Friends of Zion Heritage Center founder Mike Evans hosted a meeting in Palm Beach on Tuesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior American evangelical leaders, underscoring continued evangelical support for Israel amid growing political and cultural polarization in the United States.
Participants included Jonathan Falwell, pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church; Dr. Dondi Costin, president of Liberty University; Dr. Thomas Heath, president of Oklahoma Baptist University; and Jay Strack, founder of Student Leadership University.
Evans, who has been close to Netanyahu for more than 45 years, said evangelical support for Israel remains deeply rooted and bipartisan. “Despite growing political polarization in the United States, one reality remains consistent: evangelical Christians are overwhelmingly united in their support for Israel,” Evans said. “That support is not driven by partisan loyalty or nationalism, but by biblical conviction. You cannot love Jesus without loving the Jewish people, because Jesus was Jewish.”
Evans said he brought 1,000 American pastors to Israel last month to be commissioned as Friends of Zion ambassadors and told Netanyahu he plans to bring an additional 3,000 pastors next year, along with 1,000 American university students.
He also praised Donald Trump as the greatest US president in Israel’s history and is widely regarded as Trump’s strongest American supporter in Israel. During Trump’s previous visit to the country, Evans launched a nationwide billboard campaign with slogans including “Cyrus the Great Is Alive” and “Trump, Make Israel Great Again.” He also hosted the U.S. Embassy Gala and presented Trump with the Friends of Zion Award, which has been bestowed on 28 world leaders.
Evans has publicly challenged US media figures such as Tucker Carlson, who has said he despises Christian Zionist pastors. Asked about Christians who oppose Israel, Evans said he considers them “fake Christians.”
'You can’t love Jesus from Zion without loving the Jewish people,' he said. 'Love is not something you say. It’s something you do.'
Evans recounted his own childhood, saying his father was an antisemite who abused his Jewish mother. “I know all about fake Christians,” he said. “My father was one.”
Evans warned Netanyahu that while Hamas may be losing militarily, it is gaining ground in ideological and media warfare. He said anti-Israel narratives often framed in human rights language have normalized slogans such as “Zionism is racism,” allowing antisemitism to flourish under the guise of political critique.
He said social media manipulation, bot networks and artificial intelligence have turned digital platforms into front lines where pro-Israel voices are increasingly marginalized. Evans added that U.S. assessments indicate billions of dollars from Gulf states, including Qatar, are being used to undermine evangelical support for Israel.
Evangelical leaders, he said, have not been immune. During a previous Gaza conflict, Evans said millions of fake accounts targeted his pro-Israel Facebook platform, the Jerusalem Prayer Team, which at the time had 77 million followers. He said 47 million pro-Israel followers were ultimately removed.
'This is not just technological warfare,' Evans said. 'It is theology in code.'
He said the 1,000 pastors recently commissioned have already published more than 33,000 posts, generating more than 22 million views. “We are fighting an ideological war,” Evans said. “Demons don’t care about customs.”
Evans also warned of what he called internal threats from an emerging “woke right,” describing media figures who oppose Israel using “America First” arguments while labeling Christian Zionism as dangerous or heretical. He said such rhetoric recycles classic antisemitic tropes and has contributed to confusion among young Christians.
Globally, evangelicals represent more than 9 percent of the world’s population, Evans noted, while Israelis account for just 12 out of every 10,000 people worldwide. That demographic imbalance, he argued, makes evangelical Christians Israel’s most powerful allies in today’s ideological battles.
Evans said claims that God has broken His promises to the Jewish people amount to an attack on the Bible itself. “If God can break His promises to Israel,” he said, “He can break them to Christians.”
“Israel was birthed by a divine mandate,” Evans said, citing the biblical verse, “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.”
He concluded by saying he believes Israel’s future remains secure because, in his view, both God and Donald Trump have kept their promises to the Jewish state.