Netanyahu tells Evangelical leaders Israel is part of effort to protect Christians worldwide
By Lazar Berman and ToI Staff | Times of Israel | Jan 1, 2026
Netanyahu doesn’t name the countries involved; PM says fight for support among young conservatives in US amid increased antisemitism, anti-Israel sentiment is an 8th front in war
Israel is joining an emerging alliance of countries “that support Christian communities around the world, beleaguered communities who deserve our help,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Evangelical Christian leaders Wednesday in Palm Beach, Florida.
“In Africa, with intel, in the Middle East, with a lot of means that I won’t itemize each one,” he said, without explaining what this new “alliance” was in practice, or what other countries or parties were involved.
“But this is what our agenda is, it’s a main part of our agenda, and it’s going to continue with greater force and greater might in this coming year,” he said.
Netanyahu was in the US to meet with US President Donald Trump and other top officials, to discuss the situations in Gaza and the West Bank as well as the simmering conflicts with Iran and the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.
Netanyahu went on to accuse regional rival Turkey of being among the countries that persecute Christians: “We are conscious of the fact that Christians are being persecuted across the Middle East, in Syria, in Lebanon, in Nigeria, in Turkey and beyond.”
Turkey is home to some 100,000 Christians. Some Turkish Christians say that their community is still struggling against inequality and a sense of exclusion under the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turning towards issues within the US, Netanyahu called the fight for support among young conservatives in America amid increased antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment part of the “eighth front” in the war Israel is fighting.
“That’s the front for the hearts and minds of people, especially young people in the West, and for me, especially in the United States. And for me, especially on the conservative wing of the United States,” he said.
“This is a theater that has to be engaged with great force,” he said.
Evangelical leader Mike Evans told Netanyahu at the meeting that the anti-Israel “woke right” is causing confusion among young Christians.
Earlier this month, the first major gathering of Turning Point USA since the murder of its influential founder Charlie Kirk laid bare divisions within conservative circles over Israel and the embrace of antisemitic figures.
Hours later, Netanyahu spoke at The Shul of Bal Harbour, where he told the parents of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last slain hostage in Gaza, “We shall return him. He will be back.”
Netanyahu told the synagogue that “President Trump has been unflinching; he never wavered” in his support of Israel.
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