All Israel
EXCLUSIVE NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW — PART 2

Speaker Johnson to ALL ISRAEL NEWS: Israel is the ‘model’ American ally — says President Trump is right and Tucker & Steve Bannon are wrong on Israel and Iran

U.S. Speaker of The House, Mike Johnson. Credit: The Rosenberg Report

DENVER, COLORADO — A war is underway inside both the Democrat and Republican parties.

Battle lines are being drawn over whether to stand with Israel or cut the Jewish state loose — and over when, if ever, the United States should use military force to defend the American people, her interests, and her allies.

ALL ISRAEL NEWS has been reporting on what’s going on with the American Left, and it’s not good. The number of anti-Israel — and isolationist — voices is growing fast and furiously, led by such prominent figures as Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), and Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, to name just a few.

(Left to right) U. S. Senator Bernie Sanders, U. S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). Photo credit: Shutterstock. Edited by All Israel News staff

But as concerned as my colleagues and I are about the Left, we’re also increasingly concerned about the growing number of prominent anti-Israel and isolationist voices on the Right.

Chief among them: Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon.

(Left to right) Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon. Credit, Shutterstock. Edited by All Israel News staff

Enter House Speaker Mike Johnson.

U.S. Speaker of The House, Mike Johnson. Credit: The Speaker’s office

In this white-hot war, he is an increasingly influential force to be reckoned with.

Since taking up the gavel on October 25, 2023, Johnson — the third most powerful leader in the U.S. government after President Donald J. Trump and Vice President JD Vance — has proven himself a fiercely principled conservative, a shrewd and loyal ally of Trump and Vance, as well as a passionate champion of the America First doctrine.

What’s more, Johnson has made it crystal clear that as far as he’s concerned, America First does not mean America Alone.

Rather, it means being a vigorous champion of all true American alliances — especially a strong and deep U.S.-Israeli alliance — and someone willing to project military force to protect Americans, our interests, and our allies, when absolutely necessary.

WHY DOES SPEAKER JOHNSON’S VOICE AND RISING INFLUENCE MATTER?

This is a big deal.

Johnson has built trust among House Republicans, a historically fractious bunch.

They like him.

They trust him.

To be sure, not everyone agrees with him.

There are certainly rebels among them.

But so far, House Republicans see Johnson as a wise and fair leader.

Yes, they can see that he has deeply held policy views.

But they also see that he’s willing to listen and work tirelessly to build consensus.

These are essential qualities in any effective House Speaker, and ones that I admire in Johnson.

(Left to right) Jacob Rosenberg, Lynn Rosenberg, Speaker Mike Johnson, Joel C. Rosenberg

They’re also ones that Lynn and I witnessed firsthand when we met him in his office at the U.S. Capitol for the first time, and I interviewed him for THE ROSENBERG REPORT — my weekly prime-time TV show on TBN — and for ALL ISRAEL NEWS.

SPEAKER JOHNSON: WHY DOES HE TAKE ISSUE WITH TUCKER ON ISRAEL AND IRAN?

The Speaker is a true Southern gentleman.

He’s also a shrewd political strategist who believes in building consensus wherever he can.

That’s why he didn’t engage in direct, sharp, or shrill rebukes of either Tucker or Steve Bannon in our conversation.

But Johnson left no doubt whatsoever that when it comes to Israel, Iran, and the use of American force, he believes Trump is absolutely right — and Tucker and Steve Bannon are, sadly, dead wrong.

“You were just at the epicenter of the storm as President Trump made what I think was an incredibly courageous decision to finish a war that Iran started almost a half century ago [and] kept a promise to keep Iran from getting The Bomb,” I told the Speaker.

“But there was tremendous opposition,” I noted. “Two of the President's close friends, Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon — just to name two — were deeply opposed. ‘Drop Israel.’ ‘Don't do it.’ ‘You're betraying MAGA.’ How did you see the President's decision? Because I know you strongly supported it. But why? Why was the President right and Tucker and Steve wrong?”

The Speaker’s answer told me a lot about who he is, what he believes, and how he works as a leader.

First, he describes his pro-Israel views as coming from his deep Evangelical Christian faith and belief that God’s promises in the Bible to Israel and the Jewish people — in Genesis 12, for example — are to be taken literally and still apply today.

That was the focus of my column last Thursday.

But Johnson also believes there are very practical, pragmatic, and realpolitik reasons to stand loyally with Israel and refuse to let the evil regime in Tehran get The Bomb.

Not once did he get snarky with Tucker, Bannon, or others because, again, that’s not how Johnson rolls.

Rather, he carefully and calmly laid out why they are wrong and Trump is right.

WHY DOES THE SPEAKER SEE ISRAEL AS A ‘MODEL’ ALLY OF THE U.S.?

“I don't have any quarrel with Tucker or Steve,” the Speaker told me. “I mean, I'm not sure what their analysis is, but mine is very clear and it's been consistent my whole life.”

“I think it is a model alliance that we have with Israel,” the Speaker said. “It's a special alliance. It's unlike any other because we have a shared Judeo-Christian heritage. I mean, it was part of the founding of our very nation 249 years ago, and I don't think we can forget that. This goes back to, you know, the opening book in Genesis. You know, blessed is the nation that blesses Israel and cursed is the nation that curses Israel.”

“Scripture is very clear,” Johnson added. “This is God's chosen people. And Christians around the world are supposed to have high regard for that. So, it's a matter of faith to me. But if you just set the faith issues aside and you just look at it practically, if you're just looking for America First as an agenda, and the interests of America, it is clearly within our interest to have a close alliance with Israel as the only stable democracy in the region.”

SPEAKER JOHNSON: WHY IS PRESIDENT TRUMP RIGHT ON ISRAEL AND IRAN, DESPITE HIS CRITICS?

“I would say the President has been insistent — and consistent — about the Iran problem for many, many years,” Speaker Johnson told me.

“Go back and play the tape. He's always said that they cannot be armed with a nuclear weapon. You cannot give the chief sponsor of terrorism around the globe a nuclear arsenal.”

“That seems like a fairly straightforward proposition,” I noted. “And yet…”

“I think most reasonable people understand that that's an important objective,” Johnson continued. “And the President has never wavered on it.”

“So, when they [the Iranian regime] came so close as they did to actually having that capability, he was really given no choice. And of course, we allowed Israel to go in first and do what they did. And then there came this moment of decision.”

Johnson noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran is the nation that has sponsored so much terrorism and so many atrocities around the globe, and so many attacks on Americans everywhere — and whose leaders and people constantly chant, ‘Death to America!’

Trump “gave the leaders of Iran a chance to make a deal, and they flatly refused it,” he noted. “So, he had no choice in the matter.”

The Speaker told me that based on the briefings and intelligence that he has been privy to, the attacks by American B-2 stealth bombers — using 30,000-pound bunker buster bombs — “set back their nuclear program substantially.”

“That is good for peace around the globe and for all freedom-loving people everywhere, and certainly for Americans.”

SPEAKER JOHNSON: DO THE MULLAHS IN IRAN REALLY WANT TO WIPE AMERICA AND ISRAEL OFF THE MAP?

How serious has the Iranian nuclear and terror threat been to the United States, Israel, and our allies?

Tucker, Bannon, and others dismiss the threat as negligible.

That’s not how the Speaker sees it.

Not at all.

If the mullahs in Iran “had a nuclear capability, they would probably fire on Israel instantaneously,” Johnson said. “Their stated goal is to wipe Israel off the map, but they would certainly turn their attention to us, as well.”

I agree, noting that Israel is only the “little Satan” in the End Times theology of Iran’s so-called “Supreme Leader” Ali Khamenei.

The United States is the “great Satan” in Iranian Twelver eschatology.

That said, I noted that Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon “are very influential voices” nationally, as well as close friends with President Trump.

They don’t seem to see — or care about — any of this.

And their accusations that Trump is betraying his promises to MAGA — the Make America Great Again movement — or dragging us into “forever wars” is ridiculous.

“I mean, this took 37 hours for the United States to take care of business,” I said, arguing that a bombing run that takes a day and a half is hardly tantamount to getting dragged into anything, much less a long, messy, complicated American military engagement.

HOW WORRIED IS SPEAKER JOHNSON ABOUT THE NEGATIVE IMPACT TUCKER CARLSON AND STEVE BANNON ARE HAVING?

Still, the impact Tucker and Bannon are having inside MAGA — particularly on young conservatives and young Evangelicals — is highly problematic.

So, later in our conversation, I pressed the Speaker more on this topic.

“How concerned are you about the growing anti-Israel sentiment among these two leaders on the Right?” I asked. “We already know the Left has huge problems with Israel. That's a problem for me as a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen who lives in Jerusalem. But I'm growing concerned about what's going on on the Right.”

I suggested that Tucker and Steve Bannon might be “outliers,” but even if that’s the case, “they're pretty influential outliers.”

“Well, there are isolationists in the [Republican] party and there are anti-interventionists,” the Speaker replied.

But he argued the President’s decision to bomb Iran was unique, limited, and vital to American national security and interests in the Middle East.

The decisive action that Trump took “shouldn't be a concern to those folks because we're not going into nation building,” he said.

“We were protecting our own interests,” not casually and imprudently interfering in another nation’s internal affairs.

“Remember, the Iranians are firing on U.S. troops and our American assets in the region — directly and through their proxies — the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas, and all the rest.”

SPEAKER JOHNSON: HOW MUCH DAMAGE DID BIDEN’S WEAKNESS DO TO AMERICAN GLOBAL INTERESTS?

“We have to maintain peace through strength,” the Speaker insisted. “And that's what the President is for.”

President Trump “doesn't have any interest in investing American blood and treasure in rebuilding countries around the world. That's not what America First is. But at the same time, he understands that to maintain our status as the strongest country in the world — the last great superpower, which we are — you cannot allow an avowed enemy of the U.S. to have a nuclear weapon that they could potentially fire on a major U.S. city.”

“This is just very simple,” he said.

“I understand the concern — and I sympathize with — the arguments of people who say we should not be getting into forever wars,” Johnson said.

“I don't want that either. I don't think that's a doctrine that our party should support. But this was a distinct and, I think, an unusual situation that needed extraordinary measures.”

“The President made the right choice, did the right thing, and, by God's grace, not a single American was harmed. We ended it, as you said, in 37 hours, and the desired outcome was achieved.”

“That's the kind of military strike that only America is capable of. And if we are not willing to wield it every now and then, then the capability doesn't really exist.”

“People around the world can see that — our adversaries have taken notice — our allies have, as well. They respect America again. America is back because we're strong again.”

“Our adversaries — Russia, China, Iran, North Korea — all of them have taken notice. That's a very important thing for us to reestablish, especially after the last four years of total weakness and appeasement that the Democrats and the Biden-Harris administration brought about.”

“We reestablished American strength and dominance again after the abject failure in Afghanistan,” the Speaker insisted. “That was a debacle. The total lack of leadership. We were on our heels in terms of our standing around the world. Our allies were doubting us in so many ways. And then President Trump comes in and reasserts American strength.”

“And if we hadn't had that strength right now, we would be losing our footing in economic issues — even domestically, on foreign and domestic affairs. So, we had to have a strong leader. President Trump is that figure, and he is willing to take the arrows for doing the right thing. And I think history will record that this was clearly the right and necessary thing to have been done.”

Joel C. Rosenberg is the editor-in-chief of ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS and the President and CEO of Near East Media. A New York Times best-selling author, Middle East analyst, and Evangelical leader, he lives in Jerusalem with his wife and sons.

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