“The Pentagon should prepare a war plan, as a last resort, should all else fail in preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons,” stated U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) to a packed audience at the Zionist Organization of America’s Louis Brandeis Dinner held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City Sunday night.
Media superstar and best-selling author Glenn Beck was the keynote speaker and received the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Defender of Israel Award. Beck warned of the serious dangers facing Israel and the West telling the crowd of almost 800 attendees, “Things could get worse.” Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson, who are among America’s most generous Jewish philanthropists, presented the award.
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, of Florida (R-FL), Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, received the Dr. Irving and Cherna Moskowitz Award. She gave a rousing speech strongly criticizing the Palestinian Authority for promoting hatred and violence against Israel in their media, schools, and speeches and stated “they should not be receiving any U.S. funds until they change.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the crowd by video, praising the ZOA as a remarkable and important pro-Israel organization that never stops telling the truth. He also strongly praised Glenn Beck and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen as long-time and strong friends of Israel. He had special kind words for the Adelsons, saying that naming an award after them signals the importance of that award.
Father and son real estate entrepreneurs William and Mark Langfan received the Louis D. Brandeis Award.
Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, rallied the crowd with a speech demanding, “the U.S. government, the Israeli government and Europe must begin to express their outrage at the PA forming an alliance with Hamas; never showing Israel on their maps; naming schools, streets, and sports teams after Jew-killing terrorists and openly stating that no Jew will be allowed in a future Palestinian state.”
U.S. Representatives Robert Turner (R-NY); Joe Walsh (R-IL); Dan Burton (RR-IN); and Ann Marie Buerkle (R-NY) also were in attendance, as well as terrorism expert Steve Emerson and Richard Stone, Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
