Bishop Robert Stearns, founder and executive director of Eagles’ Wings, remained in Israel throughout recent military confrontations with Iran, calling on the global Christian community to strengthen its support for the Jewish state amid growing concerns about shifting evangelical attitudes.
Speaking to Arutz Sheva – Israel National News, Stearns emphasized the deep connection between evangelical Christians and Israel: “We know who our friends are truly in the moments of our greatest need, and the state of Israel and the Jewish people have no greater friends than the evangelical Christian community around the world.”
Stearns had originally traveled to Israel with 46 pastors from 22 U.S. states when conflict erupted. While his colleagues returned as scheduled, he chose to extend his stay throughout the escalating tensions. “I believe that I am able to effectively communicate to the global Christian world what is happening here in Israel by being here on the ground,” he said. “We stand in friendship and solidarity with the state of Israel and with the Jewish people.”
“Sometimes, in moments like these,” he told The Jerusalem Post, referring to his extended stay in Israel during the war, “the biggest gift you can give is the gift of your presence. We pray that our presence added comfort and strength to the Jewish people worldwide and the State of Israel in particular.”
Commenting on President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, Stearns drew a historic parallel with President Harry Truman’s swift recognition of Israel in 1948. “Truman picked up the pen and said, ‘I am Cyrus,'” Stearns recounted to Arutz Sheva. “I feel that President Trump, in a moment of existential crisis for the state of Israel, decided that he must do in the spirit of Truman what is morally right and decisive.”
Speaking to J-Post, Stearns said: “As an American in Israel during the Israel-Iran War, I believe that President Trump showed the same moral clarity [in destroying Iran’s nuclear sites] that Harry Truman showed when he recognized the State of Israel, just 11 minutes after its creation, despite the opposition of his advisors.”
Stearns called Trump’s decision an act of “decisive moral clarity,” expressing pride in the evangelical community’s role. “I’m so glad that the evangelical community was able to add its support and strength to the president’s inner resolve and determination to do the right thing.”
When asked about Trump’s recent critical remarks regarding Israel and ceasefire negotiations, Stearns urged patience: “A lot of these things are developing in real time. I believe that President Trump is acting in Israel’s best interest in wanting to see a lasting peace brought forth here. His policy is always peace through strength.”
Stearns notes that the global Evangelical community comprises approximately 600 million people, with 70 million residing in the US. “Evangelicalism has a philosemitic theological bent,” he explained to J-Post. “Evangelical theology is predisposed to be friendly to the Jewish people and friendly to the State of Israel. Evangelicals are the largest potential ally globally of Israel and the Jewish people, in a demographic sense.”
Since the 1990s, Stearns has brought over 35,000 Christians to Israel through Eagles’ Wings. “I grew up in an evangelical home, we were pro-Jewish, pro-Israel. But I had never met a Jew,” he explained to Arutz Sheva.
Stearns described to Arutz Sheva the transformation many Christians undergo when visiting Israel: “Number one, they feel that they are home. There is a spiritual sense of coming home… Number two, over and over again they say, ‘I feel so much peace here.'” He noted that even amid sirens and security concerns, some pastors said they felt safer in Israel than in U.S. cities like Los Angeles.
He also addressed how visiting Israel dismantles media-driven misconceptions: “Within hours, the narrative of the mainstream media—’Israel is an apartheid state’—falls away. You capture the spirit of the Israeli people, who just want to live in peace.”
Despite traditional evangelical support for Israel, Stearns expresses serious concern about changing attitudes. “I have been trying for some years to send a word of significant concern to the Jewish establishment in Israel and America that Evangelical support for Israel is not a de facto guarantee,” he told J-Post, warning of a “social justice lens” that is beginning to erode support among Evangelicals.
“But my message to those who would listen is that it’s not a guarantee. It’s a relationship that has to be fostered and cultivated and maintained,” he shared. Over the next 18 months, he plans to bring 1,000 pastors to visit Israel to strengthen support for the Jewish state among the Evangelical community.
Stearns issued a clear call to Christians worldwide to be vocal in their support for Israel. “The Bible talks about the watchers on the walls. We have to day and night speak out about God’s purpose for this land,” he told Arutz Sheva. Quoting Isaiah, he said: “All nations will stream up to Jerusalem. It will be a house of prayer for all nations.”
He warned that defending Israel is essential to preserving Western civilization: “If we’re going to save the Judeo-Christian worldview that has brought human rights and dignity to every human being, then it is absolutely essential that the global Christian community finds its heart replanted into the soil of this place.”
Stearns says that Christian Zionism owes a debt of gratitude and a debt of repentance to the Jewish people. “Our faith, our worldview, and everything that we hold dear comes from Jewish wisdom. We also have a responsibility for the horrible atrocities committed against the Jewish people in the name of Christianity.”
He identifies dual threats facing both Christian and Jewish communities: radicalized Islam and “radicalized wokeism.” “These twin threats are both allied together against the Judeo-Christian worldview, which is the foundation of Western civilization,” Stearns told J-Post. “We must build the strongest bridge possible so that we can protect the shared values that we have of Western civilization.”
Reflecting on recent events, Stearns told J-Post: “Israel has done the world a great service and a great favor. Israel has the moral clarity and the inner resolve to confront evil when much of the [rest of the] world too often adopts a philosophy of appeasement.”
When thanked for his support during Israel’s crisis, Stearns responded: “When a Jewish person says thank you to me, I understand that sentiment, and I’m grateful for it. But I gently explain to them that it’s actually the opposite because Israel is fighting a war on behalf of all of Western civilization. Israel is fighting the war and paying the greater price so that we in America and the West can be safer.”
“And so, to me, this is my responsibility. This is my obligation. This is my privilege,” he said. “It’s to thank Israel for being literally on the front lines. I appreciate the thanks. But honestly, to me, you are the heroes. The people of Israel are the heroes who are on the front lines.”
In 2024, Stearns received the Jerusalem Award from the Friends of Zion Heritage Center and Museum, recognizing three decades of work building Christian-Jewish relationships. During the ceremony, he dedicated the honor to the memory of Arnon Zmora, an Israeli soldier who succumbed to wounds sustained during the rescue operation of four Israeli hostages.
Moving forward, Stearns continues his mission of strengthening interfaith alliances, viewing this work as both a privilege and an obligation during what he sees as challenging times for shared Western values.
