Did Senator Ted Cruz says he defends Israel because “the Bible tells him to.”

Checked on September 28, 2025
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1. Summary of the results

Multiple contemporaneous press accounts show Senator Ted Cruz has explicitly cited a biblical verse — Genesis 12:3 — as a motivation for his support for Israel, which supports the core of the original statement that his faith influences his stance. In interviews and public remarks reported by outlets summarized in the provided source set, Cruz said that as a Christian he was taught that “those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed,” and he identified that teaching as a “personal motivation” for his support [1]. Those direct attributions indicate Cruz links his support for Israel to scriptural teaching, rather than to purely secular or strategic reasons, and thus the plain reading of the claim—that Cruz says he defends Israel because the Bible tells him to—has factual grounding in his own words as reported [1].

Other sources in the provided set emphasize additional, non-religious reasons Cruz has advanced for supporting Israel, documenting a blend of legal, strategic and humanitarian arguments in his public statements. For example, Senate statements and public comments focus on opposing UN findings and defending Israel’s security posture in the conflict with Hamas, without explicit religious framing in those particular remarks [2] [3]. Those materials show Cruz does not rely exclusively on scriptural language in all contexts; he routinely frames his support in political and security terms as well, which means a complete account of his rationale must recognize multiple, co-existing explanations in his public record [2] [3].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The phrasing “because the Bible tells him to” compresses a range of public statements into a single causal explanation and omits context about how Cruz and comparable politicians typically present their views. Cruz’s explicit citation of Genesis 12:3 was described by him as a “personal motivation,” not the only motive for policy positions; other remarks emphasize alliances, strategic partnerships, and responses to specific events such as Hamas attacks or UN reports [1] [2]. Omitting those secular and strategic rationales can create the impression that religious conviction is the sole driver when Cruz himself frames it as one of several influences, according to the supplied sources [1] [2].

An alternative viewpoint comes from observers who situate Cruz’s statements within broader trends in American Christian Zionism and the role of religious identity in foreign policy advocacy. Academic and policy discussions referenced in the provided source set link Christian nationalist or Christian Zionist beliefs to political support for Israel, and they note these movements often blend theological imperatives with geopolitical interests [4]. Recognizing that Cruz’s public rationale overlaps with a larger ideological current helps explain why he would cite scripture publicly — it resonates with certain constituencies — but it also underscores that the claim about “the Bible tells him to” is both a literal description of his cited motive and a simplified summary that misses the multi-causal nature of political decision-making [4].

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

Framing the claim solely as “he defends Israel because ‘the Bible tells him to’” can be used strategically by different actors to advance contrasting narratives. Political opponents may use that formulation to portray Cruz as driven primarily by sectarian or theological directives rather than national interest, while supporters may highlight the same quote to signal principled moral conviction rooted in faith [1]. Both framings can mislead by treating a stated personal motivation as the exclusive or defining cause without acknowledging other public policy rationales Cruz has repeatedly invoked [1] [2].

Finally, source agendas should be noted: reporting that foregrounds the biblical line often appears in outlets and commentators focused on religion and culture, while coverage emphasizing strategic or security rationales appears in policy- and geopolitics-oriented reporting [1] [2]. Assessing the accuracy of the original statement therefore requires attention to how paraphrase and emphasis can shift perception — the factual core (Cruz citing Genesis 12:3) is supported by the sources provided, but the simplified causal claim omits corroborating non-religious motives and may be amplified to serve partisan narratives [4] [1].

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