Trump's Former 'Christian Liaison' Says Deepwater Horizon Disaster Was God's Punishment For Obama Israel Division

Televangelist Frank Amedia, Donald Trump's "liaison for Christian policy" during the 2016 presidential race, claims the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 was God's punishment for President Obama's snubbing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and support for a two-state solution in Israel.

Speaking last week at the National Apostolic and Prophetic Gathering in Cocoa Beach, Florida, Amedia tied a diplomatic slight to one of the greatest environmental crises in United States history.

At the time, news outlets reported then-President Barack Obama left contentious talks with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to have dinner with his wife and daughters. In his speech, Amedia blames that snub for both an earthquake in Alaska and the high-pressure methane gas explosion that destroyed BP's Deepwater Horizon oil platform.

"How many of you remember April 20, 2010?" Amedia asked his audience. "Deepwater Horizon blew up. Now, a few days before that, there was an earthquake in Georgia Sound up in Alaska. The day the Georgia Sound earthquake happened I received the anger of the Lord. And I did because it came out that Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, went in to our White House to visit with our president to talk about the division of the land of Israel. You wanna push God's buttons? Start talking about Israel and dividing his land."

Amedia claims the Lord spoke to him that day, saying "Son, prophesy to the north and to the south and say it across this great span of this great country that I will shake the north and then I will shake the south and I will call from the deep and I will show disaster."

The Alaskan earthquake was the shaking in the north, according to Amedia's prophecy, and the Deepwater Horizon spill was the shake in the south.

Amedia added that God told him "until my son [Netanyahu] is received back where he belongs and they take their hands off my land," the leak would not be stopped.

In July 2010, Obama received Netanyahu at the White House for additional talks. But according to a White House briefing, the president "focused above all on the prospects for peace and a two-state solution."

"During our conversation, [Prime Minister Netanyahu] once again reaffirmed his willingness to engage in serious negotiations with the Palestinians around what I think should be the goal, not just of the two principals involved, but the entire world," said Obama in a statement. "And that is two states living side by side in peace and security."

Amedia claimed that "six days later, the well stopped" leaking oil.

In reality, Obama hosted Netanyahu on July 6 and BP did not announce the well was sealed until September 19. A sealing cap was affixed on July 12 but, according to The Guardian, the company was still stemming the flow of oil for months afterward.

With over 130 million gallons released into the Gulf of Mexico, the Deepwater Horizon disaster is considered the largest oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. Eleven were believed to have died in the explosion, with at least 17 more requiring medical treatment.

Amedia has made outrageous claims before: He once said that, with the power of prayer, he single-handedly prevented a tidal wave generated from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake from hitting Hawaii. In 2018, he raised eyebrows with a story about resurrecting an ant that he had crushed during a trip to Israel.

The Evangelical argument for a single Jewish state in Israel is linked to the movement's belief in prophecies described in the Book of Revelations and a necessary precursor to the final conflict between good and evil and the return of Jesus Christ to Earth. Donald Trump's relocation of the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was viewed as a major piece of that prophesy.

Amedia has also stated that the establishment of a United States Space Force is another key element in bringing about the End Times.