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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a meeting with evangelical Christian leaders in Florida today to emphasize Israel’s dependence on its religious allies in the United States, as divisions within the United States over Israel’s war and American support continue to surface.
The meeting came days after Netanyahu held talks Monday with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, amid growing debate in conservative circles over the extent of U.S. support for Israel and the direction of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
Addressing the leaders, Netanyahu said Israel had emerged “victorious in many respects” from what he described as a “war on seven fronts,” but warned that an additional front was now looming in the West.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with leaders of Florida’s evangelical Christian community, accompanied by members of the Israeli delegation. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
“There is an eighth front,” he said, describing a fight “for the hearts and minds of people, especially for young people in the West, and for me especially in the United States.” He framed this effort not just as Israel’s fight, but as a broader fight. “This is the fight of our common Judeo-Christian civilization,” he said.
The Prime Minister argued that this ideological front requires the same determination as military action. “Some people think that faith should be kept silent and terrorism should be understood,” Netanyahu said. “Faith must speak its voice and terrorism must be confronted, not understood, confronted and defeated.”
Pro-Palestinian Muslim protesters hold a banner saying “From the river to the sea…” and chant during a demonstration calling for an end to Israeli attacks on Gaza. London, United Kingdom, December 9, 2023. (Andy Soloman/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Netanyahu has repeatedly emphasized the historical and ideological connection between Christian Zionists and Israel. “You are the representatives of Christian Zionists who made Jewish Zionism possible,” Netanyahu said, crediting Christian support in the United States as essential to the reestablishment of the Jewish state. “I can say we don’t have any best friends.”
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President Donald Trump listens as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during his arrival at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (Alex Brandon/AP)
Netanyahu told the group that he had spoken with Trump the day before and described what he sees as global threats facing Israel and its allies. He spoke of “two forces”, identifying “radical Shiite Islam”, led by Iran, and “radical Sunni Islam”, led according to him by the Muslim Brotherhood.
He also highlighted the persecution of Christians in several regions, saying Christians are targeted “in Syria, Lebanon, Nigeria, Turkey and beyond,” while asserting that Israel plays a unique protective role. “A country protects the Christian community, allows it to grow, defends it and ensures that it prospers,” Netanyahu said. “This country is Israel. There is no other. None.”
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People wave an Israeli and American flag in front of a large group of anti-Israel protesters marching in front of The Grove shopping center on Black Friday, carrying a giant banner reading “Stop it for Palestine” in Los Angeles, November 24, 2023. (David Swanson/AFP via Getty Images)
Netanyahu said Israel was working toward broader cooperation to help threatened Christian communities around the world. “We are joining efforts to essentially create a United Nations made up of countries that support Christian communities around the world,” he said, adding: “Just as you help us, we want to help you in return.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, who attended the meeting, later wrote on
