Christians United for Israel

<youtube size="tiny" align="right" caption="The Christians United for Israel Tour">mjMRgT5o-Ig</youtube> Established in 2006 with the "active assistance" of the Christian evangelical fundamentalist, Jerry Falwell,, Christians United for Israel (CUFI) is an US-based Christian-Zionist lobbying organization founded by John Hagee. The CUFI lobbies US congress to support Israel for biblical reasons. CUFI has focused the majority of its lobbying efforts on garnering support for Israeli settlement expansion on Palestinian territory and military action on Iran. Hagee has stated that he would like to see CUFI become "the Christian version of AIPAC."

Organizations Aims

Founded just months before Israel invaded Lebanon in 2006 (during CUFI's banquet launch Hagee protested against calls for Israel to show restraint), CUFI lobbies for US support of Israel because the Bible requires Christians to give unconditional support to Jews who are the "chosen people." While Hagee once boasted about a message of support CUFI received from the Bush Administration during an event, CUFI's "action alerts" are now focused on pressuring the Obama administration to pursue better relations with Israel:

We need to act now to remind President Obama that what we share with Israel is deep and profound. We need to stand with the only democracy in the Middle East. We need to speak up for our vital ally in the struggle with militant Islam. We need to provide some perspective to an administration that seems to lack it.

Officially, CUFI states 2 goals on its website:

• "To educate Christians about the Biblical and moral imperatives about supporting Israel."
• "To Communicate Pro-Israel Perspectives to our Neighbors, Newspapers and Elected Officials."

Influence

While CUFI claims to be the "largest pro-Israel organization in the United States", some analysts argue that they are a distraction from the real pushers of a pro-Israel agenda in the US. According to former AIPAC staffer turned foreign policy analyst M.J. Rosenberg, CUFI is nothing compared to the "Jewish pro-Israel lobby" because the "right-wing Christians are Republicans. Israel tends to not even be their main issue; they have abortion and gay marriage higher on their radar. What makes the Jewish pro-Israel lobby more influential is that their people give their donations to anyone who is effective on the issue, Democrat or Republican. These people [Christian Zionists] are locked into Republicans."

Key Members

• John Hagee - Founder and National Chairman
• David Brog - Executive Director
• Gary Bauer - Executive Board Member
• Jonathan P. Falwell (son of Jerry Falwell) - Executive Board Member
• Michael Little (president and COO of The Christian Broadcasting Network) - Executive Board Member
• Randy Neal - Director

CUFI on Campus

According to the CUFI on Campus website, the CUFI "actively develops politically-minded student leaders and equips them to become effective advocates for Israel on their college campus."

Website

http://www.cufi.org/site/PageServer

Links and Resources

• PBS Feature on CUFI -- CUFI Profile
• Rightweb Profile -- Christians United for Israel
• Max Blumenthal -- Birth Pangs of a New Christian Zionism
• John Hagee AIPAC Policy Conference Speech -- Text of Speech