Evangelical Christians Are Throwing Their Support Behind Israel. They’re Partly Driven By Antisemitism.

Israel’s close relationship with Christian Zionists could ultimately be a devil’s bargain.

As Israel’s siege of Gaza raged on in March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made time for a meeting in Jerusalem with a delegation led by Mario Bramnick, a Florida-based pastor with close ties to former President Donald Trump who has become a leading figure in a theocratic movement dedicated to bringing forth the end of the world.

Bramnick may not be a household name to many Americans, but he’s an “apostle” in the New Apostolic Reformation — meaning members believe he was anointed by God to lead and receive prophecies and is imbued with spiritual gifts, including the ability to prophesy, heal and speak in tongues. He and the NAR, a burgeoning network of charismatic evangelical churches, believe in the biblical prophecy that the return of Jews to Israel will hasten the return of Christ.

Netanyahu likely knew he was meeting with an End Times evangelical pastor: The prime minister has long been invested in currying favor with such radical American Christians. What’s unclear is if Netanyahu knew just how radical the Christians in this delegation were, and just what their beliefs about Jewish people consisted of.

Bramnick is what some scholars call a “Christian supremacist,” owing to his prominent role in the NAR, which believes in the existence of the supernatural, including modern-day prophets and apostles. He sees Trump as prophesied to rule over the U.S., and wants to transform America, and then the world, into a Christian theocracy, all to hasten Christ’s return to Earth and to begin his followers’ rapture to heaven.

Part of that project, per the NAR’s interpretation of scripture, is unequivocal support of Israel. While millions of American evangelical Christians have long been fervent supporters of the Jewish state because of End Times prophecies, most have been content to allow Jews to be Jews until Christ’s return, when the Lord would convert them to Christianity and allow their entrance to Heaven. This is a form of end-days theology that scholars call “premillennialism.”