If current trends continue, and if voting patterns start to reflect the shifting views of the electorate, we may find ourselves in uncharted territory.
Israel and, to a lesser extent, the UAE are America's only reliable anti-terrorism intelligence partners in the middle east region. If the U.S.-Israel relationship deteriorates, Americans can expect to be blindsided in the future by foreign terrorist plots that U.S. intel is no longer able to anticipate and/or preemptively collapse.
The tragic irony here is that, when anti-terrorism resources work perfectly, the result is... absolutely nothing.
Just as with other forms of effective prevention, nobody can actually NOTICE anti-terrorism at work—so this benefit of the U.S. partnership with Israel (...just like the same benefit of the U.S.-Singapore partnership for monitoring terror plots in Asia, as long as we're here) goes unrecognized and unappreciated by the huge vast majority of Americans.
Excellent point. This is what anti-Israel commentators Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, not to mention politicians like Marjorie Taylor Greene, fail to appreciate: the strategic intelligence alliance between Israel and the US that is invisible but critical. We’ll never know how many terror plots have been foiled and how many American lives have been saved as a result.
But all they can focus on resentfully is the $3.8B in foreign aid that the US gives Israel, most of which must be spent on US weaponry.
There is that, but so much more that America has been blessed by as a result of her support for the Chosen People, and Israel. Unfortunately, it seems to me that most Americans don’t have any understanding of that fact.
I am an older American Christian Zionist, with a deep love for Israel and the Chosen People, and grieve what I see happening in our country, as well as the world at large. There is a much more that could be said, but I’ll leave it there for now.
The short answer is that I believe the majority of Christian youth, like most Christians in general, do not consider themselves to be antisemitic. But the younger Christians, in particular, are very likely to have been influenced by the ‘anti-Zionism’ misinformation campaigns and don’t realize that it is, at its core, thoroughly antisemitic. Further, they may not be anti-Israel, but may well have bought into the deceptive sophistries that maintain some variation of, ‘the Jews control the US’. Some might believe that to the extreme of believing Israel is behind virtually all of the conflicts the US has been engaged in since 9/11, while other simply believe Israel exercises an ‘excessive’ level of influence on American political and social affairs.
So, in general, I would say that support for Israel, as well as the Jewish people worldwide, is declining amongst younger Christians.
Now, here is the longer answer:
I am a native Floridian. I’ve travelled much of the world, worked in many foreign countries (including Israel) with natives and foreigners from all over the world. But my relevant ‘experience with younger Christians’ has largely been limited over the past decade to those I have spent time with here in the South; the ‘Bible Belt’. That is relevant for the following reasons, which I know you are already aware of, but mention for the sake of others.
The South is generally more conservative, more religious, and historically, more supportive of Israel. So, it can serve as a sort of bellwether for the views, attitudes, and beliefs of the rest of Christian America, in that, if Southern Christian youth are becoming less supportive of Israel, then you can be certain that it is happening to a far greater degree in the rest of the country.
And I believe that is the case; young Southern Christian support for Israel’s battles against her enemies, struggles to remain essentially a Jewish State, as well as for the Jewish people in the USA, is declining.
Many factors have contributed to this decline in support for Israel, as well as the Jewish people, amongst the younger generations. In my own view, the most significant are as follows:
1) The general decline of critical thinking capacity, accompanied by the prevalence of powerful, continuously available online distractions and amusements.
2) The wide-spread adoption of post-modernist views of ‘truth’. In other words, ‘truth seems relative at best and, at worst, altogether unknowable’.
Assuming that is one’s perspective, where does the individual young person, Christian or not, then find the strength of belief and moral conviction necessary to stand against the power, and quite possibly, the madness, of the mob?
After all, perhaps they are right, and I am wrong; or perhaps they know more, know better, and are ‘more right’ than I?
Doubt generally leads to indecision, which that often results in passivity, or inaction. And, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
3) The rise and prevalence of the Internet, social media, and AI as an authoritative source of information in the search for ‘truth’ among young people in general.
Particularly effective are the social media influencers who, together with their followers, may exercise a powerful mass psychological ‘pull’, or ‘push’ in the hearts and minds of many youth. This applies across every youth demographic, including professing Christians.
Candice Owens and Tucker Carlson are examples; both are conservative professing Christians, reaching a large segment of young people who likewise profess to be Christians.
4) Apostasy within Christian Churches of all denominations, together with a general decline of belief in the Bible as the ultimate authority on any subject to which it speaks.
This phenomenon, prophesied in the New Testament as an End Time sign, is now well underway, and has significant ramifications for Israel. It is happening across the board, but has particular relevance to the rise of antisemitism as it relates to the Evangelical Protestant Denominations.
There have always been some Christians, whether Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant, who have loved and supported the Chosen People in general, and regarded Israel as the Biblical home of the Jews. Since the 18th century, however, it is the Evangelicals who have been the largest, and most ardent, group within the Church.
That has made them the focus of campaigns designed to undermine their support via a variety of tactics, primarily targeting the younger members. One of the tactics used has been to exploit their relatively weak knowledge of the Bible as a whole, and especially, the Old Testament. They are particularly vulnerable to misguided or ill-intentioned influence campaigns in regard to questions related to the Jews remaining the Chosen People, and any relevance to modern-day Israel in relation to the Bible in general, and the Church in particular.
Tragically, those campaigns have met with some significant success. And, as it is clearly prophesied and we are very clearly in the End Time period, I fully expect that to continue.
The only thing that might stem, and potentially reverse this tide in the Churches, is a genuine revival that results in pushback against the powerful deceptive influences leading many Christians, to act, or fail to act, in ways that bring shame on their profession of faith in Jesus (Yeshua), their Jewish Messiah.
Together with many other Christians, I pray for such a revival, along with our prayers on behalf of Israel and the world at large. We will rejoice if it happens, even though we know it would be short-lived.
So, where does that leave us in relation to the potential for Christian youth, acting within the Christian Church, to counter the rising tides of antisemitism, anti-Israelism, and anti-Zionism?
Here is my take: The ship is irreparably damaged, and will inevitably sink. Many valiant and worthwhile efforts are being made by people all over the world, including non-Christians, to stem the onrushing flood. At best, they are buying precious time, which is always a good thing when the ship is sinking. It is precious time for people to become aware of the gravity of the situation confronting the world, and respond to it according to the leading of the still small voice within, and the conviction of their hearts.
Hence my urging of my Jewish friends to make Aliyah. But above all else, the best I have to offer anyone is encouragement to turn to the G-d of the Bible; the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the G-d of ancient Israel, pray to know the truth. and then read the Bible for yourself.
As a Christian, I am obviously referring to both the Old and New Testaments, and I am well aware of the rancor that may engender from Jews - even atheistic Jews.
But I would point out that Jesus was an observant Jew, and for well over ten years after His crucifixion and ascension, so was the entire ‘Church’ (then known of as ‘Followers of The Way’). In fact, the first crisis mediated by a Church Council, was in regard to whether Gentile believers had to first proselytize to Judaism and commit to following Mosaic Law, in order to be accepted by G-d.
I am also well aware, and painfully so, of the tragic, shameful, history of ‘the Church’, towards the Jewish people, as well as, in more recent times, modern day Israel.
I pray continually that the eyes of the many Christians who fail to love the Jewish people as they should, or even actively strive in various ways counter to their best interests, would be opened to the truth regarding the faithfulness of G-d to the unconditional Covenants He made with the Patriarchs, as well as their ‘seed’ after them.
I strive to help such professing Christians see the errors of their theological perspectives, which generally blind them to what I believe is the fullness of true message of the Bible. And offer the same encouragement I would give to a Jewish non-believer; to first pray for discernment, and then read and study the Old Testament, in the light of the New, always bearing in mind that the one cannot truly contradict the other, that the G-d they profess to love is a Covenant-keeping G-d, that He has made many clear promises to the Chosen People, and that:
“Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 (CJB)
The US now has a sizable number of Muslims. That reality is having the same effect on American politics as it has done in the UK and EU. There is nothing that we can do about this from a practical standpoint. Israel is going to have to learn to live without the US one day so making plans for that is wise. American Jews, like many of their counterparts in Europe, would also be wise to start considering some contingency plans as well. If I'm reading the tea leaves correctly, the US is perhaps 20 years behind Europe in this respect.
“If I'm reading the tea leaves correctly, the US is perhaps 20 years behind Europe in this respect.”
According to conventional wisdom, I’d say you are correct. But, I believe we have moved into a phase of Biblical End Time prophecies in which the world is rapidly becoming more and more unstable, volatile, and dangerous.
The world as we have known it has changed dramatically, at a rapidly accelerating pace, over the past 25 years.
Speaking from the perspective of my Biblical understanding, the world as you see it now could experience far more radical changes in a very, very short period of time. And I believe it will, much sooner than you’re thinking.
This is a contentious subject, and I don’t wish to ‘debate’ it. But I am confident that the day is coming when Israel will truly stand alone as a pariah State, with God.
When that day comes, it will be ‘the time of Jacob’s trouble’ (Jeremiah 30:7); a period of (worldwide) persecution worse than any in the history of the Chosen People.
The only true refuge will be the State of Israel. For that reason I have been encouraging every Jewish person I knew to make Aliyah over the past 15 years. But I only know of one couple that ever followed up and acted on it; Miriam and Israel Boim.
I know it is terribly hard to contemplate such a reality, and I wish I could believe it might be altered. I don’t, and I can’t.
But, G-d… The Word of G-d stands forever. He will fulfill all of His promises to His people Israel, in exacting detail.
Ancient prophesies foretold the great storm that is coming upon the world, and the Word of God provides all that is needed for those who love and trust Him to navigate through these dark and evil times.
May the people of Israel turn in true faith to the G-d of Israel, trusting in Him to faithfully fulfill His Word:
Isaiah 45:17-25 (NKJV)
17 But Israel shall be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you shall not be ashamed or disgraced forever and ever.
18 For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.
19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in vain’; I, the LORD, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
20 “Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. They have no knowledge, who carry the wood of their carved image, and pray to a god that cannot save.
21 Tell and bring forth your case; yes, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, a just God and a Savior; there is none besides Me.
22 “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.
23 I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath.
24 He shall say, ‘Surely in the LORD I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, and all shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him.
25 In the LORD all the descendants of Israel shall be justified, and shall glory.’”
Amen and I too believe the same and believe Israel should be preparing to stand alone, start to develop it's own weaponry and more besides in preparation for this exact time and coming era. Luckily many of God's chosen are looking to make Aliyah home, however I believe more should be doing this now rather than leave it to a point whereby they are trying to escape what has been their homes for years in mass and mass panic before they find themselves caught up in potential past WWll scenarios.
I know the decision to leave and make Aliyah is an extremely difficult one for many, and determining the timing compounds that difficulty.
But, let’s consider the issue one step further. Those who wait until it becomes obvious they must leave, deny themselves and their loved ones the best opportunities to get settled, integrate, find their places in Israeli society, and contribute to the strengthening the nation’s resources.
I understand that, for many people, making Aliyah to modern Israel, under the present circumstances, can be full of challenges.
But such people are currently welcomed, embraced, and helped in making the transition in many ways that might not be able to occur, during a later, larger, ‘Exodus’.
I am exceptionally close to someone who has been and still is facing some of the challenges that goes along with returning back to their homeland, so I'm very aware of what is ahead for many and the decision making that's also involved. At the end of the day if we're truly honest, there is no other option left and to be safe and still in one piece paramounts over everything else. That's the most important of all.
My grandfather used to say that America is blessed as long as she supports Israel. I now impute a different meaning to this - as Murray says, standing with Israel is standing with Western civilization. Those Americans who hate Israel also hate the West. I think Israel should further develop its alliance with India. Hinduism and Judaism are the world's two most ancient religions and also non-conversion religions. Jews were never persecuted in India and most Hindus support Israel. Both are diverse democracies surviving in a sea of hostile countries opposed to democracy. I wrote here about how the Bhagavad-Gita advocates the kind of war of self-defence that Israel is fighting and India has also had to fight: https://ruthvanita452091.substack.com/p/stand-up-and-fight
The media and academia are at the root of most of the evil. Too many accepting the New York Times and their far-left socialist professors as truth tellers. For example, their totally inaccurate reporting on Israel defending the Druze in Syria. Oh no, G-d forbid we make Israel look good or moral. Then on the right we have the Tucker Carlson conspiracy theorists that feel that Aipac tells the US what to do.
It seems as though 100% of the Muslims are Anti-Israel. I’d like to hear one that isn’t. Their numbers are growing exponentially. Ours are going the other direction. Since we live in a country where everybody gets one vote, it’s not looking good.
Not 100%, though certainly a large majority—which is being made to seem even larger by the horrifying degree of institutional and media capture.
The same is true of the Muslim world more generally. The hopelessly "Palestine"-captured major media outlets will never, ever, EVER tell you this, but there's even a Muslim-majority country—Azerbaijan—whose government officially supports Israel in the Israel-Hamas war, and which is strategically and economically allied with Israel against Iran and the mullahs' sphere of influence.
Also not to be overlooked here: Azerbaijan is not just a Muslim-majority country, but in fact is one of just 4 Shia-majority countries on earth. (The others are Bahrain, Iraq, and of course Iran itself.)
The other and more troubling aspect of this issue is the increasing number of Americans Jews - mostly Reform and progressive - who are either anti-Zionist or conditionally Zionist. While still a significant minority, their voices are amplified by the anti-Zionist on the left and right. Jewish organizations need serious self-reflection and ask themselves why this Jewish anti-Zionist sentiment is growing even if slowly and even if on the left.
The problem is American Jews are most likely to be liberals (of some sort) who prize education and achievement, which leads them to upscale universities, which are now all bastions of the Social Justice faith, which is deeply anti-Israel and which aims vicious hatred at any Zionists or Israel supporters.
American academia (in its most prestigious institutions) has been captured by the Islamo-Leftist alliance, which puts young Jewish people in the position of either 1) supporting Israel and facing vilification, harassment and ostracism, not to mention being kept out of circles for career advancement; or 2) going along with the crowd and swallowing all the anti-Zionist propaganda, trying to be seen as a Good Person by expressing concern for "Palestinian babies" (the newest must-have item for your socially conscious college kid), and sacrificing Israel to save your own skin.
Most of our current Jew-hating poison is coming from our most exalted colleges and universities, and Jewish liberals turned a blind eye to all of it until it's now running wild throughout the country. Western liberals only love Jews when they're helpless stateless victims who've dedicated their lives to tikkun olam (meaning: when they help other groups but ignore their own) and the next generation of liberals will be explicitly anti-Jewish. The next version of Exodus might have to be Jews leaving the coasts for the South and Midwest, where most people haven't been indoctrinated in our Social Justice madrassas.
This has been going on for long before the current war. It is almost entirely being driven by the left as reflected in that poll you cite. The problem is that we have allowed the left to take over the education and media institutions almost entirely. Not liberals. Hard leftists. Anti-semitics hatred for Israel is part and parcel of their general nihilistic rejection of Western civilization. Find a way to get these hateful leftists out of these positions to spew their hate and lies and the problem can be resolved. There is nothing Israel and its supporters can do or say that can overcome the constant repetition of blood labels and other hateful lies that are being internalized daily by the young.
As long as we allow the leftist fifth columnists to teach our children in high school and college this trend will continue. We need to rid ourselves of radicals that call themselves professors as well as professional agitators who invade our college campuses. If they are not citizens, we need to deport them immediately.
America has been in a downward spiral for decades and the "fall" of America is inevitable. We now have far too many badly-educated, barely literate and unmarried parents raising badly-educated and illiterate children. That's like a third-world country. It's not improving: our education statistics remain shockingly low and they get shockingly lower each year. The moral decline is also evident and the blame for everything, as always, is leveled at the Jews. The split with Israel will come sooner rather than later. Of course, Israel has been aware and THIS is why the New Middle East plans have been in the works and must get underway asap (Israel needs to finish off Iran and her terror proxies to really get it going). Trump wants Europe and Israel to be independent militarily because he knows America can't be depended on anymore, maybe as soon as the next election. With the New Middle East, (with Israel as the military protector of the entire region and weapons manufactured in new facilities throughout the M.E. to supply Israel), it will NOT be Israel needing help and support from America, but America needing Israel to protect their Middle East trade/investments, acquire new technologies, and to provide counter-terrorism support (among other things). That counter-terror support will be critical; America will have many more terrorists within her borders than the Middle East will have in the not-too-distant future.
The article claims that anti-Israel sentiment was previous relegated to a small segment of the population in the US consisting of younger people on the left: "What had previously been relegated to younger demographic groups on the left has seeped into the American mainstream."
That statement is patently false.
Even within Israel, academia has for decades promoted the anti-Israel left wing intersectionality narrative that depicts Israel as the oppressor and casts the Palestinian Arabs as the oppressed.
Yoram Hazony, in his book, The Jewish State The Struggle for Israel's Soul, related an article about this topic from Israel from 1994:
"For two or three decades now, a few hundred of our 'society's best,' men of the pen and of the spirit-academics, authors, and journalists, and to these one must add artists and photographers and actors as well have been working determinedly and without respite to preach and prove that our cause is not just. Not only that it has been unjust since the Six Day War (in 1967) and the 'occupation,' which is supposed to be unjust in its very nature; and not only since the founding of the state in 1948, a birth which was itself 'conceived in sin'... but since the beginnings of Zionist settlement at the end of the last century."
Mamdani is the physical manifestation of what has been the spirit of many if not most Jewish narratives among the elite and academia. Greta Thunberg is only the obvious follow through of the intersectionality narrative with her deft maneuver from the climate change cause to the Palestinian cause Yuval Abraham is the inevitable manifestation of this narrative and educational perspective.
Many, if not most, western Jews have been traditionally universalist as a vestige of the same spirit that inspired the Soviet Jews generations before. They never understood nationalism nor sided with it. They were never comfortable with Israel existing, and their perennial handwringing about the sins of Israel's existence have as much to do with the situation today as anything else, if not more.
The article claims that anti-Israel sentiment was previous relegated to a small segment of the population in the US consisting of younger people on the left: "What had previously been relegated to younger demographic groups on the left has seeped into the American mainstream."
That statement is patently false.
Even within Israel, academia has for decades promoted the anti-Israel left wing intersectionality narrative that depicts Israel as the oppressor and casts the Palestinian Arabs as the oppressed.
Yoram Hazony, in his book, The Jewish State The Struggle for Israel's Soul, related an article about this topic from Israel from 1994:
"For two or three decades now, a few hundred of our 'society's best,' men of the pen and of the spirit-academics, authors, and journalists, and to these one must add artists and photographers and actors as well have been working determinedly and without respite to preach and prove that our cause is not just. Not only that it has been unjust since the Six Day War (in 1967) and the 'occupation,' which is supposed to be unjust in its very nature; and not only since the founding of the state in 1948, a birth which was itself 'conceived in sin'... but since the beginnings of Zionist settlement at the end of the last century."
Mamdani is the physical manifestation of what has been the spirit of many if not most Jewish narratives among the elite and academia. Greta Thunberg is only the obvious follow through of the intersectionality narrative with her deft maneuver from the climate change cause to the Palestinian cause Yuval Abraham is the inevitable manifestation of this narrative and educational perspective.
Many, if not most, western Jews have been traditionally universalist as a vestige of the same spirit that inspired the Soviet Jews generations before. They never understood nationalism nor sided with it. They were never comfortable with Israel existing, and their perennial handwringing about the sins of Israel's existence have as much to do with the situation today as anything else, if not more.
The book you referenced by Yoram Hazony. Calls it like it is. Certainly since the 1950s. It seems like we have been our own worst enemy. Now we have so many “as a Jews“ pretending to know something and being magnified in their delusions by the media.
America and Israel are an important military and economic alliance which secures both of these countries and Europe and The wider Western world as well. The vagaries of Left-wing politics, and the re-emergence of some antisemitism in right wing circles like Tucker Carlson, will not alter the military and economic facts I have outlined. Therefore there is no need for over-concern, nor over-reaction to the passing trends you write about, Mr Mayer. But always remember this: America is the senior partner with all the nations of the world who seek her protection. This includes Europe, Israel and rest of the Free World. Jealous Racist antisemites and the Neo-Nazis in The State here in Europe might make trouble by claiming Israel over-states her importance. But Israel herself does not. Her job policing Islam and The Middle East is vital, and she does this well.
1. Franciso Gil White is: a. brilliant b. a longtime supporter of Israel an' c. notta joo -- bless 'im fer speakin' out an' fer bein' a voice of reason & a wealth've knowledge on the subject (he puts many've us ta shame....mahself included).
He not on the left at all but feels Trump already DUMPED Israel....
IMHO, he's spot-on. The rest is kayfabe--pretendin' ta be Israel's biggest "pal"...but he ain't... watch this:
methinks Qatar has the shinier objects... Trump is transactional.... he'll protect his "chewish gran'kids" even if the US sells out...
2. The legacy of Brandeis is bein' trashed like no-tomorrow--in the name of "noble anti-zionism" they say nothin' of his great accomplish-mints but only that he waz a Frankist (code word fer demonic orgiastic pedo) an' they us hiz "fame" as a cudgel against all us joos--yass yass these Frankist/satanists are idols fer our tribe ... an' such like.
NOT just via CandyAss... it's all over the innertubes like white on rice....commonly accepted bullshart pahrdon mah French:
"Louis Brandeis was a Frankist, Owens claimed, adding that his family believed in incest and pedophilia “as a sacrament,” though she hastened to add none of what she was broadcasting was antisemitic, as these people are “no more Jews than they are Christians.”
This is now "accepted fact" among soiten folks that should know better...
3. All yer sayin' 'bout educatin' the young'uns an' doin' sumthin' (not sure what) 'bout the Uni-Verse-Shitties (g-d help us, I gotta freshman kid enterin' this year!)...is TROO, 100% but...
The elephant in the room is that at it's great PERIL, Israel ignored all PR an' (even Hamas/Gaza won the PR game--hands down).... fer chintzin' an' not spendin' big bucks on Madison Avenue to promote good stuff 'bout Israel. Fer not hirin' AdMen&Women ta go behind the scenes gettin' the generals an' unhinged rabbis ta "wartch their mouths" b/c folks will take their sum'times ugly rhetoric as bein' literal. In the absence, HamAsss steps in with Pallywood. Fer all that PR money saved it's Israel who has ta take some blame/shame upon "themselfs" fer screwin' their once positive international image irrevocably. It may be too late... I'd still get on the horn an' call up the BEST PR/AD agency in the USA an' hire a rescue team post-haste... Reputation repair at any price--might save the way Americans (fergit even DJT) look upon Israel. (just mah 2 cents plain)
Israel and, to a lesser extent, the UAE are America's only reliable anti-terrorism intelligence partners in the middle east region. If the U.S.-Israel relationship deteriorates, Americans can expect to be blindsided in the future by foreign terrorist plots that U.S. intel is no longer able to anticipate and/or preemptively collapse.
The tragic irony here is that, when anti-terrorism resources work perfectly, the result is... absolutely nothing.
Just as with other forms of effective prevention, nobody can actually NOTICE anti-terrorism at work—so this benefit of the U.S. partnership with Israel (...just like the same benefit of the U.S.-Singapore partnership for monitoring terror plots in Asia, as long as we're here) goes unrecognized and unappreciated by the huge vast majority of Americans.
Excellent point. This is what anti-Israel commentators Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, not to mention politicians like Marjorie Taylor Greene, fail to appreciate: the strategic intelligence alliance between Israel and the US that is invisible but critical. We’ll never know how many terror plots have been foiled and how many American lives have been saved as a result.
But all they can focus on resentfully is the $3.8B in foreign aid that the US gives Israel, most of which must be spent on US weaponry.
There is that, but so much more that America has been blessed by as a result of her support for the Chosen People, and Israel. Unfortunately, it seems to me that most Americans don’t have any understanding of that fact.
I am an older American Christian Zionist, with a deep love for Israel and the Chosen People, and grieve what I see happening in our country, as well as the world at large. There is a much more that could be said, but I’ll leave it there for now.
Am Israel Chai!
What do you see within the younger generation of Christians. It seems they are anti-Zionist.
Laura, I have been thinking about your question, which is a good, and important one. There are many ways to address it, and I will give you my take.
But I’d like to know your own perspective in framing my response, and I hope you don’t mind my asking these questions:
-
1) Are you Jewish, or Gentile?
2) Are you Israeli, American, or other?
3) Do you consider yourself religious, or secular?
Thanks, Mike
I’m Jewish, American and secular.
The short answer is that I believe the majority of Christian youth, like most Christians in general, do not consider themselves to be antisemitic. But the younger Christians, in particular, are very likely to have been influenced by the ‘anti-Zionism’ misinformation campaigns and don’t realize that it is, at its core, thoroughly antisemitic. Further, they may not be anti-Israel, but may well have bought into the deceptive sophistries that maintain some variation of, ‘the Jews control the US’. Some might believe that to the extreme of believing Israel is behind virtually all of the conflicts the US has been engaged in since 9/11, while other simply believe Israel exercises an ‘excessive’ level of influence on American political and social affairs.
So, in general, I would say that support for Israel, as well as the Jewish people worldwide, is declining amongst younger Christians.
Now, here is the longer answer:
I am a native Floridian. I’ve travelled much of the world, worked in many foreign countries (including Israel) with natives and foreigners from all over the world. But my relevant ‘experience with younger Christians’ has largely been limited over the past decade to those I have spent time with here in the South; the ‘Bible Belt’. That is relevant for the following reasons, which I know you are already aware of, but mention for the sake of others.
The South is generally more conservative, more religious, and historically, more supportive of Israel. So, it can serve as a sort of bellwether for the views, attitudes, and beliefs of the rest of Christian America, in that, if Southern Christian youth are becoming less supportive of Israel, then you can be certain that it is happening to a far greater degree in the rest of the country.
And I believe that is the case; young Southern Christian support for Israel’s battles against her enemies, struggles to remain essentially a Jewish State, as well as for the Jewish people in the USA, is declining.
Many factors have contributed to this decline in support for Israel, as well as the Jewish people, amongst the younger generations. In my own view, the most significant are as follows:
1) The general decline of critical thinking capacity, accompanied by the prevalence of powerful, continuously available online distractions and amusements.
2) The wide-spread adoption of post-modernist views of ‘truth’. In other words, ‘truth seems relative at best and, at worst, altogether unknowable’.
Assuming that is one’s perspective, where does the individual young person, Christian or not, then find the strength of belief and moral conviction necessary to stand against the power, and quite possibly, the madness, of the mob?
After all, perhaps they are right, and I am wrong; or perhaps they know more, know better, and are ‘more right’ than I?
Doubt generally leads to indecision, which that often results in passivity, or inaction. And, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
3) The rise and prevalence of the Internet, social media, and AI as an authoritative source of information in the search for ‘truth’ among young people in general.
Particularly effective are the social media influencers who, together with their followers, may exercise a powerful mass psychological ‘pull’, or ‘push’ in the hearts and minds of many youth. This applies across every youth demographic, including professing Christians.
Candice Owens and Tucker Carlson are examples; both are conservative professing Christians, reaching a large segment of young people who likewise profess to be Christians.
4) Apostasy within Christian Churches of all denominations, together with a general decline of belief in the Bible as the ultimate authority on any subject to which it speaks.
This phenomenon, prophesied in the New Testament as an End Time sign, is now well underway, and has significant ramifications for Israel. It is happening across the board, but has particular relevance to the rise of antisemitism as it relates to the Evangelical Protestant Denominations.
There have always been some Christians, whether Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant, who have loved and supported the Chosen People in general, and regarded Israel as the Biblical home of the Jews. Since the 18th century, however, it is the Evangelicals who have been the largest, and most ardent, group within the Church.
That has made them the focus of campaigns designed to undermine their support via a variety of tactics, primarily targeting the younger members. One of the tactics used has been to exploit their relatively weak knowledge of the Bible as a whole, and especially, the Old Testament. They are particularly vulnerable to misguided or ill-intentioned influence campaigns in regard to questions related to the Jews remaining the Chosen People, and any relevance to modern-day Israel in relation to the Bible in general, and the Church in particular.
Tragically, those campaigns have met with some significant success. And, as it is clearly prophesied and we are very clearly in the End Time period, I fully expect that to continue.
The only thing that might stem, and potentially reverse this tide in the Churches, is a genuine revival that results in pushback against the powerful deceptive influences leading many Christians, to act, or fail to act, in ways that bring shame on their profession of faith in Jesus (Yeshua), their Jewish Messiah.
Together with many other Christians, I pray for such a revival, along with our prayers on behalf of Israel and the world at large. We will rejoice if it happens, even though we know it would be short-lived.
So, where does that leave us in relation to the potential for Christian youth, acting within the Christian Church, to counter the rising tides of antisemitism, anti-Israelism, and anti-Zionism?
Here is my take: The ship is irreparably damaged, and will inevitably sink. Many valiant and worthwhile efforts are being made by people all over the world, including non-Christians, to stem the onrushing flood. At best, they are buying precious time, which is always a good thing when the ship is sinking. It is precious time for people to become aware of the gravity of the situation confronting the world, and respond to it according to the leading of the still small voice within, and the conviction of their hearts.
Hence my urging of my Jewish friends to make Aliyah. But above all else, the best I have to offer anyone is encouragement to turn to the G-d of the Bible; the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the G-d of ancient Israel, pray to know the truth. and then read the Bible for yourself.
As a Christian, I am obviously referring to both the Old and New Testaments, and I am well aware of the rancor that may engender from Jews - even atheistic Jews.
But I would point out that Jesus was an observant Jew, and for well over ten years after His crucifixion and ascension, so was the entire ‘Church’ (then known of as ‘Followers of The Way’). In fact, the first crisis mediated by a Church Council, was in regard to whether Gentile believers had to first proselytize to Judaism and commit to following Mosaic Law, in order to be accepted by G-d.
I am also well aware, and painfully so, of the tragic, shameful, history of ‘the Church’, towards the Jewish people, as well as, in more recent times, modern day Israel.
I pray continually that the eyes of the many Christians who fail to love the Jewish people as they should, or even actively strive in various ways counter to their best interests, would be opened to the truth regarding the faithfulness of G-d to the unconditional Covenants He made with the Patriarchs, as well as their ‘seed’ after them.
I strive to help such professing Christians see the errors of their theological perspectives, which generally blind them to what I believe is the fullness of true message of the Bible. And offer the same encouragement I would give to a Jewish non-believer; to first pray for discernment, and then read and study the Old Testament, in the light of the New, always bearing in mind that the one cannot truly contradict the other, that the G-d they profess to love is a Covenant-keeping G-d, that He has made many clear promises to the Chosen People, and that:
“Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 (CJB)
Am Israel Chai!
They are pure Jew haters. They aren't to see anything. They are irrational and evil.
The US now has a sizable number of Muslims. That reality is having the same effect on American politics as it has done in the UK and EU. There is nothing that we can do about this from a practical standpoint. Israel is going to have to learn to live without the US one day so making plans for that is wise. American Jews, like many of their counterparts in Europe, would also be wise to start considering some contingency plans as well. If I'm reading the tea leaves correctly, the US is perhaps 20 years behind Europe in this respect.
“If I'm reading the tea leaves correctly, the US is perhaps 20 years behind Europe in this respect.”
According to conventional wisdom, I’d say you are correct. But, I believe we have moved into a phase of Biblical End Time prophecies in which the world is rapidly becoming more and more unstable, volatile, and dangerous.
The world as we have known it has changed dramatically, at a rapidly accelerating pace, over the past 25 years.
Speaking from the perspective of my Biblical understanding, the world as you see it now could experience far more radical changes in a very, very short period of time. And I believe it will, much sooner than you’re thinking.
This is a contentious subject, and I don’t wish to ‘debate’ it. But I am confident that the day is coming when Israel will truly stand alone as a pariah State, with God.
When that day comes, it will be ‘the time of Jacob’s trouble’ (Jeremiah 30:7); a period of (worldwide) persecution worse than any in the history of the Chosen People.
The only true refuge will be the State of Israel. For that reason I have been encouraging every Jewish person I knew to make Aliyah over the past 15 years. But I only know of one couple that ever followed up and acted on it; Miriam and Israel Boim.
I know it is terribly hard to contemplate such a reality, and I wish I could believe it might be altered. I don’t, and I can’t.
But, G-d… The Word of G-d stands forever. He will fulfill all of His promises to His people Israel, in exacting detail.
Ancient prophesies foretold the great storm that is coming upon the world, and the Word of God provides all that is needed for those who love and trust Him to navigate through these dark and evil times.
May the people of Israel turn in true faith to the G-d of Israel, trusting in Him to faithfully fulfill His Word:
Isaiah 45:17-25 (NKJV)
17 But Israel shall be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you shall not be ashamed or disgraced forever and ever.
18 For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.
19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in vain’; I, the LORD, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
20 “Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. They have no knowledge, who carry the wood of their carved image, and pray to a god that cannot save.
21 Tell and bring forth your case; yes, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, a just God and a Savior; there is none besides Me.
22 “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.
23 I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath.
24 He shall say, ‘Surely in the LORD I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, and all shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him.
25 In the LORD all the descendants of Israel shall be justified, and shall glory.’”
Am Israel Chai!
My son and brother have already made aliyah and it is on my mind too.
Amen and I too believe the same and believe Israel should be preparing to stand alone, start to develop it's own weaponry and more besides in preparation for this exact time and coming era. Luckily many of God's chosen are looking to make Aliyah home, however I believe more should be doing this now rather than leave it to a point whereby they are trying to escape what has been their homes for years in mass and mass panic before they find themselves caught up in potential past WWll scenarios.
I know the decision to leave and make Aliyah is an extremely difficult one for many, and determining the timing compounds that difficulty.
But, let’s consider the issue one step further. Those who wait until it becomes obvious they must leave, deny themselves and their loved ones the best opportunities to get settled, integrate, find their places in Israeli society, and contribute to the strengthening the nation’s resources.
I understand that, for many people, making Aliyah to modern Israel, under the present circumstances, can be full of challenges.
But such people are currently welcomed, embraced, and helped in making the transition in many ways that might not be able to occur, during a later, larger, ‘Exodus’.
I am exceptionally close to someone who has been and still is facing some of the challenges that goes along with returning back to their homeland, so I'm very aware of what is ahead for many and the decision making that's also involved. At the end of the day if we're truly honest, there is no other option left and to be safe and still in one piece paramounts over everything else. That's the most important of all.
Amen, and may G-d richly bless all who turn to Him in trusting faith as they return, according to His Word.
Amen!
My grandfather used to say that America is blessed as long as she supports Israel. I now impute a different meaning to this - as Murray says, standing with Israel is standing with Western civilization. Those Americans who hate Israel also hate the West. I think Israel should further develop its alliance with India. Hinduism and Judaism are the world's two most ancient religions and also non-conversion religions. Jews were never persecuted in India and most Hindus support Israel. Both are diverse democracies surviving in a sea of hostile countries opposed to democracy. I wrote here about how the Bhagavad-Gita advocates the kind of war of self-defence that Israel is fighting and India has also had to fight: https://ruthvanita452091.substack.com/p/stand-up-and-fight
The media and academia are at the root of most of the evil. Too many accepting the New York Times and their far-left socialist professors as truth tellers. For example, their totally inaccurate reporting on Israel defending the Druze in Syria. Oh no, G-d forbid we make Israel look good or moral. Then on the right we have the Tucker Carlson conspiracy theorists that feel that Aipac tells the US what to do.
I beg to differ. Islam is at the root the media and academia are merely paid shills. You are witnessing the Muslim conquest 2.0 in action.
You have a point. They are all being paid off by Qatar etc.
It seems as though 100% of the Muslims are Anti-Israel. I’d like to hear one that isn’t. Their numbers are growing exponentially. Ours are going the other direction. Since we live in a country where everybody gets one vote, it’s not looking good.
Not 100%, though certainly a large majority—which is being made to seem even larger by the horrifying degree of institutional and media capture.
The same is true of the Muslim world more generally. The hopelessly "Palestine"-captured major media outlets will never, ever, EVER tell you this, but there's even a Muslim-majority country—Azerbaijan—whose government officially supports Israel in the Israel-Hamas war, and which is strategically and economically allied with Israel against Iran and the mullahs' sphere of influence.
Also not to be overlooked here: Azerbaijan is not just a Muslim-majority country, but in fact is one of just 4 Shia-majority countries on earth. (The others are Bahrain, Iraq, and of course Iran itself.)
I know a handful.
The other and more troubling aspect of this issue is the increasing number of Americans Jews - mostly Reform and progressive - who are either anti-Zionist or conditionally Zionist. While still a significant minority, their voices are amplified by the anti-Zionist on the left and right. Jewish organizations need serious self-reflection and ask themselves why this Jewish anti-Zionist sentiment is growing even if slowly and even if on the left.
The problem is American Jews are most likely to be liberals (of some sort) who prize education and achievement, which leads them to upscale universities, which are now all bastions of the Social Justice faith, which is deeply anti-Israel and which aims vicious hatred at any Zionists or Israel supporters.
American academia (in its most prestigious institutions) has been captured by the Islamo-Leftist alliance, which puts young Jewish people in the position of either 1) supporting Israel and facing vilification, harassment and ostracism, not to mention being kept out of circles for career advancement; or 2) going along with the crowd and swallowing all the anti-Zionist propaganda, trying to be seen as a Good Person by expressing concern for "Palestinian babies" (the newest must-have item for your socially conscious college kid), and sacrificing Israel to save your own skin.
Most of our current Jew-hating poison is coming from our most exalted colleges and universities, and Jewish liberals turned a blind eye to all of it until it's now running wild throughout the country. Western liberals only love Jews when they're helpless stateless victims who've dedicated their lives to tikkun olam (meaning: when they help other groups but ignore their own) and the next generation of liberals will be explicitly anti-Jewish. The next version of Exodus might have to be Jews leaving the coasts for the South and Midwest, where most people haven't been indoctrinated in our Social Justice madrassas.
This has been going on for long before the current war. It is almost entirely being driven by the left as reflected in that poll you cite. The problem is that we have allowed the left to take over the education and media institutions almost entirely. Not liberals. Hard leftists. Anti-semitics hatred for Israel is part and parcel of their general nihilistic rejection of Western civilization. Find a way to get these hateful leftists out of these positions to spew their hate and lies and the problem can be resolved. There is nothing Israel and its supporters can do or say that can overcome the constant repetition of blood labels and other hateful lies that are being internalized daily by the young.
Get rid of DEI, toxic grievance studies departments and funding from anti-western, despotic countries like Qatar, China and Saudi Arabia.
As long as we allow the leftist fifth columnists to teach our children in high school and college this trend will continue. We need to rid ourselves of radicals that call themselves professors as well as professional agitators who invade our college campuses. If they are not citizens, we need to deport them immediately.
They start even earlier —with Miss Rachel targeting preschoolers.
America has been in a downward spiral for decades and the "fall" of America is inevitable. We now have far too many badly-educated, barely literate and unmarried parents raising badly-educated and illiterate children. That's like a third-world country. It's not improving: our education statistics remain shockingly low and they get shockingly lower each year. The moral decline is also evident and the blame for everything, as always, is leveled at the Jews. The split with Israel will come sooner rather than later. Of course, Israel has been aware and THIS is why the New Middle East plans have been in the works and must get underway asap (Israel needs to finish off Iran and her terror proxies to really get it going). Trump wants Europe and Israel to be independent militarily because he knows America can't be depended on anymore, maybe as soon as the next election. With the New Middle East, (with Israel as the military protector of the entire region and weapons manufactured in new facilities throughout the M.E. to supply Israel), it will NOT be Israel needing help and support from America, but America needing Israel to protect their Middle East trade/investments, acquire new technologies, and to provide counter-terrorism support (among other things). That counter-terror support will be critical; America will have many more terrorists within her borders than the Middle East will have in the not-too-distant future.
The article claims that anti-Israel sentiment was previous relegated to a small segment of the population in the US consisting of younger people on the left: "What had previously been relegated to younger demographic groups on the left has seeped into the American mainstream."
That statement is patently false.
Even within Israel, academia has for decades promoted the anti-Israel left wing intersectionality narrative that depicts Israel as the oppressor and casts the Palestinian Arabs as the oppressed.
Yoram Hazony, in his book, The Jewish State The Struggle for Israel's Soul, related an article about this topic from Israel from 1994:
"For two or three decades now, a few hundred of our 'society's best,' men of the pen and of the spirit-academics, authors, and journalists, and to these one must add artists and photographers and actors as well have been working determinedly and without respite to preach and prove that our cause is not just. Not only that it has been unjust since the Six Day War (in 1967) and the 'occupation,' which is supposed to be unjust in its very nature; and not only since the founding of the state in 1948, a birth which was itself 'conceived in sin'... but since the beginnings of Zionist settlement at the end of the last century."
Mamdani is the physical manifestation of what has been the spirit of many if not most Jewish narratives among the elite and academia. Greta Thunberg is only the obvious follow through of the intersectionality narrative with her deft maneuver from the climate change cause to the Palestinian cause Yuval Abraham is the inevitable manifestation of this narrative and educational perspective.
Many, if not most, western Jews have been traditionally universalist as a vestige of the same spirit that inspired the Soviet Jews generations before. They never understood nationalism nor sided with it. They were never comfortable with Israel existing, and their perennial handwringing about the sins of Israel's existence have as much to do with the situation today as anything else, if not more.
Excellent essay, Avi Mayer!
The article claims that anti-Israel sentiment was previous relegated to a small segment of the population in the US consisting of younger people on the left: "What had previously been relegated to younger demographic groups on the left has seeped into the American mainstream."
That statement is patently false.
Even within Israel, academia has for decades promoted the anti-Israel left wing intersectionality narrative that depicts Israel as the oppressor and casts the Palestinian Arabs as the oppressed.
Yoram Hazony, in his book, The Jewish State The Struggle for Israel's Soul, related an article about this topic from Israel from 1994:
"For two or three decades now, a few hundred of our 'society's best,' men of the pen and of the spirit-academics, authors, and journalists, and to these one must add artists and photographers and actors as well have been working determinedly and without respite to preach and prove that our cause is not just. Not only that it has been unjust since the Six Day War (in 1967) and the 'occupation,' which is supposed to be unjust in its very nature; and not only since the founding of the state in 1948, a birth which was itself 'conceived in sin'... but since the beginnings of Zionist settlement at the end of the last century."
Mamdani is the physical manifestation of what has been the spirit of many if not most Jewish narratives among the elite and academia. Greta Thunberg is only the obvious follow through of the intersectionality narrative with her deft maneuver from the climate change cause to the Palestinian cause Yuval Abraham is the inevitable manifestation of this narrative and educational perspective.
Many, if not most, western Jews have been traditionally universalist as a vestige of the same spirit that inspired the Soviet Jews generations before. They never understood nationalism nor sided with it. They were never comfortable with Israel existing, and their perennial handwringing about the sins of Israel's existence have as much to do with the situation today as anything else, if not more.
The book you referenced by Yoram Hazony. Calls it like it is. Certainly since the 1950s. It seems like we have been our own worst enemy. Now we have so many “as a Jews“ pretending to know something and being magnified in their delusions by the media.
It's as if the media is mocking the Jewish people for having so many anti-Israel "as a Jews," in their midst.
A while back I saw one of the major Canadian broadcasters do a quick one on one interview with their token "as a Jew," at a Hamas rally.
The "as a Jew" deadpanned a whole synopsis of Israel being a quintessential criminal genocide state. Then on to other news.
"Even if animus toward Israel becomes more prevalent and politically potent, it will likely take time for that sentiment to be reflected in policy."
Actually, that animus has already started to be expressed by government as attested to by Obama and Biden's policies.
At this point, the distaste for Israel is "soft." But as the author notes, now is the time to take decisive action, not when the Hydra fully wakes.
Thank you, Mr. Mayer for your clarion call for Jews to initiate countermeasures to the rising animus now lest we repeat the 30s.
America and Israel are an important military and economic alliance which secures both of these countries and Europe and The wider Western world as well. The vagaries of Left-wing politics, and the re-emergence of some antisemitism in right wing circles like Tucker Carlson, will not alter the military and economic facts I have outlined. Therefore there is no need for over-concern, nor over-reaction to the passing trends you write about, Mr Mayer. But always remember this: America is the senior partner with all the nations of the world who seek her protection. This includes Europe, Israel and rest of the Free World. Jealous Racist antisemites and the Neo-Nazis in The State here in Europe might make trouble by claiming Israel over-states her importance. But Israel herself does not. Her job policing Islam and The Middle East is vital, and she does this well.
1. Franciso Gil White is: a. brilliant b. a longtime supporter of Israel an' c. notta joo -- bless 'im fer speakin' out an' fer bein' a voice of reason & a wealth've knowledge on the subject (he puts many've us ta shame....mahself included).
He not on the left at all but feels Trump already DUMPED Israel....
IMHO, he's spot-on. The rest is kayfabe--pretendin' ta be Israel's biggest "pal"...but he ain't... watch this:
https://franciscogilwhite.substack.com/p/podcast-trump-saves-the-ayatollahs
methinks Qatar has the shinier objects... Trump is transactional.... he'll protect his "chewish gran'kids" even if the US sells out...
2. The legacy of Brandeis is bein' trashed like no-tomorrow--in the name of "noble anti-zionism" they say nothin' of his great accomplish-mints but only that he waz a Frankist (code word fer demonic orgiastic pedo) an' they us hiz "fame" as a cudgel against all us joos--yass yass these Frankist/satanists are idols fer our tribe ... an' such like.
NOT just via CandyAss... it's all over the innertubes like white on rice....commonly accepted bullshart pahrdon mah French:
https://forward.com/culture/639279/candace-owens-jacob-frank-frankist-conspiracy-false-messiah/
"Louis Brandeis was a Frankist, Owens claimed, adding that his family believed in incest and pedophilia “as a sacrament,” though she hastened to add none of what she was broadcasting was antisemitic, as these people are “no more Jews than they are Christians.”
This is now "accepted fact" among soiten folks that should know better...
3. All yer sayin' 'bout educatin' the young'uns an' doin' sumthin' (not sure what) 'bout the Uni-Verse-Shitties (g-d help us, I gotta freshman kid enterin' this year!)...is TROO, 100% but...
The elephant in the room is that at it's great PERIL, Israel ignored all PR an' (even Hamas/Gaza won the PR game--hands down).... fer chintzin' an' not spendin' big bucks on Madison Avenue to promote good stuff 'bout Israel. Fer not hirin' AdMen&Women ta go behind the scenes gettin' the generals an' unhinged rabbis ta "wartch their mouths" b/c folks will take their sum'times ugly rhetoric as bein' literal. In the absence, HamAsss steps in with Pallywood. Fer all that PR money saved it's Israel who has ta take some blame/shame upon "themselfs" fer screwin' their once positive international image irrevocably. It may be too late... I'd still get on the horn an' call up the BEST PR/AD agency in the USA an' hire a rescue team post-haste... Reputation repair at any price--might save the way Americans (fergit even DJT) look upon Israel. (just mah 2 cents plain)
"To be sure, we aren’t anywhere near there, at least not yet."
It's closer than you think, I"m betting.