On the second episode of the Good for the Jews podcast, hosts Yael Eckstein, president and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and Zvika Klein, editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, are joined by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee to discuss the evolution of Israel's relationship with Christians.
The ambassador, who has visited Israel over 100 times prior to his new position, recalled the State of Israel making a major shift in its approach towards Christians in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
"Some of it was because the State of Israel began to recognize the value of Christian pilgrims coming to Israel economically. I mean, it was a huge benefit," Huckabee said. "I think some of the Israeli government officials started saying, 'These people are bringing a great value to us. They not only come here and they spend their money and they provide benefit to our economy, but when they go back home, they become ambassadors for Israel - not appointed not paid, but they become natural and organic ambassadors of the Israeli culture.'
"Those are the best salesmen that Israel can ever have," Huckabee noted.
The ambassador further took issue with the common claim that Evangelicals focus entirely on what happens at the End of Days.
"We really don't focus on it a whole lot, because most of us, the older we get, the more we realize we don't have a clue how this s all going to turn out. So rather than look at the future that we don't know, the truth is, we look at the past that we do know," Huckabee said. "This is not about the future .This is about the history. This is about us going back to the time of Abraham, to the giving of the law through Moses."
Mike Huckabee on the importance of Judaism, Israel to Christianity and the West
Huckabee touted the connection Christianity has with Israel, and said it was something that couldn't be ignored.
"The Christian foundation of all of Western civilization really got its very start in Israel," he explained. "We cannot ignore that."
He continued, "The ties run all over the spectrum," specifying historical, archaeological, spiritual, and political ties. "And if we try to pretend that they're not there, then we're being dishonest with history and being dishonest with ourselves and with our value system."
But the core of why Evangelical Christians are so supportive of Israel, Huckabee explained, is because of what is written in the Bible.
"We don't look at the Bible as a buffet line that we go through and pick and choose the particular items that we like," he said. "We embrace it because we believe God said it."
The Good for the Jews podcast is a joint project between The Jerusalem Post and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.