Israel has no better friend than America. And America has no better friend than Israel. We stand together to defend democracy. We stand together to a… - Benjamin Netanyahu

In Madrid, Palestinian spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi and I also sparred it out in endless television appearances that were broadcast around the world. She was a worthy opponent.

There is only one place in the Middle East where life is safe and there is only one place where the Christian community grows and flourishes [...] That place is the State of Israel. In other countries in the Middle East, Christians must either be very careful or leave the country, but not in Israel. You are our brothers and sisters, and we defend Christian rights just like we defend the rights of all religions.

The people of Iran are very talented people. They're heirs to one of the world's great civilizations. But in 1979, they were hijacked by religious zealots; religious zealots who imposed on them immediately a dark and brutal dictatorship. That year, the zealots drafted a constitution, a new one for Iran. It directed the revolutionary guards not only to protect Iran's borders, but also to fulfill the ideological mission of jihad. The regime's founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, exhorted his followers to "export the revolution throughout the world." I'm standing here in Washington, D.C. and the difference is so stark. America's founding document promises life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Iran's founding document pledges death, tyranny, and the pursuit of jihad. And as states are collapsing across the Middle East, Iran is charging into the void to do just that.