Christian Group Warns: Iran Wants to Hit Israel First, U.S. Next

Washington was inundated with thousands of Christians last week, but unlike their usual marches to protest abortion rights and other social issues, these Christians had something else in mind:U.S.Middle East policy.In fact,many seemed not to notice the hot,humid,cloudy weather-a typical July day in Washington-as they prepared to lobby Congress.They had just been energized by the preaching of Pastor John Hagee,who delivered an impassioned speech the night before in support of Israel.While a quiet man of gentle disposition,Hagee,who leads the 19,000-strong Cornerstone Church in San Antonio and heads Christians United for Israel,
can quickly whip up the faithful.His words,while rich in biblical citation and religious imagery,
aren't minced."It is clear that Israel is in the greatest danger she has faced since six Arab armies tried to strangle the Jewish state in the birth canal in 1948,"Hagee told the crowd at the conference's Night to Honor Israel gala.The event also featured former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu among others."The head of the beast of radical Islam in the Middle East is Iran and its fanatical president,Ahmadinejad,"he continued."Ahmadinejad believes if he starts a world war,the Islamic messiah will mysteriously appear and produce a global Islamic theocratic dictatorship."Ladies and gentlemen,we are reliving history.It's 1938 all over again,"he said."Iran is Germany.Ahmadinejad is Hitler and Ahmadinejad,just like Hitler,is talking about killing the Jews."While concerns about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are spread far and wide in the U.S. and Israel,perspectives vary on what to do about it.The US has recently lifted its 27-year diplomatic freeze on Tehran by meeting with Iranian officials to discuss security in Iraq-a move that has won both praise and criticism in Washington, D.C.But those diplomatic talks are single-minded in nature,and when it comes to Israel,several Jewish organizations in the United States hold that U.S. officials must do everything in their power to persuade the international community to pressure Iran to stop its nuclear ambitions."U.S. policy toward Iran should be to try to martial the rest of the world to apply sanctions to Iran so the Iranians will stop trying to pursue their program of nuclear weapons,"said Neil Goldstein,executive director of the American Jewish Congress."Nothing should be taken off the table.""If diplomatic options,economic sanctions could work they could only work if there is a threat of another alternative,"said Abe Foxman,head of the Anti-Defamation League.Otherwise, there is "absolutely no incentive to Iran to agree to adjust its plan" for developing nuclear weapons.Hagee's supporters agree that Iran is the biggest
existential threat to Israel."An enemy of Israel is an enemy of ours. We feel our country is threatened,"said Julie Wineinger,a registered nurse from Davis,Calif.Hitler analogies usually draw universal criticism from Jewish groups, who complain that the comparison is frequently misused. But Foxman,whose group spends its days trying to prevent defamation of Jews,said this time it works."As a Holocaust survivor,I can understand it,"Foxman said of Hagee's rhetoric."Since 1938 there has been no head of state who has threatened the annihilation of the Jewish state,a Jewish state.It is historically appropriate to compare.Some people say it's somewhat hysterical,I don't think so.""It's appropriate,"Goldstein added."Ahmadinejad has called for wiping Israel off the map,which is taken to mean he has genocidal intentions toward Israel."
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As in the days of Noah...