Ted Cruz' campaign has been forced to defend an endorsement he received from a prominent pastor who has made highly controversial statements about Jews.

Mike Bickle is the founder and director of the International House of Prayer of Kansas City. His organisation runs ministry schools with 800 full-time students as well as other mission projects and outreach initiatives. Around 20,000 people attend the organisation's One Thing conference every year.

Last month Bickle endorsed Cruz for the Republican nomination, saying: "Our nation is in a great crisis in this hour. We need a president who will first be faithful to honor God's Word. We need a president who will work to defend religious liberty, uphold our Constitution, keep our country safe and our economy sound, and speak truth to the nation. We have been praying for righteous leaders, and Ted Cruz is such a leader. I am enthusiastically endorsing Ted Cruz."

The Cruz campaign highlighted Bickle's valuable endorsement at the time, but has been forced on the defensive after some of his views made negative headlines.

One of Bickle's projects is Israel Mandate, one of whose goals is "partnering with Messianic Jews for the salvation of the Jewish people". His comments on God's plans for Jewish people have come in for particular criticism. In a sermon in 2011 he said that God would give Jews a chance to convert to Christianity and would "raise up the hunters" against those who refused. He described Hitler as "the most famous hunter in recent history".

Bickle's words echo those of Christian Zionist John Hagee, who has also described Hitler as a "hunter" who was fulfilling God's will.

America's Anti-Defamation League issued a statement urging Cruz to distance himself from Bickle's views.

"Mike Bickle's views about why God allowed Jews to be killed in the Holocaust, as expressed in a 2011 speech, are abhorrent, intolerant and unacceptable," it said. "We assume that Senator Cruz accepted Bickle's endorsement without knowing about these comments. We hope that when these comments are called to the Senator's attention, he will clearly and forcefully reject Bickle's hateful ideas."

The National Jewish Democratic Council called on Cruz to "clarify his position and explain why he chose to highlight someone who is 'notorious for having said that God sent Hitler to hunt Jews for not accepting Jesus as the messiah.'"

Nick Muzin, a senior adviser to the Texas senator's campaign, told Jewish Insider: "Our campaign welcomes support from faith leaders across the country. Mike Bickle is one of the hundreds who have endorsed us. My understanding is that he was paraphrasing the words of the prophets Jeremiah and Zechariah. I know that he has made support for Israel and the Jewish people a central part of his mission."