By Kristine Israelson and Thomas F. Klein, Special to JTNews
In January, a 40-foot shipping container laden with more than 10 tons of gifts set sail from Seattle to Ashdod for distribution to new immigrants establishing homes in Israel. Arriving in Israel on the first of March, the goods were shipped to distribution centers in Jerusalem and Haifa.
These are items that the Jewish community has sent in support of the people of Israel, but this particular shipment came from another source: evangelical Christians.
Over the past year, volunteers from across the Pacific Northwest collected, sorted, cleaned, repaired, folded, packed, weighed and loaded boxes, while others made financial contributions to pay shipping and customs charges.
This shipment was the most recent – the seventh in five years – organized by Christian Friends of Israel, one of many evangelical organizations that have made contributions to Israel in recent years.
Support for Israel runs deep in the evangelical community in the Northwest and throughout the U.S. While much of this support is than charitable, it also constitutes a grassroots political force and a theological force within the Christian community.
Close to 70 million Americans are evangelical, and many increasingly connect a common spiritual legacy to the Jewish people. That connection has led them to support Israel’s cause by sponsoring church worship and educational workshops with Israel as a theme, writing letters to newspapers and representatives, and resisting world-wide anti-Semitism.
Evangelicals hold that the “Old” and New” Testaments comprise the continuing stream of God’s word to His people, inerrant in substance and message. As a result, they firmly believe that God’s covenants with the Jewish people regarding the Land of Israel are still operative.
Many Jews may be bewildered or skeptical of Christian support for Israel, yet no American community has been more consistent. While Christians, like other Americans, may be sympathetic for various reasons such as Israel’s democratic and shared political values, evangelical say their support is rooted in a deeper understanding that will not change with shifting political and cultural tides.
Evangelical support for Israel is not one-dimensional, as some caricatures may suggest. They believe that God commands them to love his people, and that the rebirth of Israel is testimony of God’s continuing creation of history. They identify with the land and history that birthed the faith and scriptures.
Serious Christians are also aware of terrible wrongs committed in the past by those identified as “Christians,” and view the unending war against Israel and Jewish people as ultimately directed at God and all people of Judeo-Christian faith. In addition, it is a blessing for many Christians to help Jewish people in need, to see the faces of the recipients of their aid, including those who make aliyah with few possessions or income and must struggle to adapt to their new land.
Locally, several Eastside churches and non-profit church organizations have held conferences over the past year, inviting Israeli, Jewish and pro-Israeli Christian speakers to educate their Christian congregations. Local Christian women recently attended a Seattle luncheon hosted by Israel’s Ministry of Tourism, to learn how they could organize tours to Israel for their congregations.
Rose Hill Presbyterian invited Sondra Baras, an Israeli representative of Christian Friends of Israeli Communities, to give her perspective as an Orthodox Jew living in the biblical land of Samaria. Rabbi Rick Harkavy of the American Jewish Committee recently gave a four-week lecture series at Cedar Park Assembly, while another larger church a few blocks away, Eastside Foursquare Church, sponsored “Israel 101,” a series designed for Christian audiences.
Of course, support for Israel among Northwest Christians reflects a larger phenomenon that runs throughout the country, including at the highest levels of the Bush Administration among people of faith. George Bush, a deeply committed evangelical, Tom DeLay, and other conservative leaders and columnists are among the most outspoken supporters of Israel today.
Kristine Israelson is an art librarian who works for the Seattle Art Institute. She is an evangelical Christian and the daughter of a local minister. Thomas F. Klein is an attorney.