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Evangelical Support for Israel Is Rooted in a Belief that Freedom and Faith Are Inseparable.
(Wall Street Journal) Ralph Reed - Evangelical Christians for decades have been the most pro-Israel constituency in America. The Pew Research Center reported in 2022 that 70% of white evangelical Protestants believe God gave Israel to the Jewish people and 86% have a favorable view of Israelis. After World War II with the horrifying revelations of the Holocaust, the creation of a Jewish state out of the former British mandate became a humanitarian imperative, and when the U.S. became one of the first nations to recognize the modern state of Israel in 1948, Christians broadly supported it. Evangelicals view Israel through the prism of a celebrated tradition of Christians who opposed the Nazis and rescued Jews from Hitler. Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, murdered by the SS, is lionized in American churches, and his letters from prison became standard reading in Bible studies. Corrie ten Boom, who survived the camps after her family hid Jews in her native Holland, became a featured speaker at Billy Graham's crusades. Being a good Christian meant defending Jews. Christian empathy for the Jewish people is leavened with a clear-eyed assessment of U.S. security interests. During the Cold War, as Nasser's Egypt and other Arab nations allied themselves with the Soviet Union, Israel emerged as a vital strategic partner to America and its most reliable ally in the region. During the war on terror, Israel's radical Islamic foes became America's enemies, and its struggle the West's struggle. Christians also cherish Israel as the cradle of their faith. It is the land where Jesus was born. Since gaining control of eastern Jerusalem in 1967, Israel has provided greater access to the holy sites of all faiths. Evangelicals support Israel because they love God, cherish their country, and believe faith and freedom are inseparable. Israel, like the U.S., is a beacon for those timeless, eternal values. The writer is founder and chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition.