Likud and the Christian Dispensationalists: A Symbiotic Relationship

The approach of the empowered evangelicals was exemplified in Falwell's comment that "the US government should not be a party to any pressure that could create a peace that is not lasting, equitable and scriptural."(43) There were also advertisements protesting Soviet involvement in the peace process. Begin was happy to utilize such pressure against the United States government and to use [Jerry Falwell] and fellow evangelicals as interlocutors with Cairo and Amman.(44) In return, he was willing to record a broadcast for Falwell's television program on the Camp David agreement and happy to issue residence visas to evangelicals "beyond the customary quotas which allowed for the building of new congregations."(45) Falwell supported the Begin governments" policies not to make territorial concessions, announcing on numerous occasions that the retention of Judea and Samaria was "partially justified by scripture"(46) During a visit to Israel in 1981, he strongly condemned the National Council of Churches" criticism of Likud settlement policy on the West Bank.(47) Begin utilized Falwell to counteract criticism by other Christian groups by telephoning him two days after the raid on the Iraqi nuclear reactor in July 1981. Indeed his close ties with the Reagan White House allowed Falwell to continue his pressure on government not to press Israel to make concessions on the West Bank,(48) and that, instead, there should be "total military and financial support for Israel."(49) There was similarly support for Operation Peace for Galilee -- Israel's less than successful invasion of Lebanon in June 1982. Although the war divided Israel politically and was the cause of huge demonstrations in Israel against the invasion, [Moshe Arens] spoke at the fifth annual convention of the Moral Majority in Jerusalem and described the war as "a great victory, not only for Israel but also for the free world."(50) [Pat Robertson], a fellow televangelist and founder of the Christian Coalition, held views similar to those of Falwell on the importance of retaining the West Bank and Gaza, but he often alluded to the admixture of Jewish Communists, Jewish Capitalists, the conspiratorial nature of world Jewry, and the supremacy of Christianity -- all views that were common on the Right in pre-war Europe.(65) In his writings Robertson refers to Nesta Webster's publication Secret Societies and Subversive Movements, which was required reading for British Fascists both before and after World War