Christians United For Israel - CUFI

DovBear had an interesting post today that linked to this article. Christians United for Israel, headed by the "venerable" Pastor John Hagee, had a big summit in Washington on July 16. Hagee, as you may know, seems to be God's Christian gift to the Jews. He supports Israel and even calls for its expansion, seems to love Jews, and has called for unilateral attacks against Iran to preempt Iran's seemingly imminent attack on Israel with nuclear weapons.

But there's a catch. In Max Blumenthal's own words:

But CUFI has an ulterior agenda: its support for Israel derives from the belief of Hagee and his flock that Jesus will return to Jerusalem after the battle of Armageddon and cleanse the earth of evil. In the end, all the non-believers - Jews, Muslims, Hindus, mainline Christians, etc. - must convert or suffer the torture of eternal damnation. Over a dozen CUFI members eagerly revealed to me their excitement at the prospect of Armageddon occurring tomorrow. Among the rapture ready was Republican Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

The sad thing is many right wing Orthodox Jews, including many hardcore Religious Zionists I know (see, I don't just bash Chareidim...), think that people on the Christian Right like Hagee and Bush are wonderful for Israel and are Israel's best hope in Israel's ongoing fight against terrorism within her own borders. This is obviously not the case.

And it gets worse:

None of this seemed to matter to Lieberman, who delivered a long sermon hailing Hagee as nothing less than a modern-day Moses. Lieberman went on to describe Hagee's flock as "even greater than the multitude Moses commanded."

Lieberman went so far as to call Hagee an "Ish Elokim" - a man of God. Lieberman, as we all know, isn't exactly an authority on Torah Judaism. But as ignorant as he is, how can even he fall for this Christian claptrap about being for Israel when there is ample evidence, even proof, that they are indeed not?

And when Blumenthal tried to ask tough questions, he was removed from the conference:

The conference, we were told, was about "one message" - evangelical Christians supporting Israel. We were instructed to only interview CUFI leaders capable of sticking to the talking point that their support for Israel has, as Hagee declared, "nothing to do with the End Times." But I was forbidden from asking Hagee about statements he made in his book, "Jerusalem Countdown," that appeared to blame Jews for their own persecution. After doing just that during a press conference, I was removed from the conference by off-duty DC cops summoned by members of Hagee's family.

I'm not sure where exactly this idea that Evangelical Christians can be true friends of Jews came from, but it's very disturbing. These people do not love Jews. They want Jews to be Christians or be damned to Hell forever. This is there "hashkafa," their calling, their purpose in life. They want Israel in the hands of Jews not because they believe Jews deserve it but because they believe the Holy Land needs to be in the hands of the Jews, or at least in the hands of non-infidels, in order for Jesus to have his "second coming." According to their beliefs, at that point, it's either convert or be damned, but all the world will be Christian, or some such nonsense.

Watch the video, be enlightened, and DON'T BE TAKEN IN BY THESE PEOPLE. THEY ARE NOT OUR FRIENDS. THEY ARE OUR SPIRITUAL ENEMIES TO THE END AND STAND FOR THE OPPOSITE OF EVERYTHING IN WHICH WE BELIEVE.