(horn blowing)

- This week on "Jerusalem Dateline."

An exclusive interview

with former Secretaryof State Mike Pompeo,

who discusses the accomplishments

of the former us administration

and the challenges facing this one.

And violence in Lebanon

as the probe continues intolast year's Beirut blast.

Plus Palm trees sproutedfrom 2000 year old seeds.

All this and more this weekon "Jerusalem Dateline."

Hello and welcome to thisedition of "Jerusalem Dateline,"

I'm Julie Stahl fillingin for Chris Mitchell.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,

played a key role in theforeign policy accomplishments

of the Trump administration.

He sat down with CBN news,

Middle East Bureau ChiefChris Mitchell in Jerusalem

to discuss what he sees

as some of the major foreignand domestic challenges

facing the United States and Israel.

- [Chris] Nearly two months

after the US pullout from Afghanistan,

secretary Pompeo told CBN news

how the consequences are playingout in Israel and beyond.

- Well, I've heard overthese past few days

while I've been here in Israel,

I've heard from manyof the Israeli leaders,

and security establishment,

they're very concerned.

They're concerned not onlyabout the increased terror risk,

that there'll be roomfor Al Qaeda for ISIS

or for both to grow inthe region in Afghanistan,

and that this will embolden Iran.

But also they're worried,

they're worried because they saw

America execute awithdrawal from Afghanistan

that can only be described as a debacle.

Not only did we have 13Americans killed so tragically,

but we still have Americanswho are behind enemy lines.

It made no sense to me,

the way the Biden administrationexecuted that withdrawal.

And I think America's credibilityin the world was damaged,

as a result of that.

I pray that we're able toget that credibility back.

- One impact of the pull-out

seems to be a more belligerent China.

How would you describe thethreat of China right now?

- All of these things are interconnected.

Leaders around the world

watch how American presidents behave.

They can sense American weakness,

that America is not preparedto honor the red lines

that it has drawn to protectAmerica's vital interests.

And so I think what you're seeing

from the Chinese Communist Party

is precisely what you'dsee follow from that.

They're gonna test, they're gonna push,

and the first place we're seeing this test

is 150+ aircraft flying

into the air defenseidentification zone for Taiwan.

I hope the American administration

is prepared to do the right thing

to support the people of Taiwan.

- You've been the CIAdirector, secretary of state.

What keeps you up at night?

- The single biggest thing

that keeps me up at night today,

is the fact that we areteaching our kids in school,

things that are so deeply disconnected

from the American tradition,

that it is incomprehensiblefor me to understand.

We now have teachers whowant to tell our kids

that our nation wasfounded on a racist idea.

They wanna tell childrenthat because of their race,

they may well be the powerful

and the other group be the victim.

This is not the America that I have known.

It's not the America that I've read about.

It's not the American tradition.

We had a noble founding.

We are the most exceptional nation

in the history of civilization.

And if we refuse toteach our children that,

then the Republic is at risk.

- Secretary, you're anevangelical Christian,

you're here in Jerusalem.

What does Jerusalem mean to you?

- I was at the Church of theHoly Sepulcher yesterday,

where Jesus was crucified,died and buried,

and then rose from the tomb.

This is at the center ofwho we are as Christians.

And to get to once again,

to walk this place is a reminder

of how central Christianity is to humanity

and how important it is

that as we enter public life,

that we keep Christianity andour faith at the center of it.

And we never fear.

We are disciplined, we are true,

we are tolerant of peopleof other faiths as well,

but we know who we are andas believers in Jesus Christ.

Mr. Secretary, thanks for joining us.

- Thank you very much, sir-- Good to be with you.

- It was wonderful to see you again.

(effects whooshing)

- In a meeting in Washington,

both Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid,

and Secretary of State Antony Blinken

warned about Iran raceto get a nuclear bomb.

The US says it's willing

to reenter the nuclear dealwith Iran known as a JCPOA,

but time is running out.

- We're getting closer to a point

at which returning tocompliance with the JCPOA

will not in and of itself

recapture the benefits of the JCPOA.

- Iran is publicly stated,

it wants to wipe us out.

We have no intentionof letting this happen.

(effects whooshing)

- Iranian proxy Hezbollah,

was at the center of violent clashes

that erupted in theLebanese capital of Beirut.

The trouble is just thelatest to rock the country,

that's teetering on the verge of collapse.

The clashes broke out at a protest,

where supporters ofHezbollah and its allies

were demonstratingagainst a judicial probe

into last year's massive port blast.

At least six people werekilled in exchanges of gunfire

involving snipers, pistols, Kalashnikovs

and rocket propelled grenades.

The trouble comes amid allegations

that has Hezbollah is tryingto obstruct the investigation

into the blast,

while Hezbollah says the presiding judge

is trying to politicize it.

The Lebanese Armyrestored calm to the city.

Lebanon's president Michel Aoun

vowed to hold accountable,

those responsible for the clashes,

as well as whoever was behindlast year's Beirut blast.

Just days before thetrouble on the streets,

the country suffered a massive blackout,

when the state powerplants ran out of fuel.

Lebanon's electric gridis back online now,

after the army supplied fuel

to two key power stations,

but as Chris Mitchell reports,

it's one more sign of a nation in trouble.

- [Chris] The blackout plunged Beirut,

once known as the Paris ofthe Middle East into the dark.

For a time car headlightsbecame the main source of light.

(speaking in foreign language)

- [Interpreter] We usedto have electricity

for an hour daily, now it's totally cut.

We're spending our time outside our homes

so our children can have fun.

The situation is getting worse.

May God protect us us, wedon't know where we're heading.

- [Chris] The lack ofpower represents a crisis

for hospitals, essential services

and ordinary people

trying to keep their refrigerators running

and food from spoiling.

Last week, Jordan agreed tosupply electricity to Lebanon,

but that deal could takemonths to implement.

The energy crisis as partof a larger political

and economic crisis,

where Lebanon's currencyhas lost 90% of its value.

Recently, these depositorsstormed this bank

in Central Beirut after thebank blocked their money.

(speaking in foreign language)

- [Interpreter] I'm demandingmy right and my money.

All my years of work were robbed.

They robbed people's work

and they put them in the nameof their children abroad.

- A new government took office recently,

the first since the massiveexplosion in August, 2020,

that devastated the City of Beirut,

but Israeli analysts

and retired Brigadier GeneralAssaf Orion told CBN News,

Lebanon is not only a failedstate, but a fake state,

because the terrorist group Hezbollah,

is the real power inside the country.

- They're running the show.

They allow legitimate veneer

of Christian, Sunni's and others

to take part in this facade.

And as long as the worldbuys it and keeps on paying,

it will keep on rolling.

(upbeat music)

- [Julie] Coming up formersecretary of state Pompeo,

discusses the futureof the Abraham Accords

and the threat of Iran.

(upbeat music)

- I often Marvel, whenPat tells the stories

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(upbeat music)

- Now that the Abraham Accords

has celebrated its one year anniversary,

Israel's Knesset is moving to ensure

the agreements cansurvive the test of time.

- The establishment here at the Knesset

of the Abraham Accords Caucus

is the next step insolidifying the relationship

between Israel and herSunni Arab neighbors.

Caucus co-chair Ruth Wasserman Lande,

says leaders acrossIsrael's political spectrum

are uniting behind the Accords.

- And as you could see,

you had people from formergovernment, current government.

The fact that this is

a real national interest ofthe country and of the region.

And I pray to God thatthis is just the beginning.

- Bahrain's ambassadorshared his country support

for expanding and protecting the Accords.

- It can be the mechanism

that enables us despite the differences

to put our hands together

and work towards one goal,

a safer, more prosperousand secure Middle East.

- The event brought togethermany architects of the Accords

like Jared Kushner,

who says the peace agreements

have started a ripple effect.

- It's spreadingthroughout the Middle East,

it's spreading throughout the world,

Muslims in Indonesia,

Muslims in Saudi Arabia,Muslims in Malaysia,

Muslims in Pakistan.

They're seeing that Israel

is not what they've been told it is,

and they're seeing thatIsraelis are welcoming

their Muslim brothers,

and they're seeing that there's a lot

that we could be doing together.

- This Bahraini sharesa unique perspective

after working with Israelis.- This is my first visit,

but it's not my firstinteraction with Israeli people.

I'm a humanitarian, so I doa lot of work internationally

and lucky enough, I had the pleasure

to meet a lot of Israelis around the world

who are volunteering with me as well.

And to me they're great people.

- [Chris] US representativespledge support

to advance the Accords.

- The Biden administrationnow continues working

to expand normalization efforts

and to deepen Israel'sexisting relationships

and to bring new countries into the fold.

- [Chris] Former PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu,

credited the Trump administration

for changing policy towardsIsrael and Arab leaders.

- They understood now,

that the road to Washington

passed not through Ramallah,but through Jerusalem,

because that was the American policy.

They said, if you wanteven better relations

with the United States,

then make peace with Israel.

So the change in Americanpolicy was critical.

I have to say that without it,

you could bake the cake,but you can't finish it.

You can't put the topping on it,

without this crucial change.

- [Chris] Netanyahu added,

while Israel and the Sunni Arab nations

face a common enemy, he'soptimistic about the future.

- I believe that if we continueto move in this direction

and if we don't fallinto yesterday's traps

and the failed policies of the past,

our grandchildren willlook back at this moment

and say that the peace of Abraham,

brought the sons of Abraham together.

- [Chris] Chris Mitchell, CBNNews, the Knesset Jerusalem.

(effects whooshing)

- Former Secretary of State Pompeo,

addressed the futureof the Abraham Accords

as well as the threat from Iran

in his interview with Chris Mitchell.

- Mr. Secretary, thanksfor joining us on CBN News.

- Yeah, it's great to bewith you again, Chris.

- Tell us about the Abraham Accords,

what do you see for the future.

- I am still so happy thatthese amazing leaders,

Mohammed bin Zayed in the Emirates,

the crown prince and theleadership in Bahrain

and Sudan and Morocco,

and then of course, President Trump

and Prime Minister Netanyahu,

were able to take this bold decision

and put in place thisset of understandings,

which will make life better for people

throughout the regions.

I think this changed history.

I don't think it's going to go back.

I think the people of these nations

can see that this is therightful Jewish homeland

and ought to be recognized as such.

It's not good foreign policy

to have the destruction of Israel

at the center of how youthink about the world.

The commerce, the trade,

the defense work that will be done

between these nationswill create prosperity

for people in every one of them.

And I think that's why ultimately

there'll be many other nations

that will see this asboth right, and righteous.

- Your administrationgot out of the JCPOA.

It seems like the Biden administration

is eager to get back into it.

What would be the consequences

if the Biden Administrationrenews the Irani nuclear deal.

- Yeah, you'll be that much closer

to an Islamic Republic of Iran.

A kleptocracy a theocracy,

you'll have a nuclear weapons program.

And it may be a year, it may be two years

before they get it,

but they will have a clear lawful pathway

to a nuclear weapons program.

Second thing is,

you'll see a wealthier IslamicRepublic of Iran regime.

You'll see them with moremoney, more resources.

That means more terror,

more bombs blowing up inplaces like Brussels and Paris.

That means more militiasoperating inside of Iraq

and Hezbollah more well-armed.

We had put real sanctions in place

that were putting the Iranian regime

in the difficult position

about having to make hard decisions

about how they were gonnaresource their country.

This administration appears to be prepared

to unlock that and give the regime

billions and billions of dollars.

I pray that that's not the case,

and I can assure you the nationsall across the Middle East

feel the same way.

Not only the Israelis,

but the Gulf state Arabs.

We had isolated Iran,

the other nations were in on an alliance

that understood that Iran

was the world's largeststate sponsor of terror,

and that stability in the region

depended on pushing back againstIran, not against Israel.

- Do you see the US ever helping Israel,

if it decides to do amilitary strike against Iran?

- It's more than justthe military alliance,

it's more than just intelligence sharing,

it's a central understandingof our two peoples.

We have a Judeo-Christianheritage in the United States.

This is an importantdemocracy in the Middle East.

We have an obligation to have

a deep and important relationshipwith the people of Israel.

(upbeat music)

- [Julie] Up next sprouting date seeds

from 2000 year old seeds,

bearing fruit from the time of the Bible.

- It is the most importantarcheological site,

nevertheless, it has never been excavated.

- [Announcer] An almost impossible task.

- Temple Mount was thelargest religious compound

in the ancient world.

- [Man] Is the most politicized

piece of real estate in the world.

- [Announcer] Leads to an improbable find.

- There is an ancientroad, also 2000 years old.

- [Man] That is the building,

which is referred to in the new Testament.

- [Announcer] That is confirmingthe stories of the Bible.

- Where did Jesus walk?

There's no question, Hewalked on these steps.

- You can see it, there'sno way to refute that.

They existed, they walkedhere, they talked here.

- [Announcer] See the evidenceleft by an ancient witness.

- He lived there, he sawit, he knew the details.

- And it's like thecrown of our discoveries.

- [Man] May cause a rewriting

of the history of the Temple Mount.

- [Announcer] And discoverwhat was "Written In Stone,"

Secrets Of The Temple.

Get your copy today for agift of any dollar amount.

Available now.

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♪ Joy's inside my heart ♪

♪ Joy ♪

♪ I dance around because I know it ♪

♪ Joy ♪

♪ I move around because I got it ♪

♪ Joy ♪

♪ Joy's inside my heart ♪

- [Narrator] Being a leader in life.

- Why is He doing this.

- [Narrator] Sometimesmeans humbling yourself.

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- [Narrator] Two stories

about the blessings of serving others,

Explorer Volume 30.

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(upbeat music)

- In the middle of Israel's Arava Desert,

a farming community isbringing trees back to life.

One of them is already bearing fruit

from the time of the Bible.

This little young lookingPalm tree named Judith

carries an ancient heritage.

- So talking about the resurrection

of 2000 year old plus ancient date seeds,

that come from the Judeandesert and from Masada

and which are part of ascientific experiment.

- [Julie] Growing in a greenhousefor the last nine years,

Judith was recently transplanted

in what Kibbutz Ketura calls

the ancient Judean date orchard,

journalists even pitched in to help.

She's the fifth suchtree to be planted there,

after Methuselah, Adam, Jonah and Hannah.

- We are planting oursecond female date tree,

who was sprouted from an ancient seed.

Actually this one came from Qumran,

was found in the caves

and much to our astonishment,she also sprouted.

- This is Hannah behindme, the first female tree.

She was planted in 2019.

Pollinated by Methuselah,

last year, she had around a hundred dates.

This year, she had 621 dates,

and this is part of, one of them.

Dr. Sarah Sallon, a medical doctor,

started this projectmore than 15 years ago,

after becoming interestedin natural medicine.

- I wanted see how medicinalthe flora of Israel was

and what it had been used for and so on.

And then I realized thatmany of these species

had actually disappeared.

And we knew what there was

because it's mentioned in the Bible.

The Bible is our guidebookof ancient species.

- [Julie] One thatdisappeared centuries ago

was the Judean date.

The date is mentioned in the Bible

as one of the seven species

found in the ancient land of Israel.

- Now, we see datesall the way along here,

Palm trees and all theKibbutzim are growing plants

and look at the plantations on Ketura,

those date palms of modernday, Israel are modern,

and they were important

after the founding ofthe State in the 1950s,

but they're not the originaldate tree that grew here.

- [Julie] Years ago at Masada,

archeologists found a jarof those ancient date seeds.

- In ancient times, the classical writers

described in detail, thedates of ancient Judea.

Why?

Because they were famous, theywere big, they were sweet,

they were very dry,

that allowed them to be exportedall over the Roman empire,

and they had medicinal qualities.

- [Julie] Sallon obtainedfive of those original seeds

and gave them to botanistDr. Elaine Solowey.

After devising a method to sprout them,

Solowey has succeeded

in sprouting seeds found in other places,

such as the Qumran caves,

where the dead sea scrolls were found.

- I think the biggestproblem is hydrating them

because if you hydrate them too quickly,

you kill them and you getone crack at each seed.

So far, we have fivemales and two females,

seven altogether.

And I've tried lots of seeds,

and most of them areas dead as door nails.

- [Julie] 15 Years ago,

the first tree Sollowaysprouted was a male,

they called him Methuselah

after the oldest person in the Bible.

CBN News got its first look, 10 years ago

when Methuselah was still in the lab,

there are currentlyaround 856,000 date palms

growing in Israel.

Salowey planted some 3000of them on kibbutz Ketura,

where each tree produces around350 pounds of dates a year.

And Solloway and Sallonare hoping eventually

to add the revived Judeandates to the harvest.

- We're gonna be testingthose dates in the future

to see actually what they do,

and whether they differ

from other commercialvarieties of modern dates.

So for the kibbutz, it's a big venture.

- [Julie] Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed

director of the Arava Institute,

sees this as planting seeds from the past

to bear a special kind ofneeded fruit for the future.

- If you don't look back to the history,

you will not see the future.

And here we're actually planting history

at the Arava Institute.

We hope one day that with these trees,

that came from 2000 years ago,

will be the hope of peace in our region.

(upbeat music)

- [Julie] Still ahead,

the largest Byzantinewine-making factory ever found

is uncovered in Israel.

- Thank you for watching"Jerusalem Dateline,"

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(upbeat music)

- A sprawling wine makingfactory from the Byzantine era

was uncovered in Southern Israel recently.

Archeologists say it's thelargest known complex of its kind

from that time period in the world.

Israeli archeologists uncovered

this huge wine making complex

in the coastal city of Yavne.

- And this area was one of themajor centers of wine growing

and wine production forinternational trade.

- The Israel antiquities Authority,

began this excavation here in 2019.

It's a Byzantine era industrial zone,

and it's one of the largest excavations.

The IAA has ever carried out.

Some 200 to 300 peoplework at the site daily.

In use during the fifthand sixth centuries,

the facility would haveproduced and marketed

more than half a milliongallons of wine each year.

- It was certainly a prestigious wine.

I mean, this was a winethat we know was presented

during the coronations of Byzantine Kings,

Justin II, had wines from this region

and what was called Gazanwine presented at his table,

during his coronation.

- [Julie] While the name comes from

where the wine was exported,

the major headline from thisdiscovery is it size and scope.

- [Jon] This is whatis real revolutionary,

in the way that we havenot one single wine press

somewhere in the field,

but we have five wine presses of huge size

for mass production of wineall together in a cluster.

And they're all situated

within a well-planned industrial state.

So we have rows that gobetween the way presses,

they mirror each other intheir architectural design.

And they all have the possibility

of having a huge quantityof wine produced in them.

- Excavation Director, Dr. Jon Seligman,

explained how it worked.

- So the great Jews couldhave come from behind me over

from the treading floor,

flowed through this channel

and down into this area in front of me.

This is what we call a filtration pit.

It's the place where the grape juice

was separated from the skins,

that then would flow through our pipes.

And to either side tothe collection vents,

there are three to four daysof fermentation in the pits.

So that's the three, four days of time

when they would be treadingand filling the other one.

Keeps swapping back and forth.

- [Julie] The grapes could have come from

surrounding vineyards,

and the site had kilnsfor making the jars.

- They have like a torpedo shape,

and that was somethingwhich was known to people,

just like you know, whata Cola bottle looks like

without having the wordCola written on it.

- [Julie] The jars then went to

one of four huge warehousesfor fermentation.

- So the aging would have taken place

over a relatively short period,

in these large warehouses

and then the wine would'vebeen taken from here

to the port and then exported abroad

or drank here in the varioussites around the city.

- According to Seligman,

wine was often the drinkof choice in those days

because of the poor qualityof the drinking water.

Excavations here are scheduledto continue for two years.

The site was supposed tobe paved as a highway,

but now the city plans tobuild a bridge over it,

to make it accessible to tourists.

That's all for this editionof "Jerusalem Dateline,"

thanks for joining us.

Remember, you can follow us

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I'm Julie Stahl,

we'll see you next timeon "Jerusalem Dateline"

(upbeat music)