Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI
Jerusalem (Agenzia Fides) – A diplomatic incident was nearly triggered between Israel and the United States due to the refusal to grant entry visas to to US evangelical organizations wanting to visit the Holy Land.”As of the beginning of 2025, the visa Department arbitrarily ceased honoring the recommendations of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and has initiated an independent investigation into each of the Evangelical organizations to ascertain whether or not they should be recognized as religious institutions and continue to receiving visas,” wrote US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee in a letter of protest sent on July 16 to Interior Minister, Moshe Arbel. The US ambassador had threatened that “if the government of Israeli continues to impose the expense and bureaucratic harassment for the granting of routine visas, that for decades have been routine, I will have no other choice that to instruct our consular section to review options for reciprocal treatment of Israeli citizens seeking visas to the United States.”The letter caused dismay within the ranks of the executive branch led by Benjamin Netanyahu (a copy was also addressed to President Isaac Herzog and other important representatives of the Israeli state). Huckabee is a prominent figure in the strong evangelical community that fully supports Israel. In the same letter, he even threatened to advise evangelical Christians to suspend their visits to Israel and to halt the transfer of funds to the Jewish state.“The evangelical Christian community is perhaps the strongest, most loyal, and fervent supporter of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. While anti-Semitism has been rising worldwide, the evangelical Christian community has remained steadfast and has expressed even more explicit support,” writes Huckabee, also recalling “the contribution of millions of dollars to combat anti-Semitism and the concrete support for Israeli causes” offered by “dozens of organizations such as the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, Samaritans Purse, Christians United For Israel, and many others.” It is worth noting that the head of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), Johnnie Moore Jr., is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ see Fides, 7/7/2025).”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,” Huckabee continued.On July 21, in a post on X, the American ambassador declared that the case had been resolved, thanking the Interior Minister and attorney Calev Myers, who represents approximately 150 Christian groups in Israel, whose intervention “was decisive.”The visa issue was not the only point of tension between Huckabee and the Israeli government. The U.S. ambassador also visited the Christian village of Taybeh, attacked by Israeli settlers (see Fides, 9/7/2025), calling the acts committed there “an act of terror and a crime,” and demanding that those responsible be severely punished. “Desecrating a church, a mosque, or a synagogue is a crime against humanity and against God,” Huckabee posted on X.The attack on the village of Taybeh sparked strong protests from another prominent U.S. Christian Zionist figure, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who in a statement to Fox News said: “I want to find out who committed this attack and I want them to be punished. And if they were settlers from the West Bank, I want them to be punished.” (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 25/7/2025)
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