On the fourth episode of the Good for the Jews podcast, hosts Yael Eckstein and Zvika Klein are joined by Rev. Dr. Johnnie Moore, an Evangelical leader who is a member of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, as well as the founder of the Kairos Company public relations firm.
Moore noted the sheer number of Evangelical Christians around the world, claiming that there may be as much as 800 million, including in Pakistan, China, and Iran.
"However you slice it, about 80-90% of those Evangelicals around the world would think well of the Jewish people and Israel," he explained. "And I won't say who, and I won't say any details, but I hear from these people in some of these places that don't have normal relations with Israel, or that don't have a Jewish community in their countries. They actually very often come to Evangelicals, because they know we know the Jewish community."
Moore said that the reason for this support is both cultural and theological. Many Christians for hundreds of years would read the Bible and see all the various locations in modern Israel, but they could never go there. The fact that there is now a state changes that.
"A lot of Evangelicals, of like, my grandparents' generation, believed that they saw one of the only miracles in their life, when they saw the reformation of the State of Israel after thousands of years of exile," he explained.
Another factor Moore pointed out is that many Evangelicals are unaware growing up about the history of Christian antisemitism.
"As an Evangelical, I didn't even grow up knowing the word antisemitism," he said.
One thing Moore wants to do is to educate Christians about this.
"I need to get Christians to understand the history of Christian antisemitism," he said, further noting that he also wants to get Christians to read the Old Testament - the Hebrew Bible - as well as reading weekly Torah portions (parashot) with the Jewish community.
How Evangelicals have influenced the Middle East
Moore noted how Evangelicals played critical roles in influencing the Middle East.
As Klein noted, the Evangelical community was crucial in pressuring US President Donald Trump to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as well as to move forward with the Abraham Accords.
But it goes even further than that. For one thing, Moore said as an example, Evangelicals founded the first hospital in the United Arab Emirates.
"Ten years before the UAE came together, a doctor and a nurse went to the UAE. They ran into Sheikh Zayed, the founder of the country, and he gave them land to start a hospital," Moore recounted. "So the president of the UAE, the foreign minister, and countless ambassadors - they were all born the hospital started by Evangelical Christians. They played around the children of these Evangelical Christians."
But it goes beyond just the UAE.
"In countless homes in Saudi Arabia, the people that are caring for the children are Filipino Evangelicals," he said, with the hosts noting that Filipino Christian workers are also commonplace in Israel.
This presence in the region is how the community has been able to foster considerable goodwill.
"I always say, the most valuable commodity in the Middle East is not oil or gas. It's trust," Moore said. "We have a long trusted relationship with the Jewish community in Israel. We have a long trusted relationship with many in these Arab countries. One everyone knows about. The other one, not so many people know about."
This has helped Moore and other prominent Evangelicals be important voices regarding regional affairs, particularly in the wake of the October 7 massacre.
"Since October 7, the Evangelical community has really taken responsibility to speak up," he said.
While there has been considerable pressure from politicians and activists against those speaking in favor of Israel over the past year, Moore said that "I don't know a single Evangelical that flinched in the face of all of that," further noting the confidence the community has in Israel.
"We believe the Jewish community is strong. We believe the State of Israel is strong. We believe the State of Israel can handle themselves, even if the United States wasn't there," Moore said. "But what we want to say to our Jewish neighbors into Israel, and we want to make it crystal clear, is that we've made a decision, and that is to get to the Jewish community, to get to our Jewish friends, you got to get through us first. And we're everywhere."