American Christian Zionists crusade against Palestinian 'evil'
The evangelical right is giving its unwavering support for the destruction of Gaza in the name of the fight against what it calls the forces of 'evil' in the Palestinian enclave.
Benjamin Netanyahu threw himself headlong into the trap set for him by Hamas in Gaza. But at least he hopes that the ongoing catastrophe, if it continues, even to Israel's detriment, will enable him to avoid being held to account by his country's justice system.
As for Joe Biden, he rushed headlong into a similar trap, giving his unconditional support, at least initially, to Israel's campaign in Gaza.
However, the president of the United States, far from working in his own interests, has played into the hands of his most bitter enemies, the Christian Zionists who have taken control of the Republican Party and are ardently preparing the return of Donald Trump to the White House. For these ultra-conservative fundamentalists, an all-out war must be waged against the embodiment of "absolute evil" that "Palestinian terrorism" represents.
A fanatical speaker
Mike Johnson, who has served in the House of Representatives for Louisiana since 2017, is one of the most radical figures of Christian Zionism in Congress. A fervent evangelical, he is convinced that the "return" of the Jewish people to "their" land of Israel is part of the fulfillment of prophecy, even if it means that two-thirds of the Jews will be slaughtered during these "tribulations," with the remaining third owing their survival only to their conversion to Christ.
Johnson is open about his belief in creationist theories, to the point of defending as a lawyer the group Answers in Genesis and its theme park in Kentucky, where school groups learn that the Earth was created six millennia ago, with the "reconstruction" of Noah's Ark to back it up.
An anti-abortion activist and climate skeptic, Johnson advocates for "marriage covenants," which are already in effect in Louisiana as well as Arizona and Arkansas and are far more binding than common marriages in the event of divorce. He is also a member of the hardest wing of the Republican Party, which contests the election of Biden in November 2020 and is actively campaigning for his champion's return to the White House.
Johnson was invited to Israel in February 2020 by supporters of the construction of a Third Temple in Jerusalem in place of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the Muslim holy site he visited in the company of these Israeli fanatics. When he was elected speaker of the House of Representatives last October, after three weeks of turmoil within the Republican Party, his first act was to pass a resolution of unconditional support for Israel as "it "defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists."
Johnson later refused to vote on the Ukraine aid package prepared by the White House, while having some $15 billion of immediate assistance allocated to Israel's ongoing offensive against Gaza. He later accused the New York Times of offering "a platform" to Hamas and proposed "firing" any federal government employee who displayed solidarity with Gaza.
Battle rhetoric
Johnson's constant one-upmanship is aligned with the militant commitment of Christian Zionists to supporting Israel's destruction of the Gaza Strip.
Franklin Graham, the preacher who inherited a veritable televangelist empire from his father, Billy Graham, was received on November 20, 2023, by Netanyahu, for whom he asked all his followers to pray as he led "Israel, God's people" in the "war of good against evil."
Shortly afterward, Michele Bachmann, former Tea Party muse in Congress and now dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University, Virginia's bastion of evangelicalism, asserted that the population of Gaza is "basically hired mercenaries" for whom "terrorism is their industry." She hammered home her conviction: "It's time that Gaza ends. The two million people who live there – they are clever assassins. They need to be removed from that land. That land needs to be turned into a national park."
As for the very evangelical Mike Pence (Trump's former vice president), during a recent visit to Israel, he did not hesitate to write messages on a shell intended to be fired at Arab targets, admittedly, in Lebanon.
This battle rhetoric is being hardened by Biden's temptation to limit the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, or even to relaunch the two-state solution, with the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Christian Zionists, who already fiercely opposed Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza of the Regent University, Virginia's bastion of evangelicalism, asserted that the population of Gaza is "basically hired mercenaries" for whom om m for them – this land must remain entirely under Israel's sole authority, whether it be the sovereign territory of the Jewish state the Robertson School of Governmentor the territories they believe it "liberated," not occupied, in 1967.
Christian Zionists, who already fiercely opposed Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, remain just as hostile to any "division" of the "land of Israel." For the prophecy to be fulfilled – and this is an act of faith for them – this land must remain entirely under Israel's sole authority, whether it be within its recognized borders or in the territories they believe Israel "liberated," not occupied, in 1967.
Having linked their individual and collective salvation to the crushing of Palestinian nationalism, Christian Zionists will do everything in their power to sabotage any diplomatic solution to the Middle East conflict. In the medium term, they are banking on the dissension caused by the Gaza war within the Democratic Party itself, further weakening the US president in the face of Trump's great comeback.
Once again, what is happening in Gaza goes far beyond this ravaged enclave.