Former United States vice president Mike Pence visited the headquarters of Israel’s Northern Command on Friday night during his solidarity trip to the country, the IDF and Israeli media reported.
Pence met with Maj.-Gen. Ori Gordin, who presented him with an up-to-date picture of Israel’s activity in the northern sector. Gordin noted that Hezbollah had violated a regional ceasefire established by the United Nations at the end of the Second Lebanon War.
Pence also met with reserve soldiers of the 7338th Artillery Brigade, who have been protecting the northern border since October 7.
In this meeting, Pence commended the commitment of the reserve officers who left their jobs and families to protect their country, as well as their determination to continue to do so until security is fully restored in the North.
In an interview with CBN News, the former vice president discussed American support for Israel, antisemitism, and his own beliefs as a Christian Zionist.
“I came to Israel to say to the people of our most cherished ally that the American people are with you,” Pence said.
Pence emphasized that it is so important that the US makes it clear that we are with Israel today, we will be with Israel tomorrow, and we will be with Israel every day until the threat of Hamas terrorism from Gaza is eliminated once and for all.”
Pence believes Israel deserves the same support as post 9/11 US
On his visit to Israel, Pence visited the kibbutzim that were most affected by the attack on October 7 and met with families from these kibbutzim, as well as the families of those who are still held hostage in Gaza.
In the interview, Pence said that it was deeply moving “to see their enduring hope that they will be reunited with their families one day.”
Walking through the kibbutzim and the streets has only “steeled” his determination to be a voice of American support for Israel, he said.
When asked what he thinks about President Joe Biden seeking to limit some of the fighting, he said, “I just don’t accept it.”
Pence recalled what it was like in the US after 9/11 and how important it was that allies of the US stood by it in its decision-making after the attack, and how its actions were not questioned.
He said that he believes that Israel deserves the same support from the Biden administration that the US received from the Jewish state after 9/11.
“We need our leaders, and we need everyday Americans to resist the temptation of being drawn into that traditional pattern of world opinion that somehow always seems to find a way to blame Israel,” Pence said.
“And we need to recognize that this is a moment where the very survival of the Jewish state of Israel is at risk.”
In the CBN interview, he also recalled his time on the Foreign Affairs Committee in Congress when Israel withdrew from Gaza.
He said that he remembers seeing “synagogues bulldozed in Gaza,” and that he expressed concern over whether Gaza could be a democracy in spite of the presence of terrorist organizations such as Hamas.
Pence, who was vice president from 2017-2021, added that he believes that what happened on October 7 is evidence of the failure of those decisions and the failure of the Palestinian leadership to step up and create prosperity for its own communities in Gaza.
When asked about antisemitism on college campuses in the US and the widespread pro-Palestinian protests in support of Hamas’s actions on October 7, Pence said that it was “deeply troubling.” However, he added that he has been moved by the outpouring of support for Israel across America.
“We stand with Israel because her cause is our cause, her values are our values, and her fight is our fight,” Pence concluded.
Around noon, the former Vice President also visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem for a prayer. Pence was received sympathetically by the worshipers who praised his support for Israel.