An open letter to Israelis.
An open letter to Israelis
D ear Israelis,
As some of you have, I have listened to a number of the talks given at the National Conservatism Conference held recently in Jerusalem. Upon reflection, here are a few of my own thoughts as an Evangelical theologian and political conservative.
Collectively, the thesis of NatCon seemed to be that the U.S.-Israel relationship has irrevocably shifted. Now, some said, Israel will need to fight largely alone, surviving without the aid of America. This was presented as a positive development, but many Evangelicals would disagree. Instead of shrinking back from this historic alliance, President Trump has in fact strengthened our partnership across the seas, partnering with Israel to oppose Iranian nuclear aggression. Many Evangelicals are thankful for our president’s prescience.
Nor do many of us think that antisemitism is an unfounded leftist trope. Yes, some aggrieved young men feel this way, fed this viewpoint by well-funded conspiracist podcasters. But many of us see this quite differently. We do find one point of commonality with some NatCon speakers, however. It would indeed behoove American Jews who rightly fear antisemitism to align with conservatives, as the left has in many cases left Israel or Jews out in the cold (consider the shameful response of Columbia University to campus aggression against Jewish students after October 7, 2023).
Beyond doubt, the events of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent positive worldwide response to that horrific day have revealed that antisemitism is alive and well. I got a dose of this evil firsthand in London in late October 2023. My wife and I were meandering to Evensong at St. Paul’s, and we had no choice but to walk through a massive pro-Hamas crowd chanting “death to Israel.” That blood-chilling scene captures our plight in the West today. We cannot go around antisemitism. We cannot pretend it does not exist. We must go right through it, militantly opposing it in good cheer. As we go, we must clutch the hand of the innocent tightly. Like the angels pulling Lot into safety in Sodom, we can never give them up to the mob.
Yet antisemitism is not firstly a public problem. It is initially a corruption of the soul, a poisoning of the heart, and a warping of the mind. For this reason, many of us are distressed to see some young men lured to antisemitism. Though some in NatCon seem to favor a policy of appeasement toward the groypers, floating the idea of a managed defeat in the face of rising Jew-hatred, no such policy will obtain. We do well to hear Churchill afresh and calmly remove our head from the tiger’s mouth. We will not capitulate to madness; we will fight it to the end.
In similar fashion, I grieve that countrymen of mine went to your country and gave messages critiquing Israel on October 7 of this year. To be clear, debate over Israel’s alliance with America is fair game. But the conference organizers would have been far better served to observe a day of mourning with Israel than to offer criticism of your country.
To the contrary of what we often hear, American support for Israel does not depend on the theological system called “dispensationalism.” Dispensationalists have made many contributions to church and country, but Evangelical support for the Jews (and for Israel, the residence of many Jews) is dependent on the whole of our Bible, not one theological system.
Our connection begins in the halls of the great kings, when the people of God were the nation of Israel. In the new covenant era, Jesus connected faithful Judaism to gospel Christianity: “Salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). Jesus was a full-blooded Jew, and he sits at the right hand of God the Father, enthroned in majesty, with a glorified Jewish body bearing the scars of his atoning death. Paul, his foremost apostle, knew both that many Jews had made themselves opponents of God, but that God will one day save many Jews (Romans 11:24). Perhaps the advent of those days is dawning, as global terror opens Jewish eyes to see the goodness of Christ.
Theology aside, in summary form, many of us want a strong Israel-America alliance. We desire this because Israel loves freedom, is not Islamic, offers America needed support and resources from the Middle East, and has historically been a valued friend of America. In saying this, we know that Israel, like America, is far from perfect. We are able to think critically about Israel just as we are about America, and yet support our Middle Eastern ally.
Along those lines, NatCon presented as a fait accompli that JD Vance will be the next American president. No one Evangelical voice speaks ex cathedra for Protestant Evangelicals, however. Indeed, one factor driving Evangelical support for the next Republican nominee — including that classed as part of the MAGA movement — will be the sustenance of the America-Israel alliance.
This conviction cools the postliberal heart and frays the Christian nationalist’s nerves. But that does not trouble many of us, for many Evangelicals put no hope in the prospect of a state church or a “Protestant Franco” (a contradiction in terms). We promote secure borders, a public order that resists Islamic takeover (for sharia clashes unappeasably with our founding documents), and pushback against the remnants of wokeness. We honor religious liberty, free speech, and a free church, seeking to bring a bold faith to bear on the public square. After all, wars are not won by evacuations, and human dignity does not advance by silence.
Above all, I want you to know this: There are many who love Israelis, love Jews, and want you to know the forgiveness we have found in Christ. He too was despised; he too was afflicted; yet he set his face to die for sinners like us, and his redeeming blood will never lose its power.