For the first time a non-Jew is running a government ministry

Minister of Aliyah and Immigration Ofir Sofer announced today that the next chairman of the Ministry’s public council for Aliyah, Absorption and Diaspora will be Evangelical minister John Hagee, the pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio Texas and the founder of AIPAC’s most dangerous competitor in recent years, CUFI. Hagee was born in Baytown, Texas, studied at the Trinity University in San Antonio that was founded by his father, and has been serving as pastor in the church he founded since 1966.<br><br>Hagee has become especially close with Israel in recent years, donating tens of millions of shekels for various causes including to Holocaust survivors, lone soldiers that don’t have families in Israel, and immigrants from Ethiopia, Ukraine and France. He has served as chairman of the Jewish Agency’s board of directors, and was chosen in 2007 to light one of the torches on Israeli Independence Day. <br><br>“I see this as a great honor, and I can’t overstate how thrilled I am by this appointment”, Hagee said. “I am proud to support Israel, and I see this as a huge privilege. I am excited to work with my friend Ofir Sofer, the most important Minister in the government.”