CUFI leader: 'No government contracts for Israel-haters'

(JNS) — Sandra Hagee Parker, chairwoman of the Christians United for Israel Action Fund, called on April 28 to prevent U.S. taxpayer-funded contracts going to those supporting boycotts against Israel. 

“We are not here to try and change the hearts and minds of people who hate Israel,” Hagee Parker, the daughter of CUFI founder Pastor John Hagee, said at the JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem. “What they are not entitled to do is weaponize taxpayer dollars. Nobody has a right to gain a government contract while hating on our closest ally.”

CUFI, which claims more than 10 million members, works to mobilize American Christians in support of Israel and the Jewish people, and to combat antisemitism and anti-Israel activism, including the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

“I might be patient zero when it comes to the Jewish-Christian alliance,” said Hagee Parker. “Pastor Hagee started ‘A Night to Honor Israel’ the year I was born, 44 years ago. I was raised knowing no other way than to be a born evangelical Christian Zionist.”

She recalled the backlash her father faced in the early years. “In my father’s generation, he was a pioneer in the Christian camp. He was called a heretic. But today, thanks to more than four decades of work, support for Israel has become second nature among evangelical Christians.”

Hagee Parker emphasized the biblical foundation for CUFI’s mission: “From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is clear about the centrality of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. If you don’t believe Christians should stand with Israel, you don’t believe the Bible,” she said.

“Faith without works is dead,” she continued. “It’s one thing to believe, but until you act on that faith, you haven’t exercised it.”

CUFI and John Hagee Ministries have donated more than $180 million to support Jewish and Israeli causes. 

Hagee Parker described CUFI’s outreach as spanning every stage of life—from schoolchildren to college campuses and national advocacy. “Prayer is vertical action, to God. But we also need horizontal action here on Earth,” she said, adding, “Whether in D.C. or in local communities, action matters.”

That includes opposing even symbolic anti-Israel resolutions at the city council level, she said.

“They’re not going to legitimize Jew-hatred and call it justice for another people,” she said. “We must educate kids early. They don’t arrive on college campuses neutral—they’ve already been influenced, and social media accelerates the spread of these messages.”

CUFI’s work includes films, curricula and activism aimed at exposing antisemitism that, according to Hagee Parker, is often disguised as anti-Zionism or social justice. “It’s not inclusivity—it’s the world’s oldest hatred,” she said.

CUFI’s upcoming 20th annual summit, scheduled for June 29 to July 1, will focus in part on advancing the Countering Hate Against Israel (CHAI) by Federal Contractors Act—a measure Hagee Parker says is long overdue.

“The CHAI Act would finally codify into federal law that entities doing business with the U.S. government must not engage in or support BDS for the duration of their contract,” she said. “This isn’t about free speech—it’s about action. The government has always had the right to choose the terms under which it does business.”

According to Hagee Parker, CUFI has helped enact anti-BDS laws in more than half of U.S. states, but federal legislation has lagged. “Congress has failed to act over and over again,” she said. “But we’re changing that at the grassroots level.”

Closing her remarks, Hagee Parker offered a message of solidarity.

“There was a time when the Jewish people were alone—before there was a nation of Israel. We’re here to shine a light on antisemitism, and shining a light is a form of defiance,” she said.

“We don’t fight for the Jewish people—it implies they can’t fight for themselves. But we do fight with them, shoulder to shoulder. There is no finish line,” she concluded.