We Jews understandably feel that we could use a few more friends in the world right now, so it’s heartening to know that we have more than 10 million of them in the ranks of Christians United for Israel (CUFI.org). Founded in 2006, CUFI is the largest pro-Israel organization in the United States, whose mission is to “educate and empower millions of Americans to speak and act with one voice in defense of Israel and the Jewish people.”
Their efforts are manifested through college campus education, media outreach, church programming, tours of Israel and lobbying efforts in Washington DC. These lobbying campaigns have included urging the Trump administration to reopen the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and urging the U.S. to cut off funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA) for its anti-Israel influence in the Middle East.
Currently, they are committed to ensuring that anti-Israel forces in Congress do not hold up resupplying Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.
Historically, Jews have often been skeptical of Christian support for Israel, suspecting it might camouflage a hidden agenda to convert us to their faith. However, CUFI is intentionally non-conversionary.
Randal Neal, Senior Director of Engagement for CUFI, acknowledges, “It’s true that for many Christians, the word ‘Israel’ in the Bible is understood to mean ‘the Christian Church,’ which would supersede God’s covenant with the Jewish people. I myself was taught this in Bible study but I never believed it. Virtually every week, archeology finds in Israel substantiate the Bible and prove the Jewish people have been there for thousands of years. Jews are not occupying someone else’s land. They are in their ancient homeland. Today, our members and leaders are praying for the Jewish people and the State of Israel. We believe it’s our duty as Christians to stand by God’s first-born, our elders.”
Virtually every week, archeology finds in Israel substantiate the Bible and prove the Jewish people have been there for thousands of years. Jews are not occupying someone else’s land. They are in their ancient homeland. – Randal Neal, Senior Director of Engagement for CUFI
CUFI’s ongoing educational, political, and social media campaigns are intended to broadcast the reality of Israel as a humanitarian democracy. Their videos about Israel and its remarkable achievements have been credited by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism as “the best resource available to communicate the true heart of Israel.”
CUFI has college student representatives on more than 300 campuses nationwide, from community colleges to Ivy League universities. “We’re trying to get the woke people on campus to wake up,” Neal said. “The Jewish people are historically the most oppressed people on the planet but are the one group college students try to oppress. They advance blatant lies and we stand with facts on the ground.”
This involves painstaking efforts to build relationships and walk these students through the facts. “Our student members take them for coffee and talk to them, letting them vent their own narratives,” Neal explained. “It’s a slow process because there is a lot of emotion, but the anti-Israel students are invariably misinformed. Our students are amazing and brave and know they are the side of the truth. I’ve never been prouder of these students. They operate with commitment and moral clarity.”
Since CUFI’s sole purpose had already been to educate and advocate for Israel, I asked Neal what has changed since October 7. “What’s changed is the level of urgency. Many churches that supported Israel but didn’t feel a need to express it outside the church now realize they must be more vocal and go public with their support,” he said. “Some took it for granted that their support was known, but now, congregations want to be counted on record as standing with Israel.”
After October 7, CUFI was deluged with requests for additional educational and spiritual resources. Within a few days, the organization had prepared a digital resource package for pastors, including information and prayer points, including a suggestion to add Psalm 122, for a worship service called “Israel, You’re Not Alone.” Neal said that thousands of churches have already participated in this campaign, which will be ongoing. More churches are also taking CUFI’s Israel Course, designed to teach about Israel biblically and historically, the roots of Christian antisemitism, and why and how Christians can support Israel and the Jewish people.
CUFI members have been rushing to bone up on their Israel knowledge to prepare to advocate on her behalf. On October 9, a church in central Oregon called, apologizing for having not prioritized a teaching event about Israel. They asked CUFI to schedule one ASAP, so Randal Neal changed his travel plans and led the event, held in a packed church with close to 250 in attendance. When word got out, another church about an hour north urgently requested its own event and also brought an SRO crowd from several area congregations. Neal estimates that tens of thousands of Christians have already attended these events.
In these presentations, Neal explains why Christians should support Israel, as well as how they can do so. The presentations include Jewish roots of the Christian faith, “often including 1,800 years of antisemitism under the banner of Christendom.” Neal also oversees a cadre of many CUFI coordinators and trained volunteers who run such events across the country.
Since the terrorist invasion, CUFI also launched a daily Middle East Update, published on its website, with information gathered by the organization’s full-time analysts, one of whom began working nearly around the clock to keep its leaders informed. Neal said that before any information is published, it is thoroughly vetted by the analysts’ connections with sources within the IDF, think tanks, and other trusted contacts within Israel. “The work of these analysts is virtually flawless,” Neal boasted. These daily briefings are viewed by many people outside the group’s own 10 million-plus strong membership, adding to its impact.
CUFI has also launched an emergency campaign to support the needs of first responders in Israel, with 100 percent of the funds going to the first responders’ needs. As of October 24, the fund had raised more than $2 million. Many pastors are also planning solidarity events as an encouragement to the Jewish people and to Israel.
When CUFI members and pastors ask for more relevant and tangible actions they can take, Neal is ready with an answer. “We tell them it begins with prayer that God will bring this to an end and restore stability, discernment, and favor, with minimal casualties of the innocent. We pray that our own leaders in the U.S. will have the resolve to do what’s right. Being pro-Israel does not mean being anti-Arab. But there is no moral equivalency here.”
While CUFI has had to cancel several planned trips to Israel with pastors, college students, influencers and other members, “we will be among the first to resume our solidarity missions as soon as we are able,” Neal promised. During Operation Protection Edge in Gaza in 2014, CUFI sent pastors from every state to Israel.
“We are on the side of blessing the State of Israel and the Jewish people,” Neal said. “We have drawn a line in the sand and lock arms with our Jewish brothers and sisters. We are heartbroken and outraged and will stand in solidarity with you.”
Judy Gruen is the author of several books, including “The Skeptic and the Rabbi: Falling in Love With Faith.” Her next book, “Bylines and Blessings,” will be published in February 2024.
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