Conservative pastor Rick Wiles has claimed that the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is spreading in synagogues as punishment from God for Jews refusing to follow Jesus.
Wiles made the comments on the Wednesday night edition of his show TruNews. The preacher reacted to news that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was considering a national lockdown due to COVID-19 by insisting that God had sent a "plague" to the synagogues in order to punish Jews.
"Stay out of those things, there's a plague in them. God's dealing with false religions," said Wiles. "God's dealing with people who oppose his son, Jesus Christ. He's dealing with the forces of Antichrist. And there's a plague moving upon the earth right now, and the people that are going into the synagogues are coming out of the synagogues with the virus."
"It's spreading in Israel through the synagogues," he continued. "Let me tell you Mr. Netanyahu, let me tell you ADL [Anti-Defamation League]: God. God is spreading it in your synagogues. You're under judgment because you oppose his son, the Lord Jesus Christ."
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, responded to Wiles in a statement to Newsweek.
"This is classic antisemitism mixed with religious triumphalism. It is unsurprising coming from Pastor Rick Wiles, whose 'news' outlet is a primary source for outrageous antisemitic conspiracy theories," Greenblatt said. "As we note in our report 'Antisemitism Uncovered,' the belief that Jewish people are cursed goes back to the Middle Ages and the Inquisition, It is backward thinking and has no place in America in 2020."
The preacher also claimed that the U.S. outbreak "started" at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference in Washington, D.C. on March 2, despite the fact that the first case and the first outbreak were both reported in Washington state.
Six attendees of the AIPAC conference have reportedly fallen ill due to the virus, representing a very small portion of the over 80,000 U.S. cases as of Thursday.
https://www.newsweek.com/conservative-pastor-says-coronavirus-spreading-synagogues-gods-punishment-jews-opposing-1494578
