Rep. Gohmert upset Obama's Israel policy not based on Biblical prophecies

A tea party lawmaker cited the Bible during a speech Wednesday on the House floor criticizing the Obama administration for its treatment of Israel.

“There are many who have been aware of Scripture, and it has often been a guide in our relations with Israel,” said Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX). “'Some of us believe that the Bible is accurate. Certainly, so many prophesies have been fulfilled, and if that is true, this administration, unless they can find a verse that accurately says that those who betray Israel will be blessed, then this country is being dug in a deeper hole by this administration and its betrayals of Israel's trust and Israel's friendship.”

Gohmert said President Barack Obama had urged Israel to enter into a nuclear nonproliferation treaty with other Middle Eastern nations, which he said would require the nation to disclose and give up its undeclared nuclear weapons.

“This was viewed and discussed as being the first time in people's memory when the United States, by and through its administration -- the Obama administration -- had taken action that was very adverse to Israel and the international community, and particularly in the U.N.,” Gohmert told lawmakers. “Normally we did not side with Israel's enemies.”

He warned that pulling away from Israel had provoked its enemies and left it vulnerable to attack by Iran.

“The reason that it is important to point these things out now is, what is happening between the United States and Iran, as we leave Israel out of the equation -- even though it is Israel that is considered to be the little Satan and we are considered the great Satan, and Israel is probably to be the first attacked, if there is an attack -- they are certainly the most vulnerable, yet we leave our former friend Israel out of the equation,” Gohmert said.

The lawmaker said Obama administration officials had been telling Israel not to “dare attack Iran” without U.S. permission.

“We won't let them have nuclear weapons; and yet it is not the United States that is first threatened,” Gohmert said. “The great Satan, the United States, in the eyes of leaders in Iran -- not the Iranian people, but Iranian leaders -- would get around to attacking us. But first Israel is threatened.”

Gohmert said the president had warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his nation “must defend itself by itself.”

“Our President said that, and yet, if we are not going to help Israel defend itself, which is actually defending us as well, then shouldn't we avoid jeopardizing Israel's own self-defense?” Gohmert said.

Actually, Gohmert used a heavily abbreviated formulation of the president’s quote that differed from his intended message.

"We will do what it takes to preserve Israel's qualitative military edge because Israel must always have the ability to defend itself, by itself, against any threat," Obama told the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in March 2012.

Netanyahu said at the time that he appreciated the president’s willingness to “take no options off the table” for Israel’s ability to defend itself.

Gohmert also said that Obama had thrown his support behind Israel’s enemies, including the Muslim Brotherhood, and engaged in an apology tour of Islamic nations, a debunked but persistent right-wing claim.

“My oath of office is to this country,” Gohmert said. “When I was in the Army for four years, my oath was to this country. My allegiance continues to this country, and I believe that being Israel's friend is helpful to this country; and that is why I so strongly support being a friend to Israel.”

Even though he devoted much of his speech to establishing biblical justification for American support of Israel, the lawmaker said that’s not the only reason to do so.

“Even if you took the Bible completely out, you took out most anything except just looking at the Middle East and who believes in the value of life like we do here in the United States, who believes more in democratic actions like we do in the United States, then Israel should certainly be our friend,” Gohmert said.

Watch video of Gohmert's speech posted online by GohmertTX01: