Former Southern Baptist pastor turned politician Mike Huckabee is the second most influential Christian Zionist in America, according to The Jerusalem Post.
The Jerusalem-based news outlet published its Top 10 list of “pro-Israel Christians” along with a list of 25 “Young Vizionaries” and 50 “Most Influential Jews.”
Topping the list of Most Influential Jews is Doug Emhoff, husband of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. He’s joined in the top five by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, billionaire Bill Ackman and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken — all of whom outrank Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who comes in fifth.
Christian Zionism is a specific term denoting a political and religious ideology that advocates for the return of the Jewish people to the biblical Holy Lands. Many Zionists believe the founding of the state of Israel in 1948 was a fulfilment of biblical prophecies related to the eschatological “Gathering of Israel” and is a prerequisite for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Although the ideology has existed for much longer, the term dates to the mid-20th century.
Trump supporter Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, poses with former Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann and presidential daughter Ivanka Trump in a photo posted online by CBN journalist David Brody in 2018.
While Huckabee ranks second, the top honor goes to former U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachmann, dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University.
The paper says Bachmann “has always been a friend of Israel — having visited more than 30 times and serving on the board of The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews” and her “friendship has been especially invaluable since October 7, as she has reached Christians — including young people, who are bombarded with anti-Israel hatred — with a message of truth and love for the Jewish state and people.”
In 2008, Bachmann, a Minnesota Republican who four years later ran for president herself, was a fierce critic of then-presidential candidate Barack Obama, calling him anti-American.
That drew a sharp retort from the five Democratic members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation, which included current Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, who then was a Congressman. He and four others issued a joint statement questioning Bachmann’s ability to “work in a bipartisan way to put the interests of our country first in this time of crisis.
Bachmann later walked back her comment but still called Obama a socialist.
In 2013, she decided not to run for reelection while she was under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, the Federal Election Commission, the Iowa Senate Ethics Committee, the Urbandale Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation because of alleged campaign finance violations in her 2012 campaign for president.
Mike Huckabee in 2016. (Photo by Johnny Louis/WireImage)
Huckabee, who was educated at a Southern Baptist Convention seminary and was elected president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention before being elected governor of Arkansas, comes in second behind Bachmann.
The paper quotes him as saying, “Everything that I embrace as a Christian is rooted in the promises that God gave to the Jewish people.”
Its citation explains: “Of the many Christian friends of (the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews) and of the Jewish state of Israel, none has a passion and calling stronger than that of Gov. Mike Huckabee. His accomplishments —44th governor of Arkansas, presidential candidate, ordained Southern Baptist pastor, and television host — certainly show him to be a man of action and a man of God.”
The paper lauds Huckabee, whose daughter is the current governor of Arkansas, for having visited Israel more than 100 times in five decades.
Most recently, Huckabee has defended the Netanyahu government’s response to the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, arguing against any cease-fire agreement with the terrorist organization even to free Israeli hostages.
Before October 7, Huckabee led frequent U.S. tour groups to Israel as a profit-making enterprise.
Speaking to the press on a 2017 trip to Ma’ale Adumim, an illegal Jewish settlement in the West Bank, he said: “There are certain words I refuse to use. There is no such thing as a West Bank — it’s Judea and Samaria. There’s no such thing as a settlement. They’re communities. They’re neighborhoods. They’re cities. There’s no such thing as an occupation.”
Rounding out the Top 10 list after Bachmann and Huckabee are former NBA player Jonathan Isaac; Pentecostal pastor Allen Jackson; far-right broadcaster Sean Hannity; Promise Keepers leader Carlos Duran; North Carolina pastor Paul Lanier; International Fellowship of Christians and Jews staff member Carlos Ortiz; TV personality Phil McGraw; and Dumisani Washington, leader of thge Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel.