I want to begin by discussing four factors which underlie skepticism and concern about the “pro-Israel” embrace of many in the Evangelical Christian community:  motive, proselytizing, coalitional politics, and, most importantly, the character of most Christian Right “support” for Israel. But first my caveats! 

Certainly there are reasons to welcome that embrace. Of primary importance is ensuring that support for Israel within the American public is as broad-based as possible. Given our format and space limitations, however, I will leave the “pro” arguments to Rabbi Leder. I also want to acknowledge that this format does not really allow a discussion of the very real diversity of views and approaches within the Evangelical community. There is a diversity of views within the Evangelical community on Israel-related issues, as on many others. (For a different view from the Evangelical community see this letter to President Bush from more than forty Evangelical leaders.) 

The first concern is motive. For one bloc of Evangelical supporters of Israel, end-of-time theology is a driving force. Accepting the Bible, especially the New Testament, as literal truth, they subscribe to the doctrine of dispensational premillennialism. This theology, reflected in  the wildly popular Left Behind books by the Reverend Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, posits that the Rapture, when Christ’s faithful will be called to heaven and given new, immortal bodies while the rest of the population (including the Jews) faces the horrors of the end of human history, is near. Israel plays a central role in this drama because the Second Coming requires Israel to be reconstituted and the Temple in Jerusalem to be rebuilt. Premillennialists believe that the Antichrist will desecrate the rebuilt Temple and thus begin a period of tribulation when earthquakes, plagues, and all the other furies outlined in the Book of Revelation will come to pass. Only then will Jesus return to earth and Jews who accept Jesus will enter the kingdom of heaven with faithful Christians; the rest will perish violently. Israeli author Gershom Gorenberg in his book The End of Days notes that dispensationalism is essentially a four-act play "where we as Jews disappear in the fourth act, just prior to the return of Jesus."

If I believed this—if it were my theology—then I would see it as a significant concern. But I don’t, and I have learned that it is rarely productive to focus too much on motive in the political arena. Many Evangelicals do believe it, however, and the idea that they would use any of their considerable influence to advance an agenda to bring Armageddon closer—and, today, in the nuclear age, we do have the power to bring about the end of times—is well worth worrying about.

Second, some suspect that support for Israel and outreach to the Jewish community is just an elaborate subterfuge for proselytizing. I believe that Evangelicals who view Israel advocacy as an outreach technique are a small minority; that does not mean that they do not exist.  Janet Parshall, a leading evangelical speaker and radio personality, notes that there are some in the Christian pro-Israel lobby who harbor such a "blind allegiance" to Israel that they even foster a belief that there is a different plan of salvation for the Jews. "That's not true," she insists. "Scripture says there's one name under heaven whereby all men will be saved."

Third, some argue that it is a mistake for American Jews to join forces with a community that does not, broadly speaking, share our vision of America, including our embrace of the separation of church and state, our support for a woman’s right to choose, and our commitment to pluralism. It is a mistake, this argument goes, to do anything which lends social legitimacy and political credibility to a constituency which is working to undermine many of the freedoms which have made America a welcoming home, especially for the Jewish community. An old truism is, in fact, true: politics does make strange bedfellows, and we often find ourselves working with people on one issue while disagreeing vehemently on other issues.

Although there is some truth in each of those arguments, I don’t find any of them convincing on their own, although in the aggregate they feel very weighty. What concerns me is not premillennialism, proselytization, or politics. What concerns me most about Evangelical “support” for Israel is that it does not really help Israel in the long term. 

Christian Zionists share my concern for Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel), but they do not share my love for Am Yisrael (the People of Israel) or my respect for Medinat Yisrael  (the State of Israel). If they did, they would not be leading opponents of the peace process and of negotiations between Israel and her neighbors. These are the building blocks of a lasting peace in the region. So much of Evangelical “pro-Israel” advocacy is focused on rejecting the type of compromise that nearly every thoughtful observer—including the vast majority of Israelis— believes will be necessary to end the conflict in the region. And they offer no real alternative.  For example, one Christian Zionist group, The Jerusalem Connection International, has a special section on its website devoted to opposing the upcoming Annapolis peace conference, an opportunity for restarting the peace process that is being actively pursued by the Israeli and US governments. It is headlined “Stop the Diplomatic Lynching of Israel.”   

I believe that friends of Israel must be friends of peace. Sadly, too many Evangelical “friends” not only do not agree but actively seek to undermine the type of two-state solution which offers the only real prospect for a lasting peace. For too many, their paradigm for the Middle East is simply incompatible with Israel’s best interests.

To those Reform Rabbis, including the leadership of the Union for Reform Judaism, who have expressed reservations or even out-rightly rejected support for Israel from the Evangelical Christian movement(s), I would pose only one question:  Do you not understand the difference between an alliance and a partnership? Rabbi Eric Yoffie recently wrote of his concern that embracing Evangelical Christian support for Israel will alienate the younger generation of Reform Jews in America. Why does Rabbi Yoffie or anyone else who holds such a view give young people so little credit? They are as capable as anyone of understanding that we can work together with others on one issue while disagreeing with those very same people about other issues.  We do not have to agree with Evangelical Christians about abortion, capital punishment, Armageddon, the coming of the Messiah, gay rights or even the specifics of their Israel policy in order to work with them on Israel’s behalf. Marriage, family and business are about partners; politics is about allies. For an alliance with Evangelical Christians we need only agree upon the simple fact that Israel is in peril, and we ought to support American politicians who support Israel, visit Israel, raise money for Israel and love Israel. That’s enough for me. In a world where Israel has so few friends, I would hope that would be enough for anyone.

For those still troubled by the rest of the Evangelical Christian agenda, consider that only by working with and getting to know them will we have any hope of influencing some of their more problematic views. At the very least, any amateur student of Jewish history knows full well what can happen, even in a country as free and great as America, if the majority culture turns its backs on Israel or the Jewish people. There are 70 million Evangelical Christians in America. We must know them and they must know us. We can ill afford alienation from such an important part of American Jewish life and politics. 

Have the Reform rabbis who reject help for Israel from Evangelicals Christians ever actually sat down to meet with them? I have. At one very small private lunch, my Evangelical Christian hosts began the meal with Motzi in Hebrew. Then the questions began.  “Why,” they asked me, “Do so many Jews reject us? Rabbi, we don’t want to convert Jews. We believe Judaism is complete without Christianity, but Christianity is not complete without Judaism and therefore the Torah and Israel are important to us as Christians.  We want to know you, we want to help Israel, and we want you to know us.” 

There is a middle ground between putting out heads in the sand by ignoring Evangelical Christians and making a Faustian bargain with the devil—the middle ground is an alliance rather than a partnership. Let us work together on Israel and speak together about the other matters that divide us, fully accepting we may never agree on them. Let us also accept that within the narrow alliance for Israel we will also disagree.  So be it.  Who are we kidding? Within the Jewish community itself, and even within the Reform Jewish community, there are vast and deeply held differences of opinion about Israeli military, foreign and religious policy. Let us work together with Evangelical Christians, just as we do with our fellow Jews whose views differ from our own, to elect officials who support Israel. Let us work together to encourage hundreds of thousands of Jews and Christians alike to visit Israel and support her with the blessings that America has bestowed upon us.