Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told evangelical Christian leaders in Florida that Israel is waging a new front against Islamist persecution of Christians worldwide, praising Christian Zionist support for the Jewish state while framing the effort as a “common Judeo-Christian battle.”
Netanyahu met Wednesday with heads of Christian churches and universities, who congratulated him on his meeting with President Donald Trump and praised what his office described as his steadfast wartime decisions.
“You are representatives of the Christian Zionists who made Jewish Zionism possible,” Netanyahu said at the start of the sit-down, crediting Christian support — particularly in the United States — as indispensable to the Jewish state’s “re-emergence.”
Calling the relationship “an enormous partnership,” he told the group, “We have no better friends,” while noting that Christian Zionists have stood by Israel “through thick and thin.”
The Prime Minister said Israel has fought a “seven-front war” and emerged “in many ways victorious,” but argued a broader ideological struggle still looms.
While he referenced an “eighth front” involving “the hearts and minds of people,” Netanyahu framed the larger point as a shared civilizational fight, insisting it reaches beyond the Jewish State alone.
“This is not just Israel’s battle; I think it’s our common Judeo-Christian civilization’s battle,” he said, warning it affects Israel, America, their alliance, and “the future of Western civilization.”
The Israeli premier rejected the idea that religious conviction should retreat in the face of violence, declaring, “Faith should speak its voice, and terrorism should be confronted, not understood — confronted and defeated.”
Netanyahu told the delegation he had spoken with President Trump the previous day, and said he views the campaign against Israel and the “Judeo-Christian tradition” as being waged globally by “two forces” — “radical Shiite Islam” led by Iran and “radical Sunni Islam” led by the Muslim Brotherhood, which he said “permeates everything.”
He pointed to Christian persecution “across the Middle East” and beyond, naming Syria, Lebanon, Nigeria, Turkey, and other places where he said communities face mounting danger.
Netanyahu then cast Israel as the regional exception.
“One country protects the Christian community, enables it to grow, defends it, and makes sure that it thrives,” he said. “And that country is Israel. There is no other. None.”
WATCH — President Trump & Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu Deliver Remarks:
He said Israel is joining an effort to form “a united nations of countries that support Christian communities around the world,” calling those targeted believers “beleaguered communities who deserve our help.”
“Just as you are helping us, we want to help back,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel is capable of assisting “in Africa, with intel,” and “in the Middle East, with a lot of means that I won’t itemize each one [here].”
“This is what our agenda is,” he stated. “It’s a main part of our agenda, and it’s going to continue with greater force and greater might in this coming year.”
The message echoed Netanyahu’s Christmas Eve video address from Jerusalem last week, in which he said Israel is “the only country in the Middle East where the Christian community is thriving” and vowed that the Jewish state “will always stand” with Christians around the world.
Netanyahu closed Wednesday’s meeting by offering a belated holiday greeting.
“May it be a year of prosperity, peace and security for all of us,” he said, “but especially for the Christian communities around the world.”
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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