Rand Paul Draws Fire From Pro-Israel Group For “Promised Land” Comments
A source at Christians United For Israel calls Paul’s comment to BuzzFeed “slander.” “He simply is asking all Christians to join him in reexamining our foreign policy and in working to make war a last resort,” a Paul adviser responds.
by McKay Coppins
September 13, 2013 at 3:14pm EDT
WASHINGTON — A leading pro-Israel group is condemning Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul after taking issue with critical comments he made to BuzzFeed about foreign policy mistakes made by “defenders of the promised land and the chosen people.”
Paul was discussing a speech he gave last year at the Value Voters Summit in which he said he struggled to reconcile his Christian beliefs with the notion of fighting wars.
“I think some within the Christian community are such great defenders of the promised land and the chosen people that they think war is always the answer, maybe even preemptive war. And I think it’s hard to square the idea of a preemptive war and, to me, that overeagerness [to go to] war, with Christianity,” Paul told BuzzFeed in a story published Friday morning.
An official at Christians United For Israel strongly criticized Paul for the comments, accusing the senator of “slander.”
“One of the last acceptable prejudices in America is a bias against Christians of faith. Thus it hurts us to see a leader we respect — and a Christian one at that — engage in such slanders of Israel’s Christian supporters,” the CUFI source, who requested anonymity because he said he didn’t have permission to speak on the subject, told BuzzFeed. “Let’s be clear, Christians United for Israel is the largest pro-Israel organization in America and we abhor war. We have never asked Congress for any action tougher than economic sanctions because we believe that war must always be a last resort. And we support a strong Israel because we know that this is the best deterrent to war in the Middle East.”
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