Massive US pastor delegation arrives in Israel for solidarity mission

A delegation of 1,000 Americans Christian pastors and influencers — the largest group of American Christian leaders to visit Israel since its founding — arrived last Tuesday as part of the Friends of Zion initiative.

The trip, organized in partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aims to provide training and prepare participants to serve as unofficial ambassadors of Israel in their communities.

Most evangelical Bible believers are Zionists, making them a key ally in efforts to combat anti-Semitism, said Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem and a confidant of President Donald Trump.

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The largest delegation of evangelical Christian pastors and influencers ever to Israel will meet with former Hamas prisoners at the site of the Supernova Music Festival on Wednesday as part of the Friends of Zion Ambassador program. (Shlomi Amsalem)

“These demons who hate Jews hate Christians just as much,” Evans told Fox News Digital. “What is being said against the State of Israel is a hundred times worse than what the Nazis said in their party platform in 1920, and everyone is ignoring it. They don’t realize how dangerous it is.”

He added: “The new wars in the twenty-first century are media wars, ideological wars, economic wars, and proxy wars. While Israel has never fought an ideological war, its enemies have.”

Evans said members of the visiting delegation were vetted for hidden agendas and signed a pledge committing to solidarity with the Jewish people. “We submitted more than 2,000 applications and selected the people most suitable for this first journey,” he said. “These 1,000 pastors represent tens of millions of Americans and have significant influence on the media and social media.”

The initiative was approved by the Prime Minister Benjamin NetanyahuWho Evans has known for 45 years.

Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem, meets with former Hamas hostage Aidan Alexander. (Shlomi Amsalem)

“When we were on Mount Herzl, there was a widow telling her story,” Tamryn Foley, a member of the executive team of the National Faith Advisory Council, told Fox News Digital. “Her daughter no longer had a father. It broke my heart to think that my little girl might not have her father. It connected on a deeply personal level.”

The Council is the largest coalition that supports and defends people of faith under its leadership Rev. Paula White Cain. Its mission rests on four pillars — protecting religious freedom, promoting a strong America, defending life at all stages, and respecting family values ​​— and identifies the US-Israel alliance as central to that agenda.

“I stand with Israel Very powerfully, and so is the group of pastors I work with. I don’t think we realized the magnitude of this event. “We wanted to show support, and since we’ve been here, it’s been a lot more than we thought,” said Foley, who lives in Florida.

She continued: “I will return home with all enthusiasm to make sure that the youth of my country know the truth. It is one thing to understand something intellectually, but it is another thing to come here and meet the affected people and connect with them at the heart level.”

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“There’s a lot of negative propaganda in our country,” Foley said. “It’s loud, and we need to do a better job of educating young people. They are able to see through the bullshit and the lies — I don’t think we give them enough credit. We need to give them the truth and plant the seeds of lifelong support for Israel.”

He explained that one of the goals of the training was to reach young people – claiming that countries like Qatar have turned against Israel by investing millions of dollars to spread anti-Semitic content through universities and digital platforms.

The Muslim Brotherhood, for example, has waged an ideological war, Evans said, calling it “a powerful demon because it doesn’t clear customs, and you can’t kill it with a bullet.”

He claimed that “more than half of the Palestinian population embraces Hamas’s ideology of radical Islam, which is not based on land for peace but on establishing an Islamic state and eliminating the Jewish state.”

Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem, meets with former Hamas hostages Keith and Aviva Siegel. (Shlomi Amsalem)

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Evans pointed out that Evangelical movementIsrael, which represents 9.7% of the world’s population, has greatly influenced US foreign policy through its belief that the biblical land belongs to the Jewish people.

He said: “The president loves us and knows how we feel about Israel.” Evans added: “We believe that the president respects us and that we have his trust and ear. We would not have been able to recover the hostages without him. He will stand with us and will not give in to the intentions of Jew haters regarding the Judea and Samaria region or the Palestinian state. He will do everything in his power to help Israel.”

On Wednesday, the delegation met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and visited the site Hamas massacre on October 7 At the Supernova Music Festival, accompanied by former hostages Emily Damari, Tal Shoham, Moran Stella Yanai, Aviva and Keith Siegel, who received the “I’m Here” award for their advocacy work.

The largest delegation of evangelical Christian pastors and influencers ever to visit Israel toured the site of the October 7 Hamas massacre at the Supernova music festival on Wednesday. (Shlomi Amsalem)

“We are seeking to unite — and demonstrate that unity — among evangelical Christian leaders in America and Israel and the Jewish people, and to counter any perception that this community is divided on this issue, because it is not,” Pastor Mike Atkins, a member of the delegation, told Fox News Digital.

“The anti-Semitism that has erupted has long been simmering beneath the surface on universities and in major European cities,” he said. “This is an open stance against lies, and a declaration of our commitment to the truth.”

Atkins explained that the delegation was exposed “at the highest levels” to first-hand insights – visiting the site Hamas massacre, October 7, 2023Listening to the victims, and seeing the facts on the ground in Israel. He said delegates also received extensive information through the symposium speakers on how to combat anti-Semitic deception and will continue to do so as they unite in a coalition.

“To young people, I say: Join the movement. Commit to never again allowing the toxic deceit of anti-Semitism to infiltrate our culture. Take a stand, speak out, don’t stay silent,” he said.

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“The best medicine for acute Jewish disorder syndrome A form of intolerance and anti-Semitismis for people to come to Israel and see and hear for themselves. These American spiritual leaders are committed to using their pulpits and influence to present the truth, Huckabee told Fox News Digital.

He added, “The truth is the best antibiotic to confront the conspiracy theories and lies told about the United States and its partnership with Israel and the Jewish people.”