U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee reportedly penned a letter threatening to declare Israel “no longer welcoming” to Christian organizations, according to a leaked copy of the alleged letter published in Israeli media on Friday.
The letter, dated July 16, was reportedly sent to Israeli Interior Minister Moshe Arbel and host of other senior Israeli officials, lambasting the Israeli government for allegedly not granting visas for various Christian organizations, according to The Times of Israel. Huckabee allegedly wrote the organizations in question were forced to engage in “extensive questionnaires” on their religious beliefs, which was a departure from previous understandings with the organizations and the Israeli government.
“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 allegedly wrote in the letter.
“If the government of Israel continues to cause the expense and bureaucratic harassment for the granting of routine visas that for decades have been routine, I will have no other choice than to instruct our consular section to review options for reciprocal treatment of Israeli citizens seeking visas to the United States,”Huckabee allegedly continued.
Huckabee’s office and the State Department did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Minister Arbel penned a response to the letter July 17, saying Israel was “committed to reviewing such applications with utmost efficiency” and that he was “surprised” by the content of Huckabee’s alleged letter. However, Arbel renewed his desire for strong relations with the U.S.
“Every request that was personally brought to the attention of my office has been addressed within an exceptionally short time frame,” Arbel said in his response letter.
U.S. Christians, particularly evangelicals and protestants, are some of Israel’s most ardent supporters with 67% of protestants supporting Israel over Palestine, according to a Gallup poll taken from 2020 to 2024.
The exchange became public on the tail-end of a strike from Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on the Holy Family Catholic Church Thursday, which left three dead and injured the parish priest. While the IDF insisted that the strike was an accident, the shelling earned condemnation from Pope Leo XIV and other Christian prelates.
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