The pro-Israel sentiment among evangelicals is prominent and growing, according to Pew Research Center data. This sentiment is evident on the debate stage in the polls, which show 86% of evangelical Christians view Israel and Jewish people “favorably,” according to data from a March Pew Research survey.

Without evangelicals, Republican views on Israel would be similar to those of the rest of the country, according to a University of Maryland critical issues poll in 2021. Israeli officials have also focused their outreach on evangelicals.

Former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer said in a May 2021 statement that Israel should spend more of its energy reaching out to “passionate” American evangelicals than to Jews, who are “disproportionately among our critics.”

To understand the spiritual, political and theological reasons why evangelical Christians are such big supporters of Israel not just religiously, but also politically, Reckon spoke with Dr. Paul Lim, Christian history professor at Vanderbilt University. Here are five reasons evangelicals are showing such strong support for Israel right now.

1. What is “Israel” is important

Much of the debate around where you fall on Israel depends often on your interpretation of a few Bible verses of Romans–one of the most referenced books of the New Testament on issues of eternal salvation. Lim broke it down like this. Let’s start with Romans 11:25-26. The part that divides Christians is the bolded part of verse 26.

“I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: ‘The deliverer will come from Zion. He will turn godlessness away from Jacob.”

Many Christian scholars interpret these verses in the context of the restoration of Israel, which according to the Bible, is a sign of the end times and Jesus Christ’s imminent return to earth, Lim explained.

The “Israel” part becomes very important when you consider what “Israel” the writer of Romans is referring to, Lim said.

“But what separates the answers is the desire to identify biblical Israel with contemporary historical Israel,” Lim explained. In his view, he said such a literal translation and identification of “Israel” is “not Biblically warranted.”

If Israel is a political nation in our modern world, it changes how the scripture is interpreted, adding a political layer to a theological issue, he said.

Despite Lim’s personal interpretation of the scripture, he said many evangelical pastors with large followings like John Hagee and Kenneth Copeland interpret the verse to mean the literal nation of Israel that exists in the modern era and involves a geographic area on earth that encompasses all or part of the modern nations of Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan.

2. Israel fulfills a prophecy about the end times

This is a big one. If Christians truly believe that the Israel referred to in Romans 11 is associated with the modern-day state of Israel and a geographic place in the Middle East, then any sort of war or battle for that land is a signal to the beginning of what many Christians refer to as the “end times,” Lim explained, referencing the various Christian apocalyptic beliefs.

The “end times,” colloquially refers to the end of existence where Jesus will return to Earth and take his followers to heaven and all people will be judged according to God’s law.

For Christians, Israel is a very important part of these end-times prophecies, especially when Romans 11 is read through that lens, Lim said.

There are a series of events listed in Christian end times prophecies that must happen before Jesus, the Messiah can return, according to evangelical end-times teachings. These include the “restoration” of the nation of Israel, Jerusalem again made a Jewish city and the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem.

In a blog titled “War in Israel: A Fulfillment of Bible Prophecy?” Riverside, California, pastor Greg Laurie lays out many of the prophetic beliefs some Christians hold about the nation of Israel and the second coming of Christ–that is when Jesus will come back to the earth to rule for 1,000 years then to take his followers to heaven.

Laurie declares the conflict between Israel and Hamas is uniquely different.

“The Bible predicted, thousands of years ago, that the end time events would revolve around Jerusalem. Not San Francisco. Not Los Angeles. Not Moscow. Not Paris. But Jerusalem, this tiny little city in this tiny sliver of land, will play a key role in the events of the last days. It’s the focal point of end times events,” he said in the blog post.

3. Christians must stand against antisemitism

Pastors and conservative politicians have been vocal about a rise in antisemitism in America, especially at universities. The issue was a hot topic during Wednesday’s Republican debate, where several candidates suggested punishing university students who attended pro-Hamas or pro-Palestine demonstrations.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) said “we [government officials] should force these students out of universities.”

Lim said he believes some of this criticism of support for Palestine has been unduly harsh.

“Liberals have been unduly criticized and unfairly criticized for being antisemitic or anti Israel and pro-Palestine and pro-Hamas,” he said.

Evangelical pastors have also frequently addressed the issue of antisemitism on their blogs and from their pulpits. This strong opposition to antisemitism is rooted in many evangelicals’ loyalty to Israel.

4. Because Jesus was Jewish

Many Christians also credit their loyalty to Israel with the race of Jesus Christ, who in a historical and religious sense was Jewish. Some Christians believe they have a spiritual responsibility to support Israel because the nation of Israel is God’s chosen people, according to the Bible, Kim explained.

Hagee said Christians “owe a debt of gratitude to the Jewish people, it is our duty to minister to them in material things,” in a blog post. His ministry, Hagee Ministries, has donated “over $100 million to Jewish causes in the State of Israel,” according to his website.

5. The political allyship between America and Israel

The United States’ diplomatic connections to Israel have been an essential part of world politics for decades. Most conservatives, which would consider themselves supporters of democracies in the eastern parts of the world, like former Vice President Mike Pence, think keeping this connection with Israel is important.

Pence called Israel America’s “most cherished ally” in a recent statement to Christians United for Israel on his support for the nation.

“To look at Israel is to see that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob keeps his promises,” Pence said. “Like all of you, my passion for Israel springs from my Christian faith.

President Biden has also had a lifelong bond with Israel that he says started with his father, who was committed to establishing Israel as a Jewish homeland following World War Two. Biden has supported Israel’s security since he entered national politics in 1973. He’s also supported steps toward Palestinian statehood.

In his 36 years in the Senate, Biden was the Senate’s biggest recipient of donations from pro-Israeli groups. He’s received $4.2 million from such groups, according to political funding database OpenSecrets.

The United States has provided $158 billion in aid to Israel since World War II, according to March 2023 data from the Congressional Research Service. Currently, Israel receives $3.8 billion in military aid from the US annually under a memorandum signed in 2019. That accounted for about 16% of Israel’s total military budget in 2022.

This sentiment is evident more recently in the polls, which show 86% of evangelical Christians view Israel and Jewish people “favorably,” according to data from a March Pew Research survey.

“Religious commitment of pro-Israeli stance is in some ways ironically forgetting about and sugarcoating the complexity and cruelty of Christian and Jewish relations, and I think as a scholar of religion, as a historian of Christianity, I am committed to talking about the things that are not comfortable, but also pointing a better way forward,” Lim said.

Why it all matters and what’s next

Republican political candidates spoke passionately about Israel at the debate this week and will likely continue to do so. GOP politicians have increasingly been in favor of aid to Israel but have begun to shy away from pushing aid to Ukraine, another country aligned with America now facing war.

“Israel is facing [an] existential threat. Any funding for Ukraine should be redirected to Israel immediately,” Republican Senator Josh Hawley posted on X two days after the war began.

Lim said it’s important to consider how religion comes into play when having these political conversations.

Lim specifically said America’s religious and democratic connection to Israel will continue to influence national and international politics in America, especially as the 2024 election looms.

“This kind of scriptural imagination about the end times has really influenced the way we think about what the future actually looks like,” Lim said. “Diplomatic imaginations have been fueled by and influenced by the Bible, for better and for worse.”