ISRAEL NEWS 365
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has issued a stern warning to Israeli authorities, threatening to publicly declare that Israel no longer welcomes Christian groups following what he describes as Jerusalem’s systematic blocking of tourist visas for evangelical missions.
The unprecedented threat was delivered in a scathing letter sent Wednesday to Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, which was leaked to Hebrew media on Thursday. Arbel’s response letter was obtained by The Times of Israel. The diplomatic correspondence reveals a shocking deterioration in relations between the staunchly pro-Israel ambassador and the Israeli government he has long supported.
In his letter, Huckabee expressed “great distress” and “profound disappointment” over Israel’s handling of visa applications for Christian organizations. According to Ynet, the ambassador accused the Interior Ministry of launching investigations into several evangelical Christian organizations with longstanding ties to Israel, including the Baptist Conference in Israel and the Christian Missionary Alliance.
“Unfortunately, if the Israeli government continues to cause bureaucratic harassment, I will have no choice but to instruct our consular department to explore the possibility of reciprocal treatment of Israeli citizens applying for visas to the United States,” Huckabee wrote. “This is certainly not the relationship that the State of Israel wants to have with its best partner and friend on Earth.”
The threat of reciprocal measures against Israeli tourists seeking US visas represents a dramatic escalation in diplomatic tensions, particularly given Huckabee’s reputation as one of Israel’s most vocal supporters in American politics. Parts of Huckabee’s letter were shown on Channel 12’s broadcast.
The dispute strikes at the heart of Huckabee’s personal mission work. As an evangelical pastor, he has led countless Christian tours to Israel over the past half-century, making the ability of Christian groups to visit the Holy Land a deeply personal cause. His extensive experience organizing such trips has given him unique insight into the bureaucratic challenges facing Christian organizations seeking to enter Israel.
The current crisis stems from a meeting between Huckabee and Arbel on May 27, where they discussed mounting problems encountered by Christian Zionists seeking to visit Israel. Nearly two months later, Huckabee’s letter suggests that meeting failed to produce the resolution he had hoped for.