Friends, I’m excited about a new documentary detailing how the Trump administration, led by Jared Kushner, David Friedman and others, managed to do what other administrations tried but failed to do for the past 40 years: bring peace between Israel and Arab countries. It was an epic accomplishment which would almost certainly have resulted in Nobel Peace prizes if America had been led by a different president.

Prior to the peace team assembled under President Trump, the working theory had always been that peace between Israel and the Palestinians was necessary before working on peace with other Arab nations. Knowing the Palestinians would never agree to a peace deal with Israel unless it was accomplished solely on their terms, that theory was literally turned upside down! The Trump team took a sledgehammer to the past strategy in order to make peace first with other Arab countries.

Most believed it could not be done, but it was, and in an incredibly fascinating manner. If you have not read Joel Rosenberg’s book, Enemies and Allies, I highly recommend it, as it sheds light on what was going on in the minds of the American negotiators, the Arab leaders, and Israel’s top brass! But also forthcoming is a book,  Sledgehammer: How Breaking with the Past Brought Peace to the Middle East, produced as the brainchild of former US Ambassador to Israel and one of the Abraham Accords architects, David Friedman. Also, the first of a 4-part film documentary aired on November 5.

What I find equally fascinating to the Accords themselves is the fact that Friedman, an orthodox Jew, chose to work with the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) to produce the film, and that the Accords were very intentionally negotiated with the account of Abraham and his descendants as the bedrock foundation! Ambassador Friedman talks very frankly about Abraham and his two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, and why it was important that the Biblical account played a key roll in the Abraham Accords. As a devoted Jewish man, it isn’t necessarily unusual that Friedman would know the Old Testament history of Abraham and his sons, but that he would choose a Christian broadcasting company to produce the film!

Joel Rosenberg sat down to interview Ambassador Friedman, and they discussed these things in fascinating detail! Here it is, in their own words:

PS: If you get TBN, find out more about the broadcast here.