Thank you, Amb. Huckabee & PM Netanyahu, for decisive action to ‘fully resolve’ serious tensions Israel’s Interior Ministry was creating with Evangelicals

DENVER, COLORADO – I’m writing my column today in praise of U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Why?

Because they worked together effectively to resolve serious tensions that were building between Israel’s Ministry of the Interior (MOI) and American Evangelical Christians.

This matter should never have required the Prime Minister’s attention.

He has bigger fish to fry.

Nor should it have ever become public.

But the truth is, sometimes government bureaucrats create problems where none should exist –

And then refuse to fix them, even when asked politely.

And then force the issue into the public spotlight.

And then force their supervisors to step in and make things right.

Petty bureaucrats too often create problems for innocent, law-abiding citizens.

Strong, wise leaders fix such problems the moment they become aware of them.

No Israeli Prime Minister has done more to strengthen Israel’s strategic alliance with Evangelical Christians than Netanyahu.

Nor has any Prime Minister done more to protect Christians in Israel.

Once Huckabee alerted him to the problem, Netanyahu made sure it was fixed immediately.

Amen.

HUCKABEE TRIED TO WORK QUIETLY AND BEHIND THE SCENES

To be clear – and to his credit – Huckabee tried to handle the problem behind the scenes.

He met quietly and off the record with Interior Minister Moshe Arbel and his senior staff to resolve the problem behind closed doors and without involving Netanyahu.

When that – and several other quiet diplomatic efforts – didn’t work, Huckabee wrote a strongly worded letter to the Interior Minister demanding immediate action and criticizing the Minister for not handling the situation quickly and decisively, as he had earlier promised.

Huckabee cc’d the letter to the Prime Minister and several other high-ranking Israeli officials.

But he did not go public.

He was still trying to resolve the matter amicably.

WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE LETTER LEAKED?

I don’t know how the letter leaked.

But somehow, Israel’s Channel 12 News obtained it – or at least excerpts of it.

Suddenly, every media outlet in Israel was covering it – and understandably so.

I don’t ever recall a U.S. ambassador intervening to fix a problem like this –

Or warning an Israeli Cabinet Minister in such strong terms of the consequences of not resolving it quickly.

But clearly, the combination had quite an effect.

Only after the letter was sent – and gained public attention – did the Interior Ministry finally begin to take the problem seriously.

HUCKABEE: THE MATTER IS NOW ‘FULLY RESOLVED’

This morning, Huckabee wrote on 𝕏 how grateful he was to the Prime Minister and the Interior Minister for taking action over the weekend.

Huckabee said the matter was “fully resolved.”

Good.

Huckabee and Netanyahu once again showed how well they can work together to strengthen and deepen the U.S.-Israel alliance.

They are also working very effectively together to protect freedom of religion in Israel – and to safeguard the vital alliance between Israel and America’s 60 million Evangelicals.

WHAT EXACTLY WAS THE PROBLEM?

So, what exactly was the problem that required intervention from both the American ambassador and the Israeli Prime Minister?

Here’s the short version:

For the past six months or so, mid-level bureaucrats in Israel’s MOI had been systematically denying clergy visas for American Evangelical Christians who work for ministries and church congregations in Israel.

They were also “slow-walking” visa renewal applications from Evangelicals.

In other words, they weren’t formally denying all applications – but were continually asking for more documents, more details, and repeatedly delaying any final decision.

This made it increasingly frustrating for American Evangelicals to renew their visas, forcing them to hire lawyers and fight for months to obtain what should have been – and long had been – simple, non-controversial renewals.

To be fair, many government bureaucracies move slowly.

Delays are unfortunate but expected in governments around the world, and Israel is no exception.

Over time, however, it became clear that these were not “normal” delays.

Certain officials inside the MOI were purposefully rejecting or slow-walking visas for Evangelicals.

In doing so, they were violating the status quo.

Israel’s government has a long-standing policy of protecting freedom of religion for Christians – and all minority faiths – and of allowing Evangelical Christian pastors and ministry leaders to live, work, and serve in Israel, the land of Jesus, the apostles, and the Bible.

ASKING AMBASSADOR HUCKABEE TO GET INVOLVED

Calev Myers is a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen and a partner at Yehuda Raveh, one of the most prestigious and influential law firms in Jerusalem.

An Evangelical Israeli himself, he represents about 150 Christian churches and ministries.

He had been working behind the scenes for months to resolve the problems between the MOI and Evangelicals.

But he was getting nowhere.

When Mike Huckabee arrived in Israel in April to take up his post as President Donald J. Trump’s new Ambassador to Israel, Lynn and I invited him and his wife, Janet, to our apartment for a casual dinner.

We also asked Calev and his wife to join us.

Both couples accepted, and we met on the evening of May 4th.

Mostly, it was a social evening.

I’ve known the Huckabees for years, and Lynn and I simply wanted to welcome them to Jerusalem, make them a home-cooked meal, pray for them, and catch up.

Calev and his wife had already met Huckabee at a dinner at the King David Hotel in December 2023, during an Evangelical Solidarity Mission that Lynn and I organized following the Hamas invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

They had hit it off well, and I thought the Huckabees would enjoy reconnecting.

They certainly did.

Over the course of that lovely evening in May, we shared with the new Ambassador our growing concerns over the Interior Ministry’s treatment of American Evangelicals.

We weren’t convinced the Minister even knew about the problems and explained that we believed mid-level officials were causing the trouble, not the Minister himself.

Huckabee immediately asked if he could help.

We were grateful and discussed some possibilities.

Within days, the Ambassador and Calev met with the Interior Minister and his senior staff.

That seemed to go well.

But despite the Minister’s assurances that the problems would be solved quickly, things actually got worse.

ESCALATION

Despite Calev’s efforts over the following days to persuade MOI officials to correct the issues – and not escalate them – nothing changed.

That’s when Huckabee wrote his letter.

When Lynn and I met with Huckabee in Washington on July 9th to interview him for ALL ISRAEL NEWS and our podcast, we thanked him for all he was doing to fix the problems at the MOI.

That’s when he told us – off the record – that the situation was actually getting worse.

We hadn’t known that.

He shared with us that he had just sent a tough letter to the Interior Minister, but asked us not to make it public, as he was still hoping to resolve things quietly.

That’s why ALL ISRAEL NEWS did not publish any news about the letter.

We did not have the letter.

Nor did we have permission to report what was happening behind closed doors.

Lynn and I were stunned a few days later when Channel 12 reported on the letter’s contents – and how upset Huckabee had become with the MOI’s refusal to fix things promptly.

Only after the letter leaked and became a major story in Israel did ALL ISRAEL NEWS cover it – in two separate stories.

RESOLUTION

We were very encouraged to hear directly from both Ambassador Huckabee and Calev Myers over the weekend that the issue had been “fully resolved” to their satisfaction.

That said, ALL ISRAEL NEWS again waited and did not publish the story until after the Ambassador went public on 𝕏 on Monday morning, Israel time.

Now that he has, I want to thank him – and Calev – for all their efforts.

I also want to thank the Interior Minister for listening to the serious concerns of the Evangelical community and for getting his house in order.

Yes, it took longer than we had hoped.

Still, Evangelicals are deeply grateful that a crisis was averted and that clergy members who deeply love Israel and the Jewish people – and seek to bless both – will once again be treated respectfully and with open arms.

After much prayer, this vital alliance is once again healthy and back on track.

FORMAL STATEMENT BY THE AMBASSADOR

Here is the full statement that Ambassador Huckabee posted on 𝕏 on Monday morning:

“After meetings with the Minister of the Interior and with the help of @IsraeliPM, I’m happy to report that the issue concerning visas for American Evangelical organizations has been fully resolved.

Starting in January, a change in the manner in which visas for Christian organizations had been processed for decades led to serious challenges bureaucratically and financially for the groups. Upon arriving in Israel as Ambassador, I learned that the changes in the process were creating delays, costs, and significant burdens with paperwork. After a meeting with the Minister of Interior, we thought the problem was settled, but organizations continued to have issues. I informed the Prime Minister’s Office of the problem and pointed out how detrimental it was to the relationship of the State of Israel with the American Evangelical community.

The Christian organizations did not at any time ask for different or special treatment, but merely a return to what has been an efficient and satisfactory process for many years.

Attorney Calev Myers, an Israeli attorney who represents some 150 Christian groups in Israel, was instrumental in outlining the request, and the Prime Minister’s Office was supportive and involved in the resolution along with the Minister of the Interior.

“I am delighted to report that the issue has been resolved to everyone’s satisfaction and the strong support that Israel enjoys from American Evangelicals will continue,” stated U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee. “I’m convinced the Interior Minister was not fully aware of the change being imposed, and I’m grateful he has personally intervened to completely restore the long-standing process,” added Huckabee.

“American Christians are some of Israel’s strongest supporters, and the resolution of this issue among friends is a welcome outcome,” said Huckabee.

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