John Hagee

John Hagee is the most consequential Christian advocate for Israel in American history, having single-handedly built the institutional infrastructure that mobilized tens of millions of evangelical Christians into a unified pro-Israel political force. Born April 12, 1940, in Baytown, Texas, into a fifth-generation pastoral family, Hagee studied at Southwestern Assemblies of God University, Trinity University, and the University of North Texas, where he earned a master's degree in 1966. He founded Cornerstone Church in San Antonio in 1975, growing it from a small congregation into a non-denominational evangelical powerhouse with more than 22,000 active members and a television ministry reaching millions worldwide. Now 86 years old and continuing in active ministry, he represents a half-century of unwavering commitment to the U.S.-Israel bond rooted in biblical theology.

On February 7, 2006, Hagee gathered approximately 400 leaders from Christian and Jewish communities to launch Christians United for Israel (CUFI), which has since grown to more than 10 million members — making it the largest pro-Israel organization in the United States by a significant margin. CUFI's annual Washington Summit, which draws thousands of Christians to the nation's capital to lobby their members of Congress on Israel, has become one of the most effective grassroots lobbying operations in American politics. Hagee has testified before Congress, met with Israeli prime ministers and presidents, and delivered addresses at the Knesset. His theological conviction — that Christians have a biblical mandate to stand with Israel — has given the pro-Israel movement a constituency that transcends Jewish demographics and reaches into every congressional district in America.

At 86, Hagee operates alongside his son Pastor Matt Hagee, who now serves as Lead Pastor of Cornerstone Church, ensuring institutional continuity for both the congregation and CUFI. His influence on Republican politics is structural: without the evangelical Christian constituency that CUFI organized and mobilized, the pro-Israel voting bloc in Congress would be a fraction of its current size. At Rank 8, John Hagee is the faith leader who understood before almost anyone else that the future of America's commitment to Israel would be decided not in Washington boardrooms but in the tens of thousands of churches where his voice reaches every Sunday.