Hagee’s endgame is the endtimes; But what’s Bibi’s?

As the controversy over Prime Minister Netanyahu’s upcoming speech to both houses of Congress continues to swirl unabated, one of the key players in the fight shouldn’t go unnoticed.  It’s televangelist John Hagee, senior pastor of the San Antonio-based Cornerstone megachurch, and leader of the 2 million-strong Christians United for Israel (CUFI).  The pastor and his minions are in Bibi’s corner, and they’ve been busy.  The question is: What are they really up to?

First, a little background:  Pastor Hagee founded CUFI in 2006; it’s now the “largest pro-Israel organization in the country.” He and his ministry  have helped bring Russian and Ethiopian Jews to Israel, and have buttressed settlements in the West Bank through financial and political support.  The main building in the state-of-the-art sports complex in Ariel — the major settlement that effectively bisects the West Bank and hence represents a significant impediment to a viable Palestinian state — is named for the pastor.  As for peace talks with the Palestinians, he has opposed the ceding by Israel of even one inch of the West Bank, and has vehemently rejected any division of Jerusalem.

CUFI’s homepage prominently displays Prime Minister Netanyahu’s endorsement: “I consider CUFI to be a vital part of Israel’s national security.” A few weeks ago, CUFI launched a campaign urging its members to demand that their member of Congress attend Netanyahu’s speech. More than 10,000 CUFI members acted on the alert in less than five hours, according to the group.  Its website proudly proclaims: “CUFI will not be a bystander in any of these battles… We shape the news each and every day on behalf of the Jewish people and the land of Israel.”

While “shaping the news on behalf of the Jewish people,” Pastor Hagee downplays – not surprisingly — the theological underpinnings of his asserted support. His reading of Scripture eagerly anticipates Jesus' imminent return. As prelude to the second coming, Hagee tells us that Jews in great numbers are required to return to biblical Israel and reestablish their dominion.  The pastor undoubtedly took note when, in the wake of the recent murderous attacks on Jews in Paris and Copenhagen, Prime Minister Netanyahu issued calls for immigration of European Jews to Israel, proclaiming: “This wave of attacks will continue. I say to the Jews of Europe – Israel is your home.”  In fact, there’s an almost eerie resonance in the Prime Minister’s words – decried by many Jewish leaders in France and Denmark – with a much-commented-upon sermon Hagee delivered some years ago.  In it, he cites the Book of Jeremiah for the proposition that when early Zionist efforts to shepherd Diaspora Jews back to the Land of Israel proved inadequate, God ushered Hitler, the “hunter,” onto the scene, because “God said, ’my top priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the Land of Israel.'”  Through his ministry's financial support for resettling Jewish immigrants in Israel, Ariel, and elsewhere in the West Bank, Hagee has been doing his part.

What ought to be most troubling to anyone interested in mid-East peace, though, is Hagee’s apocalyptic belief — based on his reading of Scripture — that a cataclysmic war, one that could occur at any moment, is a prerequisite for Jesus’ return.  Hence, he and his followers anticipate that conflagration with unmistakable excitement.  Hagee asks: “Can you imagine what Israel faces with Iran, Egypt, Syria, Turkey and Russia coming after them?  The prophet Ezekiel clearly predicted this battle thousands of years ago and you are watching the players get into position with lightning speed.  Jesus said: ‘When you see these signs, lift up your head and rejoice.’”  Hagee continues: “Planet earth is about to become the playground for the Anti-Christ and his New World Order…Pack up! We’re going up [raptured to heaven]…and very soon.”  This doesn't exactly sound like someone who's looking for a peace deal.

By the way, as Pastor Hagee sees it, “you are for Christ or you are living the life of anti-Christ.” 

Where, actually, does that leave the Jewish people?

None of this seems to bother Netanyahu in the least.  He’s happy to have CUFI’s legions call their Senators and Congressmen and push back hard against Obama’s efforts at diplomacy and détente with Iran, and at supporting a viable two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  The trouble is, Hagee and his followers, given their eschatology, certainly don’t appear to be looking for a peaceful resolution to either conflict. Their Biblically-derived end game is a fiery Armaggedon and then Jesus’ return. Meanwhile, their activities — rattling sabers as “the largest pro-Israel organization” in the U.S. — have all-too-real, and dangerous, consequences in the here and now.
 
It's time to be polite but firm:  Pastor Hagee, thanks but no thanks.

The author is an attorney and writes frequently on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and related topics. From 2007-2013, he was president of Boston Workmen’s Circle.