Evangelical anti-Judaism undermines support for Israel
Reader comment on item: John Hagee, the Holocaust, and Me: Thinking about Allies

Submitted by ruben (Germany), Jun 26, 2008 at 14:40

Daniel,

Your participation in the conference despite the recent attention given to Hagee´s comments that the Holocaust is somehow in God´s plan, and his preaching of age-old Christian stereotypes about Jews, is quite strange.

You attempt to justify your position by trying to separate the ideological content (which you regard as simply "theological interpretations") from Hagee´s "practical support" for Israel. But I am not convinced the two can be so easily separated from one another.

If antisemitic ideology is the basis on which anti-Israeli political and military campaigns are based on, then the two seem intricately related. To participate in a conference with someone who perpetuates the first, then it actually works against your aim, because the ideology give support to and legitimizes anti-Israeli sentiment. Your justification just doesn´t seem to hold up.

Additionally, blind hawkish positions in relation to Israeli-Palestinian conflict also doesn´t help Israel. It only drives the country into deeper conflicts with its neighbors. While the state needs support, financially and politically from its current allies, it also needs moral, political, and social support from its neighbors. This kind of political change that is needed will not come about from blind hawkish policies, especially not when backed by evangelical visions of the end days. Instead, such positions only undermine the effort of Israel to normalize relations with its neighbors.

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Daniel Pipes replies:

Speaking at the CUFI conference neither implies my endorsement of Pastor Hagee's theology nor every political position he has taken - nor the reverse. We share a common concern for Israel's welfare and security, and that is what counts for me. He has done good and important work in this regard.