WASHINGTON (JTA) – Christians United for Israel formed an alliance with the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.
The NHCLC claims to be America’s largest Hispanic evangelical organization, and CUFI is one of the largest Christian grassroots organizations in the country.
"My wife and the majority of my 20,000 congregants are Hispanic,” John Hagee, founder and chairman of CUFI, said in a joint statement issued this week by CUFI and the NHCLC.Hagee’s Cornerstone megachurcg is based in San Antonio, Texas. “I have always been moved by the Hispanic community’s deep love for Israel.”
Samuel Rodriguez, president of the NHLC, said in the same statement that his group’s decision to join with CUFI stemmed from a desire to shore up pro-Israel sentiment in the country.
"I have always loved Israel and believed that Christians must speak out in support of Israel’s right to exist and [its right of] self-defense,” Rodriguez said.
There are believed to be more than 16 million Hispanic evangelical Christians in the United States, with the NHCLC claiming to represent more than 25,000 Hispanic evanglical churches.
Earlier this year, CUFI launched a Spanish-language portion of its site to appeal to Spanish-speaking evangelicals.
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