Evangelical Leaders Visiting Israel Back Annexation of Judea and Samaria

The faith leaders came for the Israel launch of the Conference of Christian Presidents

By: Etgar Lefkovits

A group of Conservative American evangelical leaders visiting Jerusalem on Tuesday voiced support for Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria—the biblical heartland of the Jewish people—in addition to the end of Hamas rule and presence in the Gaza Strip.

The remarks come as U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to make a decision on U.S. policy regarding the annexation of Judea and Samaria (also known as the West Bank), and after a prominent American Conservative group and major Christian group of broadcasters gave their backing to such a move.

Judea and Samaria are the counties in which many of the most famous Biblical stories take place, and are spiritually important to both the Jewish and Christian faiths.

“We strongly support and think it is imperative that Israeli sovereignty be expressed, extended and recognized over Judea and Samaria,” Ralph Reed, founder and chairman of the Faith and Freedom Caucus, told JNS. “Recognizing Israeli sovereignty is indispensable for Israel to provide security to its own people.”

Tony Perkins, a Southern Baptist pastor who serves as president of the Family Research Council, stated “we shouldn’t tell Israel what to do about anything.” Still, he affirmed that “we support you in your right to exercise sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.”

The faith leaders came for the Israel launch of the Conference of Christian Presidents, a new umbrella organization of pro-Israel faith groups modeled after the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. The Conference of Christian Presidents was established in Washington this past September.

The launch event at the event at the Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem included speeches by Bramnick, Perkins, and Reed, as well as Luke Moon, co-chair of the Conference of Christian Presidents and Executive Director of the Philos Project, and Lance Wellnau, a popular Evangelical podcaster.

“Our enemies are united, and it is important that we be as well,” Mario Bramnick, president of the Latino Coalition for Israel and co-Chair of the Conference of Christian Presidents, told JNS.

The organizations and leaders of the various organizations associated with newly-formed Conference of Christian Presidents represent tens of millions of evangelicals in America.

“We want for Israelis and Jews in America to know that Evangelical Christians are their closest friends and supporters,” Bramnick said.

The Conference seeks to advance pro-Israel policy at the executive, legislative and state levels, and mobilize major grassroots efforts to strengthen U.S.-Israel relations.

The group has close ties to many senior members of the current Trump administration, and hope to use their influence to promote policies which directly benefit Israel, particularly in its war against Iran and it’s terror proxies around the region.

“God has given Israel a blank check with the election of Trump … and Israel needs to stand boldly on Judea and Samaria, and the complete annihilation of Hamas,” Bramnick said.

The Christian leaders also spoke out against growing anti-Semitism, the isolationist wing of the Republican Party and the need to work together with the traditionally liberal American Jewish community.

During their latest visit to Israel this week, the group also toured the biblical heartland, including the site of ancient Shiloh, where they stressed their support for Israeli sovereignty.

(JNS.org)