Battle for the soul of American Christianity runs through Israel

Since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, we’ve seen Christian support for Israel progressively shrink, especially among Gen Z.

For instance, a Pew poll in July found that only 32% of Americans under 30 hold a favorable view of the Israeli people. Even white evangelicals, historically Israel’s staunchest supporters, saw a 10-point drop to 74% support.

Meanwhile, some of the most prominent anti-Zionist voices on the right now cloak their anti-Israel talking points in the language of Christianity.

That has left many friends in the pro-Israel space asking: How do we reach the next generation of Christians?

We should acknowledge that this trend is cause for alarm, but not despair. This generational divide can be bridged, but that bridge must be built on faith. As Christians, our theology shapes our worldview, not the other way around. I was raised in a Christian Zionist household, and my relationship with God and my connection to Israel were inseparable. That faith still sustains me today, even as our political landscape has shifted.

The organization I am honored to lead, Passages Israel, brings young Christian leaders to Israel to experience the land, connect with its people and walk where Jesus walked 2,000 years ago. Despite the ongoing war with Iran, we have maintained full-scale trips to Israel. Over the last six months, we’ve surveyed participants to understand what drives their support for Israel and how our trips impact their perspective on the U.S-Israel partnership.

What we found was that after a trip to Israel, participants were:

Crucially, the trip transformed participants’ support for Israel from a purely pragmatic conviction into a theological one. The trip made an abstract land both tangible and theologically grounded.

When we dug into why our trips moved the needle, our analysis produced three key takeaways:

First, spending time with Israelis matters—a lot. We found that those who built personal friendships with Jewish people and got to know Jerusalem like a local were the most likely to speak out against antisemitism upon returning home. Grounded with these rich personal experiences, they are well-equipped to challenge the prevailing narratives online and on their campuses.

Second, support for Israel is strongest when it’s rooted in faith. The students we took were most familiar with the pragmatic reasons to support Israel: they saw Israel primarily as a strong ally that pulls its weight and advances our national interest. After the trip, the strongest driver of their support for Israel was theological. They came to see Israel as representative of their values, viewing their support as a natural extension of their Christian identity.

Third, opposition to antisemitism and political support for Israel are deeply linked. We found a strong correlation between those who left with a greater appreciation for the U.S. and Israel’s shared strategic interests and those motivated to speak out against antisemitism at home. Just as it strains credulity to separate anti-Zionism from antisemitism, it is equally difficult to stand for Israel while ignoring antisemitism. The trip successfully linked the foreign threats directed against Israel with the rising domestic threat of such hatred in the minds of young Christians.

This is why firsthand experiences in Israel are invaluable. Today’s generation is constantly being told what to believe instead of being afforded the agency to discover the truth for themselves. By experiencing Israel directly, young Christians are empowered to move past abstract slogans and talking points, and form meaningful, enduring convictions.

There is still immense work to be done, and Passages will continue to take young Christian leaders to Israel. While leaders can and should still make arguments in support of Israel based on American strategic interests, we must not shy away from making the theological case as well.

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