Pat Robertson does not think the United States' push for peace in the Middle East is the way to go. He recently said such a move is "asking for the wrath of Almighty God."
The "700 Club" host discussed on April 9 Secretary of State John Kerry's effort to encourage negotiating an end to the more than 60-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (The Associated Press notes previous peace talks crumbled in 2008, with Palestine refusing to resume talks and Israel continuing to build settlements.)
Robertson apparently doesn't believe there should be peace in the Middle East because, according to Right Wing Watch, "any deal that includes territorial concessions to the Palestinians, including Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem, will lead to divine retribution and 'catastrophic' consequences."
Said Robertson:
God says, "They divided my land ... This is my land. I gave it to Abraham and his descendants, and I don't want it taken away from them." And Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel. And for the United States to get into a deal where they're trying to split Jerusalem and take it away from the Israelis and split up their capital -- huge mistake. You're asking for the wrath of Almighty God to fall on this nation. And when it falls, it won't be fun.
He called Kerry's diplomacy a "course of folly" that will result in "terrible suffering" for the U.S.
The televangelist -- who once advised a man to become a Muslim so he can beat his wife, and who also said "Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine punishment for 'dividing God's land,' and giving away Gaza to the Palestinians," per The New York Times -- has been vocal about his controversial stance on the Mideast peace process.
Back in 2004, Robertson offered Israel the support of Evangelical Christians. He boiled the Israel-Palestinian conflict down to a religious struggle and warned that "if God's chosen people turn over to Allah control of their most sacred sites" then "Islam will have won."
"We believe that God has a plan for this nation which He intends to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth," Robertson said at the time. "Of course, we, like all right-thinking people, support Israel because Israel is an island of democracy, an island of individual freedom, an island of the rule of law, and an island of modernity in the midst of a sea of dictatorial regimes, the suppression of individual liberty, and a fanatical religion intent on returning to the feudalism of 8th Century Arabia."
Although his beliefs are extreme, Robertson is not alone in his line of thinking.
A March CNN-ORC International poll revealed that two-thirds of Americans don't think Israel and its Arab neighbors, including Palestine, will ever find peace. According to the same poll, 46 percent of respondents consider Israel an ally.
"There is a large partisan divide in the U.S. over Israel," CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. "Sixty-three percent of Republicans call Israel an ally of the U.S., compared to only 33 percent of Democrats. A plurality of Democrats think that Israel is friendly to the U.S.; only one in five think it is unfriendly or an enemy."
[Hat tip, Mediaite]
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