Hundreds of Christian Zionists from more than 70 nations around the world are heading to Jerusalem this week for the annual Feast of Tabernacles celebrations, in the largest solidarity mission to Israel since the two-year-old war against Hamas in Gaza.
The annual weeklong evangelical celebration highlights 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 Feast of Tabernacles celebration, organized by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, coincides with the Jewish festival of Sukkot and gets underway next Monday. It is expected to draw some 1,500 visitors—about 40% of the normal number for what has traditionally been Jerusalem’s biggest tourist event of the year. The largest number of pilgrims are coming from the U.S., Finland, Germany and Norway.
“We are proud to be hosting at our Feast gathering the largest solidarity mission to Israel since the war began two years ago,” said ICEJ President Dr Jürgen Bühler. “These Christian pilgrims are coming here from all over the world to deliver in person a message of their unwavering support for Israel, especially at a time when global antisemitism is surging.”
He cited the large delegations coming from countries that have increasingly turned against Israel due to the fallout from the war, including from Norway, France, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The largest evangelical organization in Israel first held a public celebration marking the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem back in 1980.
The five-day event, which includes worship service and a colorful march through Jerusalem next Thursday, will begin with a tour of the Gaza border area to witness how Israeli communities are recovering from the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist invasion. There will also be a memorial service in a southern Israeli college commemorating the worst single-day attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
The gathering, which comes on the third year anniversary of the massacre, will include an address by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Fijian Deputy Prime Minister Viliame Gavoka, whose country is one of seven nations to have opened embassies in Jerusalem.
A separate delegation of 500 Christian supporters of Israel from one hundred nations, including pastors from Muslim nations in the Middle East, are currently holding an annual two-week prayer convocation in Jerusalem. The scores of predominantly African parliamentarians and government leaders also attending the conference, organized by All Nations Convocation, will meet with six Israeli lawmakers from the Knesset’s Christian Allies Caucus on Monday and will be addressed by Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel.
