Facing The “Christian Question”: How Israel Is Eroding Tel Aviv’s And Washington’s Soft Power

By Uriel Araujo

For decades, Christian Zionists formed the backbone of Israel’s support network in the West. The crisis involving Lebanon’s campaign, attacks on holy sites and Christian villages are now fuelling opposition among Catholics, Orthodox Christians and even Evangelicals, with geopolitical consequences reaching far beyond the Holy Land.

One of the most significant geopolitical developments this year has been the steady decline of Christian support for Israel across the Western world. This trend is unfolding at the same time that influential segments of the MAGA movement, in the US, are questioning the traditionally pro-Israel consensus that has dominated American politics for decades: the disastrous US war in Iran is increasingly seen as Israel-driven. While these are distinct phenomena, they are related enough to point toward a broader shift in Western public opinion.

Last week, Foreign Policy published a piece entitled “Israel Has a Growing Anti-Christian Problem” arguing that attacks against Christians in Jerusalem (an old problem) are becoming more frequent in radicalized Israeli society. The piece highlighted a recent assault on a nun in Jerusalem while noting a wider pattern of hostility directed at Christian clergy, pilgrims and holy sites.

Meanwhile, in Washington, hundreds Christian leaders representing Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical and mainline Protestant organizations recently gathered to demand humanitarian aid for Palestinians and an end to US arms sales to Israel. For decades, Tel Aviv relied heavily on Christian Zionist support, particularly among Evangelicals influenced by Dispensationalist theology. Today, however, growing numbers of Christians are expressing concern not only about Gaza but also about attacks against Christian communities in Palestine and Lebanon.

Some numbers are worth mentioning: according to a recent Pew survey, 60 percent of Americans now hold an unfavourable view of the Jewish state, compared to 42 percent in 2022. Among Americans aged 18 to 49, the figure rises to 70 percent. Even among white Evangelical Protestants, support is declining, with 50 percent of Evangelicals under fifty now expressing negative views of Israel. No wonder political strategists in Washington are paying attention.

The Christian summit in Washington also highlighted attacks against the Christian village of Taybeh in the West Bank and the destruction of Christian property and holy sites in southern Lebanon. These developments are increasingly resonating among Christian audiences in the US. Pope Leo XIV’s repeated calls for peace have added further visibility to the issue.

One may recall that in July 2024 an Israeli missile struck an annex of the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius compound in Gaza (one of the oldest active churches in the world). It had already been bombed in 2023. The compound serves as a shelter and worship site for Gaza’s Christian community.

The broader context is even more consequential. As Al Jazeera has put it, Israel is “destroying the Status Quo to establish full control over Muslim and Christian religious life at holy sites”. The report described restrictions imposed on Christian worshippers at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as well as measures affecting Muslim worship at Al-Aqsa.

Religion remains a major geopolitical force, shaping and mobilizing alliances and loyalties, despite decades of secular rhetoric in Western societies. As I have written previously (regarding the Dalai Lama succession dispute between India and China), faith and geopolitics frequently intersect in ways policymakers cannot underestimate. The same dynamic is visible in Ukraine’s “Orthodox Question” and in the Holy Land today. And Israel (and its American ally) now faces a Christian Question.

Authors such as John Mearsheimer have long studied the influence of the so-called “Zionist Lobby” in Western politics, particular in the American superpower. A major pillar of that influence has been Christian Zionism. For decades, Evangelical networks provided Tel Aviv with an important reservoir of political support and legitimacy. More recently, pro-Israel advocacy expanded into Catholic circles, despite repeated Vatican calls regarding the treatment of Palestinians and the status of Christian holy sites. That foundation seems to be eroding.

Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon is amplifying these very tensions, with a number of unintended effects (from Tel Aviv’s perspective). Expert Trita Parsi argued last month that a new regional logic was emerging whereby attacks on Lebanon could trigger Iranian responses elsewhere in the region. Recent events appear to confirm that assessment, with the Persian republic for the first time retaliating against Israeli attacks on its Arab neighbour; several analysts, including Michael Young and Haaretz columnist Ben Samuels, have described the latest escalation as potentially paradigm-shifting. The situation reminds one of the Syrian civil war years.

One may recall that during the Syrian conflict, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah, together with Russia, were among the main forces fighting ISIS/Daesh and other extremist groups. Christian communities in Syria and Lebanon thus regarded them as protectors against jihadist organizations that were kidnapping nuns, attacking churches and terrorizing religious minorities. Journalists reported as early as 2012 that Lebanese Christians often found stability in Hezbollah-controlled areas, where images of Hassan Nasrallah shared wall space with icons of the Virgin Mary.

For many Christians, the threat attracting attention and menacing nuns today is not Wahhabi extremists but Israeli settlers and soldiers. Attacks against clergy, expulsion, restrictions on worship and military operations affecting Christian communities are thereby generating a backlash that Tel Aviv’s supporters seem to have underestimated thus far.

Israel’s soft power has long depended not only on military strength and diplomatic support but also on “moral legitimacy” in the eyes of Western publics.

If current trends continue, one should expect this issue to gain further traction among Catholics, Orthodox Christians and increasingly among Protestants as well. In the US, it may further deepen fractures within the MAGA coalition. Across Europe and elsewhere in the West, it should continue weakening public support for Israel. The Christian Question should thus become one of the most important variables to be considered, potentially undermining both American and Israeli soft power.

Uriel Araujo, Anthropology PhD, is a social scientist specializing in ethnic and religious conflicts, with extensive research on geopolitical dynamics and cultural interactions.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Voice of East.

Categories: Analysis, Geopolitics, International Affairs

Tags: America, Catholic Church, Christianity, Christians, Gaza, Geopolitics, Iran, Islam, Israel, Jerusalem, Lebanon, Palestine, religions, USA, Zionists