While it’s nice, I suppose, that Israel gets so much support these days from evangelical Christians in the US, it’s important to remember the real basis for much of that support.
As Jeffrey Goldberg wrote in 2011, when then-Congresswoman Michele Bachmann briefly appeared to be a serious candidate for the Republican presidential nomination:
Bachmann has built her foreign-policy platform on the nuance-free defense of Israel. She does this not because Israel is a strategic ally, or because it’s a democracy, but because the Bible states that God will curse those who betray it.
At a recent meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition, she said, “I am convinced in my heart and in my mind that if the United States fails to stand with Israel, that is the end of the United States.” She went on: “We have to show that we are inextricably entwined, that as a nation we have been blessed because of our relationship with Israel, and if we reject Israel, then there is a curse that comes into play.”
Now we learn that while on a visit to Israel, Bachmann said in an interview with fellow wingnut Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council:
“We recognize the shortness of the hour and that’s why we as a remnant want to be faithful in these days, and do what it is that the holy spirit is speaking to each one of us, to be faithful in the kingdom and to help bring in as many as we can, even among the Jews, share Jesus Christ with everyone that we possibly can because, again, he’s coming soon.”
Couldn’t she at least have waited until she left Israel before she said that?
Hell, I’ll take Bernie Sanders’s critical but secular support for Israel any day.
