Pastor Dumisani Washington says a growing “biblical illiteracy” in the United States is leaving Christians vulnerable to anti-Israel voices like Tucker Carlson, and he’s sounding the alarm.
In a conversation on the ILTV Podcast, the founder and CEO of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel warned that many self-identified Christians simply don’t know what the Bible actually says about Israel and the Jewish people. He described today’s believers as “a generation of Christians that don't really know the Bible,” which, he argued, makes them susceptible to media figures who misuse scripture to undermine support for Israel.
“That’s why Tucker, who doesn't know the Bible, he'll get up there" and quote from the Bible, Washington said. But the statements he makes "only makes sense to you if you don't know the Bible."
Washington called Jew-hatred “a spiritual phenomenon,” not just a political or social one.
He said this is why some Christians who agree with Carlson on domestic issues fail to recognize the danger when he platforms Holocaust deniers and neo-Nazis.
“The reason why we say he is one of, if not the, most dangerous, is the way he's doing it,” Washington explained, noting that Carlson mixes “legitimate conversation” about issues like the economy with “the Hitler and Nazi Holocaust denial.” With his reach and political connections, Washington said, “you're pumping this poison out to millions of people, and many of them are disarmed.”
Within the church, Washington believes Israel has become the defining fault line.
“Either you believe God's word when it comes to Israel and the Jewish people, or you believe the Tucker Carlson's and the Candace Owens,” he said.
His book, Zionism and the Black Church, carries the subtitle, “Why standing with Israel will be a defining issue for Christians of color in the 21st century,” and he insists that what begins in the black community has implications for the wider church.
Far from accepting claims that black support for Israel is collapsing, Washington says the picture is more nuanced and often encouraging.
Surveys show younger Americans in general leaning more pro-Palestinian, he acknowledged, but “we have not seen anything significant that has measured the black community older or younger, that shows it leaning more pro Palestine.”
Instead, he sees a political and spiritual struggle underway, one that he believes will determine not only the future of black-Jewish relations, but the spiritual health of the American church and even the fate of the United States itself.
Watch the full conversation:
Podcast 29.11.2025
(Credit: ILTV)
