Wearing white and trusting that God will watch over him in a war zone, the American Christian Evangelical leader Pat Robertson is visiting Israel this week to offer his support for a country whose very existence he believes is threatened by Hizbullah in Lebanon.
Arriving on Monday for a three-day visit, he has since traveled up to the northern boarder where, in spite of the warning sirens and the constant thud of rocket explosions, he televised a segment of his evangelical TV show The 700 Club, which is produced five days a week and broadcast around the world.
"We are praying for Israel during this time of crisis," he told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday over coffee and tea before he left for the northern border.
"The Evangelical community is standing with this nation," said the founder and chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network, who has received a number of awards recognizing his long time friendship to Israel. The strong US support for Israel in general is partially due to the Evangelical community, he told The Jerusalem Post.
Robertson added that he plans to express this support to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert when he meets with him on Wednesday. But in spite of the warm friendship he feels for Olmert, he will also tell him, diplomatically, that the Evangelical community is opposed to any plans to give up land and that it would be a mistake for Olmert to link his realignment plan to withdraw from areas of the West Bank with the fight against Hizbullah in Lebanon.
Was this a previously scheduled visit?
It was totally spur of the moment. I wanted to get over here before the war was over. I didn't know they [Hizbullah] were going to heat it up the way they they did in Haifa a couple of days ago.
Do you think the war is going to be over soon?
Those who would like to see Hizbullah eliminated would like to see the Israelis have the time that is necessary to finish the job.
Where do your sympathies lie?
Finishing the job.
How would you explain what is happening here within a religious framework?
It is self-defense [by Israel], which is cause for just war. Israel is the spear against what you would call the Islam-o-fascism that is threatening all of the free loving people of the western world. There is no question that Hizbullah is the proxy for the Iranians.
Is there a message from God that is being played out here? Do you put it in those terms?
The Jews are God's chosen people. Israel is a special nation that has a special place in God's heart. He will defend this nation. So Evangelical Christians stand with Israel. That is one of the reasons I am here.
Do you see the violence between Israel and Hizbullah as part of the US's struggle against Iran?
It is a struggle against Islamo-facism, which is a radical branch of Islam that is threatening democratic institutions everywhere. It is part of the struggle that we have in Iraq. The nexus of this one comes out Iran, which is ruled by a man who seems to be wild-eyed fanatic.
In the US, has evangelical support remained firmly behind Israel in the last few weeks, even with all the painful footage of the conflict from Lebanon being broadcast and even though there are many Christians who live in Lebanon?
The images that are being portrayed in the press and the United States are not deterring the Evangelicals from wholeheartedly supporting Israel.
I personally have had warm relations with the Christians in Lebanon for many years. They are our friends and brothers and sisters. It is tragic what is going on.
Lebanon was just a lovely, charming country, where they had peace between Christians and Muslims. When [Palestinian Authority head] Yasser Arafat came into the peace-loving country, he tore it all to pieces. There was a terrible civil war. It has continued to this day. The harmony that existed between the Christians and the Muslims has been tragically severed.
They (the Lebanese government) didn't deal with the PLO. They were too weak to do it. They haven't dealt with Hizbullah. They do not have an effective army. The Syrians came and abused the Lebanese terribly for a number of years.
Under the United Nations they (the Lebanese army) were suppose to come down and occupy that southern sector that Israel withdrew from. After Israel withdrew Hizbullah came into the gap. I think they persecuted the Christians. They made it difficult for them to exist. I am very familiar with the people and the situation. We ran a television station there for 18 years.
The only thing that dismays the Evangelicals is when Israel gives up territory that it should have and seems to cater to the whims of the world pressure.
What, then, of Prime Minister Olmert's convergence plan?
It's an absolute disaster. Can you imagine instead of Hamas in Gaza you would have Hamas all over the West Bank threatening Israel. Between the Kassam rockets and the Katyusha rockets and other more advanced rockets there would not be even one place in Israel that would be safe. I can not even conceive of anyone doing anything in light of what is happening today.
When you speak to the prime minister tomorrow are you going to tell him this?
I will do it in a diplomatic fashion. I just can't conceive of it, knowing the fragile nature of Israel, the lack of defensible borders... to give away that territory. I flew a helicopter along the wall and looked down. In one of the Arab villages on the West Bank you look right down to the main runway on Ben-Gurion airport, which means even a conventional mortar would interrupt any civilian air traffic from the major airport in Israel...
[Still,] Olmert has been elected as the leader of Israel. The Israelis have to be responsible for what their leaders do. It's up to them as a free society to determine the course of action of their nation. I would be surprised in light of the current military situation if the Israeli people favor convergence.
In the past you made comments that seemed to indicate that former prime minister Ariel Sharon's illness was divine retribution for his withdrawal from Gaza.
