by Ted Belman, Israpundit, with comments from Dexter Van Zile of our sister organisation The Judeo-Christian Alliance.

Dexter Van Zile is the Director of Christian Outreach for the David Project Center for Jewish Leadership & Advocacy. He is also a member of the United Church of Christ.

He recently published an article Walling off the Jews from the rest of humanity in which he calls United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ, racist for their recent resolution "insisting that Israel stop building a fence around the West Bank, dismantle portions already constructed, and pay reparations to Palestinians whose lives have been impacted by its path."

I recently wrote to him on another of his articles, too long to post, and said I appreciated the support of the Christian Zionists he replied as follows:

On the Christian Zionist thing: There are a lot of Christians, myself included, who support Israel but wouldn’t technically be called Christian Zionists. That phrase, in the Christian community, has been used to describe dispensationalists, or people who believe that the creation of the modern-day state of Israel presages the Second Coming of Christ. Included in this belief, for some, are scenarios in which Jews are faced with convert or die decisions, which I find abhorrent. Many dispensationalists find these scenarios abhorrent as well even though they believe Israel’s creation has theological significance.

Others, myself included don’t know about the theological significance of the creation of the state of Israel and have decided that its up to G-d to decide the hows and whens of the end time prophecies.

Nevertheless, there are many of us in mainline Protestant churches who support Israel for moral and historical reasons that have little if anything to do with the end-time scenarios offered by other Christians.

I do however, acknowledge the territorial component of Judaism and it doesn’t bother me, as it does many of those hostile to Israel. I do not think it is the problem many make it out to be, and in any case it is not the threat that the notion of jihad presents to to world peace. Judaism’s territorial component is pretty benign and peaceful when compared to militant Islam’s. And in any event, the withdrawal from Gaza demonstrates that the maximalists do not run the show in Israel.

One reason why I acknowledge G-d’s covenant with the Jews is that if he can change his mind about that promise, then who is to say He will not change his mind about his covenant with Christians, whose religion is rooted in Judaism. In my book, forever means forever. I am hugely offended by those who deny G-d’s covenant with the Jews but then hang the requirements that come with the covenant they deny around the neck of the Jews like a millstone. I SEE THIS ALL THE TIME. People argue, well, the Jews of Israel, because of their connection to the Old Testament have a higher obligation to live up to the rules of good conduct than their advesaries, even in times of war. This coupled with a persistent unwillingness to condemn Arab terrorism constitutes anti-Jewish racism.

One of the ironies that you will find is that many of the people who complain the loudest about Christian Zionism base much of their analysis of the Arab/Israeli conflict on the dwindling presence of Christians in the Holy Land. They condemn the territorial component of Judaism as an obstacle to peace in the Middle East, but then moan the decline of Christianity in the disputed territories, which the blame on … you guessed it … Israel. They talk incessantly about the loss of "living stones" in places like Bethlehem and Jerusalem where Christians are abandoning the stone churches like the Church of the Nativity or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Never mind that they ignore the Muslim oppression of Christians, but another issue is this: If the territorial component of Judaism is wrong, then why are the introducing a territorial component of their own into Christianity? Why care about the presence of Christians in Bethlehem and Jerusalem. And for that matter, why pay any attention whatsoever to the churches in the Holy Land. If Christianity is all about truth and spirit, then why do the critics of Christian Zionism justify their relentless criticism of Israel as their effort to protect the living stones in the Holy Land.

Now, one response they offer is the issue of human rights. But if they are truly interested in the human rights, then why the silence about the oppression and intimidation of Christians, and for that matter, non-Militant Muslims by Muslim extremists?

But I digress. The reason I make the distinction between "Christian Zionism" and support for Israel on moral and historical grounds is that Israel’s enemies, especially those on the left here in the U.S. and in the disputed territories, have tried to portray Israel’s supporters people "Anxious for Armageddon." They ignore, however, the fact that many Christian Zionists support Israel for other reasons in addition to their end-time beliefs.

But the upshot is this: I am a Christian. I am a Zionist. But I am not a Christian Zionist. LOL.

By the way in the other article I referred to he reported on the recent Churchwide Assembly held by the Evangelical Lutheran Church. With respect to the resolution condemning Israel he advises
"The epiphany took place when a lone voting member of the assembly, approached the microphone, and asked the assembly to re-consider an anti-Israel resolution approved by a wide margin the previous day. At first blush, it seemed like a doomed effort, because the resolution in question passed the day before Saturday, Aug. 13, 2005, with only 30 percent opposition.

Ultimately, the motion to reconsider failed, but not before garnering the support of 45 percent of the assembly. In other words, the anti-Israel resolution lost approximately 15 percent of its support from one day to the next.

The softening of support was caused by pro-Israel activists and allied Lutheran clergy, seminarians, and lay members who did what had not been done at previous Protestant assemblies: They told Israel’s side of the story,"

He then advises:

"The lobbying was done under the aegis of the Coalition for Responsible Peace in the Middle East, an ad-hoc group created before the ELCA Assembly that included StandWithUs, a California-based Israel advocacy group, the venerable American Jewish Congress and the David Project. The goal of these groups in forming the coalition was not dialogue with denominational leaders adept at politely hiding their contempt for Israel, but reaching out to lay members who understood the threat she faces and giving them information they needed to tell its side of the story their leaders will not acknowledge."