I just want to reiterate my message to all of my Jewish friends here, in Israel, and all over the world: L’shana tova tikatevu. I am praying for you to have a great and prosperous New Year. You know our southern tradition for New Year’s is collard greens for prosperity and blackeyed peas for good luck. Doggone, just made myself hungry.

However, the most important point for y’all to know is that as a Christian, the modern-day state of Israel holds a special place in my heart…it is a spiritual home for me. When people ask who is my favorite individual from the Bible, well, I do not hesitate. It’s Joshua. I admire his resolve, his resolute leadership, and his courage as a military leader.

And it is in the current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that I see the spirit of Joshua, a true leader. But sadly, there is an example of someone who represents the complete opposite of Joshua.

As reported by Family Security Matters, “A former Ted Cruz operative is cashing $50,000 monthly checks from Qatar to set up meetings between Qatar’s leaders and the heads of American Jewish groups.

The Republican influence-peddler is hoping to whitewash Qatar’s extensive history of enabling terrorism funding and its use of its state-run Al Jazeera network to lionize extremists in support of vicious attacks on both America and Israel.

Talk about chutzpah. Qatar’s emir (began) his American visit on September 12, when he (was) slated to address the United Nations. Acting as his representative, Sen. Cruz’s former Deputy Chief of Staff Nick Muzin (had) been calling leaders from a variety of Jewish organizations asking them to meet with the Emir.

His role in Cruz’s office included outreach to the Jewish community. Muzin is getting paid handsomely to help advance the interests of the largest financier of Hamas, which is responsible for killing hundreds of Israelis and dozens of Americans.

Stonington Strategies, wholly owned by Muzin, boasted to O’Dwyers PR News that it signed a contract with Qatar for $50,000 per month. He also plays on his supposedly close friendship with Sen. Cruz by providing a photo, which appears near the top of the O’Dwyers story, showing Muzin and Cruz embracing in casual clothes. The intended message is clear: Qatar has retained Sen. Cruz’s “guy,” meaning that they must be moderate if their representative is so close with one of the strongest defenders of Israel in the Senate-or in all of politics.

As Qatar reels from sanctions imposed by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates for Qatar’s support for Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood, it is losing the public relations war in Washington as well as in Arab capitals. Persuading Jews to help whitewash Qatar’s recent history may well prove to be Mission Impossible. The Gulf State bastion of the Muslim Brotherhood movement has a well-documented history of supporting genocidal designs against Israel’s Jewish state.”

Incredibly enough, Nick Muzin is an Orthodox Jew. Then again, isn’t that also a description used for Jared Kushner? And so it appears that instead of being a Joshua, Nick Muzin ends up being a Judas. I don’t know what 30 pieces of silver would be in today’s economy but the principle is still the same: personal gain in betraying one’s people.

There should be NO amount of money that should force anyone to commit such a heinous act of treason against their own people. The facts are very clear, Qatar has been playing a game resembling the Roman god Janus: two-faced. They will boast of support to the U.S. in the fight against terrorism and hosting Al Uideed Airbase there. However, it their financial and media support to Islamic jihadism is well known. Heck, the freaking leader of Hamas lives in Qatar! Just like the Taliban five, those senior Taliban commanders Barack Obama gave up for our version of a traitor and deserter, Bowe Bergdahl, were released to the Qataris…anyone keeping track of those fellas?

It has been Qatar funding and enabling the Islamic State. And finally, the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council — Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE — called them out on it and implemented a very stringent boycott against them. And the boycott is hurting. So what does the Emir of Qatar do? He goes on a branding tour in America. Have you noticed this past week the commercials Qatar had playing on Fox News and Fox Business channels? There was even a Qatari senior official who appeared on “Mornings with Maria” this week in an attempt to re-brand his country…good luck with that, dude.

However, seeking out someone like Nick Muzin, who obviously places his lobbyist career over his Jewish faith, is disconcerting. But, it should be noted that there are some true stalwarts in the Jewish community; leaders who cannot be bought or cajoled.

“”In an era where headlines matter more than the actual stories, the fact that Jewish leaders will meet with Qatar’s emir may be the entire point of the meetings. This would especially contrast with the refusal of their Arab neighbors to engage in discussions right now. Perhaps that is why some Jewish leaders like Zionist Organization of America National President Morton Klein have been cool to Muzin’s proposals.

In a phone interview, Klein rejected any meeting with the emir proposed by Muzin, saying that such a meeting would only serve to “moderate” or improve the image of Qatar even as it continues to run the “Nazi-like” Al Jazeera television network. Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, rejected any specific meeting scheduled by Muzin with Qatar’s unelected ruler. He did this despite the fact the Conference regularly meets with other Arab and Muslim leaders.”

What I do ponder is whether the Emir of Qatar, or some representative, was given audience with the Trump administration, or with President Trump himself. It will be interesting to know the Trump administration position on the Gulf Cooperation Council boycott of Qatar. I can tell you that having been in Afghanistan, the UAE Special Operations forces were conducting missions on the ground there against the Taliban, along with flying combat missions with Egypt against the Islamic State in Libya. President al-Sisi kicked the Muslim Brotherhood out of power in Egypt, Obama was not happy about that. There are Countries who know the essence of who is funding this jihadist movement. We need to be on board.

The actions of Nick Muzin clearly show that the spirit of Judas is still alive. You just have to ask yourself, how does someone like that look at himself in the mirror? And an even greater question: how does someone like that walk into a synagogue and look his fellow Jews in the eyes?

[Learn more about Allen West’s vision for this nation in his book Guardian of the Republic: An American Ronin’s Journey to Faith, Family and Freedom]