Christian Zionist beliefs align with groups in American Jewish community and in Israel that support settler movement and oppose two-state solution.

CUFI founder John Hagee said “We support Israel because all other nations were created by an act of men, but Israel was created by an act of God!” Hagee also told followers that “God opposes giving away the land.” His movement claims it has raised more than $12 million to help settle new immigrants in Israel, including in settlements in Occupied Territories.

Ed McAteer was founder of evangelical Religious Roundtable and a major organizing force in Christian Right. He once declared “every grain of sand between the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, and the Mediterranean Sea belongs to the Jews. This includes the West Bank and Gaza.”

ICEJ director Malcolm Hedding said “We stand for the right that all the land that God gave under the Abrahamic covenant 4000 years ago is Israel’s… There is no such thing as a Palestinian.”

Ted Beckett founded CFIC. He describes mission of CFIC as providing “solidarity, comfort and aid” to settlers in “Judea, Samaria, and Gaza.” The organization pairs US churches with individual Israeli settlements so that former can support latter. In one celebrated example Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada, Colorado “adopted” the West Bank settlement of Ariel. It reportedly provided funds for a library, health clinic, and other needs.

Christian Zionists oppose a two-state solution or any other form of territorial concession to Palestinians. On eve of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat breakthrough visit to Jerusalem in 1977 evangelical groups published advertisements in major American newspapers. They said they viewed “with grave concern any effort to carve out of the Jewish homeland another nation or political entity.”

In 1996 the Third International Christian Zionist Congress resolved that “the Land which He promised to His People is not to be partitioned… It would be further error for the nations to recognize a Palestinian state in any part of Eretz Israel.”

Pat Robertson is Christian Right leader and former GOP presidential hopeful. He suggested that stroke suffered by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in January 2006 was divine retribution for Sharon decision to withdraw from Gaza Strip. Robertson said “He was dividing God’s land and I would say woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the [European Union], the United Nations, or the United States of America… God says, ‘this land belongs to me. You better leave it alone.’” Robertson later apologized for his “inappropriate and insensitive” remarks.

Source: The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy

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