A group of leaders from a broad section of American Christianity is lobbying the Biden administration over its policy towards Israel. It comes after growing alarm in both Israel and the United States over a dramatic shift by the new President including releasing an additional billion dollars to Iran and ending sanctions against the world’s biggest funder of terrorism.
The group American Christians Leaders for Israel (ACLI), representing dozens of denominations and organizations and hundreds of leaders, delivered an urgent letter to the White House proposing a number of guiding principles that ACLI sees as significant. The letter addresses the security of the United States, Israel, and the Jewish people and anti-Semitism.
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The guiding principles include: not re-entering the Iran nuclear deal; requiring bilateral negotiations to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; honoring the historic Trump Abraham Accords which saw Israel sign peace agreements with four Arab states; adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism across all Executive Branch agencies; and, committing to work to combat anti-Semitism at all governmental levels here and aboard, in particular, to oppose the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS).
“ACLI is deeply concerned with the rising incidents of anti-Semitism in the United States and around the world,” stated Dr. Susan Michael, Director, International Christian Embassy office in the U.S. and the ACLI, “We want to ensure this administration works to combat this evil and also keep the United States’ relationship with Israel strong.”
Read the full text of the letter here.
Since its founding, ACLI has been a unified voice of truth to the American public in support of Israel and the Jewish people. Through a series of initiatives, ACLI leaders have worked to ensure that when making key decisions on Israel, U.S. leaders are informed of the position held by the many American Christians. ACLI is a project of the US Branch of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.
Last month ACLI sent a letter to the full Senate encouraging Senators to ask Biden nominees if they are familiar with, and will adhere to, the working definition of anti-Semitism developed by IHRA in the performance of their duties.
–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice
[Editor’s disclosure: Metro Voice Publisher Anita Widaman worked for ICEJ while living in Israel]