Amidst the hustle and bustle of the General Assembly in Los Angeles, Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight, the star of movies such as “Glory Road,” “Ali,” “Mission Impossible” and 2007’s “National Treasure II: The Book of Secrets,” took a few minutes to talk to CampusJ about how his religious beliefs fostered his love for Israel and the Jewish people.

Why did you take the time to come to the GA?

It’s a very important event. The whole story of the Jewish people and the Jewish faith is a story that affects all the world and has affected all the world since the beginning with Abraham. The basis of all laws [is] the Ten Commandments, and whether you’re even spiritual or not…the Jewish people have brought forth the columns that will eventually reveal peace on this planet. We are all indebted to the Jewish people and its history. I am very grateful to be here.

What does the State of Israel mean to you?

If you read Isaiah…the Jewish people believe that you always have to leave on a positive note, that you should never leave on a down note. In the end of Isaiah, it talks about all the terrible things that are going to be happening to the Jewish people of that time…and then he [says] that there is hope for the future.
Isaiah says: “Before the birth pangs are complete, a child will be born”…and [I believe that] he is talking at that time about Israel.
We have seen the nation of Israel come forth out of the Holocaust. I’m a poet, I appeal to poetry. I’m an actor and those words to me mean that the nation will be given back to the Jewish people at a time when there seems to be no hope, turmoil, great pain, all of a sudden the birth will happen. That’s why Christians are probably the allies at this time, because they interpret that the same way maybe as I do.

Have you ever been to Israel?

I was in Israel in the early ’80s only for eight hours. I really have to go back and experience it another time. Since then I have made many, many close friends in Israel. My heart is in Israel.