Haaretz
Tishrei 20, 5765
Influential
American evangelist Pat Robertson said Monday that Evangelical Christians
feel so deeply about Jerusalem, that if President George W. Bush were to
"touch" Jerusalem, Evangelicals would abandon their traditional Republican
leanings and form a third party.
Evangelical Christians -
estimated at tens of millions of Americans - overwhelmingly support
Bush for his pro-Israel policies, Robertson told a Jerusalem news
conference Monday.
But if Bush shifted his position toward support
for Jerusalem as a capital for both Israel and a Palestinian state, his
Evangelical backing would disappear, Robertson indicated.
"The
President has backed away from [the road map], but if he were to touch
Jerusalem, he'd lose all Evangelical support," Robertson said.
"Evangelicals would form a third party" because, though people "don't know
about" Gaza, Jerusalem is an entirely different matter.
Robertson,
an outspoken supporter of Israel who is in the country to celebrate the
Feast of Tabernacles, also added that visitors to Israel should not be
overly critical of the government's political decisions.
He has
refrained from overtly criticizing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's
disengagement plan and says only that he hopes the "Israeli people will
make the right decision" in matters of territorial concessions.
"It
is unwise for a visitor from America to get involved in Israeli politics,"
he stated at a press conference in the capital's International Convention
Center.
Together with an estimated 5,000 Christians from around
the world, Robertson has been touring the Holy Land this week, in effort
to support and pray for the people of Israel. He led a prayer service on
Sunday outside the Knesset, where he blasted Hezbollah, Hamas, and the
idea of jihad.
"Arab nations want a conflict and want to keep the
suffering of people in Gaza," he said. "They don't want peace; they want
the destruction of Israel."
Robertson urged that the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) be abolished, given what he called
the organization's active role in the "perpetuation" of the Palestinian
refugee problem. He warned that a Palestinian state would become "a
constant source of irritation" that would "endanger the territorial
integrity" of Israel.
"A Palestinian state with full sovereignty
would be a launching ground for various types of weapons, including
weapons of mass destruction," the former presidential candidate said.
Thousands of Christians march for Jerusalem
As many as
20,000 marchers were expected to take part in the annual Jerusalem March
procession, which was to pass through the heart of the city on Monday the
afternoon, among them thousands of Evangelicals and other
Christians.
Police officials began closing streets at 1:30 P.M. to
allow marchers to pass. Among the central Jerusalem traffic arteries
closed, either fully or in sections, were Ben-Zvi, Bezalel, Ben-Yehuda,
King George, Jaffa, Shlomzion HaMalka, Koresh, Azza, Agron, Menashe
Ben-Israel, HaEmek, HaRav Kook, Havatzelet, Heleni HaMalka, Histadrut,
Shammai and Hillel Streets.
Most of the streets were to have been
re-opened by 5:30 P.M.
In a gathering of more than 4,000 pilgrims
at a Jerusalem convention center Sunday, Robertson warned that some
Muslims were trying to foil "God's plan" to let Israel hold on to its
lands. The number of pilgrims was about 25 percent higher than the past
three years, according to organizers with the International Christian
Embassy.
"I see the rise of Islam to destroy Israel and take the
land from the Jews and give East Jerusalem to [Palestinian Authority
Chairman] Yasser Arafat. I see that as Satan's plan to prevent the return
of Jesus Christ the Lord," said Robertson, a Christian broadcaster.
In two Jerusalem appearances, Robertson Sunday praised Israel as
part of God's plan and criticized Arab countries and some Muslims, saying
their hopes to include Israeli-controlled land in a Palestinian state are
part of "Satan's plan."
Robertson, who has made critical
statements of Islam in the past, called Israel's Arab neighbors "a sea of
dictatorial regimes."
He said he "sends notice" to Osama bin
Laden, Arafat and Palestinian militant groups that "you will not frustrate
God's plan" to have Jews rule the Holy Land until the Second Coming of
Jesus.
Only God should decide if Israel should relinquish control
of the lands it captured in the 1967 war, including the Gaza Strip, West
Bank and East Jerusalem, Robertson said, in a reference to Sharon's plan
to pull out of Gaza next year.
"God says, 'I'm going to judge
those who carve up the West Bank and Gaza Strip,'" Robertson said. "'It's
my land and keep your hands off it.'"
Blowing rams' horns and
exclaiming "Hallelujah," hundreds of pilgrims - including visitors from
Norway, England and Germany - gathered in downtown Jerusalem to pray for
peace and celebrate Israel's unification of the city with the capture of
East Jerusalem in 1967.