June 21, 2002

"Our New Friends on the Right"

It was early in the morning when the telephone rang. My wife answered. With my eyes barely opened, I asked her who was calling. In a low voice she replied, "Menachem Begin."

The Prime Minister was blunt, and I heard the urgency in his voice. "Rabbi Grossman, you live in the South, you have a relationship with evangelical leaders. Israel needs their support."

At that time, Israeli-American relations were at a low point. Israel had crossed the border into Lebanon in defense of the Galilee. Arafat and his PLO were firing rockets day and night across the border. Washington was inextricably tied to the Arab side, and their oil lobbyists directed American foreign policy for the Middle East. The PLO, in opposition to the Lebanese  government, was wreaking havoc by igniting a bloody war between Christians and Moslems. The American media and the State Department were vilifying Israel, and when Israeli forces besieged Beirut, Sharon became the further target of Arab anger. This infidel, Ariel Sharon, dared to surround an Arab capital in support of beleaguered Christians. The Lebanese Christians, in grave danger, had previously lived in peace with the Moslem community, but the PLO was stirring up enmity against them. The Christian Phalangists in turn wanted vengeance. Their armed men  entered Sabra and Chatilla Palestinian camps and mercilessly slaughtered hundreds. Rather than condemning the perpetrators, the PLO successfully incited the world to blame Israel and its Defense Minister, Ariel Sharon. To this very day, Arab propagandists want the world to believe that Sharon himself committed this slaughter. "Sabra and Chatilla" became the Arab  battle cry counterpart to "Remember Pearl Harbor."

I thought about all this as I talked with the Prime Minister, whom I had known for many years. I was reluctant, however, to engage with evangelicals and their clergy. Memphis was, and remains, a major center for Bible Christians, their preferred name. I knew many of their leaders and understood what their objectives were. Conversion of Jews to Christianity is an obsession with them, as it is with almost all Christians, but they have the unique belief that the return of all Jews to Israel is a prerequisite for "the Second Coming." I hung up the phone. In the days afterward, I spoke with a number of Torah leaders and scholars, and they all agreed with Begin. The support of evangelicals was critical and in spite of their objectives towards the Jews, we needed them to speak out on behalf of Israel.

I organized an initial meeting at the Israel Embassy in Washington. Fundamentalist leaders were eager to attend. We were frank and open with each other, and I expressed our concern for the price we feared we would have to pay for their support of Israel. To a man, they assured us that their support for Israel was Biblically rooted and had no strings attached. A new era had begun.

Today, America's Bible Christians remain resolute in their support of Israel and its current Sharon administration. They form the most solid constituency of the President and are unswerving in their commitment to Israel as a Jewish state. Save for the United States, most governments stand behind Arafat and his co-terrorists against Israel. Many attribute the President's
strong backing of Prime Minister Sharon to the terrorist attacks on September 11, but the President's support began before that day. Bush was clear in his position toward Israel from the day he assumed office. Many expected him to be an opponent, very much like his father and Secretary of State, James Baker, especially since 80% of American Jews voted for Al Gore. Unlike his father, however, Bush owed his difficult election victory to the Bible Christians. Support for Israel is his payback to them.

Personal experience has taught me that friendship with evangelicals is possible when we remain true to our cause and relentless in our mission to preserve Israel as an authentic Jewish state. After centuries of persecution and repression, when our best friends looked the other way, and when Christians were anathema to us, time has brought positive changes caused by the miraculous advent of the Jewish State. With one hand, we must  continue our relationships with the evangelicals, but with the other hand, we must remind them that we are not fodder for their Messianic aspirations.

A recent survey shows that a much higher percentage of Republicans support Israel than do Democrats. Al Gore is a friend of mine, and I know that had he assumed the Presidency, he would have been a vigorous opponent to terror. But HaShem has His ways, and facts speak for themselves. In this adverse period of Jewish history, we can only be grateful for our new friends on the political and religious right who continue to stand up in support of Jews.

Shabbat Shalom