Overview
- Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem issued a Jan. 17 statement calling Christian Zionism a damaging ideology that misleads believers and harms church unity.
- The statement asserted exclusive pastoral representation for local Christians and warned that activities by unnamed local promoters, backed by political actors, interfere in church life.
- Leaders appeared to reference a December 2025 visit by roughly 1,000 U.S. evangelical pastors organized by Friends of Zion with Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
- U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee publicly rejected ecclesial exclusivity and defended Christian Zionism as a biblical conviction supporting Jewish connection to the land, an unusual diplomatic foray noted by Catholic outlet Crux.
- Christian Zionist groups and figures, including Friends of Zion’s Mike Evans, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, and CUFI’s Sandra Hagee Parker, defended their theology, while commentators highlighted its modern roots and cited Vatican guidance to treat Israel’s politics through international law; no reconciliation or policy changes have been reported.