Posted on 10/04/2004 7:45:19 AM PDT by yonif
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 are to be 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.
Ping.
Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out... Evangelical Christians leaving the GOP would open the way for moderate and conservative Democrats to jump the fence.
Creating a "Palestinian" state wouyld be like creating an Al-Qaeda state.
Maybe Robertson will follow Pat Buchanan into irrelevance.
We can but hope.
Don't be so stupid!
Robertson and others think they own the consevative vote just like unions think they own the liberal vote. I hate that. Noone owns any vote.
Enough of this Transjordanian b.s., bomb, bulldoze and finish the wall...
Months ago Pat Robertson said that God spoke to him and told him Bush would be re-elected in a landslide.
If Bush fails to be re-elected will Robertson renounce Christianity and proclaim there is no God?
People tread on dangerous ground when they start making statements based on "God" talking to them.
Both seem to over-estimate their true influence.
Right! Then both major parties would be controlled by amoral, baseless, God-haunted culture-vandals!
Brilliant!
Dan
You sound like Gerald Ford. I'm not an evangelical Christian myself, but there aren't anywhere near enough moderate and conservative Democrats that are going to take the place of the evangelicals in the Republican party.
And that would be good because...?
If Bush screws Israel, I for one guarantee you there will be a 3rd Party permanently arise that will make the Green's thorn in the RAT's side look like a microdot. It might happen over borders as it is...the GOP has a peculiar way about, I admit.
First of all, this is pandering and misinformation being spread by the scum that owns diamond mines in Africa.
Second of all, nobody has said anything of the such he is claiming for his phantom splinter group.
Thirdly, if he wants to get into politics he should divest his financial interests and make the case and run - hiding behind false accusations to further popular ideology is a transparent power grab.
I can't stand these "I'm the annointed middle manager for God, and I bring with me a flock of millions".
Sorry, slug, but that was debunked by the King himself, and his name is not Pat Robertson.
/rant
The Voice of the Martyrs magazine says that only one in five evangelicals votes.
No, he will just proclaim himself G-d.
This guy is bad news and should have been marginalized long ago.
Like Buchanan, Robertson hasn't been relevant since the late 80s or early 90s.
Samson slew a thousand Philistines with the jaw bone of an ass, and now we have heard the jaw bone of an ass speaking.
This could be an omen.
Seriously folks,don't take my comment seriously.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. The difference between Bush and Kerry on moral issues is the difference between night and day. Of course he could be better, but one shouldn't let pursuit of the best defeat the good. The Left hates traditional religion of all sorts and will gradually restrict the freedoms of speech and assembly of Christians, as has been done in Canada and many European countries. Robertson is just a blind ignorant fool if he can't see that.
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