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Jews, Israel and the Religious Right

Ikvot ha'Mashiach

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "See, I will beckon to the Gentiles, I will lift up my banner to the peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders. (Isaiah 49:22)

Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor." (Isaiah 55:5)

My friend John sent me an article last week written by Maggie Gallagher for Yahoo! news. Her intent was to explain the shifting (and diminishing) support among Americans for Israel.

In 1989, she writes, 69 percent of Americans supported Israel. In the latest ABC News poll, just 41 percent of Americans do. And the really weird thing is, as New York magazine put it, "Even more unnerving for liberal Jews here (in New York) has been the fact that sympathy for Israel is strongest among Republicans. At 64 percent, they are far beyond Democrats, only 38 percent of whom sympathize with the Israelis."

The following excerpt from Gallagher's op-ed piece offers her take on this shifting support.

"In PC-Speak, international alliances are supposed to be defined in rational, secular terms. We support Israel because Israel is a democracy, which is true, but so are a lot of other countries. We support Israel because Israel is a staunch ally. Which is true, but what does it get us? With allies like this, America hardly needs enemies. No, support for Israel cannot be justified by the cold logic of national self-interest. And it cannot be explained away by calling some people hawks. Both sides in this conflict use force of arms. A generalized willingness to use military force does not explain why Americans are still much more likely to identify with Israel than, say, the Palestinian authority."

"For me, what it comes down to, right or wrong, is a sense of religious affinity. As a Christian (Roman-Catholic style), I believe the Old Testament of the Bible is true. Jews are the chosen people through whom God revealed himself to humanity. Deeper than the ins and outs of any particular policy Israel adopts toward the Palestinians (which may be as right or wrong), my support is based on an inchoate sense that if put into words would be something like this: As Christians, we just cannot sit by and let Islamic nations exterminate the Jewish people."

"I am not trying to make a political argument so much as explain a political phenomenon. The uncomfortable truth for many American Jews (who remain overwhelmingly allied to the Democratic Party and many of whom view Christian conservatives as political enemies) is this: If America's alliance with Israel is to be maintained over the long term, it will be thanks to the Religious Right."

It's Only Natural

As America continues to abandon the God Who has blessed us beyond measure, it's natural that support for Israel should diminish. Gallagher's right. Our national support for Israel can't be explained politically. It can only be attributed to the concern God has placed in the hearts of Evangelical Christians for His chosen people and the influence we still have over our government's policies. Most of the world's non-believers and even the liberal denominations, who give even less credence to the Old Testament than they do to the New, effectively abandoned Israel over a decade ago.

I remember a visit to the US by then Prime Minister Yitzak Shamir in the early 1990's to encourage US support for Israel. His appearances were primarily before Evangelical Christian groups since mainline Christianity as represented by the World Council of Churches had already become decidedly pro Arab. As the mainstream denominations coalesced around their "replacement theology" wherein the church inherited all of God's promises to Israel, having a Jewish nation around was theologically embarrassing. Dislike for Israel was a natural response because its presence is too blatant a reminder that God meant what He said about Israel in the Bible. (And if He meant what He said about Israel, maybe He meant what He said about other things as well.) It causes the same kind of discomfort among liberal Christians as that passage in the Koran about land conquered in the name of Allah never being lost again does for Islam. Israel simply has to go.

We grow to hate whatever reminds us that our position may be wrong and where people are concerned our hatred often manifests itself as bigotry. All bigotry is evil, but anti-Semitism is Satanic because it fosters opposition to God's plan for Israel. It's becoming rampant again in Europe, worse than at any time since before WW2. Arab literature routinely describes Jews as "sons of pigs and monkeys" while calling for the total destruction of both the Jewish nation and people, and this by Islamic clergy. And in its annual report listing the major terrorist attacks around the world during the year 2001, the US State Department included only those attacks in Israel that involved the deaths of non-Jews, prompting the Jerusalem Post to complain, "In the State Dept. Jewish victims don't count."

Right On

And so Gallagher's closing comments are right on the mark. "The uncomfortable truth for many American Jews (who remain overwhelmingly allied to the Democratic Party and many of whom view Christian conservatives as political enemies) is this: If America's alliance with Israel is to be maintained over the long term, it will be thanks to the Religious Right."

We're Israel's last friends. As long as we retain some influence over our government's policies the US will continue to back Israel in the face of growing world opinion to the contrary. But what happens when the church is gone?

Who's Your Daddy?

"I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves." (Zech 12:2-3) Israel's last friends in the world will have left in the Rapture. All the nations of the Earth will take up arms against her, and God's chosen people will be surrounded. But He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep, (Psalm 121:4) and the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. (Zechariah 14:3)

The last battle in the Age of Man will be for control of Jerusalem, a place no one wanted until God chose it as His own. (2 Chron. 6:5-6) Since then the forces opposed to Him have tried without ceasing to take it from Him, for in the spiritual realm control of Jerusalem signifies victory over God. It is quite simply the most important piece of Real Estate in the entire Universe. And for all those who would seek to divide it or give it to someone else or even "internationalize" it, be advised. He still wants it. "This is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever." (Ezekiel 43:7)