Three years after Hamas terrorists murdered some 1,200 people and dragged 251 hostages into Gaza, more than 1,000 Christian leaders, community leaders and influencers from 117 countries are arriving in Israel to stand at the sites of the massacre, meet the survivors, and carry their stories home. On Thursday, the delegation will travel to ancient Shiloh in Samaria, making it the second large Christian group in two weeks to enter the biblical heartland as European governments move to boycott the Jews who live there.
The delegation, which includes some 200 young people between the ages of 18 and 29, is taking part in the annual Friends of Zion Ambassador Summit, held for the second consecutive year in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Founder Dr. Mike Evans chose to dedicate this year’s summit to October 7. Participants will meet with released hostages, bereaved families, Nova survivors, wounded soldiers and Holocaust survivors, as well as Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion.
“This year, for our second Ambassador Summit, more than 1,000 Christian leaders, community leaders and influencers from 117 countries are coming to Israel, including some 200 young people between the ages of 18 and 29,” Evans said. “We want these young leaders to see Israel for themselves, hear directly from those whose lives were changed forever on October 7, and return home with a deeper understanding of Israel and a commitment to standing with the Jewish people.”
Ambassador George Deek, Israel’s Special Envoy to the Christian World, said the size of the delegation sends a clear signal.
“The arrival of more than 1,000 Christian leaders from 117 countries carries a powerful message: Israel does not stand alone,” Deek said. “They are coming to bear witness, to meet the people whose lives were shattered on October 7, and to carry their stories back to communities across the world. The bond between Israel and Christians around the world must be built on truth, courage and a shared determination to confront antisemitism and hatred wherever they appear.”
Sa’ar will open the summit on Tuesday, October 6, on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
On October 7, after a visit to Yad Vashem, the delegation will join some 2,000 participants at the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount for what organizers call the world’s largest international event marking the anniversary, broadcast live on dozens of television networks. Released hostages Agam Berger, Sagui Dekel Chen, Bar Kupershtein, and Evyatar David will appear on stage. Kupershtein will be joined by his grandfather, Michael Kupershtein, a Holocaust survivor. Sylvan Adams, President of the World Jewish Congress Israel, is a full partner in the event, and Bishop Robert Stearns of Eagles’ Wings will bring a delegation of approximately 550 Christian leaders.
On October 8, the 1,000 leaders will stand at the site of the Nova music festival near Re’im, where terrorists murdered more than 370 people. There they will meet released hostages Romi Gonen, Noa Argamani, and Elkana Bohbot, all three kidnapped from the festival grounds. The three will receive the Friends of Zion “Here Am I” Award for the advocacy they and their families have carried out worldwide.
Christians Buy Where Europe Boycotts
The Shiloh visit follows a wave of Christian solidarity with Judea and Samaria during Sukkot. Thousands of participants in the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) annual Feast of Tabernacles conference visited Jewish communities as a protest against legislation in several European countries barring trade with them, The Jerusalem Post reported. Hundreds traveled to communities in Binyamin and Gush Etzion to buy products directly from local residents.
Dag Juliussen, head of ICEJ’s Norwegian branch, visited the Psagot winery in Binyamin and called the European laws “antisemitism, pure and simple.” He compared the measures to Hitler’s goal of making Europe Judenrein (free of Jews), saying European politicians now want the same for Judea and Samaria, and asked why Jews should be barred from living there when Arabs live freely inside Israel.
Earlier in September, the ICEJ issued a statement condemning the European bans. The organization accused the sanctioning countries of a double standard, noting that few of them have imposed similar measures on Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus or Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara. The ICEJ also charged that the bans were timed to influence Israel’s upcoming elections, calling them an act of disrespect toward a fellow democracy that Europe would never direct at any other Western nation.
The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, and Canada are among the countries that have moved against goods from Judea and Samaria in recent months, with the Dutch measure extending to the Golan as well.
Here Am I
The Friends of Zion award given to the three Nova survivors and the delegation’s destination on Thursday share a single Hebrew word. What does it mean to answer hineni (here am I), and why did the Bible’s greatest figures use it at the decisive moments of their lives?
Hineni is Abraham’s answer when God calls him before the binding of Isaac, and it is Moses’s answer at the burning bush. In Shiloh, where the Mishkan (Tabernacle) stood for 369 years, the boy Samuel heard his name called in the night and answered hineni. Rashi, the great 11th-century commentator, explains in his comment on Genesis 22:1 that hineni is the answer of the righteous, an expression of humility and readiness. The person who says it holds nothing back and waits for the mission.
The prophet Isaiah used the word when he accepted his calling:
“And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said: ‘Here am I; send me.'” (Isaiah 6:8)
Isaiah’s answer is the job description of an ambassador. Noa Argamani, Romi Gonen, and Elkana Bohbot came out of Hamas captivity and took their testimony to parliaments, campuses, and television studios around the world. Agam Berger, who will appear at the Southern Wall, kept Shabbat in Gaza under the guns of her captors.
Samuel learned to answer hineni in Shiloh and went on to anoint Israel’s first kings. Europe’s parliaments are voting to cut the Jews off from that same hilltop. This week, 1,000 Christians from 117 nations will stand there and answer hineni to the Jewish people, and then carry that answer home to every one of their countries.
