Peoria Mayor Jason Beck is a staunch supporter of Israel in the war against terrorist group Hamas, and his passion for the Israeli people guided him to travel to the war zone for eight days in November and see the carnage for himself.
In an 11-minute video posted to social media Nov. 8, he documented his tour of Kibbutz Be’eri, the site of one of the most brutal massacres of the war that started on Oct. 7.
At the Nov. 14 Peoria City Council meeting, from the dais he spoke about his experience there, why he went and his takeaways from the visit.
This was the sixth time he has visited the region.
They need our support, said Beck, a Christian and owner of Peoria-based TYR Tactical, which produces tactical armor and other military products.
“With everything that we have going on in this world, and all the things we might disagree with up here, or disagree with at home or disagree with on the streets, I’ve seen tragedy all over the world in my specific industry, creating body armor. I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said. “The reason I (went to Israel) was not as mayor but as an individual citizen, as a person that I felt like should be telling the story of the reality of what’s going on, both over there, but also how we actually translate that to try to bring more grace and some goodness and caring for one and other, but also how we take care of each other.”
Beck visited Kibbutz Be’eri, located in southern Israel in the northwestern part of the Negev Desert near the border with the Gaza Strip, and met with foreign secretary Eli Cohen, Rabbi Rabinovich of the Western Wall, and other rabbis and pastors, he said.
On the first day of the war, Hamas militants attacked the area, leaving more than 120 dead, including women and children, while kidnapping others.
Homes were set ablaze, buildings were looted and left destroyed, and the battle rages on with little end in sight.
At the council meeting, Beck said his experience in Israel led him back to Peoria and the importance of three issues he ran on as a candidate for mayor: public safety, economic development and water.
First responders are needed to secure safety and well being in the city, economic development is needed to drive revenue in a difficult economy and water was one of the first things cut off during the war in Israel, he said.
“Those are three keys for me ... especially after seeing where our world is on the precipice of World War III. If you don’t think that’s the case, trust me I was just there. We’re on the edge,” Beck said. “If we think that what we saw overseas cannot happen here, I’m not talking about just in Peoria but in our country, it’s already happened. ... When is it going to happen next time? We have to think about how we’re going to take care of infrastructure, economic development and how we are taking care of our city from a public safety standpoint. Those are important pieces.”
Beck has shown support for Israel since the beginning of the war. In October, he donated 2,000 units of body armor to the Israel Defense Forces in the Middle East.
We need to support the Israelis in this fight, he said in the video, which has since been marked as private on social media.
“We need to support these men and women. We need to care for them,” he said. “Anyone else who wants to come over here, I would gladly bring them over here. I will do it myself.”
Philip Haldiman can be reached at phaldiman@iniusa.org, or on Twitter @philiphaldiman. We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
Meet Philip Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.
Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.
Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater.
Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.
Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.
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