The dawn of a renewed US-Israel alliance

Today, more than 260 Christian leaders, representing 49 states, will be in Washington lobbying their senators on issues relevant to rebuilding the US-Israel relationship. They have traveled to our nation’s capital from across the country because over the past eight years, our alliance with the Jewish state has suffered.

The coup de grâce of President Barack Obama’s misguided foreign policy in the Middle East occurred late last month as the US abstained from the vote on UN Security Council Resolution 2334. But this was hardly the first time Israel’s American supporters were disappointed with President Obama’s actions. From the decision to create daylight between the Jewish state and our own, to the Iran nuclear agreement, Israel’s foes have been repeatedly appeased by the current Administration.

Just as when President George W. Bush made decisions regarding Middle East policy with which we disagreed, Christians United for Israel (CUFI) has, at every turn, stood up to President Obama as well as lawmakers from both parties when their actions failed to reflect the American people’s longstanding support for Israel.

The heightened peril in which the Jewish state currently finds itself necessitates that we intensify our efforts in our nation’s capital. As a first step, CUFI leaders are up on Capitol Hill today asking their senators to condemn the shameful abstention from the vote on Resolution 2334, support legislation that will compel the US to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and confirm David Friedman, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee, to be the US Ambassador to Israel.

Make no mistake, the current fly-in is just the tip of the iceberg. CUFI is committed to leading the charge on an unequivocally pro-Israel policy agenda. In the coming year, we will work to advance several key pieces of legislation that will serve to dramatically strengthen the US-Israel relationship and exact tangible changes in behavior from Israel’s adversaries.

America’s standing in the world would be buoyed by a president committed to our allies and unbeguiled by our enemies, and as a direct result, the US-Israel alliance would heal. As we move ahead, we look forward to working with the incoming Administration to bolster the alliance. We are optimistic that Trump’s rise to the White House means that gone are the days in which American leaders break bread with those sworn to Israel’s (and our own) destruction.

Christians came out in droves to support Trump’s bid for the Presidency. A great deal of that support was rooted in his pro-Israel positions. These same voters will return to the polls in 2018 and beyond. And in the interim, CUFI’s 3.3 million members and the millions of Christian Zionist voters around the country are ready to speak with one voice in support of Israel.

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Pastor John Hagee is the founder and National Chairman of Christians United for Israel.