Real Christians Are Zionists and Friends of the Jewish People

This past Shabbat, the Jewish community of Pittsburgh was stunned by a despicable act of anti-Semitic violence. Over the past few years, European Jewry has seen anti-Semitic violence and persecution from rising extremism on both the left and the right in countries like United Kingdom, France and Germany, although an act like this is virtually unprecedented for the American Jewish community.

The coward (Robert Bowers) who committed the attack that took 11 Americans from their friends and families had the same qualities of Richard Snell, a member of The Covenant, The Sword and the Arm of the Lord—a white supremacist who aimed to take me off this Earth.

On June 30, 1984, while I was working with Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, Richard Snell attempted to assassinate me because I supported Israel and the Jewish people’s right to a state in their historic homeland.

Though, Robert Bowers and Richard Snell are both labeled as Christian extremists, they are not real Christians. Real Christians believe in the promise, the truth that God has given the land of Israel to the Jewish people. Real Christians are friends of Israel and friends of the Jewish people.

Both Bowers and Snell believed that the United States is being taken over by the Jewish people and other minorities at the expense of “white Americans.” My father was also an anti-Semite who cursed the Jewish people and believed in anti-Jewish conspiracy theories. Their ideology is ignorant and intolerant at best; the Jewish community is one of the biggest success stories in American assimilation. American Jews serve in public service roles all over the country and play an active and positive role in the country’s future. The Jewish community, a tiny minority of the United States, has always contributed more to society than is possibly known.

In my experience, I have faced too many Christians who are not educated on the Christian’s real role in assisting the Jewish people. While some fake Christians murder Jews in Pittsburgh and send out bombs to others, Muslims in Abu Dhabi hosted the Israeli judo team and Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev this week.

That is why I have dedicated my life to defending Israel and the Jewish people. I do this through meeting with world leaders to speak on how they can engage and support Israel. Just this week, I was in Oman with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Abu Dhabi with Regev at the Judo Grand Slam.

In 2015, I founded the Friends of Zion Heritage Center, a $100 million-dollar project that helps to educate Christians and pro-Israel supporters around the world about the Jewish state, its challenges and achievements. The Friends of Zion has also become one of the central institutions in the state of Israel influencing the world and strengthening Israel’s relations globally, while fortifying the pillars of the Israeli society.

Mike Evans is a No. 1 New York Times best-selling author with 92 published books, including The New Iran. He is the founder of the Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem, of which Shimon Peres, Israel’s ninth president, was the chairman. He also serves on the Trump Evangelical Faith Initiative.