Jews can empathize with Sen. McCain because we have faced the same dilemma with Rev. Hagee. No fundamentalist Christian is more overtly supportive of Israel, raised more money for Israel, nor used his religious and political clout to more energetically mobilize support in America for Israel. Further, he was an evangelical who made clear that his relations with Jews over Israel would not be used to try to convert us. Yet, his fundamentalist views had led to reprehensible statements about gays, Catholics, and even the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

And his particular understanding of the Bible led him to use his political clout in efforts to undermine support for the Israel- Palestinian peace process and a two-state solution. Nonetheless, it had become common to find Jewish leaders joining in Pastor Hagee’s “Salute to Israel” events around the country and paying public tribute and homage to the pastor for his efforts. Two months ago, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, challenged Reform Jewish rabbis with the contradictions of participating in such events with someone who held views that were anathema to our commitment to tolerance, pluralism and intergroup respect. While I hope that Rev. Hagee continues his support for Israel, which I assume he gives for its own sake, we should refrain from allying with him in any manner that gives our stamp of approval to him generally or to the deeply troubling views he has expressed.

Sen. McCain faced a similar dilemma and decision.

Since Rabbi Yoffie’s speech and the coverage it received, Rev. Hagee has apologized or retracted some of his statements. But now comes the revelation of this most distressing sermon given in the late 1990s and reiterated in several books since then. I don’t believe that Rev. Hagee is anti-Semitic but the words he used are. Blaming Jews for anti-Semitism or the Holocaust is a classic form of anti-Semitic argumentation. If only the Jews had listened to Herzl and gone to Israel, the Holocaust would not have been necessary!

I do not share Rev. Hagee’s belief that God controls every action here on Earth nor that God wishes for every Jew to move to Israel right now. But even if Rev. Hagee does so believe, that his God is one who could only accomplish that by killing 6 million innocent Jewish men, women and children, and 5 million innocent others is mind boggling. Ironically there are some anti-Zionist theological extremists in our community who argued exactly the opposite: that the Holocaust was God’s punishment for the Zionist movement. Both views are equally repugnant theologically, morally and politically. They deserve to be condemned by religious, civic, and political leaders in general, but most particularly by those who have chosen to align themselves with Rev. Hagee.

Senator John McCain, to his credit, did so yesterday, (and raised similar qualms about the troubling views of another fundamentalist supporter Rev. Rod Parsley). We can only hope that Rev. Hagee’s remarks will be similarly condemned by other political, civic and religious leaders.