Please view our video of Israel Advocacy Day!
While we lament the circumstances that have arisen since Oct. 7, 2023, the one silver lining I hear from Israelis and Jews around the world is the sense of unity they feel as Jews. The Christian community has millennia of betrayal to account for, and I am witnessing the fruit of the seeds that Christian Zionists have been planting for decades to offer a hand (and prayer) of support and solidarity with the Jewish community.
On Jan 29, 2024, I was invited to the Israeli Embassy in D.C., together with 120 Christian leaders and clergy from around the nation as well as Jewish visitors and rabbis, to view the raw video and hear the raw audio of Gazan terrorists’ rampages of hate upon the most innocent of Israelis in the south.
I cannot share any images from inside the Embassy, but the Hostages are clearly on the hearts and minds of Israeli diplomats and all of us who attended the event.
Then, on the very next day, Jan. 30, for the first time in history (that we know of) a contingent of Jewish Rabbis and Christian Pastors, together with the help of leaders in each community, descended upon Capitol Hill. We managed to book meetings with over 30 lawmakers in the House and Senate and both Republicans and Democrats.
We had a morning briefing with Eliav Benjamin of the Israeli Embassy who shared with us the current situation in Israel and offered his thanks for our efforts. Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute is a brilliant scholar who rallied us with the facts and the hope to bring to our meetings. Our closing briefing also included Member of Knesset Ohad Tal to thank us and lawmakers who are dedicated to the cause of supporting the greatest American ally in the Middle East not just for valid security and national interests but also because it is the right thing to do. Congressman Pete Sessions made a special appearance to also offer thanks for coming to the Hill to share with lawmakers our concerns, our thanks, and our commitment to Israel and the Jewish people—that commitment we were representing on behalf of Jews and Christians across the nation.
My meetings during the day were with Rep. Jim Baird of Indiana, Senator Pete Rickets of Nevada, and Rep. Julie Letlow of Louisiana. My team of Pastor Jim Scudder, Pastor Mark Moore, and Rabbi Jason Goldstein were graciously welcomed by each office—each lawmaker and their staff were receptive and generous with their time.
We thanked each member and their staff for their support for Israel in its time of mourning, self-defense military actions, and existential threats from the world stage.
Our talking points were to continue to keep the issue of the return of the Hostages at the forefront of the American discourse, continue our commitment to Israel to act accordingly to defend itself, rescue her captives, secure its borders, and root out terrorists (as this is in our interests as well) without preconditions, and to continue to condemn antisemitism in the US (on college campuses and in our communities). This means to generate legislation that will hold accountable individuals and institutions that engage in or condone antisemitism and the resulting hostility it creates towards our Jewish citizens. Combatting antisemitism means standing by the rights and dignities of Jewish Americans—especially those on college campuses feeling a level of hostility and discrimination never seen at such great levels, and never before seen with such great acceptance by the general public. City streets and college quads are seeing overt shouts of hate and manifested violence against people for no other reason than their identity.
We thanked our elected officials for all they have done so far in these efforts and encouraged them to continue to stay the course, even if the prevailing narrative is to the contrary.
The result of this first-ever coalition of Jews and Christians on the Hill is a network of collaboration called “Jews and Christians for Israel.” As a member of the American Christian Leaders of Israel (ACLI), we will continue to lock arms with our Rabbinical cohorts and engage in activities of unity and solidarity in the public realm.
As a member of the ACLI Steering Committee, we have spent the last year working to connect with the Jewish community all over America. Since Oct. 7, 2023, we have engaged in greater and deeper relationships with Rabbis and Jewish organizations to collaborate on activities of meaning, hope, and outcome, especially in the nation’s Capital. Our first joint endeavor was the outreach for the Rally for Israel in DC on Nov. 18, 2023. During those early planning sessions, we knew that the road and journey to support Israel and the Jewish people internationally and domestically would be a long one replete with enemies who deny it and short memories of the horror. We knew the constant, erroneous, narrative and bias against modern Israel and the antisemitism it spawns on college campuses, in city centers, and in halls of government and international agencies, was a need that would quickly arise as sympathy for Israel and its trauma of Oct. 7 would quickly wain, be somehow rationalized or justified, or simply be denied.
Unfortunately, we were right.
This is not political nor is it about policy or supposed apartheid and colonization. This is a war of evil against good. Of death over life. And of lies over truth.
We know the Gates of Hell will not prevail, and we encourage you to be an active participant in God’s plan. The events of January 2024 in Washington DC will continue as The Jerusalem Connection continues to work with the ACLI and the Jews and Christians for Israel networks in planning and engaging in activities to battle the lies and put truth in front of our lawmakers and citizens.
Supporting The Jerusalem Connection means you have a voice and representative in DC sharing your love and support of the Jewish people and Israel directly in the halls of the leadership of the free world. You have a representative working with Rabbis and the Jewish community to stand in solidarity and support, so they never again feel alone and abandoned by their neighbors and colleagues, and especially the Christians in their midst. Be the builder of bridges and reconciliation as we repent from 1900 years of antisemitism and show our Jewish cousins the love of Christ and how much we cherish their role in God’s plan, their preservation of the scriptures, and their perseverance and commitment to their identity as the Children of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob.
To ensure we can continue our important work, please consider a recurring or one-time donation to The Jerusalem Connection. Www.thejerusaleconnection.com/donate.
Please take 5 minutes to view our video to see our Advocacy Day, Jan 30, 2024.
For the official press release, click here.