Certainly one of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s first conferences in america this week was not with American Jewish leaders however with evangelical ones.
The conservative Christians met with Netanyahu on Monday at Blair Home, a residence for visiting international officers close to the White Home. The gathering got here forward of the Israeli chief’s assembly with President Trump on Tuesday that led to about the way forward for Gaza.
“The truth that our assembly happened earlier than his conferences with President Trump and U.S. elected officers is indicative of the power of the historic friendship that exists between Israel and Christians in America,” mentioned Pastor , who leads a Georgia megachurch and has served as a Trump religious advisor.
Amongst these in attendance had been former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Baptist pastor and Trump’s choose to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel, and Tony Perkins, president of the socially conservative Household Analysis Council.
Who’re Christian Zionists?
Lots of these in attendance had been Christian Zionists, together with Pastor John Hagee, founding father of Christians United for Israel, an evangelical group that claims 10 million members.
“The Prime Minister is right here — as his nation begins to conclude its longest warfare — to successfully reset the U.S.-Israel relationship after the harm carried out by 4 years of, at greatest, lukewarm assist for the Jewish state,” Hagee instructed the Related Press by way of electronic mail.
Christian Zionism is an ideology amongst some evangelical Christians, notably in america, that interprets the Bible as promising the land of Israel eternally to the Jews and asserting that God would bless Israel’s supporters. Some proponents additionally interpret the Bible as predicting many Jews’ eventual conversion to Christianity.
The assembly was a reminder that evangelical Christian Zionists are amongst Israel’s strongest supporters within the U.S. — they usually wield appreciable affect as Trump begins his second time period. They’ve additionally backed controversial sentiments expressed by Republicans and Trump this week over the territories of Gaza and the West Financial institution.
Trump suggests the U.S. might take over Gaza
Trump, throughout a surprising information convention with Netanyahu on Tuesday, recommended that Palestinians from the Gaza Strip may very well be eliminated and resettled elsewhere, with the U.S. taking on the war-torn area.
The president, echoing his actual property developer previous, mentioned he envisions a Gaza that may very well be “the Riviera of the Center East.”
“This may very well be one thing that may very well be so invaluable. This may very well be so magnificent,” Trump mentioned, including that the individuals who reside there would be capable to reside in peace.
Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a key White Home advisor throughout his first time period, has additionally praised the “very invaluable” potential of Gaza’s “waterfront property.”
“I’d do my greatest to maneuver the individuals out after which clear it up,” Kushner mentioned a 12 months in the past.
Muslim and Jewish leaders react
The nationwide government director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Nihad Awad, assailed Trump’s proposal.
“Gaza belongs to the Palestinian individuals, not america, and President Trump’s name to displace Palestinians from their land both quickly or completely is an absolute nonstarter,” Awad mentioned in an announcement.
“If President Trump desires to make historical past with some kind of grand peace deal, he should begin by accepting that the way in which to make everlasting peace is to finish the Israeli occupation and oppression of the Palestinian individuals.”
Trump’s proposals underscore “the colonial nature of the Palestinian wrestle,” mentioned Salam Al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
“Any pressured relocation of the Palestinian inhabitants will solely escalate violence and resistance, resulting in extra instability within the area,” he mentioned. “Anti-American sentiment will spike even additional than what we’ve got witnessed during the last 12 months.”
Amongst U.S. Jewish leaders there have been combined views.
The president of an umbrella group representing comparatively progressive congregations, Rabbi Rick Jacobs of the Union for Reform Judaism, was skeptical.
“Whereas this second certainly requires daring considering to carry security and autonomy to Israel and the Palestinians, what we heard yesterday won’t construct that future; it should undermine it,” Jacobs mentioned.
“A peaceable Palestinian state alongside a safe Jewish state of Israel needs to be reached via a negotiated settlement between the 2 events,” he added. “Forcibly eradicating both populace will solely perpetuate the battle.”
The chief vice chairman of a extra conservative group, Rabbi Moshe Hauer of the Orthodox Union, mentioned Trump’s pronouncements about Gaza “had been actually a shock” and is perhaps considered in some quarters as insane.
But he described the insurance policies affecting Gaza for the final twenty years as “utter madness,” with Hamas holding management after which invading Israel in 2023.
“There could also be on this new proposal one thing to digest and take into consideration,” he mentioned. “We’ve gotten into a really unproductive place, an madness that retains repeating itself. Let’s take a step again, and suppose, ‘What if this actually works, and bodes properly for the way forward for all people.’”
Trump’s proposals had been praised by Sam Markstein, communications director for the .
“President Trump is a disruptor, and after many years of failed insurance policies, we’re inspired that the president is pursuing a daring, new imaginative and prescient for the area. … As essentially the most pro-Israel president in U.S. historical past, we’re assured in President Trump’s capacity to carry safety, peace and prosperity to this troubled area.”
Is it the West Financial institution? Or Judea and Samaria?
One longtime purpose of Christian Zionists, and their allies, bought a lift this final week when Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) reintroduced laws that may require all official U.S. paperwork and supplies to make use of the time period “Judea and Samaria” as an alternative of the “West Financial institution.” The laws was launched within the Home by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.)
“The Jewish individuals’s authorized and historic rights to Judea and Samaria goes again 1000’s of years,” Cotton mentioned. “The U.S. ought to cease utilizing the politically charged time period West Financial institution to seek advice from the biblical heartland of Israel.”
Israel’s authorities refers back to the West Financial institution by its biblical identify, Judea and Samaria, and considers it the historic heartland of the Jewish individuals. Palestinians and the U.S. authorities seek advice from the occupied territory because the West Financial institution.
Israel captured the West Financial institution in 1967 together with the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem — territory the Palestinians search for a future state. The U.S., together with many of the worldwide neighborhood, has historically supported the institution of a Palestinian state based mostly on the 1967 strains.
American Christian Zionists usually use the biblical phrases Judea and Samaria as a sign of their assist for Israel and its annexation of the West Financial institution. Audio system on the annual convention of Christians United for Israel steadily invoke the biblical language as an applause line.
Huckabee has repeated that the West Financial institution belongs to Israel, and not too long ago mentioned “the title deed was given by God to Abraham and to his heirs.”
Mockingly, Judea and Samaria had been as soon as a part of an historic two-state situation. For a minimum of 200 years of Israel’s royal historical past, Judea and Samaria represented separate kingdoms: Judea continued the dynasty of King Solomon whereas Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom, referred to as Israel.
Stanley writes for the Related Press. AP journalist Mariam Fam contributed from Egypt. Related Press faith protection receives assist via the AP’s with the Dialog U.S., with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely chargeable for this content material.
