Evangelical Christians and Jews Unite for Israel
By DAVID FIRESTONE


ATLANTA, June 8 — An Orthodox rabbi and a prominent conservative political strategist have formed an organization to mobilize the nation's evangelical Christians in support of Israel, hoping to find a ready ear in the Bush administration.

The organization, to be called Stand for Israel, hopes to draw on the fervent support for Israel among conservative Christians, said Ralph Reed Jr., the group's co-chairman. Mr. Reed, formerly the executive director of the Christian Coalition, is a political consultant in Atlanta and chairman of the Georgia Republican Party.

"Christians have the potential to be the most effective constituency influencing a foreign policy since the end of the cold war," Mr. Reed said. "They are shifting the center of gravity in the pro-Israel community to become a more conservative and Republican phenomenon."

Israel's interests have long been represented in Washington by Jewish organizations whose members are often Democrats. By organizing one of President Bush's core constituencies to advocate for Israel, the group's leaders say they hope to command the attention of the White House when Israel's vital interests are at stake.

"When you have a situation, for example, where someone in Washington is pressuring the prime minister of Israel to hold back in the fight against terrorism, then that's where we press the button and mobilize the troops," said Rabbi Yechiel Z. Eckstein, the organization's founder and co-chairman, and the president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, an ecumenical group based in Chicago. "We will provide them with a tangible and meaningful way to do something."

Rabbi Eckstein's organization has become known in the last 20 years for its work easing tensions between Jews and evangelical Christians, and his close ties to conservatives in the Israeli government have made him the principal liaison between the prime minister's office and American evangelicals. After a recent discussion with Israeli officials about the need for American political support, he said, his organization hired Mr. Reed's consulting firm, Century Strategies, to devise a plan for mobilizing the Christian grass roots.

Although Rabbi Eckstein half-jokingly described Stand for Israel as "the Christian Aipac" — referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the principal lobbying organization in Washington for Israel — the group's charitable tax status will not allow it to lobby Congress or the White House. Instead, using the Internet and Mr. Reed's familiar direct-mail techniques, the group will give churches and individuals an outlet to protest or praise.

For example, the group's Web site, www.standforisrael.org, will provide a way for Christians to e-mail officials in Washington. Mr. Reed said the group will start with a mailing list of 100,000 churches and 250,000 people, which he hopes will grow to more than a million people.

The group plans to run newspaper advertisements next week, along with commercials on conservative radio talk shows, urging Jews and Christians to see past their historical differences and come together at a time of crisis for Israel. It will also bring together about 50 prominent evangelical leaders at the Capitol on June 18, where they will meet with Congressional leaders and hear an address from the former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.

Evangelicals, driven by a mixture of biblical prophecy and ideology, have long been among Israel's closest friends in America, but political differences have often kept them and mainstream Jewish groups at arm's length. Their relationship was not helped when the news broke this year that the Rev. Billy Graham had joined with President Richard M. Nixon in making private anti-Semitic comments in 1972, strengthening the sense among many Jews that evangelicals may admire Israel more than they do the Jewish people.

But the leaders of Stand for Israel said the atmosphere of crisis in Israel may provide an opportunity for members of the two faiths to bridge that gap, and Howard Kohr, the executive director of Aipac, said he welcomed any organized effort of support for Israel. One political consultant said the organization could strengthen an uneasy alliance.

"The American Jewish community has traditionally not been comfortable with many of the domestic social positions taken by evangelical groups, but recent events have moved the Jewish community to the right," said Zev Furst, a New Jersey pollster and strategist who has worked with several Israeli politicians. "At this point, I think Israel would appreciate any effort that enlarges its support base in the United States."