more grief and more grief and more grief. And we had a terror attack with two soldiers killed. So we got the grief of that. And then in two days or three days from now, God willing, we'll have more hostages released. And the euphoria again and the tears and it's it's an emotional roller coaster that frankly, is very stressful. And and even a stress can take days off your life. I feel like I'm losing them for sure. Wow. 

Rick Green [00:10:16] I want to emphasize a couple of things just to make sure some of our listeners, because so, so little was covered about the hostage releases here in the U.S. that I saw. I was really shocked at that, how little celebration there was and how little reporting there was on it. You had to be on social media and following the right accounts to really get some of these amazing stories. And just watching the video of that as they came home. And and as you said, I think it's 14. I mean, it's remarkable. But but then at the same time and what a trade off. And I guess, you know, the idea that you're going to have a hundred times that of hardened killers released is hard to fathom. And I you know, obviously, I'm not in the room. I am not negotiating these deals. But, you know, is that in your opinion? I mean, is that is that the best we can do? Like how to how to how do we get to that point where we have to give up that much? You know what I'm saying? 

Jonathan Feldstein [00:11:07] You know, so your your term, the best we could do is probably the correct summary. If, if we had been able to push on further, more harsh and I think without being held back as much by the Biden administration in Gaza and there are many, many I don't mean I don't mean that as a political statement. I mean, that is just the simple fact is that we we needed to crush Hamas unconditionally and we haven't done that. We're seeing that they're still in control and coming back, not as strong as they were. But but they're there and they're the influence and the fact that we didn't do this, the fact that we didn't really put them on the ropes. And that's not to say there hasn't been a lot of success in killing terrorists and sadly, lots of destruction that goes with it because are they built their whole infrastructure. We we're in this reality. So yeah, unfortunately, this is the best we can do. We have a strong hand. We can continue the war, we can continue fighting them. But they know that our weakness is that we cherish and celebrate life and their and their strength compared to our weakness on that is that they are a cult of death. So they don't care if they die and they don't care if. Quote unquote, innocent Gazans die. 

Rick Green [00:12:30] Well. And if if we can't, I'd love to drill down on that because there's so much crazy talk out there right now with regard to I mean, first of all, just I hear people saying that Israel is is literally targeting civilians and that Israel is, you know, telling women and children to go into certain areas and then bombing that area on purpose. I mean, the rhetoric is just off the charts. And and and and several things forgotten. Number one, that actually what we by term as children participated in a lot of the murder and rape on October 7th. And so that there's just even a definition there of okay if a kid's 14 and he's participating in the murder and rape, is he not a soldier and is he not someone that should be targeted? And and and then secondly, just this whole notion of, you know, Israel is doing the same thing that America did in World War Two, trying to go in and do surgical strikes, trying to warn people to get out, doing all of those things. But at some point, America had to drop the bombs and innocent people died. But it ended. I don't even know if you could say innocent if they were supporting the leadership. That. But but but civilians died but it end of the war and and I just would love for you to address this because there's so many I mean, at high levels conversations about this that's causing a lot of people to to no longer support Israel. 

Jonathan Feldstein [00:13:48] I sure know it's interesting. Your analogy about the Second World War is unique because there have been many analogies. But I'll go I'll go out on a limb and I'll say that average Germans and average Japanese were far more innocent than the average Palestinian Arab in Gaza today. And I notice from my son serving and I know this from other young men who have been in with him and in other units. It's not just that, of course, teens participated in the rape, in the in the murder or in the in the in the theft, the looting that took place on October 7th of 23. But but they also are scouts and part and parcel of the Hamas infrastructure. And we've seen this you know, they know that we're not that Israeli troops are not going to wantonly shoot and take out kids. And many, many strikes, many strikes against terrorists have been called off because of that very reason, because kids are in the area. So they send kids to scout out the status of Israeli troops in the area. And then out of the corner, some come some guy with an RPG. After after the report has been given back and they're recruiting new terrorists, new terrorist operatives, not just scouts from among teenagers as well. And just this week, I saw a horrific video that in any other place in the world would be considered child abuse. But little girls pre-teen seeing in a Palestinian, our girls singing and dancing, celebrating the death cult in which they live, killing soldiers and making motions of killing Israelis and wiping out Israel. And and what I when I saw that people could go to my Facebook, I reposted it and I wrote the future Mothers of the Future Terrorists. And unless this is defeated and we've spoken about our solution for peace in Gaza, it's solution for peace in Gaza.com, which is the only solution for peace in Gaza. Unless we break this cycle, we're going to we're you and I are going to be having this conversation, Rick, in five years. In ten years and in 20 years from now. 

Rick Green [00:16:09] Yeah. Yeah. Well, and speaking of your solution, you know, I immediately thought of you. What are the first clip I saw of Trump saying what He's President Trump saying what he said? I thought, well, you know what? He's actually hinting to what Jonathan talked about all the program and the long term solution. Now he's saying it in a way where America would be the one. But I think it's more like what you've talked about and you know how President Trump is. If you read The Art of the Deal, I mean, he stakes out this position way out there and then finds a way to negotiate back. And and it probably comes back more to your solution, which is essentially a a marketplace solution in that area where Americans invest and and others from around the world. And we bring in commerce and we bring in rebuilding in that area. And and you when you know there has to be drastic change, we cannot leave this area to a, you know, a government that is teaching its children, you know, that America and Israel are the great or the Satans, and we have to kill Jews and all the things that they raise them to believe that it has to be a total, complete change in what's happening there. And that's what you've been calling for. 

Jonathan Feldstein [00:17:13] Yes. And because unlike Nazi Germany, which where the Nazis were only in control for less than less than a generation, the indoctrination, the Islamic radicalism that they've been living with for a now a century. It's sometimes it's going to take a generation or two to undo. And I pray that my grandchildren, what won't come up won't come across Jihadi Peers when they're in the Army beginning 13, 14 years from now. It's crazy to think of these little boys bearing arms and defending the state of Israel. But I got four grandchildren from 6 to 4 months and they're all going to be doing it. The question really, which is on which is on the world and on the Palestinians themselves, whether they're going to transform and become a peaceful entity or we're just going to be doing more of the same. 

Rick Green [00:18:09] Yeah. Genesis 123.CO. Genesis 123.CEO is the website to learn more. Jonathan, your thoughts on what President Trump said? And I realize it's the skeleton. Like there's no meat on the bones. We don't we don't know any real details of what he's talking about. But how did it strike you when he said it? To me, it kind of came out of the blue. I've heard other people say now he kind of hinted at this. I was not expecting you know. 

Jonathan Feldstein [00:18:32] There were hints of parts of it, but not not as much as he said. And it was almost that it was so unusual. And I don't mean unusual. Bad, but but unusual that it's hard to have scripted that in advance. I think, as you said it, this is how he operates. He's putting out an extremist position. He's he's talking about the it makes no sense, even from his own policy. But the U.S. taking control of Gaza. U.S. doesn't want to have boots on the ground in the Middle East. And that's probably not the the the best solution. But he's also talking about, transporting, moving, evacuating all or most of the Gazan population to other countries. And there's a we if we have time, we can go into it. But there's a huge list of reasons why those other countries don't want that. I've written about it in town hall. Why? Why they're resistant. But ultimately, I believe what what what still has to happen is that Gaza and he alluded to this, the Gaza's going to have to be rebuilt. It isn't it isn't a place where people can can live. But if we rebuild it, I would hope that the Arab states finally will realize that the billions of dollars, tens, hundreds of billions of dollars that have been invested in this failed enterprise can no longer go on like this. And they're going to have to have a come to Jesus moment where they realize maybe we need to cut our losses, maybe we need to cut our ties and tell them, well, we're here when you're ready. But if you keep going this way, we can't be of help. We're not going to keep arming you. We're not going to keep funding your jihadi ideology. And we're you. It's not only wrong that you continue to live by the sword, which is bad for Israel, but it's self-destructive for the Palestinian Arabs. I would hope that that would be the message that comes out of all of this, regardless of where Palestinians in Gaza are quartered permanently or temporarily or or whether or who's in charge of Gaza in the long term. 

Rick Green [00:20:53] It's really interesting you bring that up because that was another thought I had when he first saw these clips was that, you know, maybe this is this is kind of a, hey, either you guys get in there and fix the mess or we're going to do it message In a way, it's like it's going down the gantlet to say, you know, like you said, these countries have not. And as you've written about, they have not been willing to take the Palestinians. They have not been willing to do anything more than send checks that end up, as you said, you know, building the tunnels and and and paying for the murder of their neighbor. So he's basically thrown down the gantlet. We're going to come in if you don't. Maybe. Maybe that's what he's thinking. I don't know. Who knows? Maybe we don't. 

Jonathan Feldstein [00:21:32] Know. Time will tell it all very new. Yeah, And there's a lot of political negotiation going on. The Jordanian king is supposed to go to meet with Trump and and President Sisi. And he's had conversations with Mohammed bin Salman and Saudi Arabia. So, A, it's certainly not boring. And B, buckle up. That's right. 

Rick Green [00:21:54] That's a great way to end it, man. That's exactly right. All right. So the website Genesis 123.CO. Genesis 123.CE Jonathan Feldstein. God bless you, brother. Thank you for coming on. Look forward to having you back soon. Like you said, it's going to be interesting for sure. It won't be boring. 

Jonathan Feldstein [00:22:12] Yes, indeed. God bless you. Thank you. 

Rick Green [00:22:14] Stay with us, folks. We'll be right back with David. It's important. 

Rick Green [00:23:24] Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us here on The WallBuilders Show. Thanks to Jonathan Pearlstein for joining us. And guys, it's really neat to see this show because think about when we had him on what was that about a year ago? And just talking about exactly. I mean, everything he was talking about then we could actually see happen now. And to his point, you know, to not have to watch your grandkids and great grandkids and know that after you're gone, they're still having to fight the same battles against the same indoctrination. They really do have to clean that out. 

David Barton [00:23:51] They have to clean that out for sure. And man, he made so many profound statements. But one I wrote down I thought was really good. He said, They know that our weakness is that we cherish and we celebrate life, but they're a cult of death. They don't care about who dies. And when you're trying to negotiate with that, that's really hard. And the same with the abortion issue in America. When you're trying to negotiate with the cult of death, there's no middle ground between life and death. Is is not is not kind of. And that's what they're dealing with. But the thing that struck me is and Tim and I've talked about this before with education, but progressives are the ones who really introduce an age, consciousness and education. Before the progressives didn't care whether you are 14 or not is what you knew and what you could do. So now a 14 year old, you can't take out a 14 year old terrorist because they're only 14 years old. Well, under the progressive John Quincy Adams could never have served as a diplomat overseas because, you know, Congress is helping do that when he's ten and 12 and 13 and he's got his musket when he's eight years old with the Massachusetts, the Minutemen, etcetera. Show me in the Bible where the Jesus celebrated birthdays. This is my 18th birthday or 16th. Age was not a deal for them. That's a deal for progressives. Were that we get into looking and thinking age is what defines someone. It is not what defines someone. That really is an irrelevant characteristic. It's your maturity, it's your worldview, what you're thinking. And that's what that's what Hamas understands, what's what Jewish folks understand. That's what American media doesn't understand, which even makes it tougher for them to try negotiate with with that cult of death, Hamas, who is willing to to take and destroy as many lives as possible. 

Tim Barton [00:25:23] Well, guys, it is going to be interesting. You know, kind of, Rick, as you and I, Jonathan, talked about, with President Trump staking out a position, negotiating what's going to happen. Now, the last couple minutes of the interview, as you all got into that. It is going to be really interesting because we talked about it maybe a week, two weeks ago on the program of how is this in America's best interest to have America in Israel? And certainly there's some different thoughts surrounding it. Can we do it? Shouldn't we do it? But one of the things we suspected is that Trump was being a chief negotiator, the art of the deal, and he was staking out a position and now can negotiate a little bit with it. And so it will be quite interesting to see what happens. And it it certainly does seem like it is going to be a much better situation for Israel than where they are. They're not done. There's still a lot of work to do, but it's going the right direction is one more reason we are so grateful that God, as President Trump, as the president of the United States right now. 

Rick Green [00:26:19] Well, I'm not title winning yet, guys. We just keep getting good news. So many good things happening and a lot of it like we're learning today with with this particular topic, we don't even know exactly what the outcome is going to be, but we know we're moving in the right direction, taking the right steps, being bold, courageous is just absolutely incredible. Some of the things that are happening so quickly. Thanks so much for listening to eight more of our programing at our Web site, WallBuilders Dot Show. And don't forget our our main website wallbuilders.com. Thanks so much for listening to the WallBuilders.