Notorious Anti-Gay Pastor John Hagee Who Said God ‘Sent Hitler To Help Jews Reach the Promised Land’ Speaks at Pro-Israel Rally

'You’re either for the Jewish people or you’re not,' Pastor John Hagee told the crowd at the March for Israel rally on the National Mall

A controversial pastor who once said that God "sent Hitler to help Jews reach the Promised Land" spoke at a major pro-Israel rally in Washington D.C. on Tuesday.

Pastor John Hagee was one of the speakers at the March for Israel rally on the National Mall attended by tens of thousands of people. Hagee, the leader of the Christian Zionist advocacy group Christians United For Israel, told the crowd: "There is no middle ground in this conflict. You’re either for the Jewish people or you’re not.”

A prominent far-right televangelist, Hagee also said that Israel alone has the right to "determine how this war is going to be conducted and concluded,” rejecting calls for a ceasefire.

The pastor is a controversial figure, particularly for remarks he made in 1999 about the Holocaust, saying "God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the Promised Land.” He apologized for those remarks about a decade later.

He has also made numerous anti-LGBTQ comments. He called America "the new Sodom and Gomorrah” after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage in 2015.

In 2006, he said that "Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans” for holding a pride parade. Two years later, he admitted that “neither I nor any other person can know the mind of God concerning Hurricane Katrina. I should not have suggested otherwise.”

More recently, he said that teacher’s unions are “brainwashing” children to become transgender.

Despite his past comments, Hagee appeared to be welcomed by the crowd at the pro-Israel rally Tuesday and his speech was met with cheers.

March for Israel organizers did not immediately return a request for comment about Hagee’s presence.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., appeared together at the march, along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

The March for Israel was seen as a response to the hundreds of pro-Palestine protests held since the onset of the Israel-Hamas War, in which an estimated 1,200 Israelis and more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed since Hamas' Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel.