Meeting with evangelical leaders, Netanyahu hails US-Israel ties
“We have no better friends in the world and I mean that,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “It’s not just a matter of speech, it is a partnership that goes back centuries.”
By JPOST.COM STAFFUpdated: FEBRUARY 25, 2018 01:38Dr. Mike Evans and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at their meeting last week in Jerusalem(photo credit: Courtesy)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Israel’s ties with the American evangelical community during a meeting he held last week in Jerusalem with their leaders, organized by Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center.Evans and the group of prominent evangelical leaders met with Netanyahu and reaffirmed their support for the State of Israel. The prime minister, in return, noted his “inspiring friendship” with Evans and then thanked the group for their support.“We have no better friends in the world and I mean that,” Netanyahu said. “It’s not just a matter of speech, it is a partnership that goes back centuries.”In December, Evans and the group of leaders awarded US President Donald Trump the Friends of Zion Award at an event in the Oval Office attended by Vice President Mike Pence, the president’s senior advisers, son-in-law Jared Kushner and first daughter Ivanka Trump, and faith leaders representing over 150 million Christians globally.“There are only two men in the world that unite the evangelicals of America – Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu – [both] leaders with moral clarity,” Evans told the prime minister.The group also met US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and Tourism Minister Yariv Levin.Cissie Graham Lynch, granddaughter of the late mega-evangelist Billy Graham, pledged at the meeting to work with millennials to help get them to love Israel as much as she does.“Other countries with Christian friends of Israel should move their embassies to Jerusalem,” Netanyahu said.Evans has committed to present the Friends of Zion Award to every world leader who pledges to move his embassy to Jerusalem. He has been mobilizing his 35 million followers to influence world leaders to stand with Israel and recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.“Trump has... built an historic alliance for the State of Israel and the Jewish people, and no president has [so] courageously stood up for the State of Israel on the global stage,” Evans declared. “President Trump’s historic recognition of Jerusalem will secure his place in history as the first American president to take that step since the founding of the State of Israel in 1948.”Evans said that Trump’s declaration regarding Jerusalem “takes its place as one of Israel’s historic milestones – from the Balfour Declaration to president Truman’s acceptance of Israel into the family of nations.”The Friends of Zion Heritage Center, a $100 million campus in the heart of Jerusalem, has become one of the central institutions in the State of Israel that works to strengthen Israel’s relations globally. In addition to more than 31 million members worldwide, the museum has hosted over 100 diplomats such as Friedman, as well as President Reuven Rivlin, tens of thousands of Christian and Jewish leaders, NBA and NFL superstars and leading Hollywood actors and singers.
