Heads of Churches of the Holy Land call Christian Zionism a ‘damaging’ ideology

As the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity unfolded, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches of the Holy Land warned that Christian Zionism was among the “damaging ideologies” being pushed that ultimately harmed the presence and unity of Christians in the Holy Land.

In a statement dated Jan. 17 and published by the Patriarchate of Jerusalem on Jan. 18, the first day of Christian unity week, Church leaders said “recent activities” promoting such ideologies “mislead the public, sow confusion, and harm the unity of our flock.”

“These undertakings have found favor among certain political actors in Israel and beyond who seek to push a political agenda which may harm the Christian presence in the Holy Land and the wider Middle East,” the statement read.

According to the Religion Media Center, Christian Zionism is a theological and political movement, primarily within Protestant evangelicalism, that asserts the return of the Jewish people to the Holy Land and the establishment of the state of Israel as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy.

Those who adhere to the movement believe that supporting Israel is biblically mandated as a prerequisite for the second coming of Christ.

While the statement did not specifically mention the “recent activities” that took place, The Washington Post reported Jan. 3 that 1,000 evangelical pastors traveled to Israel for a six-day pilgrimage titled the “Friends of Zion Ambassador Summit to Israel.”

The event, which included prayers at the Western Wall, meetings with freed hostages after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas as well as high-level security meetings, was meant to solidify bonds between evangelical Christians and Israel due to a growing shift of anti-Israel sentiment among U.S. conservatives, The Washington Post reported.

In their statement, the leaders of the Churches of the Holy Land said those who espouse Christian Zionism “wound the unity of the faithful and burden the pastoral mission entrusted to the historic churches in the very land where our Lord lived, taught, suffered, and rose from the dead.”

They also expressed concern that individuals promoting such ideology have been “welcomed at official levels both locally and internationally.”

“Such actions constitute interference in the internal life of the churches and disregard the pastoral responsibility vested in the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem,” the statement said.

At a Dec. 31 meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, with 70 evangelical leaders, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he regarded evangelical Christians as Israel’s “closest allies” and credited Christian Zionism with facilitating “the rise and success of Jewish Zionism.”

“It’s hard for me,” he said, “to conceive of the emergence of the Jewish state, the reemergence of the Jewish state, without the support of Christian Zionists in the United States, also in Britain, but the main thrust was in the United States in the 19th century.”

The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches of the Holy Land stressed that “they alone represent the Churches and their flock in matters pertaining to Christian religious, communal, and pastoral life in the Holy Land.”

The statement drew criticism from Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, who said that while he respected “the traditional, liturgical churches,” he disagreed that “any sect of the Christian faith should claim exclusivity in speaking for Christians worldwide or assume there is only one viewpoint regarding faith in the Holy Land.”

“Personally, I’m part of a global and growing evangelical tradition that believes in the authority of Scripture and the faithfulness of God in keeping His covenants. That includes His covenant with Abraham and the Jewish people,” he said in a tweet posted on X Jan. 20.

Huckabee said he viewed the term “Christian Zionism” as a label used in a “pejorative manner to disparage free-church believers” and questioned “why everyone who takes on the moniker ‘Christian’ would not also be a Zionist.”

“It’s not a commitment to a particular government or government policy, but to the Biblical revelation as given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” he wrote.

The statement by the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches of the Holy Land echoed a declaration published in 2006, which stated that Christian Zionism embraced “the most extreme ideological positions of Zionism” and was “detrimental to a just peace within Palestine and Israel.”

Known as “The Jerusalem Declaration on Christian Zionism,” it said that Christian Zionism supported policies that “advance racial exclusivity and perpetual war rather than the gospel of universal love, redemption, and reconciliation taught by Jesus Christ.”

“We categorically reject Christian Zionist doctrines as false teaching that corrupts the biblical message of love, justice, and reconciliation,” the patriarchs declared back in 2006.

In the Jan. 17 statement, the patriarchs said: “May the Lord, who is the Shepherd and Guardian of souls, grant wisdom for the protection of His people and the safeguarding of His witness in this sacred land.”

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