Huckabee threatens to declare Israel does not welcome Christians, as visa row blows open

[Right_in_Virginia]

Huckabee threatens to declare Israel does not welcome Christians, as visa row blows open
Times of Israel, Jul 18, 2025

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has threatened to publicly declare that Israel no longer welcomes Christian groups to Israel over what he said was Jerusalem’s failure to approve tourist visas for evangelical missions.

The threat was issued in a letter that Huckabee sent on Wednesday to Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, which was leaked to Hebrew media on Thursday. Arbel pushed back on the allegations in a response letter that was obtained by The Times of Israel.

Huckabee in his letter threatened to order his embassy to take reciprocal measures against Israeli tourists seeking visas to enter the US.

Given Huckabee’s longstanding support for Israel and close ties with the current government in particular, the rhetoric in his letter represented a shockingly quick deterioration.

[...]

Huckabee informed Arbel that these organizations were required to complete lengthy questionnaires and that they had still not received new visas for religious leaders to travel to Israel, despite submitting their applications at the beginning of the year.

“It would be very unfortunate that our embassy would have to publicly announce throughout the United States that the State of Israel is no longer welcoming Christian organizations and their representatives and is instead engaging in harassment and negative treatment toward organizations with long-standing relationships and positive involvement toward Zionism and friendship to the Jewish people and the State of Israel,” the US envoy wrote.

"It’s understandable that the Minister of Interior has concerns of concealed antisemitism or of proselytizing and needs to properly vet certain groups,” a longtime employee of a Christian Zionist organization in Israel told The Times of Israel.

“That being said, it’s lamentable that well-established Christian groups that prove to be no threat and are taking a strong stance of support for Israel and the Jewish people are encountering these obstacles,” the employee continued. “There are a number of Christian groups that simply want to extend friendship and support to Israel and also better understand the Jewish roots of their own faith.”


More:  https://www.timesofisrael.com/huckabee-threatens-to-declare-israel-not-welcoming-christians-as-visa-row-blows-open/

[Right_in_Virginia]

Causing strategic, moral harm, Netanyahu lets others dictate Israel’s ties with Christians
Times of Israel, Jul 21, 2025

Israel has had an atrocious week with regard to its relations with the Christian world.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, an outspoken and dedicated Christian supporter of the Jewish state, fired off a seething letter to Interior Minister Moshe Arbel last Wednesday, threatening to publicly announce that Israel no longer welcomes Christian groups to Israel.

Israel “is instead engaging in harassment and negative treatment toward organizations with long-standing relationships and positive involvement toward Zionism and friendship to the Jewish people and the State of Israel,” the US envoy wrote in a missive that was leaked to Hebrew media, quite possibly by Huckabee’s office, the next day.

Huckabee also said he would encourage American Christians to reconsider any plans to visit Israel if visa issues were not resolved, and that he would take reciprocal action against Israelis seeking visas to the US.

The ambassador didn’t stop there.

On Saturday, Huckabee — who is also a Baptist minister — visited the Christian Palestinian town of Taybeh in the West Bank, the scene of repeated attacks by settlers. In one such incident last week, some set fire to the fields around the ruins of the historic Church of St. George and a nearby cemetery.



During the attack, local church leaders called the police emergency line twice and were told that a police force was being dispatched, but they said that no police officers arrived at the scene.

Huckabee did not try to mask his anger in Taybeh either.

“Desecrating a church, mosque or synagogue is a crime against humanity and God,” Huckabee wrote on X.

“I work for ALL American citizens who live in Israel — Jewish, Muslim or Christian. When they are terrorized or victims of crime I will demand those responsible be held accountable with real consequences,” he added.

Another unabashed Christian Zionist, Sen. Lindsey Graham, also raged against the incident. “What’s happening in the West Bank bothers the hell out of me,” he told Fox News. “I want to find out who did it, and I want them to be punished. And if it was settlers from the West Bank, I want them to be punished.”

Those were not even the most severe incidents last week. On Thursday, an Israeli tank shell hit Gaza’s only Catholic church, killing three people. Father Gabriel Romanelli, the church’s priest whom former pope Francis used to speak to daily, was injured in the attack.

Condemnation poured in from around the world, including from Pope Leo XIV and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. US President Donald Trump berated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and demanded he issue a statement of regret.

The three incidents — which followed years of harassment of Christians in Jerusalem and vandalism of sites by Jewish extremists — come at a time of growing international condemnation of Israel and rising antisemitism, when Israel should be embracing its friends.

Instead, Israel continues to allow citizens to violate the country’s principles while causing irreparable damage to its image and standing


More:  https://www.timesofisrael.com/causing-strategic-moral-harm-netanyahu-lets-others-dictate-israels-ties-with-christians/.