Why Do Evangelicals Support Israel?

A new survey of evangelical Christians reveals the main reason why evangelicals support Israel and the Jewish people: because they genuinely love and care for Jewish people. We at the Alliance—a coalition of Jewish and Gentile evangelical followers of Jesus—affirm this truth. We support Israel’s right to exist and defend itself, and we stand with Jewish people against antisemitism because we love and care for Jewish people, and because we believe God does as well.

The study, carried out by Jewish researchers Dr. Kirill Bumin and Dr. Motti Inbari, surveyed 3,806 self-identifying evangelical Protestants in the United States on their views of Israel and Jewish people in December 2025.¹ What they found surprised them. They wrote,

There is a common view that suggests that evangelical support is instrumental, if not even hypocritical. There is a popular argument saying that what evangelicals truly want is the return of their savior, and their support for Israel is only a tool to draw him closer; the true motivations of evangelicals, the argument goes, is to convert the Jews––preferably before, but certainly after the Second Coming of Christ, an event which Jews serve in as only “useful idiots.” These findings invert the dominant stereotype. The very group most often portrayed as theologically rigid, instrumentalizing Jews for eschatological ends, instead exhibits higher levels of unconditional regard for Jews.

There are about 80 million Americans that identify as evangelical Christians. Of the 3,806 evangelicals Bumin and Inbari surveyed, at least 1,000 of them agreed with the following four statements of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). Bumin and Inbari labeled these respondents as “NAE evangelicals”:

1. The Bible is the highest authority for what I believe.
2. It is very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.
3. Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my sin.
4. Only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior receive God’s free gift of eternal salvation.

This article will focus on the results from this group of NAE evangelicals.

The Results

During the survey, Bumin and Inbari asked evangelicals whether they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements. Below are those statements and the results among NAE evangelicals:

1. Of NAE evangelicals, 75–85 percent agreed we are living in the end times.
2. Of NAE evangelicals, 67.3 percent said their support for Israel comes from caring about Jewish people today, not from beliefs about the end times.
3. Of NAE evangelicals, 87.1 percent affirmed that Christians should love and support Jewish people regardless of whether they accept Jesus as Messiah.
4. Of NAE evangelicals, 83.7 percent expressed concern for all people living in the Holy Land, not just Jewish people.
5. Of NAE evangelicals, 50.1 percent endorsed the idea that Jewish people can have a separate path to God apart from Jesus (a view we do not believe is biblical).

The Explanation

We at the Alliance wholeheartedly affirm and celebrate the overwhelming response of American evangelicals that Christians should support Israel and Jewish people out of genuine love and care for Jewish people, regardless of the end times or what they believe about Jesus. We are to love and support God’s chosen people because God does (as we outline in our Purpose Statement here).

God calls Israel the apple of His eye (Zechariah 2:8) and promises that Israel will remain a nation before Him forever, as long as the sun, moon, and stars remain in the sky (Jeremiah 31:35–37). The New Testament likewise affirms God’s unconditional love for Israel and the Jewish people’s continued chosenness before God (Romans 9–11).

This love and support for Israel does not mean we do not care about all people in the Middle East, including Palestinians, as most American evangelicals also affirmed in the survey. We believe God loves all people, and desires everyone to know Him and to be saved (Romans 2:11; 2 Peter 3:9). We outline this concern in our statement.

The only idea affirmed by half of NAE evangelicals in the survey with which we cannot agree is the belief that Jewish people can be saved apart from the Messiah. Scripture clearly teaches that the gospel is for “the Jew first and also to the [Gentile]” (Romans 1:16). Jesus came to save both Jewish and Gentile people, and His sacrifice is necessary to cover all our sins. As the Jewish prophet Isaiah wrote,

But He was pierced through for our [the prophet’s people, Israel] transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him (Isaiah 53:5–6).

Isaiah wrote that this suffering Messiah would die for His people’s sins. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). There is only one God—the God of Israel—and one mediator between us and Him: the Messiah Jesus whom He sent (1 Timothy 2:5). Our sin can only be atoned for and forgiven through the Messiah’s perfect sacrifice. One day, all Israel will recognize Him and be saved (Zechariah 12:9–10; Romans 11:26), but until that day, we need to proclaim the gospel to Jewish people and Gentiles alike.

In conclusion, we are happy to see and report that survey evidence reveals that the majority of American evangelicals love and support Israel, and that they do so from a genuine place of love and concern for Jewish people. Believers in Jesus are to share God’s heart for Israel, and we are encouraged to see this remains the case for many American followers of Jesus.

¹ Kirill Bumin and Motti Inbari, “Post-10/7 Survey of Christian Attitudes Toward Israel and the Jewish People.” The full research study is available upon request.