New York – The Rev. John Hagee is extending his regret to Jews.
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Mr. Hagee, a televangelist and megachurch pastor who had publicly endorsed Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate for president and was repudiated last month by Mr. McCain after a Web site posted a troubling sermon by Mr. Hagee about the Holocaust.
In the sermon he gave in 1999, Mr. Hagee said that God allowed the Holocaust to happen in order to get the Jewish people to return to Israel in order to fulfill Biblical prophecy. The remarks created an uproar, which prompted Mr. McCain finally to cut his ties with Mr. Hagee, after months of escalating outrage about Mr. Hagee’s views on the Roman Catholic church.
On Friday, Mr. Hagee sent a letter to Abraham D. Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish organization that combats anti-Semitism.
In the one-page letter, Mr. Hagee said he had “devoted much of my adult life to combating anti-Semitism and supporting the state of Israel,” and sought to clarify his views on Jews and the Holocaust.
He wrote:
“Also central to my faith is a belief in an omnipotent, sovereign God. In a sermon in 1999, I grappled with the vexing question of why a loving God would allow the evil of the Holocaust to occur. I know how sensitive the issue of the Holocaust is and should be to the Jewish community, and I regret if my Jewish friends felt any pain as a result. I have always believed that the Holocaust was a tragedy unique in its evil and horror.
“I canot deny the tenets of my faith. However, I will work to express my faith in a way that is sensitive to and respectful others, including the Jewish community. This includes acknowledging the limits of our understanding in seeking to comprehend the mind of God.”
Mr. Foxman, who had recently spoken to Mr. Hagee about the controversy by phone, released a response on Friday that suggested that Mr. Hagee was forgiven, at least by Mr. Foxman.
Mr. Foxman wrote:
“We welcome Pastor Hagee’s letter clarifying his views on Jews, the Holocaust and Israel. We appreciate his regret over the pain his statements may have caused to any in the Jewish community. We value his acknowledgment that the Holocaust was a tragedy unique in its evil and horror and the limits of our understanding in seeking to comprehend the mind of God.
“Pastor Hagee has devoted his life to combating anti-semitism and supporting the State of Israel. We are grateful for his efforts to eradicate anti-Semitism and to rally so many in the Christian community to stand with Israel.
“We look forward to continuing to work with Pastor Hagee to promote dialogue between Christians and Jews based on mutual respect, reconciliation and the recognition of God’s eternal covenant with the Jewish people.”
too late. this nut is no different than wright or robertson. they’re all the same.
Why? What he said has no trace of anti-semitism in it. He found a reason, in step with his goyishe thinking, to explain the holocaust. He didn’t deny it (oich nisht ek velt), so what did he say that was SO terrible?
He is a very good man with a long, long history of PRO-JEWISH (nOT anti) and pro Israel credentials. Yes, a verifiable track record. I guess we don’t have enough real enemies , so we have to try to make our true friends into enemies?
Foxman forgives to get his name in the paper. Those with seychel understand that the fat chozzer of a preacher is an enemy.
What good is empty words claiming a lifetime of support within a lifetime of evangelism! trickery and kidnapping (on boat) in the effort of brainwashing Jews to adopt the idolatry of his faith?
just because a goy supports israel doesnt make him a friend.
any clergyman who abuses his pulpit isnt worth a dime.
Do your homework, people–this man is a true friend of the Jewish People if you actually bother to look at his record.
Secondly, Abe Foxman is not King of the Jews. Why he is the one that everyone runs to when they want to apologize to the Jews is beyond me. He does not represent worldwide Jewry.
Thirdly, as Dennis Prager puts it, Hagee apologizing for his “anti-Semitism” is like getting an honest man to prove that he is not a bank robber. This whole situation is completely ridiculous.
this idea of the cause of the holocaust has been said allready by a rabbi from the previous gen. so why the tumult??
really what he said is not that much different than what my mashgicam in Yeshiva said. This Reverend seems pretty nice to me. So he think Oso Ish will come again and I think the real Meshiach has yet to come. For the time being we can be friends to save Jews in Israel from nuts in Congress and when our Meshiach comes he will make another apology. I can wait and still be friends.
I’m sorry he’s felt the need to apologise. All he did was darshen a posuk. Does anyone doubt that the Holocaust was Hashem’s will? Of course not. Everything that happens is His will, and kol ma de’ovad rachmono letav ovad; it’s impossible to understand, but we know that nevertheless it must be so. So Hagee looked in Tanach and found a reason; tzi es gefelt unz yoh oder nisht, he’s entitled to make the drosho.