LARRY BROOK
A major pro-Israel conference slated to begin in a few days in Dallas that had 1,000 committed attendees postponed the event "indefinitely," citing "escalating terror threats."
The decision came after organizers had already changed venues for the Israel Summit, which draws major Christian and Jewish pro-Israel speakers, because of security concerns. It was set to take place from June 9-11.
"This is America in 2025. A pro-Israel conference scheduled for Dallas this week, where I was scheduled to speak, which sold over 1,000 tickets, was forced to cancel because of threats from violent Jihadists," stated David Friedman, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel.
"Law enforcement was completely cooperative, but the threats were of a nature that required cancellation," Friedman said. "When the president says we need to take our country back, this is a good example of what he means."
Josiah Hilton, show host for the Israel Guys, which was to co-host the event with HaYovel, stated that just 10 days before this year's event, local police and intelligence officials in Dallas notified organizers that it had been elevated to a "high-threat event."
That meant that they would have to develop "a mandatory security plan with a substantial budget estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars," and their original venue was no longer feasible, according to Hilton.
At the time, organizers believed that security concerns were due to the recent murder of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington.
The organizers were able to quickly secure what Hilton called a "new and significantly safer location just north of Dallas." At the new site, there was to be "top-tier private security, with additional support from local law enforcement and coordination with the Texas governor's office." (JNS sought comment from the governor's office, from the FBI, and from Dallas and Arlington police.)
Organizers announced on Thursday that the new venue, which they didn't name, was also forced to withdraw, "citing escalating safety concerns and mounting external pressure."
That pressure "came in the form of indirect and direct threats made by American, pro-Hamas, Jihadist groups, who issued calls to 'target' the Israel Summit and the private facility where the event was slated to be held," organizers said.
Joshua Waller, an Israel Guys co-host and director of operations at HaYovel, stated on social media that the cancellation was "due to the immense security needs that were needed to secure a relatively small gathering of Christians and Jews to support Israel, in Texas, of all places."
While they had the full cooperation of Texas law-enforcement agencies, the sheriff's department, Texas Rangers and the FBI, organizers decided they had to cancel.
"Every option was explored, yet ultimately, no safe path forward remained--a reality organizers never imagined possible in the United States," Waller stated.
The Palestinian Youth Movement Dallas and Jewish Voice for Peace mobilized, under the banner of "Texas un-welcomes the genocide summit," and outed the new location: televangelist Kenneth Copeland's facilities in an isolated area near Newark, Texas.
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