Israel Allies Caucus formed in US Congress

The US Congress last month announced the establishment of an Israel Allies Caucus, meant to mobilize Christian support for Israel around the world.

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
The US Congress last month announced the establishment of an Israel Allies Caucus, meant to mobilize Christian support for Israel around the world. The American congressional lobby, modeled on the Knesset's Christian Allies Caucus created two and half years ago, will debut with four Congressmen - Republicans Dave Weldon of Florida and Trent Franks of Arizona, and Democrats Eliot Engel of New York and Gene Green of Texas. The new caucus plans to advocate Israel's right to live in peace within safe and secure borders, on the basis of shared Judeo-Christian values. "During the current crisis, Israel and the world need to know that the US Congress stands firm in its commitment to Israel's protection and right to defend itself against terrorism and state-sponsored terrorists," Weldon told The Jerusalem Post. "Israel's fight against terrorism is the US's fight against terrorism," Engel said in a telephone interview from Washington. The founding of the new caucus, which will serve as a forum for outreach and communication among pro-Israel Christians, comes at a time of burgeoning ties between Israel and the predominantly pro-Israel Evangelical Christian community around the world. "I think that our basic appeal of reuniting people and especially politicians around Israel... built on the most fundamental values of our civilization... has proven itself," said Knesset Christian Allies Caucus founder Knesset member Yuri Shtern of the Israel Beiteinu Party. He noted that similar parliamentary caucuses were being planned in the Philippines and South Korea. "This is not about religious observance or fundamentalism; it is about better understanding our identity and the things we are ready to fight for," he said. "The civilized world's war with the Islamic terror regimes is, at its root, a war of values, and this congressional sister caucus to the Knesset's Christian Allies Caucus signals a recognition that the Judeo-Christian values America and Israel share lie at the heart of their alliance," said Knesset Christian Allies Caucus director Josh Reinstein.