US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee issued a statement on X/Twitter on Tuesday defending evangelical support for Israel after senior church leaders in Jerusalem warned that “Christian Zionism” was among “damaging ideologies” they said were harming Christian unity in the Holy Land. 

In his post, Huckabee wrote that he respected “traditional, liturgical churches” and their views, and said no single sect of Christianity should claim exclusive authority to speak for Christians worldwide on matters of faith in the Holy Land.

He described himself as part of a “global and growing evangelical tradition” that emphasizes the authority of Scripture and “the faithfulness of God in keeping His covenants,” including “His covenant with Abraham and the Jewish people.”

Huckabee further argued that Christian faith was rooted in Judaism, and linked the “Judeo-Christian worldview” to the development of Western civilization and the United States.

The idea of God breaking a covenant, he said, was unacceptable to believers who treat Scripture as the authority of the church, adding that this theological premise shaped his view of the Jewish people’s connection to the land.

Addressing the term “Christian Zionism,” Huckabee said it was frequently used as an insult aimed at “free-church believers” worldwide. He defined a “Zionist” as someone who accepts that the Jewish people have a right to live in their “ancient, indigenous, and Biblical homeland,” and he said this position reflected commitment to biblical revelation to “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” rather than support for any specific government or policy.

The post followed a January 17 statement by the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, published on the Jerusalem Patriarchate’s website. The statement said “recent activities undertaken by local individuals” were advancing “damaging ideologies, such as Christian Zionism,” which it said “mislead the public, sow confusion, and harm the unity of our flock.”

It added that such activities had found support among political actors “in Israel and beyond” pursuing an agenda that could harm Christian presence in the Holy Land and the wider Middle East.

The same statement said the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches “alone represent the Churches and their flock” on matters of Christian religious, communal, and pastoral life in the Holy Land, and described outside claims of authority as harmful to church unity and pastoral responsibility.

The dispute also prompted a response from the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), which criticized the church leaders’ characterization of Christian Zionism and called for disagreements to be handled through direct dialogue within the Christian community.

ICEJ said its support for Israel was biblically rooted and argued that the modern return of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel aligned with biblical promises.

International media outlets also reported on the church leaders’ warning and the broader debate over Christian Zionism’s influence in the Holy Land.