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As U.S. Jews Cool To Israel, Evangelicals Flock There As Tourists
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August 25, 20196:00 AM ET
TOM GJELTEN
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Sharon Litton of Shreveport, La., is baptized by immersion in the Jordan River, where Jesus is said to have been baptized. Such baptisms are a staple of evangelical tours of Israel.
Courtesy of Randy Litton
President Trump's evident desire to identify who's most "loyal" to Israel has a clear winner: U.S. evangelicals.
Not only do they outpace U.S. Jews in their support for policies that favor the Israeli government, but U.S. evangelicals have also become the fastest-growing sector of the Israeli tourism market. The developments may even be related.
"I'd say close to 100% of our travelers come back extremely pro-Israel in their political views," says Andy Cook, a pastor who leads
evangelical tours of the Holy Land twice a year.
Back to its roots
Tourist travel to Israel is growing about 10% a year, according to Eyal Carlin, the incoming North America director of the Israeli Tourism Ministry, with evangelical Christians a growing share of U.S. visitors.
"More and more companies are entering each year with faith-based or evangelical packages," Carlin says. "The evangelical world is going back to its roots."
The trend coincides with growing evangelical support for Trump's embrace of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his hard-line policies, even as U.S. Jews have grown more critical.
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RELIGION
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recent Pew Research Center survey found that 42% of U.S. Jews say Trump "favors the Israelis too much," while just 15% of U.S. evangelicals agreed with that statement.
Evangelical leaders of the Christian Zionism movement, from Jerry Falwell Sr. to John Hagee, have attributed their fervent support for the state of Israel to their own Holy Land travel, according to Daniel Hummel, author of
Covenant Brothers: Evangelicals, Jews, and U.S.-Israeli Relations.
"They say visiting Israel was a key part of their political awakening," Hummel says, "and this goes down to the rank-and-file people in their organizations."
Pilgrims gather on the banks of the Jordan River at Galilee for baptisms. Israeli authorities are eager to accommodate tourists' interest in ancient Israel, according to author Daniel Hummel.
Richard T. Nowitz/Getty Images
A prime Israeli selling point for evangelical tourism is the opportunity "to walk where Jesus walked." The highlight for Robert Bowman, who visited Israel on an evangelical tour in 2017, was a visit to the dungeons in Jerusalem where Jesus is said to have been imprisoned while he awaited crucifixion.
As U.S. Jews Cool To Israel, Evangelicals Flock There As Tourists