INTERVIEW: Rep. Randy Fine warns NATO members, Five Eyes countries that recognizing fake countries could come with a cost
The "Hebrew Hammer" has some thoughts for America's allies that chose to recognize a non-existent country days before the anniversary of the October 7th terrorist attacks.
Rep. Randy Fine (R., Fla.) has a simple message to the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Canada, and other western governments that recently chose to recognize “Palestine” as a country, despite there being no history of “Palestine” as a country: you’re making a historic mistake.
Fine, who has long been known as the “Hebrew Hammer” during his political career, did not mince words in an interview with the Washington Reporter about how calamitous it is for countries in the west to surrender to “Muslim terror.”
“When these countries choose to recognize Hamas, I don’t know how we can consider them our allies anymore,” Fine said. While he clarified that he does not view the United Kingdom as an outright enemy of America, he wondered whether “a country that chooses to embrace Muslim terror is a country that can be prepared to be an ally for the United States.”
While countries like France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia — all of which recognized “Palestine” in a move that many across the world view as a gift to Islamic terrorists — have sizable Jewish populations, Fine said that he doesn’t think that their governments “care about Jews.”
“I don’t know that you can do anything more symbolic than reward the people who killed 1,200 innocent civilians on October 7th,” he said — while floating the idea of heavy consequences from the United States.
While many of Fine’s colleagues in Congress struggle to understand how America’s allies can turn their backs on the world’s only Jewish state at such a critical juncture, Fine thinks he understands why.
“We’ve entered a new stage in the fight against Muslim terror where this is no longer purely ideological, but it is political,” he said. “In the case of all of these countries, they now have allowed a sufficient number of Muslim terrorists to become civilians and to become citizens that they now have to factor those people’s thinking into their domestic politics. If you look at the percentage of voters now in places like the UK that come from these backwards countries, they’re a meaningful voting bloc. This is not being done just because of ideology. It’s being done to win elections. If you have to submit to Muslim terror in order to win your election, you basically become a Muslim terrorist state, and that’s what we’re seeing in these countries.”
The message that these countries are sending doesn’t even concern Israel directly, he explained. “It’s to the Muslim terrorists, and it’s saying ‘go kill a bunch of people and you’ll get rewarded,’” he said. “It sends the absolute wrong message, and also sends the message that you can invade Western nations, become a reasonable-sized voting bloc, and then change and then change the policy again; in the case of the UK, it is unclear that this is ideological as opposed to political. They’re dependent on the votes of those who believe in Muslim terror in order to stay in power, and they may have to cater to Muslim terror.”
To that end, Fine wants to reform the American legal immigration system. “We have got to tackle legal immigration,” he said. We can’t allow the next generation of Ilhan Omars to become Americans, people that we’ve allowed into this country who hate it. We’ve been so focused on illegal immigration that we have not adequately focused on fixing the legal immigration system.”
Looking overseas, Fine has a series of harsh questions for American allies. “Are these countries our allies, and should we be spending American tax dollars to defend them?” he asked. “We need to revisit whether the United States could remain in NATO. I don’t know that we should. To me, when you choose to recognize a Muslim terror state, you are a Muslim terror state. Are France and the UK countries that we wish to commit American money and American soldiers to defend? I don’t know that you can say the answer to that is yes anymore.”
As for the Five Eyes, three of which have recognized “Palestine,” Fine said that he doesn’t know ‘that we should” continue to share intelligence with them.
“This decision has a profound effect on what our foreign policy should be with these countries,” he said. “I don’t know that we should look at them as our allies any longer. Does that mean that the UK is an enemy? I’m not saying that, but I don’t know that a country that chooses to embrace Muslim terror is a country that can be prepared to be an ally for the United States.”
“There are people who describe this decision on the part of the UK as the worst foreign policy decision since Neville Chamberlain,” he continued. “I don’t disagree with that. Remember, these countries have a history of trying to appease evil. They did it in World War Two, and they’re doing it again. They have a history of being stupid, and they’re living up to their history.”
For his part, Fine mused he’d support the United States recognizing fake countries to push back at America’s allies recognizing Palestine. “We should recognize made-up places like Mordor, for instance.”
As the world convenes on New York City for the United Nations General Assembly, Fine said that his vision for Turtle Bay is “from the river to the sea, Manhattan shall be UN-free.” While that isn’t the case yet, he praised President Donald Trump for his long record of showing the world that America is not the world’s “sucker” any longer, and said that “if anyone can fix the UN, it would be Mike Waltz, but I don’t know that the UN is fixable.”
Should the UN be dismantled, Fine said he is confident that Trump can turn it into beautiful condominiums.
Below is a transcript of our interview with Rep. Randy Fine, lightly edited for clarity.
Washington Reporter:
Congressman Fine, Shana Tovah to you. Let’s start with the obvious here. What do you make of the timing that we’re seeing from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and France announce their plans to recognize “Palestine,” which has never been a country. As I see this, they of course recognized it before the UN General Assembly, but also hours before Rosh Hashanah, and days before the two year anniversary of October 7th. What significance do you put on their decision to do this this past weekend?
Rep. Randy Fine:
We’ve entered a new stage in the fight against Muslim terror where this is no longer purely ideological, but it is political. In the case of all of these countries, they now have allowed a sufficient number of Muslim terrorists to become civilians and to become citizens that they now have to factor those people’s thinking into their domestic politics. If you look at the percentage of voters now in places like the UK that come from these backwards countries, they’re a meaningful voting bloc. This is not being done just because of ideology. It’s being done to win elections. If you have to submit to Muslim terror in order to win your election, you basically become a Muslim terrorist state, and that’s what we’re seeing in these countries.
Washington Reporter:
Do you tie that into the decision to do it a couple of hours before Rosh HaShanah?
Rep. Randy Fine:
Well, I think they did it because they wanted to do it before the UN convened. I don’t know that their decision had to do with Rosh HaShanah. It’s pretty clear they don’t care about Jews. I don’t know that you can do anything more symbolic than reward the people who killed 1,200 innocent civilians on October 7th. It raises very big questions about the future of American foreign policy. Are these countries our allies, and should we be spending American tax dollars to defend them? We need to revisit whether the United States could remain in NATO. I don’t know that we should. To me, when you choose to recognize a Muslim terror state, you are a Muslim terror state. Are France and the UK countries that we wish to commit American money and American soldiers to defend? I don’t know that you can say the answer to that is yes anymore.
Washington Reporter:
What does that mean if we were to leave NATO? What does that mean for our alliances around the world with the countries that are in NATO?
Rep. Randy Fine:
It would say to countries that if you choose to embrace Muslim terror, you’re on your own. I think that’s the message. There does become a limit. Look, the purpose of NATO is to stand up to the Soviet Union, and now to Russia, and that is an important objective. Russia has not been a great actor on the world stage. But neither is Hamas, and when these countries choose to recognize Hamas, I don’t know how we can consider them our allies anymore.
Washington Reporter:
What does that means for the Five Eyes? Several of those countries are the ones, setting NATO and the UN aside, who are now completely in contradiction to American foreign policy since 1948. How do we do work on intelligence sharing with countries like the United Kingdom and Australia now?
Rep. Randy Fine:
I don’t know that we should. I think this decision has a profound effect on what our foreign policy should be with these countries. I don’t know that we should look at them as our allies any longer. Does that mean that the UK is an enemy? I’m not saying that, but I don’t know that a country that chooses to embrace Muslim terror is a country that can be prepared to be an ally for the United States. What they have done is incredibly profound. There are people who describe this decision on the part of the UK as the worst foreign policy decision since Neville Chamberlain; I don’t disagree with that. Remember, these countries have a history of trying to appease evil. They did it in World War Two, and they’re doing it again. They have a history of being stupid, and they’re living up to their history.
Washington Reporter:
Looking to the UN itself: what do you think we can expect from your predecessor in Congress, Mike Waltz, as America’s UN Ambassador?
Rep. Randy Fine:
I think that if anyone can fix the UN, it would be Mike Waltz, but I don’t know that the UN is fixable. I think you have a democratic institution that is led by undemocratic nations. Other than at the Security Council, we just get one vote. So does Iran, so does Yemen, so does Pakistan, so does Qatar and all these other places that hate us. I don’t know that the UN as an entity is salvageable. I’ve often had a slogan that says ‘from the river to the sea, Manhattan shall be UN-free.’ If it were up to me, I don’t know that I could justify borrowing money from our children and grandchildren to fund the UN; I’m not convinced that the UN isn’t an institution that has outlived its usefulness. Donald Trump in particular could go and put up some really nice condominiums.
Washington Reporter:
What do you think that the message from these countries in the West is sending to the countries that are currently in the Abraham Accords, as well as to other countries that have been considering joining them for years at this point?
Rep. Randy Fine:
The message it’s sending is really not for those countries. It’s to the Muslim terrorists, and it’s saying ‘go kill a bunch of people and you’ll get rewarded.’ I think it sends the absolute wrong message, and also sends the message that you can invade Western nations, become a reasonable-sized voting bloc, and then change and then change the policy again; in the case of the UK, it is unclear that this is ideological as opposed to political. They’re dependent on the votes of those who believe in Muslim terror in order to stay in power, and they may have to cater to Muslim terror. That is really the profound thing, and there’s a lesson in this for the United States. We have got to tackle legal immigration. We can’t allow the next generation of Ilhan Omars to become Americans, people that we’ve allowed into this country who hate it. We’ve been so focused on illegal immigration that we have not adequately focused on fixing the legal immigration system. If you want to immigrate to the United States, you should have to love America, share our values, and plan to assimilate and to add value. Instead, our legal immigration system is too full of people who hate America, don’t share our values, don’t want to assimilate and don’t want to add value, and then you end up with the Muslim Mayor of Dearborn, Michigan telling a Christian he’s not welcome in his own country. That’s where we’re headed if we don’t solve this problem.
Washington Reporter:
What do you hope that Trump says to the UN when he speaks to them this week, both about the decision by some UN members to recognize this non-existent country of “Palestine,” and more broadly about his vision for the next three and a half years of his presidency?
Rep. Randy Fine:
I think we should start recognizing fake countries in these other places. We should recognize made up places like Mordor, for instance. But what do I think Trump should do? I think Trump should make clear that the United States will stand with Israel in the civilizational struggle of our time, which is the fight against Muslim terror. I think he should also say that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. America is not going to be the world’s sucker anymore. And I think he’s made that very, very clear in his foreign policy. All he has to do is keep saying more of what he’s been saying, and it will be fine, but I wouldn’t mind if he said to these countries that have chosen to embrace Muslim terror that there will be consequences for doing so.
Washington Reporter:
Finally, what is your Rosh HaShanah message to Jews in America, as well as to Jews in these other Western countries whose governments have, as you said, caved to Muslim terror?
Rep. Randy Fine:
What I can say is that America still stands with them. Yes, we have some insidious strains of anti-Semitism here, obviously in a big swathe of the Democratic Party and there are even some elements on our side, but the overwhelming majority of Americans — and certainly Republicans — stand with the Jewish people and stand with Israel. Donald Trump certainly does. We have no greater champion. And as it relates to me, they can know that I’m new, but I’m there, and I’m not afraid to fight, and I’m going to be standing up not only for my constituents in the 6th Congressional District, but for every Jewish person in the country and around the world.
Washington Reporter:
Well, they are lucky to have you, Shana Tova to you, Congressman Fine.