INTERVIEW: Rep. Mark Harris talks Israel-Iran War, warns “Iran couldn't care less” about holy sites

THE LOWDOWN:

• Rep. Mark Harris (R., N.C.), a pastor-turned-politician, warned that “Iran couldn't care less” about the holy sites they are indiscriminately bombing in an interview with the Washington Reporter.

• Harris caught up with the Washington Reporter’s Matthew Foldi as he weathered missile strikes on Jerusalem in a bomb shelter. The pastor pointed out that the Genesis covenant God made with Abraham itself denotes that the “land belongs to Israel.”

• Harris said that Iran’s lack of respect for the holy sites in Jerusalem — which see visits paid by Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike — as well as the indiscriminate strikes on Israeli civilians is “very sad.”

• Harris’s pro-Israel bona fides are unquestionable; he’s been going to the country since before the 9/11 terrorist attacks — and he also pushed back against beliefs that his Republican colleagues in Congress feel much differently.

JERUSALEM, Israel — As missile fire continues to unfurl amid the Israel-Iran War, Rep. Mark Harris (R., N.C.), a pastor-turned-politician, warned that “Iran couldn't care less” about the holy sites they are indiscriminately bombing.

Harris caught up with the Washington Reporter’s Matthew Foldi as he weathered missile strikes on Jerusalem in a bomb shelter. The pastor pointed out that the Genesis covenant God made with Abraham itself denotes that the “land belongs to Israel.”

“And God is going to restore that land to Israel,” Harris said. “I have always had that position, and have certainly taken the Bible at face value, and have taught it and proclaimed it.”

“I've traveled to Israel several times as a pastor to tour the Holy Land and to see those sites so that that would be how my biblical basis has informed my position that that land does belong to Israel, and I do believe that they they were coming back home in 1948 when everything was reestablished, and the nation began to move forward,” he continued.

Harris said that Iran’s lack of respect for the holy sites in Jerusalem — which see visits paid by Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike — as well as the indiscriminate strikes on Israeli civilians is “very sad.” He noted that Iran “is just firing these missiles and couldn’t care less about civilian lives.”

“Iran couldn't care less about the holy sites that mean so much to millions across the world. And it is very sad,” Harris said. “They're just indiscriminately striking Israeli population centers from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.”

Harris’s pro-Israel bona fides are unquestionable; he’s been going to the country since before the 9/11 terrorist attacks — and he also pushed back against beliefs that his Republican colleagues in Congress feel much differently. “Absolutely” he said, when asked if pro-Israel sentiments are shared within the caucus — and that belief translates with both Republicans and Democrats in North Carolina’s 8th District as well, he said.

“My constituents are strong supporters of Israel,” he said. “I see that across my district. I have a conservative district, but people stand with Israel, and that's Republicans and Democrats in this district. They have a strong affinity and they recognize Israel as a democracy there in the Middle East. They recognize them as a very close ally. Obviously, from a Christian perspective, there are a lot of folks who have the biblical view and relationship, and the Judeo-Christian commitment to standing together is important.”

Harris also added that “from a national security standpoint, everybody recognized that President Trump's strong pressure on Iran and his clear ultimatum that they are not going to have a nuclear weapon, not now, not ever, as long as he's in charge, has worked. And I think he's been clear about that, and there's a great deal of support for that among folks in my district, for sure.”

Harris also said that “the tremendous significance” is that when one looks “at the big picture, Israel has really stood down in many ways and allowed Iran to have every opportunity to negotiate a deal with the United States.”

“But rather than negotiate and work with world leaders like Donald Trump and the envoys he has had, Iran just chose to pursue their nuclear weapon that they were determined to have,” Harris said. “And while they threaten the world with a nuclear program, I just believe Israel really stepped up and did what they had to do.”

Below is a transcript of our interview with Rep. Mark Harris, lightly edited for clarity.

Washington Reporter:

Congressman Harris, how are you? I'm just chilling here in Israel right now. A boring time to be here, for sure. One thing I definitely wanted to hear your perspective on is going back to your time as a pastor. Can you walk through how that informs now you as a legislator, as you think about the Middle East and foreign policy here, and why it is important, from that standpoint, for Christians in America?

Rep. Mark Harris:

I would say, first of all, Matthew, that from a biblical standpoint, and as a pastor, I have always viewed the covenant that was made there in Genesis, that God made with Abraham, that that land belongs to Israel, and God is going to restore that land to Israel. I have always had that position, and have certainly taken the Bible at face value and have taught it and proclaimed it. I've traveled to Israel several times as a pastor to tour the Holy Land and and to see those sites so that that would be how my biblical basis has informed my position that that land does belong to Israel, and I do believe that they they were coming back home in 1948 when everything was reestablished, and the nation began to move forward. From a geopolitical standpoint in 2015, I was serving as a pastor at that time, before I was in Congress I had an opportunity to go to Israel and to go and see the different sites, for the first time, this was a trip that AIPAC had invited me to be a part of, just as a pastor and as a leader, there were only about 12 of us on that trip, but it was really an educational experience for me to be able to learn and just to see things. We traveled to the border there with Lebanon, traveled to the border with Syria, saw some of the things that were happening and just kind of learned about the challenge that the people of Israel have. It's also fascinating to actually go to Independence Hall and listen and actually still hear the words that were spoken on that particular day when Israel was established, or reestablished, as a nation. So I would say all of that has worked together to form my view.

Washington Reporter:

I'm sitting here, obviously in Jerusalem, and we've seen that Iranian ballistic missiles have successfully hit in Tel Aviv, for example. From both that geopolitical and from the religious standpoint, they're targeting Israel. What does that say to you about Iran’s intentions in the region? We’ve got where Jesus walked, if I were able to go outside, about 10 minutes from where I'm staying right now. What does that lack of respect and reverence to those sites, from a Christian standpoint, signify to you about Iran?

Rep. Mark Harris:

Well to me, the tremendous significance is that when you look at the big picture, Israel has really stood down in many ways and allowed Iran to have every opportunity to negotiate a deal with the United States, but rather than negotiate and work with world leaders like Donald Trump and the envoys he has had, Iran just chose to pursue their nuclear weapon that they were determined to have, and while they threaten the world with a nuclear program, I just believe Israel really stepped up and did what they had to do. Israel was incredibly precise and effective in taking down Iran's military targets and their leadership. Iran, on the other hand, is just firing these missiles and couldn’t care less about civilian lives. Iran couldn't care less about the holy sites that mean so much to millions across the world. And it is very sad. They're just indiscriminately striking Israeli population centers from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Washington Reporter:

On your trips that you've been here, did you ever spend significant time in a bomb shelter? Did you ever have to take shelter from rocket fire, from Gaza or anything like that?

Rep. Mark Harris:

We did not take any fire. In 2015 when I was there, for example, we did travel to the border there with Gaza. In fact, back on October 7, almost two years ago, I remember watching the pictures and telling my wife that we were right there by the fence. We had traveled down there on that trip and we had talked to people, and we had heard from folks who lived there, just honestly about the terror that they would live with. We would hear about people in Gaza would run up to the fence to try to terrorize Jews on the other side of the fence in those border towns. People in southern Israel lived with that. Kids would be out shooting basketball, and they would hear the sirens and they would have to go to bomb shelters. And of course, at that time they were having to take cover from rockets that might be indiscriminately just coming over. I still have pictures of rockets that were being saved, after they had hit, and people would collect parts of them, and we would actually be able to see those. And again, it was just reminding us of what those dear people were living with day in and day out under that threat. And it was sad, and it was something that I determined in my heart we could not let continue.

Washington Reporter:

I feel like, as I'm sitting in this bomb shelter with a bunch of Americans, I wonder what would America do if this were us? Do you have any thoughts on how America would react if this were us in the situation that Israel's in?

Rep. Mark Harris:

Well, I can only really think back to the morning of 9/11. I still recall that, and it's not even a fair comparison, because those planes were going into very specific places miles away from where we were, and just the mere size and scope of this country compared to the size and scope of the country of Israel is not a fair comparison. But going to the emotional side, I'll say that comparison, just knowing that day what it was like to just realize the silence. I was here near Charlotte, and understanding that the skies were silent that day was powerful. No planes were flying when they were grounded because of the attack that had happened, and nobody knew if there was going to be another attack, if it was going to happen in your city, because of what we began to recognize; and I remember, it pulled the nation together, if you recall, like never before; people stood united. And there was something that was certainly far above the politics of Republican and Democrat. I still remember seeing the House and Senate there in Congress singing, God Bless America out on the steps, united. People would go to hockey games and everybody would just stand united. In America, we stood united, determined to find the source that had brought all of this about, and we were going to stand united behind our military and support them to make sure that they protected freedom, and that's why I think that with Israel, my heart goes out to them, because they live with it every day, particularly depending on what part of the country they live in, they live with a threat. But they also have proven themselves to be extraordinary warriors. They also have proven themselves to have extraordinary ability at gaining intelligence at the work that they do. In fact, I even remember making my first trip to Israel, and happened to be on El Al airlines, and every passenger actually had a one on one conversation with this young person who looked like they were in their 20s. And just by the conversation you had, they were able to discern if there was something questionable before you even just stepped on that plane. And of course, my first trip over was prior to 9/11 even happening. So they've been at this a long time, and they're extraordinary warriors.

Washington Reporter:

Both from your own constituents’ standpoint and from how you view the Republican Party more broadly, how do your constituents feel about this, and how do you categorize the Republican Party's support for things like Trump's maximum pressure campaign against Iran that he started on day one?

Rep. Mark Harris:

My constituents are strong supporters of Israel; I see that across my district. I have a conservative district, but people stand with Israel, and that's Republicans and Democrats in this district. They have a strong affinity and they recognize Israel as a democracy there in the Middle East. They recognize them as a very close ally. Obviously, from a Christian perspective, there are a lot of folks who have the biblical view and relationship, and the Judeo-Christian commitment to standing together is important. So I would say that the support has been strong. From a national security standpoint, everybody recognized that President Trump's strong pressure on Iran and his clear ultimatum that they are not going to have a nuclear weapon, not now, not ever, as long as he's in charge, has worked. And I think he's been clear about that, and there's a great deal of support for that among folks in my district, for sure.

Washington Reporter:

How would you categorize your conversations with your Republican colleagues? Is that the broad sentiment of this House majority?

Rep. Mark Harris.

Absolutely, I think it is. Now, let's be clear, nobody wants to get into a war. And then there's always the question and concern that people have about our own military involvement. But again, thinking Republicans, thinking people, understand that Israel has never asked the United States to go fight the war for them. They have simply asked that we stand with them and that we get them the weapons that they need, the materials that they need. They are extraordinary warriors, but I do think that standing behind them, standing with them, defending them, is something that America will do. And I was pleased to hear just when I got off the plane back here in Charlotte, that we were standing to defend them. While it seems that we were not involved with the initial strikes on Iran, we were defending Israel. And I think that that's the proper place to be. And I think overall, my colleagues would certainly agree that we've got to maintain that. I don't know of any situation quick like this that could be a moment in time that could reshape things in the Middle East as much as this time could right now. Iran's almost devastated. I always ask myself, could this be the next Six Day War or something like that? I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see how it plays out. Israel’s intelligence is extraordinary, and I know that they had reports that within days, Iran would be racing to a nuclear weapon. In fact, I looked at my wife as we were flying in, and I was watching Trey Yingst from Fox News, who was reporting from over there in Tel Aviv and I said that what I worry with the most is, what if one of these missiles they're shooting in does have a nuclear warhead on it? Because we knew they were within days of being able to launch nine to as many as 14. I have to believe Israel's intelligence at this point knows what they they've got, and is is certainly putting them back against the wall.

Washington Reporter:

Congressman, thanks so much for chatting.

Rep. Mark Harris:

Stay safe, we’ll be praying for you as we are for all of the folks over there in harm’s way.