Because Christian Zionists are, in Don Wagner's words, intrinsically and pathologically, "anxious for Armageddon" (pg 183 of Stephen Sizer's Christian Zionism)
Some among the apocalyptic right express their love for Israel as in
"I pray that even if it takes anti-Semitism in America, God may use it to get his millions back to Israel." -Jan Willem van der Hoeven (as cited pg 223 Christian Zionism). Willem is an Armageddonist Activist & Founder of International Christian Embassy Jerusalem and director of The International Christian Zionist Center.He is saying that anti-semitism may be tolerated or justified if it serves the higher end of forcing Jews to return to Zion so that what has been prophecied should come to pass. Heaven forbid that a few million Jews' desire to live in America thwart Armageddon by not reaching God's quorum for the inevitable Apocalypse.
The only reason the deranged lunatic - Jan Willem - continues to operate in Israel is that he has convinced the settler movement he is their friend by encouraging settlements on the one hand and on the one hand putting forward propaganda which disconnects the inequities caused by the disenfranchisement of the Palestinians from the conflict. Here's a quote from this creep and another from a Benyamin Netanyahu, which represents the worldview that any well-meaning Jewish person would have if over-exposed to the filthy ideas of Armageddonism.
Jan Willem van der Hoeven
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Benyamin Netanyahu
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Today, most of the relatively uninformed
journalists and politicians in the West are of the misguided opinion that as long
as Israel withdraws from the “occupied territories,” namely Gaza, Judea and Samaria
(the “West Bank”) and the Golan Heights, there will be a chance for peace in the
Middle East. The reason they think this is there false perception of the conflict
as basically over land - rather than the reality that what is being sought is
the elimination of Israel from the map of the Middle East. (van
der Hoeven 1993: 133)
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Today too we are told that it is we who
provoke terrorism. We provoke it by building apartments in Jerusalem, we provoke
it by providing for the natural growth of our communities... The real provocation
… is not a housing project, it is not the settlements. The real provocation is
pure and simple. It is our existence here. That is what is causing the provocation.
It is not a provocation. This is our country, this is the Land of Israel; it is
the country that belongs to the people of Israel, and we have an inalienable right
to this land. (Netanyahu 1997)
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Van der Hoeven believed that Muslims want to eliminate Israel from the map. This has an ounce of truth to it and a pound of lies. The cloak and dagger technique employed by van der Hoeven leaves out the fact that it's the nature of the democracy in Israel which many chafe at rather than a reaction to the presence of Jews. The nature of this democracy is a topic for discussion elsewhere. The point here is that van der Hoeven evokes the memory of the Holocaust here by evoking the memory of Hitler's attempt to eliminate Jews.
All this because van der Hoaven believes in a certain interpretation of prophecy which leaves him with a theology of history. In turn this belief shapes his perception of reality. And when it comes to identifying friend from foe, percepiton is reality.
He believes that non-Jews surrounding Israel must be destroyed so that the glory of God may be known. The fact that they happen to be Muslim is incidental.
Van der Hoeven and those like him - Hagee, Limbaugh, and well meaning pundits from the right and the left - all accept this line of thinking at face value. What else is one to do when you are told you are under attack? That's what Hitler told the Germans to get them to take up arms against their neighbors.
If you look at the news, you will indeed see news of Jews being attacked. What van der Hoeven asserts is that the cause of this conflict is something enherent to the inferior mind of the Palestinians. And his conclusion is that therefore, there is no way of avoiding armageddon. According to van der Hoeven, the ceansing of the earth is inevitable. People such as van der Hoeaven manage to find niches of acceptance within the Jewish community precisely because they manipulate the Jewish patriot's fears.
Van der Hoeven spends a lot of time explaining, for instance why Palestinians fire rockets. Israeli politicians take on the role of responders to the crisis. In effect, the situation on the ground as seen through the lense of the Armageddonist ideology provides the world-view to which the Jewish state responds.
What would happen if a Jewish politician differed from this script? If we look at history, Ariel Sharon for instance, during his final years, attempted to do just that by attempting a land for peace deal. Although I believe this soluiton is doomed to failure because it's a lot like separate but equal. Be as it may, he was mocked and rediculed by the base in America for even thinking of peace.
