Defying rocket, missile and drone attacks, hundreds of Christians are coming to Israel this week for the Feast of the Tabernacles, in the largest Christian solidarity mission since the outbreak of the war a year ago.
The annual weeklong evangelical celebration illustrates anew how faith-based support for Israel by millions of Bible believers around the world serves as a counterweight to international opprobrium in the West over the war triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre.
The wartime Feast of the Tabernacles celebration organized by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, which coincides with the Jewish festival of Sukkot and gets underway on Wednesday, is expected to draw more than 400 visitors—about 10% the normal number—from 50 countries. The largest number of pilgrims are coming from Germany, followed by South Africa.
“We are greatly encouraged by their determination and bravery in coming to Israel during this very different time,” said David Parsons, vice president of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.
He noted that a recently canceled decision by the European Union aviation regulator, advising against flying to Israel, scuttled the plans of about a thousand additional participants due to the avalanche of canceled flights the advisory caused. Some attendees are now coming to Israel via Jordan due to a dearth of seats on flights.
The weeklong event, which includes worship service and a curtailed traditional march through Jerusalem next Monday, will get underway on Wednesday at Eshkol National Park/HaBsor Park, near the border with Gaza, where participants will plant hundreds of red and yellow tulip bulbs in memory of the victims of the Oct. 7 massacre and tour the sites of the worst single-day attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat is scheduled to address the group in Jerusalem.
The annual solidarity event comes amid a burst of antisemitism around the globe triggered by the war against Hamas.
“Hatred gets you out in the street faster than love,” Parsons said. “The Christian Zionist movement is worldwide, not just in the United States.”
He voiced the hope that recent opinion polls showing a drop of support for Israel among young evangelicals will prove to be wrong due to the “supernatural” way Israel has managed to defend itself against Iran and its proxies which, he said, has impressed the young generation of evangelicals.
A separate delegation of hundreds of Christian supporters of Israel, including about 15 pastors from Arab countries as well as Pakistan, are just concluding a two-week prayer convocation in Jerusalem.
