CNN: Many Israelis 'uncomfortable' with pastor who supports McCain David Edwards and Muriel Kane

Published: Wednesday April 9, 2008



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Print This Email This When radical right-wing pastor John C. Hagee announced his support for Republican presidential candidate John McCain last February, McCain, who had sought the endorsement for more than a year, immediately said he was "very honored." The Catholic League quickly accused Hagee of being a bigot, who has described the Catholic Church as a "false cult" and "the Great Whore of Revelation 17," and since then the McCain campaign has maintained its distance from Hagee. In contrast, many conservative Jews and Israelis have welcomed Hagee as a fervent supporter of Israel, who rejects the idea of a two-state solution and has given financial help to the illegal West Bank settlements. "The Jewish people are a chosen people, they are a cherished people, they are the apple of God's eye," Hagee recently stated while visiting Jerusalem with 1000 of his followers. Some Israelis, however, are disturbed by the doctrine of "pre-millenial dispensationalism," which holds that the rise of Israel will lead to the second coming of Christ and a final apocalyptic battle in which Jews must either accept Christianity or perish. Many liberal Jews also find Hagee's extremist politics unacceptable. For example, he has advocated "a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill Gods plan for both Israel and the West a biblically prophesied end-time confrontation with Iran, which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation, and Second Coming of Christ." Hagee's beliefs were denounced last week by the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, Rabbi Eric Yoffie. "If implemented, these views would mean disaster for Israel, and would lead to diplomatic isolation, increased violence and the loss of Israels Jewish majority," Yoffie stated. Yoffie also noted that "Christian Zionist leaders have engaged in repeated attacks, expressed sometimes in shocking and unacceptable language, directed against other religious traditions. This is not a matter of highlighting differences in belief but of making use of overheated rhetoric that spews hatred and vitriol toward the Muslim and Catholic faiths." Rev. Hagee shot back that "Rabbi Yoffie's speech demonstrates not only a lack of respect for me but a troubling lack of respect for the truth." There are now suggestions that the two men may meet to discuss their differences. This video is from CNN.com, broadcast April 8, 2008.

