“Let’s live together — whether in two states or one state,” he said.
Deik said Hamas committed war crimes during the Oct. 7 attacks and made it clear that he does not support Hamas. But he also called for an end to what he called the genocide in Gaza.
Anton Tony Deik speaks during the 2025 Church at the Crossroads event. (Photo by Matt Mansueto/Church at the Crossroads)
He also worries that American Christians are ignoring the violence and suffering in Gaza. “It’s very unfortunate in Christian circles that there is no pursuit of truth,” Deik said. “There’s no strong desire to know the truth of what’s happening.”
The Rev. Munther Isaac, a Lutheran pastor based in the West Bank, gave perhaps the most pointed criticism of Christian Zionism of all the speakers. “Do you know what the biggest problem with Christian Zionism is?” he said. “You cannot find Jesus in it.”
Isaac asked attendees to pause in commemoration of Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist and speaker who was killed while speaking at a Utah university campus. “As Christians, we mourn with those who mourn,” he said, adding that Christians should turn away from violence.
Isaac’s theme, that U.S. Christian support of the war in Gaza undermines Christian witness, was repeated by Fares Abraham, a Christian minister and CEO of Levant Ministries, which runs evangelistic events for young people in the Middle East. He asked participants to speak out against the violence in Gaza.
“The gospel witness, and the church’s witness, is at stake,” said Abraham. “The world is watching to see how Christians will respond to this man-made evil in our beloved homeland.”
Fares Abraham leads a panel during the 2025 Church at the Crossroads conference. (Photo by Matt Mansueto/Church at the Crossroads)
Abraham, a Liberty University graduate who identifies as an evangelical, said he wants the “gospel to win” and said that the gospel is about peace not bloodshed. “Simply put, we want the atrocities to stop. We want the bloodshed to stop. We want the famine and the starvation to end, and yes, we want the hostages to return back to their families,” he said, a reference to Israelis taken captive by Hamas.
