More than 1,000 US pastors and Christian influencers last week concluded a trip to Israel organized and paid for by the Friends of Zion. The trip had a very clear objective: indoctrinate those on the trip and enlist them as ambassadors of Israel to the faithful Christian community in the US.
However, this drives a very simple question: Should it not trigger an investigation under the Foreign Agent Registration Act, which is known as FARA? Under this 1938 law, American citizens who are working or lobbying on behalf of a foreign government should register as foreign agents. FARA was put in place to prevent Nazism from influencing American politics. It is believed that the late entry of the US to the Second World War was partly due to Nazi influence inside the country. FARA aims to make sure that Americans decide the course of American policy and that the country protects its democratic system from foreign interference.
Some would argue that those who were on this trip to Israel do not need to register as foreign agents because this was a cultural excursion. They would compare it to Muslim imams in the US visiting an Islamic seminary in an Arab country. However, this is totally different. The pastors have a very specific mandate: to politicize religion. Their mandate is to use religion and their position as religious leaders to encourage a certain political action among their respective congregations. The trip was definitely a political activity and participants should register under FARA.
The trip came about as a response to Vice President J.D. Vance’s trip to Israel. Vance broke with the tradition of American politicians. He did not go immediately to kiss the Western Wall when he landed in Israel. Instead, he visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. On top of that, he said he was insulted by a “stupid” Israeli vote to give preliminary approval to a bill that would annex the West Bank while he was visiting the country.
Mike Evans, who organized the pastors’ trip to Israel, gave a speech to them in which he demanded that Vance acknowledge the jurisdiction of Israel over “Judea and Samaria.” Basically, he used religion to make a political claim. Religion was used to undermine the vice president, who could well be the Republican nominee for president in 2028. Not only this, but he also used religion to undermine the president of the US, who has warned Israel against annexing the West Bank. If this is not political interference on behalf of a foreign power, then what is?
Tel Aviv is realizing that it is difficult to sell the pro-Israel case to the American public. Why would a mother in Minnesota or New York care about protecting Israel when she cannot afford healthcare? Why would she want her tax money to go to Israel when her neighborhood is studded with homeless people? And more and more Americans now view Israel as committing war crimes and even genocide in Gaza.
To counter this doubt about Israel and US foreign policy — namely, American aid funding Israel’s war on Gaza — Tel Aviv needs something bigger to come into the picture. Israel needs to be portrayed as a divine obligation as part of a prophecy, as a dam against radical Islamism, which it perceives as threatening the core of Western civilization. Basically, when rationality and logic no longer work and can no longer justify support for Israel, ideology needs to come to the fore.
The pastors and, more broadly, the Zionists speak about the Judeo-Christian tradition as the cradle of Western civilization. However, is Western civilization not all about separating the church and the state? Israel is weaponizing the Christian faith to enforce a foreign political agenda on the American people. In addition to the fact that this is foreign interference is the truth that it totally contradicts the concept of Western civilization.
More people are noticing Israel’s infiltration of the Christian Church. Tucker Carlson has signaled that Christian Zionism is a heresy, with its followers brainwashing people by saying that Jews are God’s “chosen people” and, in order to be good Christians, they should serve and cherish the modern state of Israel. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican lawmaker who is quitting Congress due to pressure coming on her following her falling-out with President Donald Trump, also mentioned Israeli influence in the church.
Evans has bluntly declared that he plans to target 1 million churches globally on behalf of Israel. Imagine a Muslim country encouraging its backers to say that they planned to target a million churches in order to indoctrinate their congregations — what would be the reaction? If Israel were to succeed in reaching a million churches, it would not only change the perception of Israel, it would also change the face of Christianity in the world and definitely in the US. American citizens should be aware of that.
BY: Writer Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.
Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect The Times Union‘ point of view
