Dr. Branch, I think/know that you are correct. Netanyahu bet his personal future and Israel’s future on his personal, often private, relationship with the American right wing.
By the time Trump ran for the presidency, in 2016, Christian Zionism, Christian evangelism, Christian Nationalism, the Republican Party and conservative billionaire funded and controlled Think Tanks and non-profit organizations were so tightly entangled, they were one in the same.
Today, members of America’s pro-Israel Christian Zionist organizations outnumber the entire Jewish American population by 3:1 (with some estimates as high as 5:1). Moreover, both Netanyahu’s and Trump’s largest, wealthiest, and most influential base of support in both America and Israel, are Christian Zionists (not Jews).
For example, the non-Jewish, Christians United for Israel is both, the largest and most powerful pro-Israel lobby and Christian Zionist organization in the United States (more than 10-million members). By contrast, American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has 3-million members (which include both Christians and Jews) and in 2010, began expanding its membership with outreach programs aimed at Latino and Black Christian evangelicals.
Unfortunately, we hear Zionist, Zionist, Zionist, without ever hearing the term differentiated as Christian Zionists or Jewish Zionists. As a result, the overwhelming majority of Americans believe Zionism is a Jewish thing and everything done in the name of Zionism is done by Jews.
In 20-23, less than a month after Hamas attacked Israel, Christians United for Israel was running ads in New York City’s Times Square. Immediately, American politicians knew where as many as 90 million Christian Zionists, also known as Trump’s base, stood.
Links to Christian Zionists ads
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIgRyr_UaV0
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QzegfXRMZPU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQU-n-XVkkA
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cJZo85hcEE4
A quick summary for people who are not familiar with Christian Zionism. Zionism is a Christian concept dating back to the 1500s in Europe (and exported to America by 17th century Puritans). Christian Zionism waxed and waned for centuries – and re-emerged in the 1980s as an animating force among evangelical Christians in America. In the mid-1990s, the Left Behind series of books and films popularized Christian Zionism and was especially influential on evangelical teenagers at the time.
According to Christian Zionist prophecy the return of Jews to Palestine (aka Israel) will hasten the second coming of Christ. When Christ returns, he will only save true believers (and send everyone else on earth, including all Jews, to Hell for all eternity). Inasmuch, as Christion Zionists plan to inherit the earth and everything on it, they do everything they can to assure their prophecy comes to pass in their lifetime. In essence, Christian Zionists support Israel because they believe it belongs to them.
Until the 20th century, very few Jews ascribed to Zionism (aka the return to Israel). Today, there are less than 16 million Jews on the entire planet. Less than 6 million Jews, including 1.8 million children, live in America and almost 7 million Jews live in Israel.
Today, there are about 90-million, almost five times, more Christian Zionists in America than all Jews combined. Since 2010, Christian Zionist organizations have been conducting outreach programs (aka missions) to American Latino and Black evangelicals. Traditionally, black churches usually taught Liberation theology. However, as more Latinos and black Americans moved into the suburbs, white Christian evangelical leaders began working to bring them into their congregations and their teachings. https://forward.com/news/144558/christian-backers-of-israel-reach-out-to-blacks/
Dr. Branch, your article made me think it was time for me to start speaking up and I thank you. However, if I went too far off topic, or I am out of line, all you need do is ask and I will delete my comment.
