Exclusive: Israel Heritage Foundation Leads Historic Mission to Israel with High-Level U.S. Delegation

The Israel Heritage Foundation led a historic mission to Israel with a high-level U.S. delegation to express solidarity with the Jewish state and its residents, as well as to gain firsthand understanding of Israel’s existential struggle, meeting with prominent Israeli policymakers and visiting key sites, including the “Ground Zero” of Hamas’s October 7 massacre.

The mission, led by IHF Executive Director Rabbi David Katz and Executive Vice President Dr. Joseph Frager, visited the Gaza periphery near where the IDF is battling Hamas, and the grounds of the Nova music festival where hundreds of innocent attendees of the rave were brutally killed and kidnapped. 

Founded in 1974 by Holocaust survivors, the IHF works to strengthen Israel’s security and sovereignty, while battling bigotry and antisemitism.

Participants in the delegation witnessed the bullet-ridden and burned-out homes, the hundreds and hundreds of destroyed vehicles, and heard the stories of those who fought and died on that fateful day, as well as those of survivors and families of those kidnapped.

The group also toured the site of an iron dome battery, and made a heartfelt visit to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, meeting with and encouraging wounded Israeli soldiers.

The delegation included former U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland Edward McMullan, IHF Honorary Chairman Jonathan Burkan, as well as Holocaust survivor and IHF Honorary President Jerry Wartski. It also included Republican National Committee Chairperson Michael Whatley; Richard Porter, a political aide who led the Domestic Policy Council under the first Bush administration; Rabbi Eli Weinstock, President of the New York Board of Rabbis; and foreign policy expert and philanthropist Harley Lippman, among others.

Speakers featured Israeli officials such as Constitutional Committee Chairman Simcha Rothman, Economy Minister Nir Barkat, and Minister of Education Yoav Kisch.

Speaking with Breitbart News on Thursday, IHF Executive Director Rabbi Katz said the delegation’s purpose was crucial, given that the current conflict in Gaza is “not only a battle for Israel but a global one.” 

“If we let terror, if we let Hamas succeed in its battle here against Israel, the fight will come to America too,” he warned. “Therefore, the entire world has to see what went on here on Oct 7 and what could happen again there.”   

“Christians, too, have very much been targeted as a minority in the region here,” he added, “and seeing what happened directly against the Jewish people, [indicates] the same enemy will target them next.” 

He also highlighted that the first rocket fired from Gaza into Israel was almost two decades ago, following the complete withdrawal of all Jews from the coastal enclave.

“The world has kept quiet for 20 years as Israel has been under constant rocket attacks, as parents run with their children to find shelter from terrorist barrages,” he stated. “And as a consequence of that silence, these terrorists have become more emboldened.” 

“Therefore we feel it important for people to see the reality, and to send a message to the world that evil must be stopped, and that utilizing barbaric terror must not be allowed to succeed,” he added, as he expressed hope “for the day when peace is possible,” and explained that “rewarding terror must never be allowed.”

Likud lawmaker Boaz Bismuth, who spoke to the delegation about the challenges the Jewish state faces, told Breitbart News that Israel needed to increase its independence in light of its diminished support over the last few months, arguing that the current conflict has taught the Jewish state that it must be “less and less dependent” on the world.

“I think one of the lessons we learned is that we have to be more independent. We’re independent in many matters and our systems are very good,” he stated, “but today we are too dependent [on America] for munitions.”

Bismuth attributed the lack of independent industrial munitions production to the closure of arms plants but suggested it could be reversed.

“If I was extremely wealthy, I would invest in opening a munitions factory in Israel and see huge gains while helping the state of Israel,” he said.

He also noted that when America announces a decision to cut certain munitions from Israel, “aside from the loss of the munitions, the message sent to the entire region — both our friends and our enemies — is damaging, and crosses a red line that seriously harms the Jewish state.”

IHF Honorary Chairman Jonathan Burkan, a Wall Street executive with more than two decades of experience in the financial services industry, was one of the main organizers of the trip. Burkan, who lived in the Gaza periphery for a summer in the early 1990s, told Breitbart News that his motivation for involvement was to make an impact on people.

Expressing his deep sorrow over having seen the “devastation” of what he had once called home, he explained that he also felt confident that people now understand Israel better and will share their experience with others.

Ed McMullen, the former ambassador to Switzerland under President Trump, who also participated, told Breitbart News he “really wanted to see firsthand the situation down near Gaza, and see what happened to the towns and at the music festival on October 7.” 

Suggesting that Americans are “not getting that message,” McMullen described his “determination to come, to see firsthand, and be able to go back home and help our politicians understand the seriousness of this, because the misinformation, misunderstanding — particularly among young people being used by leftists with an antisemitic view of the world — has got to be challenged very hard.”

According to McMullen, it is crucial for people to understand that “had President Trump been in office,” the October 7 massacre “never would have happened.”  

“We’re at a critical time and juncture in history,” the diplomat and strategist explained. “If [Trump] does not win this election, things will get worse, and it will be a disaster.” 

“President Trump is the only hope we have for Israel, for the United States, and for freedom and liberty, and I think this message is critical at a time in history like this,” he added.

Israel’s Economy Minister Nir Barkat commended the “dedicated” mission “on behalf of the people of Israel,” telling the delegation that “Israel is going through the toughest times since our inception in 1948.”

“In the past, Jews around the world were blamed for every evil, and that’s why the Nazis came to where they came,” he said, “and lately, Israel, the Jewish state, is [being] blamed for everything evil in the world.”

Furthermore, he added, the world is “focused on micromanaging Israel with consequences that are extremely, extremely challenging.” 

The former Jerusalem mayor outlined his vision for a stable region, citing what he termed the “classic formulas” that tend to succeed in the Middle East.

“First — and it works amazingly well — be really bad with the bad guys, and good with the good guys,” he said. “You have to articulate who your friends are, and support them a hundred percent.” 

“You also have to better understand who your enemies are, and make sure they never win,” he added.

He then emphasized Israel’s need to maintain its defenses, expand the historic Trump-brokered Abraham Accords peace agreements that were entered between Israel and multiple Arab allies, and exclude Qatar due to its support for terrorism.

“There’s a very famous phrase in the Middle East that says if, God forbid, Israel loses one war, we’re doomed,” he stated. “So if we put down our weapons, we’re doomed, but if Hamas puts down its weapons, there’s going to be peace.”

Barkat noted that Israel seeks peace, pointing to treaties with Egypt, Jordan, and the Abraham Accords, but insisted the country must expand the agreements to Saudi Arabia and counter Qatar’s support for terrorism.

“Just a few years back, the Abraham Accords [were signed], thanks to President Trump and [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu,” he said, adding that we must “expand the Abraham accords to include Saudi Arabia, and… keep Qatar out of this region.” 

“Qatar is one of the biggest enemies of the state of Israel [and] the biggest funder of terror around the world,” he added. “They funded ISIS, the Taliban, Hamas, Hezbollah, and all Muslim Brotherhood cells around the world. They are the biggest funders and their heart is with our enemies, with evil guys.” 

He also highlighted that Qatar has spent billions over 20 years influencing U.S. public opinion and colleges, masking their ties to radical groups.

“What we’re seeing in the colleges and around the world in the United States, mainly but not just there, is the huge investment of Qatar [having] spent billions on every college, influencing who the faculty should be [and] what studies you study,” he said. “They’ve really been trying to be nice [but] they’re a wolf in sheep’s clothes, trying to buy friends all over the world; investing, buying soccer clubs all over the world and spreading their money to spread their influence.” 

“But, inside, they’re aggressive Muslim Brotherhood [collaborators],” he added. 

Rejecting the long-failed “two-state solution,” Barkat advocated for a Palestinian emirate model, promoting tribal autonomy and collaboration to ensure peace and prevent Hamas control, claiming that such an approach is supported by 70% of Israelis and local councils in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank).

“We deserve more Dubai and less Gaza,” he declared. “But so do the Palestinians. We must collaborate together with the US to get those goals done.”

“But it needs patience,” he added, noting that “we need to make sure that we will never collaborate with people that want to kill Israel.”

He also suggested four key actions Israel needs to take to enhance its PR: sharing videos from various sources to highlight the October 7 atrocities, targeting Qatar’s funding of terrorism, explaining war actions in local languages, and highlighting Israel’s positive contributions and historical ties to the land.

Echoing Barkat’s remarks, Richard Porter, RNC National Committeeman from Illinois who also participated in the delegation, insisted that “the situation does not call for complex moral analysis.” 

“If the so-called Palestinians lay down their arms, they would live in peace and prosperity forever.” In contrast, he noted, “if the Jews lay down their arms, they will be dead or driven out of Israel in a week.”

“That’s reality,” he added. 

Religious Zionism Knesset member Simcha Rothman, who updated the delegation on the war’s status and the security picture facing the country on multiple fronts, had told Breitbart News that a Palestinian state would spell Israel’s “destruction” and the Biden administration’s repeated pressuring Israel to accept one is “plain stupidity.” He also described Hamas as a “terror cartel” that exports terrorism globally, insisting that Israel must defeat the radical Gaza-based Islamist terrorist group to “protect its own security and the security of the world.” 

Addressing the group, 28-year-old Natalie Sanandaji of Long Island told of how she woke up to a rocket attack at the music festival on October 7, initially reassured by the Iron Dome.

“‘Don’t worry,’ her friend told her, ‘they always shoot rockets at us, but the Iron Dome anti-rocket system protects us,’” she said.

But panic ensued when terrorist paragliders arrived, leading to gunfire and chaos. The music eventually stopped and Natalie began running, not knowing where.

The American delegation concluded their trip with a farewell dinner that was unexpectedly joined by former Trump National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, who delivered an impromptu address. 

O’Brien had told Breitbart News that Israel shares American values, and those who attacked her “attacked us.” He also warned that if “we don’t protect American strength abroad, we’re going to lose our freedom” and, therefore, putting former President Donald Trump back in power is “critical.”