In the wake of the attack in Bondi Beach, Australia, Yael Eckstein, President and Global CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), joins us to talk about what the attack has meant to her community and how the Fellowship is responding.
00:00:56.000The Charlie Kirk Show is proudly sponsored by Preserve Gold, the leading gold and silver experts and the only precious metals company I recommend to my family, friends, and viewers.
00:01:09.000All right, welcome back to the Charlie Kirk Show.
00:01:13.000Over the weekend, of course, there was a terrible attack in Bondi Beach where it looks like 15 were killed, including a 10-year-old girl.
00:01:25.000It was a targeted attack by jihadists targeting Jews in Bondi Beach.
00:01:33.000And we wanted to bring in Yael Eckstein because she's the president and global CEO of IFCJ, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, to just explain what this terrible attack has meant to our Jewish friends and worldwide and what's being done about it.
00:01:50.000So Yael, welcome back to the Charlie Kirk Show.
00:01:55.000So just give us your first impressions when you heard this.
00:01:58.000I mean, obviously, after October 7th, everybody's on height and alert anywhere in the world, actually, Jewish communities all over the world.
00:02:06.000When you see this stuff play out, what's the first thing that comes to mind?
00:02:09.000Well, the first thing that comes to mind is Charlie Kirk and all the terror attacks that we've seen based on hatred that are directed not only towards Jews, but towards Christians as well.
00:02:21.000And what it makes me realize is that this evil and hatred, it's not something from the history books of the past, but it's something that we're dealing with today.
00:02:31.000So as I light my Hanukkah menorah on this holiday and I was just in New York City and I saw the Christmas trees all out in the public squares, it makes me recognize that we need to stand together, those of us who sanctify life against this hatred against Jews and Christians around the world in order to bring more light into the world.
00:02:51.000Because as we see from Christmas and from Hanukkah, the answer to darkness is light, that we have to get together and do more good deeds, bring more love to one another.
00:03:02.000And I've seen after October 7th how the fellowship has provided over 6 million meals to people who are hungry.
00:03:09.000We've placed thousands of bomb shelters.
00:03:11.000We've gone into Syria to help the persecuted Christians with setting up a medical clinic and distributing food boxes.
00:03:19.000That Andrew, when I see this darkness, it just inspires me to bring more light.
00:03:25.000And that's, I mean, I know that's what you guys, you guys in some ways have, I mean, these are clarifying moments for the fellowship because you're able to say, what can we do to help?
00:03:34.000What can we do to bring care, whether that's physical needs or emotional, spiritual.
00:03:40.000Have you been in touch, Yael, with anybody on the ground in Australia?
00:03:43.000Have you heard from this community directly?
00:03:48.000Yeah, so the fellowship helps provide security for Jewish institutions that are at risk around the world, including in Australia.
00:03:56.000And what we see here is what I think is a heroic response to darkness and terror.
00:04:02.000And again, it's very similar to what happened after the assassination of Charlie.
00:04:08.000We saw people coming out not with anger, not burning tires, not pulling down flags, but coming out with love, coming out with respect for one another, singing together, recognizing the only answer to hatred is to stand together in love.
00:04:22.000And that's what we're seeing in Australia.
00:04:24.000They went out, the Jewish community today, and there were so many Christians who stood with them back to Bandi Beach to light the menorah.
00:04:32.000They all went to their houses of worship without being scared, without cowarding, and they said, we are going to spread the light of God into this world.
00:04:43.000And that's the message that I think is more relevant now than ever as we see Christians being persecuted, as we see Jews being targeted, as we see churches being blown up and from America to Syria to across Africa and Jews no longer being safe.
00:05:00.000The message I hear from God is now is the time to stand together.
00:05:07.000How good and how pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in peace is the only way that we are going to get through these very dark days.
00:05:17.000I'm just looking at some reporting here, and it's like the Australian government and the ASIO, which is the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, they were aware of heightened threats to the Jewish community.
00:05:29.000They raised the national terrorism threat level to probable in August of 2024.
00:05:34.000Anti-Semitic attacks surged in Australia post-October 2023.
00:05:39.000Over 2,000 incidents in 2024, 1,600 in 2025, and including arson on synagogues and graffiti.
00:05:48.000And Jewish leaders had been pleading with local government officials and warning them of insufficient action.
00:05:55.000Are you concerned about that, that the message is still not getting through to protect some of these synagogues, these Jewish communities, wherever they may be in the larger diaspora?
00:06:06.000You know, Andrew, if there's one thing that I've seen since October 7th with these attacks on the Jewish community and the attacks on the Christian community, like I said, around the world, it's that we can't rely on the governments to protect us.
00:06:19.000The governments have allowed from Australia to what we saw post-October 7th in America, what we're seeing today in Europe, the jihadists are speaking out with hatred and calling for a global antifada.
00:06:34.000This is what a global antifada looks like, and they're not being stopped.
00:06:37.000If there's one thing that I've realized, it's that we have to hold the governments accountable.
00:06:42.000We have to call the governments out to do whatever they can to protect Jews and Christians and religious institutions across America, across Australia, across Europe, everywhere in the free world.
00:06:53.000But we also can't use that as a scapegoat.
00:06:56.000We can't sit behind our screens in self-righteous anger calling for the governments to do more.
00:07:07.000And like I said, through the fellowship, I see what's possible when the grassroots gets together.
00:07:13.000Since October 7th, we've had flights of Aliyah rescuing Jews from all four corners of the earth where they're facing persecution and bringing them home to Israel.
00:07:22.000We've seen Holocaust survivors who are getting food boxes in the middle of wars and rockets attacks.
00:07:29.000We're going into Syria where it's dangerous for us in order to provide for the persecuted Christians there.
00:07:34.000And we're only able to do this because there are millions of Jews and Christians around the world who aren't only speaking out in anger against the governments, but also taking whatever action they can in order to bring comfort and love and light to one another.
00:07:50.000the answer to darkness, especially during this holiday season, is to bring more light.
00:08:38.000Well, there's an amazing resilience that you see in Israel.
00:08:42.000When I remember I was in Tel Aviv at a dinner meeting and the sirens went off and there were rockets from Yemen that were being launched directly where I was.
00:08:50.000And everyone in the restaurant immediately got up and went down to the bomb shelter together.
00:08:55.000And within 10 minutes, we were back in the restaurant after the rocket was intercepted.
00:09:13.000And so we are, yeah, we're both optimistically happy and excited for the opportunity for peace and hoping for more agreements like the Abraham Agreements that will bring a new reality to all the people of the Middle East.
00:09:27.000And we're also very cautious that we know we're dealing with lots of terror groups from Syria to Egypt to Iran to Gaza that haven't been eliminated.
00:09:41.000And so we're hopeful that Israel will have peace, that the people, the Muslims who are being held hostage by their own governments and terror groups will be freed and enjoy freedom and equality like we do here in Israel.
00:09:54.000And we're just standing strong in prayer that God promises good days will be ahead.
00:11:42.000So big, huge story, still kind of going on.
00:11:45.000Nick Reiner, Rob Reiner's son, has now appeared in court this morning.
00:11:50.000He is, it looks like he's probably the guy who killed his two parents, which is like a terrible, terrible aspect of this case.
00:12:01.000And 32-year-old Nick Reiner, he had been in rehab at least 17 times for addiction and mental health struggles.
00:12:12.000So there was a big Christmas party at Conan O'Brien's in the Pacific Palisades on Saturday night where guests were decked out in suits and fancy dresses, but one stood out.
00:12:23.000Their 32-year-old son, Nick, showed up at the very formal party in a hoodie.
00:12:32.000So he was freaking everyone out, acting crazy.
00:12:35.000A source told People Magazine, kept asking people if they were famous.
00:12:40.000So apparently there's just been this whole backstory about Rob's approach to parenting with Nick.
00:12:50.000I mean, you know a few details about this.
00:12:52.000Well, he just, it seems, we don't know all the details.
00:12:55.000I'm sure we'll get more, but it seems he did have a relatively permissive attitude, which is some people will say if an addict in your life is destructive enough, you really need to cut them off or they'll destroy your whole family.
00:14:01.000So you get this brooding, incoherent Nick Reiner who's wandering around this party in a hoodie.
00:14:08.000And he basically only spoke at length with two people that night, Rob and his mom, the producer and photographer.
00:14:14.000And what ensued, according to people there, was a very loud argument, and certainly not the first that they had ever had.
00:14:22.000And what was said, no one has yet disclosed, though it was loud enough that several guests heard it, multiple outlets, reporting side and anonymous partygoers, reps for Conan O'Brien, and the Reiners did not immediately return requests for comment.
00:14:35.000And it wouldn't have mattered much except for the news the following day.
00:14:38.000That was when the Reiners' youngest daughter, 28-year-old Romy, discovered her parents' lifeless body at the Brentwood home and victims of a knife attack.
00:15:08.000Now, clearly, Nick Reiner was on a much larger array of substances that were more damaging.
00:15:15.000But this gets back to what Charlie would talk about so much: that as no, you know, the Bible says no one can serve two masters.
00:15:24.000And so do you want to have self-mastery?
00:15:26.000Do you want to be guided by your own moral intuitions?
00:15:30.000Or do you want to be enslaved by something else?
00:15:33.000And what people who have been around addiction or been addicts themselves can tell you is it can start small, but it can grow and grow and grow until it has taken over your life.
00:15:44.000And people who are severely addicted to drugs, what will eventually happen is they will do anything and they will hurt anyone because they want more drugs.
00:15:57.000They want to just continue that lifestyle.
00:16:00.000And that's one of the biggest reasons to just not really let them in the door.
00:16:06.000And there's the idea that it is, you know, I don't want to make this overly spiritual, but you do open yourself up to, I believe, dark spiritual forces when you start releasing control of your mental faculties, of your spiritual faculties.
00:16:21.000You know, it is a highway to hell in many respects.
00:16:25.000And yeah, you might look at it and say, oh, it's just, it's just a little pot.
00:16:28.000It's just a little like, we're just, you know, whatever.
00:16:33.000Now, you might be one of those people out there that doesn't have that problem.
00:16:36.000Not everybody reacts the same way, but there's going to be a percentage of the population that does.
00:16:41.000And you're going to have more and more of these people the more you use it, where that can become an opening for really, really dark things.
00:16:49.000Romy basically said, as soon as this happened, she said, you know, Nick had been recently living in their parents' guest house and was dangerous and should be considered a suspect.
00:17:00.000My heart goes out to the family, the sister especially, had to find her parents dead and had to basically tell police that my brother did it, probably.
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00:17:22.000I wish it would have lasted a lifetime.
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00:19:35.000I think, you know, people think of you as a political commentator, at least probably our audience, because they're used to you doing, which you are.
00:19:42.000You're a great columnist over at Town Hall.
00:19:45.000And, you know, there's a lot there, by the way.
00:19:48.000You have your multiple columns, actually.
00:19:51.000But one of the topics you're talking about right now, it's kind of near and dear because one of the things I've noticed is that after what happened with Charlie, you know, Erica has been asked multiple times about 2A stuff, right?
00:20:17.000She's, you know, Charlie was pro-2A, we're pro-2A.
00:20:21.000But then it comes up again because of what's happened in Australia, right?
00:20:24.000Because in Australia, we've got, you know, a very restrictive gun culture, and yet this jihadist was able to get access to six legal firearms and kill a bunch of Jews.
00:20:35.000So you say, you know, this week's gun tragedy shows you why you must buy even more guns.
00:20:57.000They're not self-executing, and there are plenty of people who want to take them away, including our right to speak freely, our right to write what we think, our right to worship as we see fit, our right to keep and bear arms secures all that.
00:21:11.000You are not a citizen if you do not participate in being able to protect yourself, your family, your community, and your Constitution.
00:21:24.000We've seen terrible violence out there.
00:21:26.000But, you know, after 30 years as a lawyer, I kind of assess arguments and I think to myself, is it a great argument that there are bad people out there who want to hurt us because of who we are and what we believe, that we should disarm harder?
00:21:48.000I'll take my own personal defense in my own hands.
00:21:52.000It doesn't make me invulnerable, but it gives me a fighting chance.
00:21:57.000Well, and you notice the delayed response in the Australia incident.
00:22:00.000I mean, it was, you know, you had that hero, I forget his name, but it was Ahmed Al Ahmed or whatever, who goes in, grabs the gun, and then kind of subdues one of the, yeah, I mean, a total hero.
00:22:10.000He ends up taking a couple bullets for that from the sun that was up on the walkway.
00:22:15.000But there was a totally delayed response.
00:22:17.000And, you know, if there would have been armed guards at the synagogue, maybe they could have stopped some of the killing.
00:22:37.000The police are not there as our personal bodyguards.
00:22:42.000Okay, the police are there to respond to violence.
00:22:44.000And when you get something that's so outside the main, like a mass murder, it's not shocking that it'll take the police time to coordinate a response.
00:23:32.000But you know, Andrew, If I'm engaging bad guys, you know, a retired officer, army officer, they're shooting me and they're not shooting women.
00:24:18.000Yeah, I thought she, I mean, it's just such a, I get upset because I'm protective of Erica, you know, and it's just a very, you know, given what happened to Charlie, it's a pretty, it's a pretty, you know, I would say tough question to be asking a widow, but whatever.
00:24:33.000She did a great job, and she's absolutely right.
00:25:17.000The answer to crime is to deal with criminals.
00:25:20.000Well, and the part about this part of this story, like, I don't know if you have a take on this, but like the son, I think he's 24 years old in this instance.
00:25:29.000He had been investigated by being linked to an ISIS cell.
00:25:49.000There are bad people out there who want to murder or enslave us.
00:25:52.000Well, I don't want to be murdered and I won't be a slave.
00:25:56.000The answer is not a monopoly on violence by an unaccountable government, but a monopoly on violence by the people, by the citizens.
00:26:07.000If those guys were sitting there walking around confident and cool and collected until the police showed up and engaged them, if there was an American citizen, if that was in Texas, where a lot of people carry weapons, those guys would not have been able to do that.
00:26:26.000They would have had to deal with the tactical problem of people firing weapons at them.
00:27:12.000He was a firearms instructor and former reserve sheriff's deputy who fatally shot a gunman during a service at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas.
00:27:22.000And that was on, yeah, December 29th, 2019.
00:27:25.000He took a single shot and ended the attack, which saved an estimated, well, they say 250 people in the congregation, but who knows how many would have ultimately been killed.
00:27:34.000But I mean, that is the sort of that could have been this situation.
00:27:38.000But Australia has pursued a disarmament campaign.
00:28:03.000People should be able to protect themselves as they see fit.
00:28:06.000In states that generally have more guns, not less guns, like Houston.
00:28:10.000Yes, you do have some more gun deaths amongst inner city gangs, but violent crime tends to go down.
00:28:17.000And so I don't want to disarm peaceful, law-abiding people just because some people abuse that tool or that technology.
00:28:25.000And so when you look at gun deaths in this country, there are 30,000 gun deaths a year.
00:28:29.000Two-thirds of them are death by suicide.
00:28:31.000Okay, so that number shouldn't even been in there.
00:28:34.000The vast majority of the gun deaths that are related that are the ones in the remainder are individuals in gangs and inner cities that use guns in kind of gang violence.
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00:30:26.000All right, go ahead and throw up this Vanity Fair picture.
00:30:29.000You get one minute to react to the Susie Wiles interview and this picture.
00:31:22.000Well, apparently this reporter is known for doing books and interviews with chiefs of staff.
00:31:33.000And I'm getting my studio is laughing at you.
00:31:36.000But we're going to switch topics here to Mark Wayne Mullen kind of made some waves yesterday by saying he's kind of in favor of nuking the filibuster.
00:31:49.000There was a conversation that's taking place that's saying, well, maybe we don't do all the filibusters, but we just do it when it comes to appropriations.
00:31:56.000Well, that's where the policy is made through appropriations anyways.
00:32:00.000I think that's a sound policy for us to have a serious conversation about because we only have three years here.
00:32:36.000Remember, there are a lot of people who don't want the revolution or counter-revolution that Donald Trump and the populists are trying to have.
00:32:46.000There are so many Indiana Republicans spread all through America.
00:32:52.000I love how you turn that into a pejorative part.
00:34:12.000We're either going to make the filibuster permanent by a constitutional amendment, or we're going to change it and then use it to our advantage because you guys are going to do it to us.
00:34:25.000And we know you're going to do it to us because you've told us you're going to do it to us.
00:34:30.000I would love to see things like immigration, national concealed carry.