Despite efforts to shift evangelical Christian support away from Israel, some of its most influential leaders say the community has stood firmly behind the Jewish state since the start of the joint US-Israeli operation against Iran.
When Wednesday’s ceasefire took effect, Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem and a close evangelical ally of President Donald Trump, reflects on the war. Evans flew to Israel on February 26 as tensions escalated ahead of the operation.
During his visit, Evans toured impact sites caused by enemy missiles, met with injured civilians and Holocaust survivors, and provided $50,000 in financial assistance to a bereaved family.
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Rescue workers and military personnel carry a body of a victim from the site where several people were killed by an Iranian missile strike in Beit Shemesh, Israel on Sunday, March 1, 2026. (Leo Correa/AP Photo)
On March 1, an Iranian missile struck the city of Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem, killing nine people. Evans arrived on the scene with first responders shortly after the attack. He later visited Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, where he met Pnina Cohen, who was injured and lost both her husband and mother-in-law in the attack.
“I’ve been doing this for half a century. This is my life: fighting anti-Semitism and helping the Jewish people,” Evans said.
Operation Epic Fury, the joint US-Israeli military campaign [named Roaring Lion in Israel]began on Feb. 28 with the stated goal of “wiping out Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal and production capabilities,” weakening its military infrastructure and preventing the country from acquiring nuclear weapons, according to a White House briefing. The first day of the operation was marked by the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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Leading evangelical figures urge President Trump to continue supporting Israel. (Graham; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images, Mike Evans; Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
According to Israel’s Health Ministry, 7,183 people have been evacuated to hospitals since the start of the war, 118 of whom are currently hospitalized.
Evans described the US-Israel partnership as unprecedented. “No one could have imagined that an American president would work so closely with Israel against radical Islam,” he said, calling the campaign “historic.”
He said evangelical support for Israel is rooted in religious faith. “The Bible is a Jewish book, and evangelicals believe in a Jewish person, Jesus,” he said. “They see Israel as the Biblical land and believe that God keeps his promises.”
The evangelical Christian community, which numbers about 52 million people in the United States, supported Trump’s presidency on the condition that he support Israel, Evans said.
In addition to political support, Evans says evangelicals are also active online. “We’ve had 127 million views on social media in the last eight weeks,” he said. “We fight disinformation and anti-Semitism because lies can cost lives.”
He emphasized that support is also practical. “We’re not just offering prayers – we’re offering financial assistance to those who have lost homes and belongings.”
President Donald Trump bids farewell to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he leaves the White House after a meeting on April 7, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Evans acknowledged that some younger evangelicals have moved away from traditional support for Israel. “A segment has been influenced by universities and online voting,” he said, estimating about 22% to 23% has shifted. “We are working to reach them and I believe we can.”
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“We will support his request for Congress to fund this effort, and we will ensure that our elected officials represent the will and morality of the American people in bringing this just endeavor to a just conclusion,” he said.
Hagee said that “as Americans, we have the right to defend ourselves against the half-century of terror in the Islamic Republic. As Christians, we are charged with defending ourselves against evil, to stand with the oppressed, and to stand with the Children of Israel at all times.”
People take shelter as Iran launches missiles and drones into Israel following US-Israeli attacks. (Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“Evangelical Christians who grew up in the church and are Bible literate are Christian Zionists,” he said.
“The rise of anti-Semitism against the ‘woke right’ is not a product of evangelical churches, but rather a product of the false doctrine of replacement theology, which is being repurposed and used as clickbait,” he continued.
Any preacher or priest, politician or podcaster who charges that the modern children of Israel are anything other than the direct descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the beneficiaries of God’s unbreakable covenant with Israel, is not preaching the word of God, Hagee said.
“Operation Epic Fury makes the world a safer and better place for all its citizens; stay the course, Mr. President,” he said.
An Israeli fighter jet takes off for attacks in Tehran. (IDF)
Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, an international evangelical Christian disaster relief organization, said Iran has vowed to wipe the state of Israel off the face of the earth, and could do so with nuclear weapons.
“If President Trump had not stopped them, this fanatical Islamic regime could have done this in a few months,” he said.
“My message to the American people would be to remember that Israel is the only truly democratic nation in the Middle East – the only one. And they have been our nation’s closest ally in the region. I urge Americans to ‘pray for the peace of Jerusalem,’ as the Bible instructs,” he continued.
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Graham said Trump stood with Israel in a way that no other U.S. president did in the past.
“We’ve never had a president like President Trump in my lifetime. If he says he’s going to do something, he will do it. He warned Iran that if the country continued to develop nuclear weapons, the US would intervene, and that’s exactly what he did.”
