Evangelicals, Not Jews, are “Backbone” of US Support for Israel

Christians are undoubtedly Israel’s best friends, but even their attention is increasingly diverted these days

| Topics: CHRISTIANS, Christian Zionism
Evangelicals are undoubtedly Israel's best friends, but even their attention is elsewhere these days
Photo: Amos Ben Gershom/Flash90

The tectonic change in the Jewish world, which reveals a shift in support from Israel to “Palestine,” has been evident for quite a while now, particularly through the progressive crowd associated with JStreet, most of whom are either Reform or secular Jews.

According to the last in-depth Pew Research Center poll from 2013, progressive Jews, that is mostly Reform and secular Jews, are by far the majority, making up 71% of all American Jews. This majority’s progressive mindset is confirmed by a JStreet exit poll from December 2020, showing that 77% of American Jews supported Joe Biden, while just 21% backed Donald Trump. This isn’t a dry statistic. Progressive Jews are at the forefront of the “Woke” revolution that is now sweeping America; and Wokeists loath Israel with a passion. Among them is a Jewish woman by the name of Judith Butler, who is referred to as the “high priestess” of Wokeism by the progressive Plebity platform in its very disturbing but worth-reading article titled ”How the Left Woke Up and Found Its Inner Anti-Semitism”.

This short prelude can help one understand the “jaw-dropping” interview journalist Amit Segal conducted last week with former Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer. It’s worth noting that “jaw-dropping” is the description given by N12 news anchor Yonit Levi, herself a progressive Israeli who it seems was shocked by the revelation that American Jews as a whole are more critical of Israel than supportive.

In the interview, Dermer says, among other things, that “people have to understand that the backbone of Israel’s support in the United States is the Evangelical Christians. That’s the backbone. And it’s true because of numbers and also because of their passionate and unequivocal support of Israel.”

Dermer went on to explain, “Among Jews, some of our strongest champions and greatest defenders are Jews [but] some of our fiercest criticisms of Israel comes from American Jews.”

Though this Christian support is commendable in every way, one should keep in mind that Evangelicals are still a minority in the United States, which means that, influential as they are, if Israel’s support in the US depends solely on this minority, then Israel has a problem. Furthermore, statistics show that Evangelicals are becoming more concerned with issues like racial justice than, say, family values, which means also that support for Israel among Evangelical is in decline.

With Woke values, the problem of Whiteness in particular with its antisemitic ideological offshoot, now occupying the minds of young Evangelicals, this backbone of support seems to be weakening. And the same is true among Jews. They too are drifting upon the Woke tidal wave that is, quite frankly, turning far too many of them anti-Jewish, if not downright antisemitic.

Though without a doubt Dermer is right, and Evangelicals are the backbone of US support for Israel, the overall picture is that US support for Israel is in decline.

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