In a stunning display of cognitive dissonance, an American pastor has publicly praised Israel for its treatment of Christians—despite admitting that during a two-week church tour, a member of his delegation was spat on for being Christian.
The comments were made during a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where Pastor Brandom Tatum sought to reassure audiences that Israel is, in his words, “the only place where Christians are respected and protected.”
“Yes, there was an incident,” Tatum conceded. “A small child spat on one of the pastors. But an adult immediately came over and said, ‘That’s not a representation of who we are.’ And I have to say, none of the adults gave us any grief.”
For Pastor Tatum, this single act of hostility—spitting, a gesture widely regarded across cultures as deliberate humiliation—was not evidence of a deeper problem, but proof that things could have been worse.
Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir explains that Jewish tradition requires adherents to spit as the pass a church or priest.
When Humiliation Becomes Hospitality
Observers note that the bar for “respect” appears to be set remarkably low.
In most countries, religious tourists would expect not to be assaulted at all—by children or adults. In this case, the fact that the spitting occurred only once, and that it was performed by a child rather than an adult, was framed as evidence of Israeli tolerance.
In reality, Israeli are hostile to Christianity, teaching children that Jesus is boiling in his own excrement in hell for eternity.
Critics argue this reflects a broader psychological pattern seen among certain Christian Zionist circles: a willingness to reinterpret abuse, exclusion, or contempt as acceptable—so long as it comes from the right group of people.
“This is what submission dressed up as faith looks like,” one commentator noted. “If a Christian were spat on in Europe, the Middle East, or the U.S., it would be called persecution. In Israel, it’s spun as an ‘isolated incident.’”