Current Events Trivia: Pat Robertson and his relationship with American Jews
Pat Robertson speaks at the Florida Economics Club in 1986. (Mark T. Foley/Wikimedia Commons)
Published June 13, 2023
Pat Robertson, the controversial Baptist minister who preached a conservative brand of political Christianity, died last week at the age of 93.
Robertson was the founder of the Christian Coalition and he helmed The 700 Club television broadcast, promoting his vision of America as a Christian nation. Robertson was a strong supporter of Israel and many Jewish causes, including freedom for Soviet Jewry.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted that Robertson “was a great friend of Israel, second to none.” But Robertson was a controversial figure in the Jewish community. In a 2014 conversation on The 700 Club with Rabbi Daniel Lapin, Robertson said, “What is it about Jewish people that make them prosper financially? You almost never find Jews tinkering with their cars on the weekends or mowing their lawns.” Rabbi Lapin concurred, at which point Robertson noted that Lapin would be busy “polishing diamonds, not fixing cars.”
What other statement did Pat Robertson make that was controversial within the Jewish community?
- When Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke, Robertson claimed that God punished Sharon for withdrawing Israel from the Gaza Strip, stating, “God considers this land to be his…and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, ‘No, this is mine.’”
- Referring to the effort by liberal Jews to provide a place at the Western Wall for egalitarian prayer, Robertson said, “a condition like this will bring about the destruction of your nation. It’ll bring about terrorist bombs; it’ll bring earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor.”
- Referring to the Gaza Strip under the control of Hamas, he said, “Maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off there to shake things up.”
- Following a molotov cocktail attack on a gay bar in Tel Aviv by an Orthodox Jew, Robertson said, “I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle—all of them who have tried to secularize Israel–I point the finger in their face and say: ‘You helped this happen.’”
- After passing a synagogue in Brooklyn as their Purim celebration was spilling out into the streets, Robertson said, “I think we ought to close Purim down. Do you want your children to dress up as witches? The Druids used to dress up like this when they were doing human sacrifice…Your children are acting out Satanic rituals and participating in it, and don’t even realize it.”
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