Netanyahu speaks

"We are witnessing a dramatic transformation in the relationship between Christians and Jews, who are focusing now on the common values and the common future we both share," Netanyahu said.

"And these shared values set Israel apart from regimes like Syria that butchers its own people mercilessly. And from countries like Iran, whose leaders foment terrorism and violence around the globe and all for our destruction," he said.

"I think I don't have to explain to you why this [Iranian] regime must never be allowed to have nuclear weapons," he said.

Netanyahu also pointed out that Christians are free to practice their religion in Israel: "At a time when Christians are under siege in so many places and so many lands in the Middle East, I'm proud that in Israel, they are free to practice their faith," he said. "They don't have to fear, they don't have to flee."

Controversial Hagee/controversial CUFI

According to a post at DemocraticUnderground.com, "CUFI has members in all 50 states, it hold dozens of events every month in every corner of the US. In Washington, its annual conference attracts more than 5,000 participants.

"It is powerful and growing stronger, even though a word of caution is advised: A member of CUFI only has to sign on and give an active email address - no dues involved. But the leaders of CUFI say that such emails are what make CUFI's potential impact. Behind the active emails there are active supporters, ready to send a letter, to attend a rally, to call a congressman, to make contribution when necessary."

For years, many Jews have been uncomfortable with the growing relationship between the Christian Right and Israel's right wing. And they have been equally uncomfortable with Pastor Hagee, whose anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic and outrageous remarks about gays being responsible for Hurricane Katrina forced Senator John McCain to disavow his support during the2008 presidential campaign.

Perhaps Hagee's most outrageous statement came in a tape discovered by Talk2Action's Bruce Wilson that had Hagee claiming that God sent Hitler to chase Europe's Jews to Israel.

This year, Hagee has re-emerged as an important political player in GOP politics. According to Mother Jones' Tim Murphy, Hagee will be hosting Newt Gingrich at a meeting in San Antonio. "Every so often [Hagee] pops up like a Whac-A-Mole and then goes away again," Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United, who was part of the anti-Hagee choir three years ago, told Mother Jones. "Why does someone like Newt Gingrich feel like he has to have a public association with this person? Clearly it's about politics."

Brog-ging for CUFI

At the Jerusalem meeting, CUFI executive director David Brog pointed out that "With Iran steadily progressing towards a nuclear weapon, and Palestinian terrorists once again reminding the world that they are more concerned with destroying Israel than making peace, I believe that the news of our having crossed the million member threshold could not have come at a more critical juncture. Our first million members is a solid start, but we've only just begun."

According to the Jerusalem Post, CUFI's executive director David Brog "sought to dispel concerns about negative theological motivations attributed by some to the Evangelical movement. He labeled the claim that Evangelicals support Israel in order to herald the return of Jesus and the conversion of Jews as `complete and utter nonsense,' and said such claims were based on `ignorance.'

"Christians, he said, do not believe that anything on Earth can influence the messiah's coming and that his arrival will be at a preordained time.

"Instead, he said, Evangelicals support Israel because of a literalist interpretation of the Bible that views the promises made to the people of Israel as still intact - as opposed to `Replacement Theology,' which is widely held by many other Christian denominations and posits that the Christian Church inherited the biblical promises to the Jewish people."

In 2010, End Times researcher and Talk2Action contributor Rachel Tabachnick told me that the End Times plays a significant role in all of Hagee's activities: "Hagee's books and sermons sketch out the prophetic timeline that he believes will be fulfilled in this generation -- what he describes as the terminal generation. The ingathering of Jews in Israel is considered a prerequisite to the 1000-year reign of Jesus in the end times. Christian Zionists view themselves as `fishers' who must befriend and persuade Jews to move to Israel before the `time of the hunters.' Hunters are those who will violently force the remaining Jews around the world to leave their respective nations and flee to Israel.