JERUSALEM (RNS) — On the morning of Oct. 7, when Hamas fired hundreds of rockets at the Israeli communities closest to the Gaza border, Keith Isaacson jumped into his armored Toyota pickup truck and headed toward the local Israeli Defense Force base. Along the way, he encountered two heavily armed bands of terrorists who shot at his vehicle with assault rifles.
As the terrorists gunned down pedestrians on the street and drivers in their cars, Isaacson, the security chief of the Eshkol region, which lies just east of Gaza, survived thanks to the protection offered by his truck, a gift from an evangelical Christian organization.
“It’s the only reason I’m alive,” Isaacson told RNS last week.
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The Toyota was one of four armored vehicles purchased for the Eshkol Regional Council by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews in 2001, during the second Palestinian uprising. “They’re still saving lives, Isaacson said.
Although support for Israel has dwindled among younger evangelicals, according to a 2021 poll, it remains a core value for most, a Pew survey released in May found. Many view Israel’s creation in 1948 out of the ashes of the Holocaust as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy — and perhaps a prelude to the End Times. Others take the words in the Book of Genesis to heart: “I will bless those who bless you (Israel), and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
These theological ties to Israel have been accompanied by fundraising and other material support for Israeli municipalities, NGOs and first responders. These longstanding connections made it possible for evangelical groups to mobilize within hours of Hamas’ attack.
The Christian groups have launched special fundraising campaigns to assist the more than 200,000 Israelis forced to flee their homes following the massacre and ongoing rocket barrages. They have followed up with calls for prayers and by publicizing the plight of Israelis and foreign nationals kidnapped to Gaza by Hamas.
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“I don’t think we’ve ever raised so much money so quickly,” said David Parsons, vice president and senior spokesman for the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, which raised millions of dollars in the first days of the war. “People are responding like never before.”
It has been especially moving, he said, to receive donations from “unusual” places, like Mongolia, Nepal and Kazakhstan, “where people are poor, but want to help Israel.”
The embassy, which previously donated bomb shelters and secure communications systems for first responders that have reportedly saved lives since Oct. 7, is helping to support displaced people and provide additional ambulances and several bomb shelters with the money raised in October.
Parsons said the organization is dedicated to addressing the long-term needs of survivors in southern Israel if and when they return to farming their kibbutzim or decide to settle elsewhere. “Those who decide to come back, we will walk with them all the way to the road to recovery,” he said.
