A diplomatic incident was nearly triggered between Israel and the United States due to the refusal to grant entry visas to to US evangelical organizations wanting to visit the Holy Land.
“As of the beginning of 2025, the visa Department arbitrarily ceased honoring the recommendations of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and has initiated an independent investigation into each of the Evangelical organizations to ascertain whether or not they should be recognized as religious institutions and continue to receiving visas,” wrote US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee in a letter of protest sent on July 16 to Interior Minister, Moshe Arbel. The US ambassador had threatened that “if the government of Israeli continues to impose the expense and bureaucratic harassment for the granting of routine visas, that for decades have been routine, I will have no other choice that to instruct our consular section to review options for reciprocal treatment of Israeli citizens seeking visas to the United States.”
The letter caused dismay within the ranks of the executive branch led by Benjamin Netanyahu (a copy was also addressed to President Isaac Herzog and other important representatives of the Israeli state). Huckabee is a prominent figure in the strong evangelical community that fully supports Israel. In the same letter, he even threatened to advise evangelical Christians to suspend their visits to Israel and to halt the transfer of funds to the Jewish state.
Read more: https://www.fides.org/en/news/76639-ASIA_HOLY_LAND_Tensions_between_the_Israeli_government_and_U_S_Christian_Zionists_the_largest_group_of_supporters_of_the_Jewish_state
By Agenzia Fides
