A group of Evangelical Christians from around the world have donated about $40,000 to Jewish settlers evacuated from the Gaza Strip settlements, a spokesman said Monday.
David Parsons, spokesman of the International Christian Embassy, one of the groups involved in the fund-raising said more donations are expected in the coming weeks.
‘There is a lot of sympathy among Christians for what the Gaza evacuees went through,’ Parsons said, referring to some 8,000 settlers removed from the settlements last month as part of Israel’s pullout from the Gaza Strip the northern West Bank.
In recent years, there has been a growing alliance between right-wing Israeli groups and some evangelical Christians who according to their belief, ‘Jews must return to the biblical Land of Israel to facilitate a Second Coming of Christ.’
The Associated Press reported that the Israeli government has supported and enforced ties with those groups especially with conservative American Christians, and evangelical groups have contributed millions of dollars to Israel.
Pinchas Wallerstein, a Jewish settler leader, said Monday that all support is ‘greatly welcomed,’ as long as it doesn’t come from Christian missionaries.
These Christian groups strongly oppose the establishment of a Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, areas Israel occupied in the 1967.
Parsons said the latest donations are meant to help the children of former Gaza settlers, and will be used for psychological help and to build playgrounds in their new communities.
Many of those settlers evacuated from the Gaza Strip are located now in Some West Bank settlements.
The Jerusalem-based embassy represents evangelical communities around the world and contributes millions of dollars each year to Israel, mostly for the absorption of new immigrants, Parsons said.
The AP reported that some 4,000 evangelical Christian Zionists, many from the United States, are visiting Israel this week for Sukkot, a Jewish harvest festival also known as the Feast of the Tabernacles.
Later this week, the pilgrims will host a banquet in Jerusalem for the Gaza settlers and tour several West Bank settlements.
