{"id":44869,"date":"2026-04-08T15:15:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T15:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=44869"},"modified":"2026-04-08T15:15:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T15:15:31","slug":"evangelical-leaders-say-community-stands-with-israel-in-iran-operation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=44869","title":{"rendered":"Evangelical leaders say community stands with Israel in Iran operation"},"content":{"rendered":"


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NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Despite efforts to shift evangelical Christian support away from Israel, some of the most influential leaders say the community has stood firmly by the Jewish state since the start of the joint U.S.-Israel operation against Iran.<\/p>\n

As Wednesday’s ceasefire took effect, Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem and a close evangelical ally of President Donald Trump<\/a>, reflected on the war. Evans flew to Israel on Feb. 26 as tensions escalated ahead of the operation.<\/p>\n

During his visit, Evans toured impact sites caused by enemy missiles, met wounded civilians and Holocaust survivors, and provided $50,000 in financial assistance to a bereaved family.<\/p>\n

“I knew the war would start, so I flew to the area. I have been in 41 wars. I go there intentionally when people are hurting to help them,” Evans told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n

TRUMP VOWS TO HIT IRAN ‘VERY HARD’ AFTER OBLITERATING NEARLY ’90 PERCENT’ OF REGIME MISSILES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Rescue workers and military personnel carry a body of a victim from the scene where several people were killed by an Iranian missile strike in Beit Shemesh, Israel Sunday, March 1, 2026.\u00a0<\/span> (Leo Correa\/AP Photo)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

On March 1, an Iranian missile struck the city of Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem<\/a>, killing nine people. Evans arrived at the scene with first responders shortly after the strike. He later visited Jerusalem\u2019s Hadassah Hospital, where he met Pnina Cohen, who was injured and lost both her husband and mother-in-law in the attack.<\/p>\n

“I have been doing this for half a century. This is my life\u2014combating antisemitism and helping the Jewish people,” Evans said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign [named Roaring Lion in Israel], began on Feb. 28, with the stated goal of “obliterating Iran\u2019s ballistic missile arsenal and production capacity,” weakening its military infrastructure and preventing it from acquiring nuclear weapons, according to a White House briefing. The first day of the operation was marked by the killing of Iran\u2019s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.<\/p>\n

AMERICAN WHO FLED IRAN SAYS CITIZENS ‘DESPERATE’ FOR FREEDOM, PRAYING FOR ISLAMIC REGIME TO FALL<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Leading Evangelical figures urge President Trump to continue backing Israel.<\/span> (Graham; Tom Williams\/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images, Mike Evans;Lev Radin\/Pacific Press\/LightRocket via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

According to Israel’s Ministry of Health on Tuesday, since the beginning of the war, 7,183 people have been evacuated to hospitals, of whom 118 are currently hospitalized.<\/p>\n

Evans described the U.S.-Israel partnership as unprecedented. “No one could have imagined an American president partnering so closely with Israel against radical Islam,” he said, calling the campaign “historic.”<\/p>\n

He said evangelical support for Israel is rooted in religious belief. “The Bible is a Jewish book, and evangelicals believe in a Jewish person, Jesus,” he said. “They see Israel as the biblical land and believe God keeps his promises.”<\/p>\n

The Evangelical Christian community<\/a>, which numbers about 52 million people in the United States, supported Trump\u2019s presidency on the condition that he would back Israel, Evans said.<\/p>\n

Beyond political backing, Evans said evangelicals are active online. “We\u2019ve had 127 million views on social media in the last eight weeks,” he said. “We are fighting misinformation and antisemitism because lies can cost lives.”<\/p>\n

He emphasized that support is also practical. “We don\u2019t just offer prayers \u2014 we provide financial help to those who lost homes and possessions.”<\/p>\n

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President Donald Trump bids farewell to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he leaves the White House after a meeting on April 7, 2025 in Washington, DC.\u00a0<\/span> (Alex Wong\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Evans acknowledged that a portion of younger evangelicals has shifted away from traditional support for Israel. “A segment has been influenced by universities and online voices,” he said, estimating that about 22% to 23% have shifted. “We are working to reach them and I believe we can.”<\/p>\n

American Pastor John Hagee, the founder and chairman of the\u00a0Christian Zionist\u00a0organization\u00a0Christians United for Israel, told Fox News Digital that the evangelical community supports Trump\u2019s decision to seek the end of Iran\u2019s menacing and murderous behavior<\/a>.<\/p>\n

AIRMAN RESCUE SHOWS U.S. CAN PENETRATE ENEMY TERRITORY ‘ANYWHERE’ IN IRAN, FORMER PENTAGON OFFICIAL WARNS<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“We will be backing his request to Congress to fund this effort, and we will ensure our elected officials represent the will and morality of the American people by seeing this righteous endeavor to its righteous end,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hagee said that “as Americans, we have a right to defend ourselves against the Islamic Republic\u2019s half-century of terror. As Christians, we are mandated to defend ourselves against evil, to stand with the oppressed against the same, and to stand with the Children of Israel at all times.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

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People take shelter as Iran launched missiles and drones towards Israel following the US-Israeli attacks.<\/span> (\u00a0Mostafa Alkharouf\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“Evangelical Christians who\u2019ve been raised in the church and are biblically literate are Christian Zionists,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The rise of antisemitism<\/a> on the ‘woke right’ is not a product of evangelical churches, but rather a product of the false doctrine of Replacement Theology, repurposed and used as clickbait,” he continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Any pastor or priest, politician or podcaster, who charges that the modern Children of Israel are anything other than the direct descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the beneficiaries of God\u2019s unbreakable Covenant with Israel, Hagee said, is not preaching the word of God.<\/p>\n

“Operation Epic Fury is making the world a safer and better place for all its inhabitants; stay the course, Mr. President,” he said.<\/p>\n

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An Israeli fighter jet takes off for strikes in Tehran.<\/span> (IDF)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Franklin Graham<\/a>, President and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse,\u00a0an international, evangelical Christian disaster relief organization, said that Iran has vowed to wipe the State of Israel off the face of the earth, and with nuclear weapons, they could.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“If President Trump had not stopped them, this is something this fanatical Islamic regime might have done within the next few months,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“My message to the American people would be to remember Israel is the only truly democratic nation in the Middle East \u2014 the only one. And they have been our nation\u2019s closest ally in the region. I urge Americans to ‘pray for the peace of Jerusalem’ as the Bible instructs us,” he continued.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Graham said Trump stood with Israel in a way no other American president did in the past. \u00a0<\/p>\n

“We\u2019ve never had a president like President Trump in my lifetime. If he says he\u2019s going to do something, he\u2019ll do it. He warned Iran that if it continued to develop nuclear weapons, the U.S. would intervene, and that\u2019s exactly what he did.”<\/p>\n

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Amelie Botbol is a freelance journalist based in Tel Aviv. Her articles have appeared in the New York Post, Canada\u2019s National Post, and the Washington Times. Amelie can be followed on X @DatReporter\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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