US Senator Ted Cruz delivered a speech at Pastor John Hagee Ministries' 45th annual Night to Honor Israel in San Antonio on Tuesday, where he warned of what he claims to be a "growing cancer" of so-called right-wing anti-Semitism in the United States, saying he had never seen such a rise in the last six months.
The U.S. senator criticized what he claims to be the spread of anti-Semitic rhetoric among young Christians, attributing it to the dissemination of "lies" and "theological lies" like replacement theology, which he claims undermines the validity of God's promises to Israel and the Jewish people. He also expressed concern over prominent right-wing figures making statements he claims, downplay the evil of Hitler and the Holocaust, and he highlighted the alleged influence of foreign actors like Iran and Qatar in spreading anti-Semitic content online.
Cruz claimed that even a simple X post by him can generate hundreds of anti-Semitic responses. He referenced conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who initially attributed anti-Semitic online activity to foreign state actors but later acknowledged it was also organic and spreading among real individuals.
The U.S. senator condemned the rise of replacement theology, a doctrine, he claims, falsely teaches that the Christian church has replaced Israel and that God’s promises to the Jews are no longer valid. However Christian leaders have historically understood so-called chosen people to mean practicing Christians who accept and live by the teachings of Jesus Christ, as the He himself said in the Bible (John 14: 6).
Cruz also defended U.S. aid to Israel ($3 billion annually) as a national security bargain, yielding intelligence worth "tens of billions," and rooted his stance in Genesis 12:3 ("I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you"). Cruz ended with an Esther reference: "We are placed here for such a time as this... As for me and my house, we shall stand with Israel."
However critics point out that both the fake and real intelligence provided by the Israeli intelligence, Mossad, had led to thousands of American troops fighting and dying in wars to defend Israeli interests in the middle east in the last two decades costing the U.S. trillions in dollars.
Cruz's remarks drew swift ire and mockery online, with many social media users, dubbing the senator "Tel Aviv Ted" and demanded he "resign and lobby for Tel Aviv." Critics accused him of prioritizing Israel over America. "Ted Cruz is biblically ignorant and bribed," one X post reads.
The neoconservative U.S. senator has publicly clashed with other conservative figures, including Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, over their positions on Israel and anti-Semitism. The senator has faced backlash for declaring, during an interview with Carlson, that he ran for senate and was elected to serve the state of Israel.
Hagee, an 85-year-old televangelist and founder of CUFI, the largest pro-Israel group in the U.S., delivered a sermon drawing from Deuteronomy 7:6 in the Bible, which describes the Jewish people as a "holy people" and "treasured possession" chosen by God "out of all the peoples on the face of the earth."
He said: "For you, Israel, are chosen, a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the people on the face of the earth. That includes the United States of America."
The remark, captured in a widely circulated video clip, sparked immediate online backlash for its phrasing, which critics interpreted as promoting Jewish supremacism over other nations, including the U.S.. The addition of "that includes the United States of America" amplified perceptions of it as inflammatory or cult-like devotion.
Reactions to Cruz's and Hagee's remarks expose rifts in the right-wing ranks amid post-October 7, 2023 debates. There has been growing anti-Israel sentiment in the west, even among the only remaining base of strong support for Israel: the American right.
Many pro-Israel neoconservatives and liberals, have in recent years, faced backlash for smearing conservatives and other right-wing voices who criticize Israeli influence on American or European foreign policy in the middle east. The pro-Israel activists, critics argue, are mostly Jewish supremacists, Zionists and war hawks who care more about the interests of Israel than their own countries.
