CBN News has documented the way Israel is being demonized around the globe. However, a group formed earlier this year is dedicated to fighting that worldwide trend.
Spain's former prime minister Jose Maria Aznar is heading a group of leaders, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate David Trimble and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton. They call their group the "Friends of Israel Initiative."
This new organization intends to combat what it calls the "unprecedented delegitimation campaign against Israel, driven by the enemies of the Jewish state and perversely assumed by numerous international authorities."
They descibe their initiative as distinct from other groups since it's led by non-Jews and "whose motivations are based on the deep conviction that Israel is part of the Western world. In fact, today Israel is a fundamental actor for the future of the West. Although the peace process is important, the members of Friends of Israel Initiative are more concerned about the onslaught of radical Islamism as well as the specter of a nuclear Iran since these are threats affecting not only Israel, but the entire world."
They added Israel "is a fully sovereign and responsible nation ... although we can all disagree with some of its decisions, this fact should not be used as an excuse to question Israel's right to exist, its legitimacy or its national rights. Just as the sponsors of this Initiative believe, there is no West without Israel."
Aznar eloquently expressed his views about Israel earlier this year when he said in part, "Israel is a fundamental part of the West. The West is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is upturned and Israel is lost, then we are lost too. Whether we like it or not, our fate is inextricably intertwined."
To read Aznar's entire speech, click here: