The Most Influential (and Self-Promotional) Christian Zionist You've Never Heard Of

OAKLAND, California, Feb 22 (IPS) -- During a recent appearance on the Fox News Channel's "Fox and Friends" program, Mike Evans accused former President Jimmy Carter of everything from helping overthrow the Shah of Iran to causing the Russians to invade Afghanistan and provoking the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat.

He also had words of warning for President Barack Obama: listen to Carter at your own peril. "Jimmy Carter has an ideological belief system that Obama has to understand because if he plays that game we are going to have hell to pay for it," Evans said.

The long hard slog that former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld often talked about in reference to the war in Iraq has been fully embraced by Evans. However, he is primarily consumed with Israel, the Palestinians and Iran.

The media-savvy, well-connected and well-traveled conservative evangelical Christian Zionist -- with several bestselling books to his name and a bent for the hyperbolic -- has for years opposed Bush's road map to peace in the Middle East, a two-state solution, and a divided Jerusalem. He has also been warning the world about the danger that Iran poses and the necessity of a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities by either the U.S. or Israel.

These days, as the world awaits the formation of a new Israeli government -- likely to be headed by Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party and possibly in partnership with Kadima's Tzipi Livni -- Evans has honed in on another of his favorite targets: former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

Evans has written a new book titled "Jimmy Carter: The Liberal Left and World Chaos" -- the only book thus far published by his TimeWorthy Books -- which is a sharp rebuke of President Carter's efforts at working for a peaceful solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict.

Evans maintains that his new book "helps you connect the dots and understand how we have come to this crisis," the promotional materials at the book's Web site states. "More importantly, the book tells you how it can be resolved. It contains information that has never been revealed by diplomatic sources worldwide. It divulges the agenda of Jimmy Carter and the Liberal Left to sell America and the Bible Land to the highest bidder."

In a recent article, Evans, the founder of an organization called The Jerusalem Prayer Team (JPT) and the Corrie Ten Boom Foundation, stated that Carter's "solution is straightforward; Israel should embrace the Quartet" -- a plan for dealing with the Middle East crisis crafted after Hamas' parliamentary victory three years ago by the U.N., the U.S., the European Union, and Russia.

"The plan," writes Evans, "is backed by a group simply known as The Elders, an idea formulated by British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson and musician Peter Gabriel to create a world council of elders to tackle issues such as peace in the Middle East."

Carter is a member of The Elders' Middle East team. "How," Evans wants to know, can Carter and friends "ask the Jewish people to embrace a group known as The Elders?" in light of the virulently anti-Semitic book, "Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion."

Carter's new book, "We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land: A Plan That Will Work," was released on Jan. 20, the same day as Evans' book.

Although Mike Evans has never had the name recognition of Pastor John Hagee, the founder of Christians United for Israel, the Rev. Pat Robertson or the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, he has been a steady presence in the Christian Zionist fold. Over the past few years, his successful self-promotional efforts have yielded several bestselling books and numerous appearances on radio and television talk shows.