Hagee cautious on Mideast talks
Web Posted: 10/14/2007 10:47 PM CDT
Amid the festive celebration Sunday night at Cornerstone Church s annual event to honor the Jewish people and Israel was a stern warning from speakers about the current threat of proposed Middle East peace talks to Israel s future.
Pastor John Hagee, the most visible leader for the Christian Zionist movement, spoke of the dangers of the topics he said were set to be raised during the Middle East summit planned for next month in Annapolis, Md., initiated by President Bush.
He said Dore Gold, former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, told him pre-summit talks have raised the idea of Israel ceding part of the Arab community in Jerusalem to Palestinian sovereignty. And the talks include some sort of “internationalization” of that city s holy sites such as the Mount of Olives and the City of David.
“For the first time in the history of the world, we re talking about giving the holy sites over to someone other than Jewish control,” Hagee said.
“I can tell you that would be the death of Christian tourism to Israel. They re not going to a holy site controlled by Palestinians who have machine guns on their shoulders of whom Christians by and large are terrified.”
He also said the talks are leaning toward Israel ceding portions of the Palestinian territory controlled by Israelis since the war of 1967 as part of a land swap.
Such a move could make Israel open to attack by Hezbollah and Hamas, Hagee said.
Hagee and other like-minded nationally known Christian and Jewish leaders assemble each year for the Night to Honor Israel, a 26-year tradition started by Hagee and replicated in other cities nationwide as a way to foster unity between Jews and Christians.
The event, which intentionally avoids invitations for Jews to convert to the Christian faith, highlights the Jewish heritage of that faith and a call for further vigilance on protecting the state of Israel.
To strengthen the Jewish-Christian concern for Israel, Hagee started Christians United for Israel nearly two years ago.
The organization claims to have about 50,000 members who represent a significant portion of the evangelical Christian community.
Its activities range from holding conferences to learn about Middle East politics and global terrorism to an annual trip to Washington, D.C., to lobby lawmakers.
Locally, Hagee pegged the Night to Honor Israel to the annual Jewish observance of the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, a fall festival celebrating abundance.
The area outside the 5,000-seat Cornerstone Church resembled a county fair with a mini-Ferris wheel, other rides and food booths.
Hagee’s pro-Israel statements have at times caused controversy, especially his outspoken remarks urging a U.S.-led strike on Iran to preempt its manufacture of nuclear weapons, which he and others believe would most likely be used to attack Israel.
But such remarks conflict with the statements of Jesus, who promoted peace, said Charles Carlson, founder of Project Strait Gate, an organization based in Arizona that claims to have seven chapters and staged a protest of Hagee in Washington in July.
“This is a political and secular movement, and since Christ was a peacemaker and called upon everyone to be peacemakers, we fail to see where there s anything in Scripture that Hagee has to say,” Carlson said.
