- Over 1,000 American evangelical pastors and influencers attended an all-expenses-paid trip to Israel, organized by the Friends of Zion initiative and funded by the Israeli Foreign Ministry. The event aimed to solidify evangelical Christian support for Israel amid growing global criticism of its military actions in Gaza and the West Bank.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally addressed the group, urging them to "stand up and be counted" and counter anti-Israel narratives among young people. Evangelical leader Mike Evans framed the summit as a "counter-ideological war" against declining support for Israel in the United States.
- The pastors visited biblical sites in the West Bank (called "Judea and Samaria"), reinforcing Christian Zionist theology—which claims Israel has a divine right to all historic Palestine. This belief, rejected by major Christian denominations, has heavily influenced U.S. foreign policy for decades.
- With declining evangelical support (especially among youth), Israel launched a multi-million-dollar "geofencing" propaganda campaign in U.S. churches. Pastors were "commissioned as ambassadors" for Israel, tasked with spreading pro-Israel messaging back home.
- The summit highlights deepening ties between Israel and U.S. evangelicals, who remain a powerful political bloc—potentially pushing for West Bank annexation under the Trump administration. Critics warn this blurs religion and geopolitics, risking further erosion of Palestinian rights under the guise of biblical prophecy.
In a historic and controversial move, over 1,000 American evangelical pastors and influencers recently concluded an all-expenses-paid trip to Israel, funded by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The summit, organized by the Friends of Zion initiative, aimed to solidify evangelical Christian support for Israel amid rising global criticism of its military actions in Gaza and the West Bank. The delegation, described as the largest group of American Christian leaders to visit Israel since its founding, was personally addressed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who urged them to "stand up and be counted" and "speak the truth to young people."
Mike Evans, an evangelical pastor and confidant of President Donald Trump, played a key role in organizing the event. He framed the summit as a countermeasure against what he called an "ideological war" that Israel is losing. "Right now, there's an ideological war that Israel is losing, so they need the evangelicals, they need the Zionists to fight an ideological war," Evans said.
Christian Zionism holds that modern Israel has a divine right to all of historic Palestine—including the West Bank. This belief, though rejected by major Christian denominations like the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, has significantly influenced U.S. foreign policy for decades. The pastors' visit included stops at biblical sites in the West Bank—referred to by Evans as "Judea and Samaria"—reinforcing the theological argument for Israeli sovereignty over the contested territory.
BrightU.AI's Enoch explains that Christian Zionism is a political and religious movement that supports Zionism, the political movement advocating for a Jewish state in Israel, from a Christian perspective. Christian Zionism emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, drawing upon biblical prophecies and eschatological beliefs to support the establishment and maintenance of a Jewish state in Palestine. The movement gained traction among evangelical Christians in the United States, who saw the founding of the State of Israel in 1948 as fulfillment of biblical prophecy.
The evangelical force shaping Israel's future
Despite long-standing evangelical backing, recent polls indicate waning support among younger evangelicals, partly due to Israel's military campaign in Gaza. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee warned of a "growing cancer" within evangelical circles where "people are thinking Israel doesn't matter and there's nothing biblical about our relationship with Israel."
To counteract this trend, the Israeli Foreign Ministry has reportedly launched a multi-million-dollar propaganda campaign targeting U.S. evangelical churches – described as the "largest Christian Church Geofencing Campaign in U.S. history."
The pastors toured the site of the Oct. 7, 2o23 Hamas massacre at the Supernova music festival, accompanied by former hostages. Tamryn Foley, a delegation member, told Fox News Digital: "I am going back home with a fire to make sure young people in my country know the truth… There is so much negative propaganda in our country. It's loud, and we need to do a better job of educating young people."
The summit concluded with a ceremony where pastors were formally "commissioned" as ambassadors for Israel. Evans framed the effort as a moral imperative, declaring: "These devils that hate Jews hate Christians just as much. What is being said against the state of Israel is 100 worse than what the Nazis said on their party platform in 1920, and everyone is ignoring it."
The summit underscores the deepening alliance between Israel and American evangelical leaders, who remain a powerful political force. With Trump's return to the White House, this bloc could push for policies favoring Israeli annexation of Palestinian territories—despite growing international condemnation. Meanwhile, critics warn that such initiatives blur the line between religion and geopolitics, risking further erosion of Palestinian rights under the guise of biblical prophecy.
As Israel faces mounting diplomatic isolation, its reliance on evangelical support highlights a strategic pivot toward ideological warfare. The pastors' summit marks a bold attempt to mobilize American churches as defenders of Israeli policies, raising urgent questions about the influence of faith on foreign policy and the future of U.S.-Israel relations.
Watch Noam Chomsky discussing the historical origins of Christian Zionism below.
This video is from the Russia Truth channel on Brighteon.com.
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