Back in 2002, he was penning editorials like "Why Evangelical Support for Israel Is a Good Thing." "American Jews," he wrote, should be "highly appreciative of the incredible support that the State of Israel gets from a significant group of Americans-- the Evangelical Christian Right. In many ways, the Christian Right stands out as the most consistently supportive group of Israel in America.... This is especially noteworthy during the current Administration, as they are conveying their sentiments to a President who shares many of their religious and social perspectives."

Foxman went on to decry the "reluctance in certain sections of the American Jewish community to welcome or encourage Evangelical support," over concerns about anti-Semitism. Foxman dismissed such concerns: anti-Semitism is now "history...among Evangelicals," he claimed, "superceded by the new special role of the Jews in the modern state of Israel."

Never mind that Christian right leaders such as Jerry Falwell have called Jews "spiritually blind and desperately in need of their Messiah and Savior"; that the Southern Baptist Convention has made the conversion of Jews a special mission; and that much Christian right support for Israel is based on End Times scenarios in which Jews must return to Israel to expedite the second coming of Christ. There's just one catch: Once that glorious event occurs, Jews who don't convert will burn in hell for all eternity. As Craig Unger vividly illustrates in his article in the December issue of Vanity Fair, in which he recounts his travels to the Holy Land with best-selling apocalyptic novelist Tim LaHaye, if you peel back Christian right support for Israel, you find a Jewish death wish. Plus, in geopolitical terms, the Christian right's "pro-Israel" stance could prove to be a significant obstacle to peace; since Christian right support for Israel is based on belief in a Biblical covenant, conservative evangelicals typically oppose any dismantling of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Despite all this, Foxman has often used his position to confer legitimacy on the Christian right, offering movement leaders an interfaith stamp of approval for their messianic visions in return for their staunch support for the Likud regime. In 2002, Foxman personally thanked Gary Bauer, founder of the conservative evangelical organization American Values, for his support for Israel, and the ADL took out a full page ad in The New York Times to celebrate a pro-Israel statement by Ralph Reed.

But last week, according to an account in The Forward, Foxman used the ADL's annual conference to sound the alarm about attempts to "Christianize America." Criticizing several leading Christian right organizations by name, including the massive, Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family and the influential beltway lobby group Family Research Council, Foxman said the movement "had built infrastructures throughout the country... intend[ing] to 'Christianize' all aspects of American life, from the halls of government to the libraries, to the movies, to recording studios, to the playing fields and locker rooms of professional, collegiate and amateur sports....Their goal is to implement their Christian worldview. To Christianize America. To save us!"

But in straying off of his gratitude script, Foxman had annoyed top dogs on the Christian right. Tom Minnery, president of public policy for Focus on the Family, issued this threat: "If you keep bullying your friends, pretty soon you won't have any."

Representatives of the American Jewish Congress and other national Jewish organizations questioned Foxman's assertion that the Christian right was actively imposing its agenda on America. "Putting prayer back in the public schools?" the AJ Congress's Eugene Korn told The Forward. "It's not clear to me that it's a thrust." But Korn and friends must not be paying attention. The Christian right lobby has succeeded in rolling back access to abortion, family planning, and contraception here at home and around the world; they've pushed for abstinence-only and faith-based initiatives that have sent tens of millions of dollars into the coffers of Pat Robertson's Operation Blessing, Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse, and dozens of other Christian right organizations; they've replaced scientists with biblical literalists on key government advisory bodies; and they've strong-armed President Bush into stacking the federal courts with judges who want the Ten Commandments posted in public buildings and evangelism in the public schools.

It's great to see Abe Foxman wake up and smell the coffee.