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Why Do Evangelicals Support Israel?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2020

Motti Inbari Open the ORCID record for Motti Inbari [Opens in a new window] ,
Kirill M. Bumin  and
M. Gordon Byrd
Motti Inbari*
Affiliation:
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke
Kirill M. Bumin
Affiliation:
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke
M. Gordon Byrd*
Affiliation:
East Carolina University and The University of North Carolina at Pembroke
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Motti Inbari, The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, 107 Sampson Building, One university Drive, Pembroke NC 28372. E-mail: inbari@uncp.edu
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Motti Inbari, The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, 107 Sampson Building, One university Drive, Pembroke NC 28372. E-mail: inbari@uncp.edu
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Abstract

This study considers the sources of evangelical support for Israel, utilizing an original survey of 1,000 evangelical and born-again respondents. The results show that the three strongest predictors of evangelical and born-again Christian support for Israel are (1) age (older respondents are more supportive); (2) opinion of Jews; and (3) socialization (frequency of hearing other evangelicals talking about Israel). Our results also show that evangelical support for Israel is driven by respondents' beliefs rooted in evangelical Christian theology on eschatology and Biblical literalism. Thus, the most significant ideological statements that were found in the research were that the “State of Israel is proof of the fulfillment of prophesy regarding the nearing of Jesus' Second Coming” and that “Jews are God's chosen people.” Another important finding is that there is less support toward Israel among young evangelicals (ages 18–29).

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Article
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Politics and Religion , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , March 2021 , pp. 1 - 36
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2020

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Footnotes

The costs of conducting the survey were covered by grants from Academic Engagement Network, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and Chosen People Ministries. Neither of these donors provided any substantive input into the design of the survey, the analysis, or the writing of this paper.

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