Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked about the role of Israel in the End Times, the friendship between the U.S. and Israel and the critical role of Evangelical Christians in the alliance between the nations in a wide-ranging interview with Paula White, the senior advisor to the White House Faith Office.
The interview was recorded during his visit to Washington, D.C. and published on the YouTube channel of the Christian Daystar Television Network this week.
White began by noting that “The Christian vision of the end of days foretells of some profound transformation and redemption,” asking the premier whether he saw signs of this vision being realized in current events.
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“That vision of the return of the dispersed people to the Holy Land, the reconstitution of Jewish sovereignty in our ancient land … That’s a miracle. I think this is a string of miracles by itself. You can explain it in various ways, but I think there is something that defies, you know, it sort of defies the laws of history because according to the laws of history, if you’re gone, you’re gone,” Netanyahu said.
In addition, he listed U.S. President Donald Trump’s moves to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, the transfer of the embassy to Jerusalem and the mediation of the Abraham Accords as near-miraculous events in the Jewish people’s “historic mission.”
“And I know that we have, in this effort, the support of our Christian friends around the world. You know, we’ve not had greater friends,” Netanyahu emphasized.
At another point in the interview, the premier reiterated: “There is no greater partnership than the State of Israel and the believing Christians around the world.”
Netanyahu also argued that Trump is already working to further strengthen the bond with Israel with several significant moves he made in the first days of his presidency.
Israel is fighting “our common enemies, the enemies of America,” Netanyahu said, “They call America the great Satan. They call us the small Satan.”
Despite this fact, Netanyahu said the Biden administration had imposed an arms embargo on Israel. “One of the first things President Trump did was knock out that embargo, restore the weapons and ammunition shipped into Israel, which is so needed.”
“Second thing he did was he removed these sanctions that were put on Jewish residents of Judea, Samaria, the heart of our historical homeland,” Netanyahu continued. “The third thing he did was issue these forceful orders for measures against anti-Semitism, which is really anti-Americanism, anti-Israel, on America’s campuses and elsewhere.”
Finally, Netanyahu said Trump “rescinded this thing that was protecting the ICC, the so-called International Criminal Court, which itself became criminal, and is targeting American soldiers and Israeli soldiers, me, and potentially any leader of America.”
The Israeli leader also called on Christians to engage with Israel more deeply, especially by traveling to Israel to “understand how the Bible is really being played out in real time on this piece of earth that is so critical to our common civilization.”
“One thing I heard of recently, and this is spreading to the Christian friends of Israel and America, is (the accusation) that Israel is persecuting Christians in Israel. My God, how can people believe these lies? The only place in the Middle East where the Christians are fully safe — not [just] to engage in their faith, but well beyond that, to flourish, to thrive — is in Israel,” he stressed.
Despite false news and reports of declining support for Israel among Christians, Netanyahu offered a vision of hope not just for the relations between the U.S. and Israel but for Christianity and traditional values in America.
Recounting the example of Israel’s young generation, which heroically rose to the task of fighting a war, contrary to the expectation of some, Netanyahu emphasized that such trends can be reversed.
“People here say the next generation of Christians are waning in their support for Israel. … Who says that’s got to continue? I think there’s a change happening right now,” the prime minister said.
“People seek spiritual content for their lives, and many are coming back to religion, and when they do, and when they look for the sources, the wellsprings of our civilization, our societies, they’ll come back to the roots.”
“And the roots came from that land that you visit, that piece of land at the edge of Asia, the edge of the Mediterranean is where it all started.”
Netanyahu added that every time he speaks to the U.S. Congress, “I stand on that podium and I look at that hall. … Smack looking at me is the tablet that says Moses, the lawgiver, and actually has a quote from the Bible.”
“They spoke about a city on a hill, the Founding Fathers of America. That city was Jerusalem. America was founded as the new Jerusalem, connected to the original Jerusalem. And that’s a partnership that I think is not going to disappear. I think we may be at a cusp, at a turning point, where that enthusiasm, in fact, is re-energized. And I think it’s going to happen.”
This article was originally published by All Israel News.
ALL ISRAEL NEWS is based in Jerusalem and is a trusted source of news, analysis and information from Israel to our Christian friends around the world.
