WASHINGTON, DC: John Hagee, who is the pastor of an evangelical megachurch and the founder of a Christian Zionist organization, Christians United for Israel, was a key speaker at the pro-Israel rally on Tuesday, November 14.
He has previously courted controversy after remarking an Israel-Palestine peace deal would mean the advent of the Antichrist. The fact that Hagee was invited as a speaker at the rally supporting Israel has angered a huge section of pro-Israel supporters.
Tuesday’s rally marked the largest congregation of Americans in support of Israel since the war started following the Hamas offense on October 7.
During his speech at the March for Israel event, Hagee shouted, "Israel is the apple of God’s eye. Israel’s God chose Israel. Israel is my firstborn son." The pastor of the Cornerstone Church of San Antonio also added, "Israel, you’re not alone."
What are Pastor John Hagee’s views on the Antichrist?
According to Mother Jones, the widespread opposition to John Hagee’s participation in the event was because of his alleged anti-Catholicism and homophobia.
Hagee has always said that he does not accept the idea that evangelical Christians can hasten the end of days by not supporting Israel.
Moreover, his organization maintains, "Christian support of Israel is based on the promises of God in Scripture that affirm a future for the Jewish people and God’s continued faithfulness to that nation, not on prophecies regarding the end times or speeding the return of Christ."
An ardent believer in End Times Christianity, Hagee preaches on how he believed Israel would be a part of the biblical end. Through his books and televangelism, the pastor preaches that the Antichrist will come at some point in the future, which will also lead to the rise of Jesus and the dead.
He claims that according to the Bible, the truly faithful will be lifted to heaven while the non-believers will stay behind to witness destruction and misery. In this End of Day event, he believes Israel - the land of the chosen people - will play an important role.
Hagee also has an elaborate theory regarding the decades-old conflict between Israel and Palestine.
During a sermon in March, he preached his theory, citing the biblical prophecy of Israel getting invaded by five armies. He believes that the country will be attacked by forces led by Russia and Iran along with armies of Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Turkiye.
However, as per him, God would deliver retribution and "smash this force" to protect Israel, killing five out of every six soldiers.
He also propagated the grim picture that the Antichrist would appear shortly before this invasion when "the church is gone," and the world is desperate to resolve its differences."
Hagee claims that the Antichrist will falsely disguise himself as a "man of peace" and will manage a seven-year-long peace treaty with "many, including the Jewish people, the Palestinians, and the Roman Catholic Church."
He also believes that this treaty would yield a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, among other things. But that will not be all as three years after the treaty, Hagee claimed Russia would invade Israel with several forces of the world allying against the Jewish nation.
He also highlighted that the two-state solution "will never happen until the Antichrist comes and the rapture of the church has happened," meaning the peace can only be brought by the Antichrist where the ones who would sign the peace treaty would be motivated by the Devil.
During his March sermon, he also said, "The next thing we’re going to have to happen is the triumph of God. The dead and Christ are going to rise…We shall be brought up to be with the Lord in the air. Pray up! Pack up! Look up! We’re going up!"
Other controversies surrounding John Hagee
In 1999, John Hagee commented, God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land."
Almost 10 years later, he apologized and said, "I grappled with the vexing question of why a loving God would allow the evil of the Holocaust to occur…I regret if my Jewish friends felt any pain as a result."
Over the years, Hagee has also built his reputation as an opposer of LGBTQ rights. After Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc in 2005, Hagee blamed it on those taking part in a pride parade, as per Mother Jones.
He said, "There was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that Katrina came. I believe that Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans."
"Neither I nor any other person can know the mind of God concerning Hurricane Katrina. I should not have suggested otherwise," later stated Hagee, recanting his claims.
Criticisms over John Hagee's speech at the March for Israel rally
The head of Americans for Peace Now, Hadar Susskind, remarked, "I am horrified that he was given this platform. His history of hateful comments should disqualify him from decent company, much less from speaking on stage. He is not welcome and should not speak," about John Hagee's speech at the March for Israel rally.
Another X (formerly Twitter) user wrote, "I want to be very clear to those who are defending or rationalizing the inclusion of viciously anti-LGBTQ pastor John Hagee at the March for Israel today: My existence is not a "purity test"."
They added, "My life is non-negotiable. Allowing someone to speak who literally believes that people like me should be dead is profoundly heartbreaking and hypocritical."
One stated, "Pastor John Hagee is speaking at the march for Israel/against antisemitism today...the same guy who said Hitler was sent by God to drive them out of Europe."
