Glenn Beck: The Self-Appointed Defender Of Israel

Recently, Glenn Beck has appointed himself as the defender-in-chief of Israel. He has frequently told us that Israel is being "set up" and outlined a falsehood-riddled theory that Israel may come under attack from the United States, consisting mainly of twisting the words of Obama adviser Samantha Power and Beck's perennial target, George Soros.

Beck followed this up with an episode of his Fox News show devoted to Israel and why he believes it needs defending, in which he baselessly suggested that President Obama does not believe that Israel has a right to exist or defend itself. In this episode, Beck displayed his deep understanding of the history of the state of Israel by showing a cartoon featuring a “Jewish deli” and the “wacky Arabs” and complained that he is known as a “Jew-loving anti-Semite” who is targeted by the “left and the Jewish left.”

He has grown increasingly fond of labeling others as anti-Semitic, and he decided that Obama's Passover statement was equivalent to “punch[ing] the Jewish people in the face.”

Beck will also be the keynote speaker at a “Christians United for Israel” event in July.

But Beck's love for Israel reached new heights today, as he broadcast his radio show live from Israel and expressed his concern that the U.N. doesn't care about protecting holy sites there. He also laid out his theory that there is a “well-laid plan” to blame Jews for high gas prices. He speculated that this will be used as an excuse to divide Jerusalem:

BECK: How much are you paying for gas right now? This is why I'm here, and this is why it matters to you. How much are you paying for gas today? How much more can you pay and survive? If you know me -- and I've said this before recently, to trust me, please, trust me on one thing. If you know me, and you've listened to me over the years, you can testify that I am ahead of the curve. I don't know why I can see over the horizon. I can't tell you what time or what order or how it's going to happen exactly, but I can tell you the direction of the star field. I can tell you what's coming over the horizon. And trouble, trouble is coming over the horizon. Old hatreds are coming over the horizon, and they are going to make sense to you when they do. And I'm telling you now, it's a well-laid plan. Right now, when you're paying $4 a gallon for gasoline, it's tough. Pretty soon, you're going to want somebody to blame. And politicians always, always are there to give you someone to blame. If somebody said to you when you were paying eight, nine or 10 dollars a gallon, imagine what that will do to you. And mark my words, we will be paying 10 dollars a gallon for gasoline. When that happens and someone comes to you and says, “It's the Jews. It's Israel. If they would just give up Jerusalem. If they would just divide Jerusalem.” It is coming. This will be the mantra come September. “If they just divide Jerusalem, they just give it up! Go back to the '67 lines.” It's coming. You're paying $8 a gallon gasoline, $7, $6 a gallon gasoline! How apt is the average American to say, “Just -- what is wrong” -- watch the language -- “what is wrong with the Jews? Why won't the Jews do it? Just let the Jews -- just tell the Jews to do it. How much is a nation worth? How much is a race of people worth? That question needs to be answered today. Today. Because it'll seem all too simple and easy, because it always does. It always does. It's ”their" fault. If we just get rid of “them.” It doesn't matter who “them” is. Just get rid of “them.” This will all go away. It'd be so much better. I'll pay cheaper -- I'll be able to buy cheaper gas. Whatever it is. And if you're willing to give up Jerusalem for cheaper gas, well, certainly you'd be willing to give up Israel for a little more security.

All of this comes from a man with an appalling track record of using anti-Semitic stereotypes and promoting the work of anti-Semitic authors.

For example, on his radio show, Beck waved around The Red Network, by Elizabeth Dilling. Dilling is also the author of The Jewish Religion: Its Influence Today, in which she wrote that Jews have a hatred for Christianity and consider non-Jews to be subhuman, and blamed Jews for communism. She also wrote The Octopus, described by Life magazine as “a yellow-covered compilation of anti-Jewish slanders.” She has her own entry in The Encyclopedia of White Power: A Sourcebook on the Radical Racist Right, and labeled President Eisenhower “Ike the kike” and President Kennedy's New Frontier program the “Jew frontier.” As if this weren't enough, Dilling was a Nazi sympathizer who attended Nazi rallies in the United States and Nazi party meetings. Beck has refused to apologize for promoting Dilling's work.

Another Beck source was Eustace Mullins -- Beck cited Mullins' book Secrets of the Federal Reserve on his Fox News show. Mullins' home-town newspaper described in him in an obituary as a "[n]ationally known white supremacist and anti-Semite," that the Southern Poverty Law Center had called “a one-man organization of hate.” He was also the author of an article titled “Adolph Hitler: An Appreciation.” You can read some of Mullins' anti-Semitic comments here.

Beck has also frequently promoted David Barton, a self-described historian who has delivered talks to racist, anti-Semitic Christian Identity groups.

This brings us to Beck's unrelenting attacks on George Soros. Soros is a favorite target of Beck's. Last fall, Beck advanced the anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that Soros plotted to collapse the Malaysian currency, a theory that happens to be completely false and rooted in the anti-Semitism displayed by the Malaysian prime minister. But the culmination of Beck's loathing for Soros came with Beck's three-part "Puppet-Master" series on Soros that aired last November. The special was filled with blatant falsehoods, one of the most appalling being that Soros, who is Jewish, helped the Nazis confiscate property from Jews during the Holocaust. As if this weren't enough, the attacks Beck made in the special were steeped in anti-Semitic stereotypes, which ranged from calling Soros “the puppet master” to claiming that Soros controls the economy, the Democratic Party, elections, and the media.

Beck was condemned by the group Jewish Funds for Justice for his smears of Soros, and by the Anti-Defamation League, which called his attacks on Soros “offensive and over the top.”

Then, in January, Beck presented his rogues gallery of figures who make up the “intelligent minority” and who are controlling people through propaganda. Eight of the nine people on Beck's list were Jewish.

Shortly after this, Jewish Funds for Justice called on News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch to fire Beck, citing Beck's attacks on Soros and his largely Jewish rogues gallery. The petition was signed by 10,000 American Jews.

JFJ also ran an open letter in The Wall Street Journal calling on Rupert Murdoch to “sanction Glenn Beck” for his attacks on Soros. The letter was signed by 400 rabbis.

In response, Beck lashed out at the rabbis who had signed the letter, falsely claiming that “all” of them came from the Reform movement of Judaism and asserting that Reform Judaism is a political movement rather than a religious one, similar to “radicalized Islam.” Both of these claims are false -- the rabbis who signed the letter came from various movements of Judaism, and Reform Judaism, rather than being a fringe movement, is the largest religious denomination of American Jews. Beck later apologized for this comment, which Jewish Funds for Justice stated was "not enough" to atone for his history attacks on “people who see their faith linked to pursuing the common good.”

That's quite a track record for someone who claims that “there is no one more pro-Israel or more pro-Jew than I am.” And it makes his righteous indignation in response to any censure for his actions particularly puzzling. And it certainly makes his new self-appointed role as the defender of Israel a total breach of decency and a reminder of why Beck's Fox News show is soon to be removed from the air.