“We’re the grassroots organization for the silenced majority of the evangelical Christian community in America who continue to stand with love and pray for and help the people of Israel,” says Yael Eckstein, President and Global CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ).
In a wide-ranging interview, Eckstein discussed the importance of support for Israel among the Christian evangelical community in the United States, The Fellowship’s Flags of Fellowship movement that has bolstered support of Israel in churches and seminaries throughout the US, the numerous programs that it operates in Israel that provide vital assistance to over two million people in the region, and the love and positive feeling for Israel and the Jewish people that it fosters in the Christian community.
Eckstein, whose late father, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein z”l, was the visionary founder of the IFCJ, and who built bridges of understanding between Christians and Jews as well as broad support for the State of Israel, points out that the Christian evangelical community in the United States, which numbers between 80 and 100 million adherents, is a population that is critical in maintaining friendly relations between America and Israel. “The way that we see is most important, effective, and genuine and a personal kind of passion for me to engage in this community,” she says, “is not through politics or policy, but simply by reinforcing, building, strengthening the spiritual connection between the Jewish and Christian community and the evangelical community with Israel.”
That spiritual connection, maintains Eckstein, is manifested by focusing on the land of Israel as the spiritual and physical homeland for the Jewish people. Referring to The Fellowship’s Christian supporters, she says, “They read the words of the Torah and the Scriptures and recognize this is our homeland. This is the place that God said He wants us to be. This is the place that we lived in and oversaw for over 1,000 years, and we have returned to our ancestral homeland.”
Eckstein explains that The Fellowship does not involve itself in politics or policy matters, nor does it endorse any candidate. “We’re focused on Israel as a bipartisan issue,” she says, “which is why we have a lot of Jews and Christians as part of our network and donor base.” All of The Fellowship’s work has a primarily spiritual dimension. “We invest over $80 million a year in food aid, which is spiritual. It’s our obligation and it’s our privilege to be able to feed the hungry, but that comes directly from a spiritual mission. Aliyah – bringing the Jewish people home – saves them from antisemitism and from being persecuted, but it’s also something that’s very spiritual.”
Returning to the Christian evangelical community in the US, Eckstein says that a different, more personal approach is required to reach the younger generation of Christian evangelicals. “It’s very important to engage with younger Christian evangelicals differently than previous generations. Many of them have grown up hearing different narratives about Israel in the media and on college campuses, and they have genuine questions about our policies and actions. Rather than dismissing their concerns or repeating the same arguments we’ve used for decades, I try to have real conversations with them, listening to their specific questions and then sharing what life in Israel actually looks like.”
She adds, “As someone close to their age who lives here, I can help them understand the reality of Israel, that Israel is the only place in the Middle East where Christians can worship freely and safely, where religious freedom is protected by law and women are valued and respected. Israel is at the forefront of fighting for the same Judeo-Christian principles they cherish, freedom, the dignity of every person, and the sanctity of life. When they understand that Israel lives out these shared values, it creates a connection that goes much deeper than political talking points ever could.”
“I think I’m uniquely positioned to bridge this gap because I can relate to their generational perspective while also living the daily reality of Israel. As a young mother and Israeli woman, I can speak to them as a peer about the Israel I know firsthand, not just the Israel they see in headlines.”
Eckstein next turns her attention to The Fellowship’s Flags of Fellowship project that the organization initiated in the wake of the Hamas terror attack on October 7 that took the lives of 1,200 Israelis.
Last year, more than two hundred and twenty churches, seminaries, and synagogues throughout the United States planted 1,200 mini Israeli flags in their front yards, in commemoration of the tragic events of October 7. Many churches, she explains, have installed the flags as part of a special ceremony conducted by their youth groups. “It’s very ceremonial as far as passing this message and this partnership on to the next generation,” says Eckstein, who adds that the flag program presents a powerful message both for the Jewish community and the general community at large.
At a time when many Jews living in the US are fearful of displaying their allegiance to Israel in public, she explains, the fact that many churches are waving the Israeli flag proudly and unapologetically has made a positive impact on the Jewish community. In addition, the massive display of Israeli flags is of great importance for the general community as well. “There are so many people now who are burning the Israeli flag, and whenever they burn the Israeli flag, in essence, they are also burning the American flag. Now we have Christians who are saying we’re going to wave the Israeli flag proudly. The Christian community is so dedicated to this that they feel it’s a privilege to be able to represent Israel and stand with the Jewish community in such a visual, outward, and unapologetic way.”
Eckstein says that The Fellowship is planning on doubling the number of churches, seminaries, and synagogues that will plant Israeli flags this year and is hoping to have one million Israeli flags flying proudly near these houses of worship.
Instead of directing the Flags of Fellowship project towards large organizations, Eckstein says that IFCJ deliberately targeted individual churches and synagogues. “There are so many churches and synagogues whose voice for Israel isn’t being heard because it’s being suppressed and silenced by the mainstream media, by many podcasters trying to make us think that the Christian community is turning on us and that Israel has no friends. Therefore, this project was not created with the major organizations, but with the individual churches, synagogues, and Christian seminaries to give this silenced majority a voice. They want to say that they stand with Israel, and this is their way of doing that.”
The Fellowship is the largest philanthropic organization in Israel, providing humanitarian aid to the needy in Israel and in Jewish communities around the world, promoting prayer and security on behalf of the Jewish state, and building bridges of understanding between Christians and Jews. The Fellowship raises more than $270 million annually, mostly from members of the Christian community, and has almost 772,000 active supporters. Since its founding over 40 years ago, nearly 3 million people in the US and around the world have raised $3.6 billion to support Israel and the Jewish people through The Fellowship.
Eckstein says that the secret to the organization’s success both in Israel and the US has come through creating partnerships. “I very much believe in partnerships,” she states. “We partner with almost every single large organization in the areas that we are operating in here in Israel. We implement programs on behalf of the government and build and implement programs on behalf of the government when there’s no other organization to do that.”
In the US, The Fellowship has partnered with prominent Christian and conservative leaders such as Sean Hannity, Pastor Allen Jackson, Lou Engle, iHeartMedia, and others to communicate its pro-Israel message at evangelical events and gatherings. “When there’s something happening that someone else is putting together, we will be there to give over that Israel message and form that community, specifically with the evangelical community, to continue to stand with Israel,” says Eckstein.
During the 12-day war with Iran, The Fellowship distributed over $3 million in aid, helping the more than 10,000 people whose homes were destroyed, providing them with immediate assistance so that they could purchase clothes and other basic necessities, and distributing meals for those in need. Eckstein adds that the organization pitched in to provide emergency medical aid and food, distributed by the IDF, for the Christian and Druze communities that were targeted in Syria.
The Fellowship not only acts during difficult times, says Eckstein, but does its work in advance, during quieter periods before the crisis begins. “When the rockets are not falling, it is our time actually to prepare the home front for when the rockets will fall. So, for example, when an Iranian missile hit Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, the entire floor that was damaged had previously been evacuated, which is why so many lives were saved. The reason it was evacuated is because they were able to use an operating room donated by The Fellowship on a different floor.
“We’ve renovated 14 kindergartens in the Gaza Periphery and the Kibbutzim for when they go back to school in September, and purchased new equipment and furniture for each one. In every single Gaza Periphery municipality, we’ve provided trauma centers so that they can treat the residents who have gone back.”
Next month, The Fellowship will begin its High Holidays campaign and plans to distribute more than $12 million in aid to over 225,000 people in need around the world. “We continuously stand with the families of the kidnapped,” says Eckstein. “We stand with soldiers and the families of soldiers who have been killed. We stand with reserve soldiers. We stand with new immigrants who have made aliya during this war and haven’t been able to get their feet on the ground as far as getting settled, finding job security, and financial security. This year, our campaign will be very war-centered. People have paid the ultimate price.”
As our interview concludes, Eckstein says that what sets The Fellowship apart is its engagement with the Christian community, focusing on spirituality, positivity, and love. “Our unique niche is actually coming together in love and brotherhood and community and shared values. It is more important now more than ever to be able to engage this community. If we don’t create that community now between Jews and Christians who stand with Israel, we are going to lose them.”
This article was written in cooperation with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.