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An Unholy Trinity: Pastor John Hagee’s Christians United for Israel, The End Times & Israel [1]

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Date: 2023-08-10

John Charles Hagee is an American pastor and televangelist; the founder of John Hagee Ministries, which telecasts to the United States and Canada, and the author of numerous books. After a major controversy sidelined him in the 2008 presidential race, Pastor Hagee has fully realized his comeback!

Hagee is also the founder and chairman of the Christian-Zionist organization Christians United for Israel, the most politically powerful U.S. organization supporting the right-wing government in Israel. So powerful that several Republican Party presidential hopefuls spoke at its recent annual conference.

The Associated Press’ Tiffany Stanley reported that “This year’s CUFI event comes as widespread protests have engulfed Israel, and tens of thousands of protesters have been on the streets to push back against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government. At stake is Netanyahu’s proposed overhaul of the country’s judiciary, which critics say would do away with important checks on the prime minister’s power and push the country toward authoritarianism.”

Christian Zionists and Armageddon purveyors see Israel as the lynchpin for the End Times, with Jewish control over the Holy Land being necessary for the coming of a Christian messiah.

According to Mother Jones’ Sam Van Pykeren, Hagee has been involved in “presidential races for years, with his support sought after by candidates from the Bushes (H. and W.) to Trump… . As the founder of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas (established in 1966), Hagee made a name for himself not only as a televangelist but also for his offensive rhetoric, including blaming gay people for Hurricane Katrina, claiming that God sent Hitler to create Israel, and suggesting that women are only good for childbearing and motherhood.”

Hagee’s recent Christians United for Israel (CUFI) annual summit drew the usual suspects: hard-hitting Christian nationalists offering up unhinged tributes to the state of Israel. With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government in place, Christian nationalists/Zionists feel right at home.

Stanley reported (https://religionnews.com/2023/07/20/crowded-gop-field-vies-for-the-christian-zionist-vote-as-israels-rightward-shift-spurs-protests/), “Hagee and CUFI hosted several presidential contenders at their annual summit in suburban Washington … including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence. They all pledged fierce loyalty to Israel and were unified in criticizing President Joe Biden as weak.”

The Washington Post’s Ishaan Tharoor noted that “a stream of Republican presidential hopefuls all stressed their embrace of maximalist vision of Israel. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis openly rejected the idea of a two-state solution along Israel’s pre-1967 borders, including a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem. He said he didn’t think the West Bank was even ‘occupied.’ In a speech earlier this year in Jerusalem, DeSantis stopped short of even recognizing the existence of the Palestinian people.

“Other GOP contenders, including former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and former vice president Mike Pence, also flaunted their pro-Israel bona fides to an audience of U.S. evangelicals.”

For Republican presidential candidates these days, Hagee, the overlord of a politically powerful multi-million dollar media and mega-church empire, is the man to court. And while Hagee comes with a checkered past, that doesn’t seem to bother the GOP hopefuls. In 2008, Republican Party presidential nominee John McCain had to disavow Hagee’s support owing to the surfacing of an anti-Semitic sermon, in which Hagee claimed that Hitler was sent by God to get Jews to “to come back to the land of Israel.”

Although Donald Trump did not attend the CUFI summit, last year he wrote, “No President has done more for Israel than I have. Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the U.S.”

“Republican politics have changed dramatically since 2008 so the boundaries of what gets one disqualified from the conversation are way looser,” said Daniel Hummel, author of Covenant Brothers: Evangelicals, Jews, and U.S.-Israeli Relations, in an email to The Associated Press. “More to the point, CUFI has close to 20 years of demonstrated effectiveness in DC, and claims 10 million-plus members, which I’m sure the candidates understand as politically useful.”

“The problem with CUFI is their understanding of supporting Israel is to back up a right-wing government and back up the occupation — that’s not in the best interest of the long-term sustainability of Israel,” said Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the CEO of T’ruah, a rabbinic human rights organization based in the U.S.

Jacobs added, “They see Jews as necessary props in their Christian messianic vision. That’s certainly not being pro-Israel or pro-Jewish.”

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/10/2186382/-An-Unholy-Trinity-Pastor-John-Hagee-s-Christians-United-for-Israel-The-End-Times-Israel

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