well it is an absolute honor to be here
I want a couple of folks had to leave
but I definitely want to thank Minister
uh nul Bennett for being here the the
deputy defense minister who spoke the
deputy mayor of Jerusalem thank you sir
for being here members of the knesset we
none of us would be
here without Dr Joe frager please a
round of applause for a great
friend a great Patriot of both America
and Israel the reason I’m here uh the
reason I have learned so much about
Israel uh thank you very much sir and I
also would be remiss if I did not thank
Jennifer for being here uh the
[Applause]
smartest most talented wonderful woman I
have ever met my best friend my partner
thank you for being here so much with
[Applause]
me so I get the chance to talk to a lot
of American audiences in the next couple
of weeks I’ll be talking to Republicans
in Alabama in Michigan in Washington
state in min in different states Across
America and I always talk about three
things in each speech three things that
Americans need to remember one that
history is not
over that that that the trajectory of
Life
continues that what we have in America
as the second point is not
inevitable a lot of Americans assume
that because America is the richest and
most powerful and bountiful country in
the world that will just perpetuate
itself and we live comfortably under we
with two oceans on our East and our West
and Canada and Mexico and our North and
our South and we sometimes get very
complacent in the understanding that
America will always be the world’s
superpower capable of wielding our
influence economically politically or
diplomatically as we see fit uh this
room understands that history is not
over and that nothing is inevitable in
this world more than anything else
standing in this hotel in this very City
In This Very country it’s palatable that
sense it’s part of that sense of purpose
that draws me back to this country and
to the bond the Eternal bond that we
share between our two Nations the third
thing after history is not over and
America is not inevitable is that if the
21st century the century we are in is
not a century led by Americans and free
peoples Americans Israelis and others
then this Century will not be a free
century the 20th century was not Des I
don’t have to tell this room what the
world went through in the 20th century
to be where we are today Wars holocausts
wars for Independence that put us in
this very room today if the 21st century
is not LED bravely by free men and free
women principally America Israel and our
limited number of Partners in this world
then the 21st century could very well be
dark history is not over
America is not inevitable and while
Israel and the Jewish people may live
eternally the status of this state is in
by no means inevitable as everyone in
this room knows so it is on us as free
people to make sure that we guard it at
every turn and fight to keep the 21st
century a free Century so I’m here to
say a a bit on behalf of America and I
don’t purport to speak on behalf of my
country or all Americans at all that we
are very proud
that America is back on the world
stage you know the the minister talked
about the head of the octopus talked
about Iran and the many many tentacles
that the Iranian regime has in the world
today nefariously both for Israel and
for the United States and just all you
have to do is look at how the Obama
Administration addressed the issue of
Iran versus the Trump Administration and
of course the Obama Administration did
everything they could to strike a
horrific deal that is creates an
inevitable path to nuclear weapons
funding the tun of billions of dollars
the hateful terrorist is Iranian regime
seeking death to America and death to
Israel as well as the continuation of
development of missiles with the
capability of a nuclear capacity which
threatened the very existential
existence of America that is what the
Obama regime gave the world Obama
administration I should say Freudian
slip
the Trump Administration by contrast has
called out from day one the actions of
the Iranian regime and stood steadfast
by our Israeli Partners creating an
creating a moment that has brought about
the opportunity for the Declaration that
came just months ago of Jerusalem as the
Eternal and undivided capital of Israel
and I’m very proud of what our president
has
done but America is back because our
president is willing to speak truth not
just about the truth that we’ve all
known for millennium but certainly for
decades as American policy that
Jerusalem is the capital of Israel but
the truth that without investment of our
partners NATO is irrelevant the truth
that without using every Power at our
means Isis will not be destroyed and we
must seek to absolutely and completely
obliterate them the truth that Europe as
Ken pointed out so aptly is a museum
soon to be drowned out by radical Islam
and islamism should they not address
their their their lack of sovereignty
their demographic problems and their
inability to defend their culture those
truths need to be reiterated the truth
of trade and bad trade deals the truth
of North Korea and their nuclear uh
Armageddon that they proposed the truth
of the fake news media which was
mentioned
before I am very proud to work for the
Fox News channel in the United States of
America
[Applause]
now we one of our Motts has long been
fair and balanced we do our best to
report as we say and let you decide the
reality is like here in Israel so I’m
told most of the media the overwhelming
amount of media in the United States of
America is not just left-wing but very
left-wing and Indi and giving a free
pass to the Obama Administration for an
entire eight years while seeking every
single day to do everything they can to
undermine the duly elected president of
the United States Donald Trump to the
point where here we are 13 months after
the election of a new president 13
months after the election of a new
commander-in-chief and Bob Mueller’s
special Council which I’m sure all of
you have read about seeking to
investigate Russian collusion what have
they found out that there were 13
Russians with Twitter
accounts and Facebook pages seeking to
influence Americans and undermine our
democracy and what we have found out is
that our press wittingly or unwittingly
along with their Democratic allies have
been willing to exacerbate the influence
the perceived influence of Russia
thereby serving the interests of
Russians undermining the faith in our
democracy at every turn we live in a
moment where
unfortunately fake news is
ubiquitous no country has suffered more
detriment of fake news than the state of
Israel
which is why this is my third trip here
to to Israel I was here in 2013 here in
2016 here again and every turn I learn
more about the lies that are told about
the Jewish people about the history of
this land about the founding of Israel
about the Israeli government about the
treatment of Arabs and Palestinians
about the West Bank about Judea and
Samaria about Jerusalem about the old
city that if revealed to the world would
change the way the world sees
Israel which is why I take a solemn
responsibility in coming here and
learning from Joe and from others about
the truth on the ground and then going
back to America and fighting the fake
news
about the Arab Israeli conflict the Arab
Israeli peace process the so-called
two-state solution that is still drips
off the lips of the intelligencia in
America today when if you walk the
ground today you understand there is no
such thing as the outcome of a two-state
solution there is one
[Applause]
state and what I love about this group
is the Eternal optimism in the belief of
the Jewish people of the scripture of
this land and the understanding that f
for years if not this year in Jerusalem
then next year in Jerusalem but we we
are here in
Jerusalem and today Jennifer and I and
others had a chance to go see the
Western Wall of the Temple mount the
Western Wall tunnels uh so much of the
old city and as you stand there you
can’t help but behold the miracle before
you and it got me thinking about another
miracle that I hope all of you don’t see
too far away because 1917 was a miracle
1948 was a miracle 19 1967 was a miracle
2017 the Declaration of Jerusalem as the
capital was a miracle and there’s no
reason why the miracle of the
reestablishment of the temple on the
Temple Mount is not
[Applause]
possible I don’t know how it would
happen you don’t know how it would
happen but I know that it could
happen that’s all I know
and a step in that process a step in
every process is the recognition that
facts and activities on the ground truly
matter and that’s why going and visiting
Judea and Samaria understanding that
sovereignty the very sovereignty of
Israeli soil and Israeli cities
locations is a critical next step to
showing the world that this is the land
for Jews and the land of Israel uh and I
believe as was mentioned he said you
need to uh what was mentioned is you
need to buy the
ticket don’t just wish for 40 years to
win the lottery buy the ticket I would
submit to you in light of the support
you have in Washington DC the support
you have amongst patriotic Americans
amongst Evangelical Christians amongst
Believers amongst Republicans even
amongst some Democrats who can barely
say it anymore in
Washington buy the ticket take your
action take do what needs to be done
done here in Israel cuz I truly believe
this is a moment where America will have
your back you have you have Donald Trump
in the White House you have Mike Pence
as vice president you have Nikki Haley
at the UN you have True Believers in
Israel and America that have your
back so thank you for this honor for
this evening Dr Joe frager everyone here
God bless you and God bless the state of
Israel thank you
Dr Joe Frager
Dr. Joe Frager (also known as Dr. Joseph Frager) is the person mentioned in connection with Pete Hegseth’s appearance at the 2018 Arutz Sheva (Israel National News) conference in Jerusalem.
He is a New York-based gastroenterologist (physician) and a prominent pro-Israel activist and lay leader in the Orthodox Jewish community. Frager organized the February 2018 conference on US-Israel relations, held at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, where Pete Hegseth (then a Fox News anchor and contributor) was the guest of honor and keynote speaker. Hegseth thanked and praised Frager in his remarks, crediting him for making the event possible and calling him a “great friend” and “great patriot” of both America and Israel.
Frager has long been involved in advocacy for Israel, including supporting Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria (West Bank), organizing trips to Israel for American conservative figures and media personalities (like Hegseth, Mike Huckabee, and others), and holding leadership roles such as:
- Executive vice president or similar positions with groups like the Israel Heritage Foundation.
- Chairman of Israel advocacy for the Rabbinical Alliance of America.
- Involvement with American Friends of Ateret Cohanim (an organization focused on Jewish presence in Jerusalem’s Old City).
- First vice president or other roles with the National Council of Young Israel.
He frequently writes op-eds (e.g., for Israel National News/Arutz Sheva) on Israel-related topics, has been active in anti-Iran advocacy, and has arranged fact-finding missions and events to build support for Israel among American conservatives. For instance, he later wrote positively about Hegseth’s nomination as Secretary of Defense in 2024, highlighting their long acquaintance dating back to around 2014.
In short, Frager was the key organizer behind the 2018 event where Hegseth spoke, and he’s a dedicated activist/physician focused on strengthening US-Israel ties and Jewish causes in Israel.


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