Amid escalating military conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) sent joint letters to Congress and President Joe Biden on Tuesday (Oct. 1) urging continued support for Israel.
Nearly one year after the Hamas terror attack on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel remains at war with Hamas in Gaza while also exchanging blows with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. On Tuesday evening, Iran fired nearly 200 missiles at Israel, prompting Israel to deploy more ground troops in its offensive in Lebanon.
That same night, two Palestinian men opened fire on a light rail in Tel Aviv, killing seven and wounding 16 others. The mass shooting is being reported as a terror attack. The two assailants were killed at the scene.
During the annual meeting of the SBC this summer, delegates of the SBC, called messengers, passed a resolution titled “On Justice and Peace in the Aftermath of the October 7 Attack on Israel.”
The resolution stated in part that “the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 11-12, 2024, condemn Hamas’ terrorist attacks of October 7, commit to standing with the Jewish people and those suffering in the region, and oppose all forms of antisemitism.”
RELATED: I Went to Israel Looking for Moral Clarity. Here Is What I Found.
In a letter that was sent separately to Congress and to President Biden on Tuesday, SBC President Clint Pressley and ERLC President Brent Leatherwood expressed their resolve to “unequivocally reaffirm the support of Southern Baptists for the people and the nation of Israel.”
“Since the inception of the modern state of Israel in 1948, Israel has faced numerous attacks, incursions, and violations of its national sovereignty,” the letter said. “The Jewish people have long endured genocidal attempts to eradicate them and to destroy the Jewish state. These antisemitic, deadly ideologies and terrorist actions must be opposed.”
The letter went on to reference the ERLC’s Evangelical Statement in Support of Israel, which was published on Oct. 11, 2023.
RELATED: ‘We Are the Church’—Palestinian Pastor Calls for Unity Among Christians Amid Israel-Hamas War
Signed by numerous influential Southern Baptists, the statement said in part, “[We] call on American policymakers to use their power to take all forms of terrorism seriously and call governments and civil authorities to confront evil work to prevent future attacks so that the innocent and vulnerable will be protected.”
