Declaring that evangelical Christians are “on the front line of defense for Israel in the United States of America,” the Rev. John Hagee brought delegates to the Christians United for Israel Washington Summit 2012 to their feet with loud cheering and the sounds of shofars being blown.

“We’re united in the belief that all Bible-believing Christians have a Bible mandate to support Israel,” Hagee, founder of the 7-year-old group — dubbed the Christian AIPAC after the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — said in his opening address July 16 at the Washington Conference Center.

Hagee said CUFI has more than 1.1 million members.

The three-day summit concluded July 18 with participants lobbying their congressional representatives on Iran’s nuclear quest, U.S.-Israeli security cooperation and U.S. security aid for Israel, and Palestinian incitement. — jta