[Salon] The Evangelical War - Guest Post by Ron Estes

The Evangelical War By Ron Estes 17 August 2024 When President Trump announced U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in 2017, he made the U.S. the first nation to do so. "We moved the capital of Israel to Jerusalem. That's for the Evangelicals,” he said. That Trump announcement alienated the world of Islam and saw anti-American demonstrations around the world, burning American flags and effigies of Trump. But in this country, 90 to 100 million American Evangelicals rejoiced. Evangelical Christians have long been seen as a strictly Republican voting bloc. President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem made little sense to most Middle East experts. Israel illegally occupies the city and thus does not hold sovereignty in the city. Trump’s own national security team opposed the decision. But for many Evangelical Christians, 81 percent of whom voted for Trump, it was a most significant gesture. A step in the right direction. Evangelicals believe the Messiah will not return until Jews possess the Promised Land. They quote the Biblical verses written by Moses in Genesis and Exodus in which God promised Abraham the Promised land for the Jewish people. That promise encompassed the land from the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River in modern day Iraq. The fact that Moses wrote of God’s message to Abraham over 400 years after the death of Abraham, has not dampened the Evangelical faith that the Bible is the infallible and authoritative Word of God, and is the ultimate authority on all matters of faith. The implications of the current nation, Israel, possibly acquiring that land is not discussed in public and is almost never in the religious thoughts of the American general public. In Israel it is called The Land of Israel, and the concept of the Promised Land is the central national myth of Zionism. That coupled with the Evangelical belief in the return of the Messiah, the large numbers of Evangelicals, and their influence in the Republican Party have implications that US leaders must some day recognize and be prepared to make serious decisions about. The U.S. could have buried just beneath its surface the potential for involvement in a religious war. If Israel should ever be led by a religious activist Prime Minister with a taste for territory expansion to match that of Netanyahu, and who launches Israeli armed forces to pursue God’s word to Abraham, American Evangelicals could very well feel compelled to pursue a religious obligation to support Israeli aggression. The close to 100 million Evangelical votes to engage the U.S. in support of Israel, would create turmoil in the Republican Party and the nation. Israeli Promised Land military aggression would find Israel invading Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, parts of Saudi Arabia and the occupation of Iraq. With the, U.S. by its side, the U.S. would share the Israelis alienation of the world’s 1.9 billion Muslims and make itself a target for 9/11-type attacks and world wide violence. As casualties mount, demands for an end of U.S. involvement with Israel in an aggressive religious war throughout the Middle East, and calls for the restructuring of the U.S. relationship with Israel would likely ring out across the nation, reawakening memories of the Vietnam anti-war movement. Ironically, if the U.S., in response to such a powerful politically charged anti-war movement, were to withdraw its military from operations with Israel in pursuit of the Promised Land, the Israeli armed forces would likely be overwhelmed. Never before has the Israeli, IDF, faced resistance the size of the combined Arab League armed forces, over 2 million men. Consequently, the Promised Land Israel was pursuing could possibly turn out to be refugee tent camps in Cyprus, Greece, the UK, France and other rescuing nations. It is time for the U.S. to look carefully at the Evangelical religious beliefs and evaluate them in the framework of U.S. national security interests. Ron Estes served 25 years as an Operations Officer in the CIA Clandestine Service.