Ambassador Mike Huckabee

Dear Mr. Minister:

It is with great distress that I write to you my profound disappointment that the meeting held in your office has not resulted in what I hoped to be a simple resolution of the issue of routine granting of visas for Christian organizations and workers, as has been practiced for decades. I left the meeting with a very positive feeling that we had resolved the issue that necessitated that meeting. It had appeared that a staffing change in the Ministry of Interior resulted in an employee changing the long-practiced process of granting visas to Christian organizations, a list of which is enclosed. The situation has actually gotten worse.

1. As of the beginning of 2025, the Visa Department arbitrarily ceased honoring the recommendations of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and has initiated an independent investigation into each of the Evangelical organizations to ascertain whether or not they should be recognized as Religious Institutions and continue receiving visas. This includes many historic organizations such as the Baptist Convention of Israel, Christian Missionary Alliance, Assemblies of God, etc., some of whom have been active here since before 1948. The vast majority of them have headquarters in the United States. They have all been required to fill out extensive questionnaires regarding their religious beliefs, their activities, their assets in Israel, etc. And to the best of my knowledge, none of them have received new A3 Clergy Visas since the beginning of the year, as they are all “under investigation.”

As a solution, we simply requested that the Visa Department return to the status quo and recognize the recommendations of the Ministry of Religious Affairs (its own department).

2. There are a handful of Protestant/Evangelical educational institutions active in Israel, such as the Anglican School under the Israel Trust of the Anglican Church (ITAC), IBEX from Masters University, University of the Holyland, and the Jerusalem University College. Because they are all affiliated with churches or are focused on educating and equipping clergy, for the past seven decades, all of their senior faculty has received A3 Clergy visas, and their students have received student visas. As of the beginning of 2025, all of them were notified by the Visa Department of the Ministry of Interior that they will no longer continue to be granted clergy visas, because as far as the department is concerned, they are no longer recognized as “Religious Institutions” for visa purposes. No specific explanation was given for this decision, and it has caused some major difficulties. If they cannot receive A3 Clergy Visas, their only option is to apply for B1 Foreign Expert Visas — which is a visa category made for significant for-profit business enterprises. It has both a relatively high fee per visa each year — approx. USD $2,500 — and a minimal salary requirement for each employee of twice the median salary in Israel — approx. NIS 22,000/month today — twice the standard salary of Israeli citizen teachers. If this policy is not changed, some of them may need to close their programs due to financial strain.

As suggested above, we requested in our in-person meeting that the Visa Department return to the status quo and continue to recognize these organizations as religious institutions.

I was just informed by the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem that their visas are also being held up. They are probably the largest Evangelical Zionist organization. It is unbelievable that the situation is deteriorating rather than improving.

The Evangelical Christian community is perhaps the strongest and most faithful and fervent supporter of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. When antisemitism is growing around the world, the evangelical Christian community has remained steadfast and has become even more outspoken in support. It is also responsible for contributing millions of dollars to combat antisemitism and tangible support for Israeli causes through dozens of organizations such as International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, Samaritans Purse, Christians United for Israel, and numerous others.

In addition, Christian tourism to Israel is a major source of not only revenue, but of goodwill and support for the State of Israel. Your Ministry of Tourism can attest to these facts.

The close partnership between the United States and Israel governments is at an all-time high having just concluded a joint military operation that will hopefully curtail the threat from an Iranian nuclear ambition.

For our formal and cordial official request from U.S. Embassy Jerusalem to return to the “status quo” of long-standing practices regarding visas to be rebuffed and made worse is shocking and a source of inexplicable disappointment.

Let me reiterate that we are not asking for special or out of the ordinary treatment. We are simply requesting that the long-standing policy that has been employed for generations be continued. It is the abrupt change and additional burden and expense that has been imposed without explanation that we find bewildering. The United States and evangelical Christian organizations are your friends. We feel we are being treated as adversaries.

As the U.S. Ambassador representing the United States and President Donald J. Trump, I am formally requesting that this deteriorated relationship with the Interior Ministry be resolved so that the issue is not further escalated.

It would be very unfortunate that our Embassy would have to publicly announce throughout the United States that the State of Israel is no longer welcoming Christian organizations and their representatives and is instead engaging in harassment and negative treatment toward organizations with long-standing relationships and positive involvement toward Zionism and friendship to the Jewish people and the State of Israel. We would further be obligated to warn Christians in America that their generous contributions to organizations to promote goodwill in Israel are being met with hostility and that tourists should reconsider travel until this situation is resolved with clarity.

Finally, and most regrettably, if the Government of Israel continues to cause the expense and bureaucratic harassment for the granting of routine visas that for decades have been routine, I will have no other choice than to instruct our Consular Section to review options for reciprocal treatment of Israeli citizens seeking visas to the United States.

Surely this is NOT the relationship the State of Israel wishes to have with its best partner and friend on the planet.

On behalf of the United States, I urge you to reverse these punitive policies and return to the long-standing practices between our countries specifically related to the many Christian organizations who love Israel, support Israel, and who currently are being punished for doing so.           

We hope for a restored relationship,

                     Sincerely,

                                 Mike Huckabee

                           Ambassador

Enclosure: As stated

His Excellency Moshe Arbel

Minister of Interior of Israel

Jerusalem

Cc: H.E. Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel

H.E. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel

H.E. Gidon Sa’ar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel

H.E. Ron Dermer, Minister of Strategic Affairs of Israel

H.E. Amir Ohana, Speaker of the Knesset

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Page Updated: 8/7/25

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