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<\/a><\/p>\nMike Huckabee, then President Donald Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to Israel, testifies during his confirmation hearing in March 2025. (Kevin Dietsch\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In a sharply worded letter sent Wednesday, Huckabee accused Israel\u2019s Interior Ministry of arbitrarily blocking visa renewals for evangelical clergy and educational workers \u2014 some, he noted, from denominations with a presence in the region dating back to before the founding of the state in 1948. The ambassador, a pastor and prominent Christian Zionist, said in the letter that despite a seemingly productive meeting with the Interior Ministry, the situation had since \u201cactually gotten worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel we are being treated as adversaries,\u201d Huckabee wrote in the letter, which was leaked to Israeli media and published by the Times of Israel. \u201cIt would be very unfortunate if our Embassy were to publicly announce throughout the United States that the State of Israel is no longer welcoming Christian organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The letter continued, \u201cWe would further be obligated to warn Christians in America that their generous contributions to organizations to Christians in America that their generous contributions to organizations to promote goodwill in Israel are being met with hostility and that tourists should promote goodwill in Israel are being met with hostility and that tourists should reconsider travel until this situation is resolved with clarity.\u201d<\/p>\n
A day later, Interior Minister Moshe Arbel responded in a letter obtained by the Times of Israel, defending his ministry\u2019s conduct and expressing surprise at Huckabee\u2019s broad circulation of his complaints, which were copied to top Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was particularly surprised by the manner in which your concerns were raised,\u201d Arbel wrote. \u201cEvery request received by my office has thus far been handled promptly\u2026 In my view, this course of action deviates from accepted working norms.\u201d<\/p>\n
The clash has the potential to upset one of the most important political and philanthropic constituencies supporting Israel in the United States: evangelical Christians. In recent decades, their contributions have helped fund settlement projects, social services, and security initiatives.<\/p>\n
The dispute also comes at a time of close U.S.-Israel coordination on defense, with Huckabee referencing a recent joint military operation against Iran. \u201cSurely this is not the relationship the State of Israel wishes to have with its best partner and friend on the planet,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
The controversy centers on a policy shift within the Interior Ministry, which, according to Huckabee, no longer honors the Ministry of Religious Affairs\u2019 recommendations for granting visas to clergy seeking to conduct religious activity in the country. (Americans can enter Israel without a visa for tourism, business meetings or short-term study.) Instead, evangelical groups must now undergo extensive scrutiny, including filling out questionnaires about their beliefs, assets, and activities, before being approved for A3 religious worker visas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis includes many historic organizations such as the Baptist Convention of Israel, Christian Missionary Alliance, Assemblies of God,\u201d Huckabee wrote. \u201cTo the best of my knowledge, none of them have received new visas since the beginning of the year, as they are all \u2018under investigation.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear what prompted the change in treatment, with neither letter citing a cause. The Times of Israel quoted an unnamed employee of a Christian Zionist organization suggesting that Israeli officials had beefed up its vetting process over \u201cconcerns of concealed antisemitism or of proselytizing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arbel is an Orthodox politician whose party announced this week it was leaving Prime Minister Netanyahu\u2019s government in protest of a proposal to begin conscripting Orthodox men to the military, ending their longstanding exemption. As part of the party\u2019s departure, Arbel will soon be stepping down from his post. <\/p>\n
Arbel acknowledged that misunderstandings can occur and reaffirmed his commitment to resolving such visa issues \u201cwith the utmost efficiency,\u201d citing coordination with Huckabee\u2019s legal representative, Calev Myers. Arbel said every visa request that was brought to his office directly has been handled swiftly.<\/p>\n
But Huckabee\u2019s letter suggested that the broader system is broken. He warned that unless the process is reversed to reflect decades of precedent, the United States might consider retaliatory measures, including restricting visa access for Israeli citizens seeking to enter the United States. <\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t the first time the Interior Ministry has come under fire over its treatment of Christian visa applicants. In 2023, after similar complaints from evangelical groups, the ministry issued a public apology and pledged to resume processing clergy visas following a months-long freeze. At the time, officials attributed the delays to bureaucratic backlog and miscommunication, but many Christian leaders viewed it as part of a recurring pattern of disregard.<\/p>\n
The diplomatic flare-up over Christian visas coincided with an Israeli airstrike that hit Gaza\u2019s only Catholic church, killing three people and injuring several others, according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The incident, which drew international condemnation and allegations that Israel was targeting Christians, prompted an expression of \u201cdeep sorrow\u201d from the Israeli government. Netanyahu issued a public apology after President Donald Trump personally raised the issue him. Israel\u2019s military said the church was struck unintentionally during fighting with Hamas and that an investigation was underway.<\/p>\n