US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has threatened to publicly declare that Israel no longer welcomes Christian groups to Israel over what he said was Jerusalem’s failure to approve tourist visas for evangelical missions.
The threat was issued in a letter that Huckabee sent on Wednesday to Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, which was leaked to Hebrew media on Thursday. Arbel pushed back on the allegations in a response letter that was obtained by The Times of Israel.
Huckabee in his letter threatened to order his embassy to take reciprocal measures against Israeli tourists seeking visas to enter the US.
Given Huckabee’s longstanding support for Israel and close ties with the current government in particular, the rhetoric in his letter represented a shockingly quick deterioration.
But the issue at hand — the ability of Christian groups to tour Israel — is close to Huckabee’s heart, given that he has led countless such trips as an evangelical pastor over the past half a century.
The back-and-forth letters came almost two months after Huckabee and Arbel met on May 27 to discuss problems encountered by Christian Zionists seeking to visit Israel.
“It is with great distress that I write to you my profound disappointment that the meeting held in your office has not resulted in what I hoped to be a simple resolution of the issue of routine granting of visas for Christian organizations and workers, as has been practiced for decades,” Huckabee wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Times of Israel on Friday.
Huckabee wrote to Arbel that at the start of 2025, the Interior Ministry launched investigations into several evangelical Christian organizations with long ties to Israel, including the Baptist Conference in Israel and the Christian Missionary Alliance.
Huckabee informed Arbel that these organizations were required to complete lengthy questionnaires and that they had still not received new visas for religious leaders to travel to Israel, despite submitting their applications at the beginning of the year.
“It would be very unfortunate that our embassy would have to publicly announce throughout the United States that the State of Israel is no longer welcoming Christian organizations and their representatives and is instead engaging in harassment and negative treatment toward organizations with long-standing relationships and positive involvement toward Zionism and friendship to the Jewish people and the State of Israel,” the US envoy wrote.
“It would be very unfortunate that our embassy would have to publicly announce throughout the United States that the State of Israel is no longer welcoming Christian organizations.”
Huckabee sent copies of his letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.
In addition to threatening a public announcement that Israel no longer welcomes Christian groups, Huckabee said he would warn American Christians that their donations are not received warmly, and that tourists should reconsider any plans to visit Israel if the issue is not resolved.
“If the government of Israel continues to cause the expense and bureaucratic harassment for the granting of routine visas that for decades have been routine, I will have no other choice than to instruct our consular section to review options for reciprocal treatment of Israeli citizens seeking visas to the United States,” Huckabee warned.
“It’s understandable that the Minister of Interior has concerns of concealed antisemitism or of proselytizing and needs to properly vet certain groups,” a longtime employee of a Christian Zionist organization in Israel told The Times of Israel.
“That being said, it’s lamentable that well-established Christian groups that prove to be no threat and are taking a strong stance of support for Israel and the Jewish people are encountering these obstacles,” the employee continued. “There are a number of Christian groups that simply want to extend friendship and support to Israel and also better understand the Jewish roots of their own faith.”
The employee, who asked to comment anonymously, said that there are many Christians who are “sincerely grieved and angered about the rising antisemitism and anti-Israel bias of the post October 7th world, who deeply value what Israel is fighting for and want to have a positive, tangible impact in their support.”
“If the government of Israel continues to cause the expense and bureaucratic harassment for the granting of routine visas that for decades have been routine, I will have no other choice than to instruct our consular section to review options for reciprocal treatment of Israeli citizens seeking visas to the United States.”
“It would be tragic for the bureaucracy of the Interior Ministry to negatively impact this opportunity to encourage friendship and support from non-Jews and repair Jewish-Christian relations, especially in these times. As much as we are different, Jews and Christians also have shared values that the world needs to experience as a united front,” the source added.
After receiving the letter, Arbel — of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party — responded, saying that he was “particularly surprised” by the way in which the envoy raised his concerns.
“Every request that was personally brought to the attention of my office has been addressed within an exceptionally short time frame,” Arbel insisted.
“In my view, this course of action deviates from accepted working norms and does not reflect the direct and constructive relationship we have established, he said, adding that the relationship between the two countries is “among the most valued and significant partnerships.”
“I greatly appreciate your consistent support for Israel and your steadfast commitment to our partnership. For this reason, I believe it is incumbent upon us to act in a spirit of coordination, mutual trust, and respect — even when misunderstandings or difficulties arise,” Arbel concluded.
The private exchange that quickly turned public came on the heels of an apparent Israeli strike on Gaza’s sole Catholic church on Thursday that killed three people and injured several, according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, drawing international condemnation and expression of “deep sorrow” from Israel. The military said the church was struck by accident, and that it was investigating what happened, and Netanyahu’s office issued a statement expressing regret.
Earlier this week, Huckabee weighed in on unchecked settler violence in the West Bank for the first time, calling on the Israeli government to investigate the “terrorist killing” of a 20-year-old Palestinian-American in the village of Sinjil last week.