As Tucker targets young Christians to turn against Israel, The Joshua Fund & I teamed up with ‘Faith Wins’ to bring Evangelical youth pastors from 14 states to Israel to ‘speak the truth in love’
I sat down with Faith Wins’ Chad Connelly to discuss why investing in young Evangelicals is a top priority
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL — It’s been an ugly couple of weeks in the United States.
Tucker Carlson, one of the most-watched influencers on the American Right, has launched a bitter and dangerous broadside against all Christians – and particularly young Christians – to turn them against Israel and the Jewish people.
On his podcast – which reaches 16 million people on 𝕏 and nearly 5 million on YouTube – Tucker has falsely accused Christians who love Israel, based on the teachings of the Bible, of believing in “heresy.”
Accusing Christian Zionists of having a “brain virus,” Tucker says he “dislikes” pro-Israel believers more than anyone else in the world.
Tucker – who was fired from Fox News after the 2020 election – has simultaneously decided to warmly embrace, platform, and attempt to normalize Nick Fuentes, a 27-year-old Jew-hating, Hitler-loving, Holocaust-denying neo-Nazi.
Tucker recently interviewed Fuentes on his podcast for two hours and 23 minutes while refusing to challenge, disagree with, or discredit the extreme white nationalist’s vile and dangerous views.
TUCKER, FUENTES, AND ZOHRAN MAMDANI ARE FUELING HATRED OF ISRAEL ON THE RIGHT AND LEFT
If this weren’t bad enough on the Right, there’s serious trouble on the Left as well.
Voters in New York City this week chose to elect a radical, socialist Shia Muslim who horrifies Jews, falsely accuses Israel of genocide, and vows to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the first chance he gets on bogus war crimes charges.
Mamdani will soon govern the largest population of Jews (1.3 million) outside the State of Israel.
Lord, have mercy.
Meanwhile, national polls continue to show that American young people – including large numbers of young Evangelicals – are turning against Israel.
Tucker, Fuentes, and Mamdani are all seizing upon this trend – and doing their best to fuel it.
It’s a crisis that is growing worse by the day.
WHAT ARE MY TEAMS AND I DOING TO TEACH CHRISTIANS THE TRUTH ABOUT ISRAEL?
That’s precisely why ALL ISRAEL NEWS, The Joshua Fund, and The Rosenberg Report on TBN are working so hard to educate Christians in the U.S., Canada, and around the world to better understand God’s deep love and prophetic plan for Israel and the Jewish people as laid out in the Bible.
That’s why we’re working hard to help all Christians – and particularly young Evangelicals – better understand how to “speak the truth in love” and counter the vicious lies against Israel and those who love Israel that are being pumped into the culture by the so-called “mainstream” media and on social media.
That’s also why Lynn and I and our Joshua Fund colleagues have teamed up with Chad Connelly—founder and CEO of a non-profit Christian organization called “Faith Wins” – to bring delegations of Evangelical pastors and their wives to Israel over the past several years.
We want ministry leaders to see Israel for themselves, study the Bible in the very land where so much of it was written, meet Israeli and Palestinian pastors and ministry leaders, see what God is doing in the Promised Land these days, and learn how they can advance the Great Commission here.
We also want them to feel free and safe to ask their toughest questions and get real, honest, biblical answers.
WHY DID WE BRING A DELEGATION OF EVANGELICAL YOUTH PASTORS TO ISRAEL THIS WEEK?
This week, we co-hosted our third such delegation since 2023.
What made this one unique was that we focused on inviting primarily youth pastors – rather than senior pastors – along with those who teach young Christians at Bible colleges and seminaries.
The leaders who accepted our invitation – together with their wives – hail from churches and Bible colleges in 14 American states and multiple denominations.
It has been an amazing trip, and these are amazing young leaders.
Their questions have been deep, probing, and uninhibited.
Their courage to seek biblical truth has been encouraging.
And their passion to share what they’ve seen and heard here with everyone they can back home—especially young believers – has been inspiring.
This particular delegation arose from a conversation I had with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar over coffee in Tel Aviv in the spring, as we talked about how we could work together to better educate Evangelical young people. I’m deeply grateful for all his help and that of his stellar team at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the days ahead, Lord willing, ALL ISRAEL NEWS will publish a series of reports on the delegation’s meetings and activities, including our very special meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and the First Lady, Michal Herzog.
Today, I want to share with you my conversation with Faith Wins CEO Chad Connelly on the last night of the tour, as we discussed the mission of his group, why he is so determined to bring pastors to Israel, and what touched his group the most.
The following is the transcript of our interview, lightly edited for clarity.
ROSENBERG: Chad Connelly, it is so great to be here, sitting in Jerusalem with you. Talk about why you wanted to bring another delegation. This is your third that Faith Wins has done with The Joshua Fund. Why did you want to bring this one? And what’s the main focus of this particular delegation?
CHAD CONNELLY: Well, first, you're a friend, a hero, and a mentor. I've read everything you've written. I just love your thinking. I think we’re symbiotic in the way we see things and our worldview. And, of course, when we first met at National Religious Broadcasters – I guess, what, five or six years ago now – we had this conversation, and you said something like, “I think you're working with as many pastors in as many states and as many denominations as anyone else I know. Your network is about 20,000 pastors, right?” And I said yes, it’s getting close to 20,000 now. And you said, “You’re talking to a lot of people. What's the feedback that you’re hearing about Israel? Do the pastors in your network truly understand the biblical significance of Israel in modern times? Are pastors interested in and talking about how to bless and encourage Israel and the Jewish people, and fight antisemitism, and invest in the Church in Israel and the Arab world?” And I told you that Israel is always on the minds of pastors. But I think pastors want to know more. And I think there’s too often a disconnect between pastors’ heads and their hearts. They don't always know how to bless Israel or what to tell their people and how to answer their questions. Some know what the Bible says about God’s love and plan for Israel, but some of them have been taught wrong things through their seminaries. So, we started talking about what we might be able to do together to help educate and equip more pastors, answer their questions, and help them become involved in blessing Israel and her neighbors, as Jesus commands us.
ROSENBERG: I remember that conversation well, and that was five or six years ago. That was well before the October 7th war and all that’s happened since. And that was certainly long before Tucker Carlson fired a nuclear missile at Christian Zionism, accusing those of us in the U.S. who understand and believe what the Bible teaches about Israel of being a bunch of “heretics” and accusing us of being infected by a “brain virus.” I mean, suddenly this issue has become DEFCON 4 for many pastors who are thinking, “I don't really know how to explain my biblical view,” or “I don't know how to help my young people understand how to process these attacks and how to respond to all their questions.”
CONNELLY: And this is why I’ve wanted to do these delegations with you and The Joshua Fund, Joel, and why what we’re doing together is so important and so timely. Tucker is not alone in his biblical confusion. He really doesn’t understand what the Bible teaches about Israel in both the Old and New Testaments. Unfortunately, many pastors also aren’t well taught on these matters. Too many seminaries have mistaught them. Too many have taught or promoted replacement theology. And over the years, I’ve kept running into pastors asking, “Why do we support Israel? Why should we support Israel?” And I kept asking them, “Do you think God's covenant promises change? Does God change His mind? Do you really think He’s going to abandon promises that He made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? And don’t you see how blessed America has been by blessing Israel? Don’t you see how connected America is to the Judeo-Christian worldview that came from the laws of Moses? Haven't you walked around our nation’s capital and seen how our nation was so influenced by the biblical story of Israel?”
I don't think Tucker’s confusion is any different from what I've seen in so many pastors. It is an alarming time. It's absolutely an alarming time because somebody’s putting on a full-frontal assault on the Church and on pastors and ministry leaders – especially younger leaders – to get them to abandon biblical Christianity and embrace replacement theology, concluding that America is the new Israel or that the Church is the new Israel and we don't need the original Israel. Thinking like that is dangerous because it’s unbiblical.
ROSENBERG: Have things gotten worse in the Church since October 7th and over these last two years?
CONNELLY: You know, I think it has gotten worse. The anti-Israel protests on the campuses – it’s just scary. It's just scary to realize that so many young people have spent their mom and dad's hard-earned money to go to some college and talk to a left-wing university professor – maybe a leftover hippie from the ’60s who’s been unhappy for 50 years – and is passing on angry, hateful vitriol about Israel. And it really comes down to a hatred for God and God’s chosen people. They don't understand God's history. They don’t understand Israel's history. They don't understand American history. They don’t understand the importance of a strong and vibrant alliance between the U.S. and Israel. And I think it's definitely gotten worse since October 7th – especially among young Christians — because the mainstream media and social media are pumping out so many lies against Israel and the Jewish people, and the Church isn’t doing nearly enough to counter those lies.
ROSENBERG: That’s what makes these delegations so important. And this is the third delegation of Evangelical pastors and their wives that you and I have done over the last several years or so. The first one was in August 2023, just weeks before the October 7th invasion. The second one was earlier this year, in April. And now this one. How did you go about choosing this particular set of pastors? How many American states do these pastors represent? And why did you want to bring both pastors and their wives?
CONNELLY: Great questions and things that we really thought about, talked through, and prayed through together. So, you know, with our organization – Faith Wins – I travel all over, educating and equipping pastors on a wide range of critical issues, and also mobilizing them to get their congregations all registered to vote and make sure their people get out and vote their values. We don’t tell them what candidates or parties to vote for. We just make sure they’re equipped on the biblical issues we care most about and urge them to lead on those issues from their pulpits and in their communities. And Israel is an issue very important to us. So, I did pastors’ meetings in 26 different states last year. I think this year I’ve done 21 different states. I'm really going to those states where I see the most severe attacks on the Christian faith, on religious liberty, on the values we hold dear. Those are the states I look at. And so, I've been to many churches in these states. I've gotten to know them. And I’ve seen the positive impact that our first two delegations have had on strengthening pastors’ understanding of God’s love and plan for Israel. And I told you, “We need to keep doing these trips to Israel. They’re really helping.” And this time you and I agreed that we needed to focus on younger pastors and pastors that teach and influence high school students, college students, and Christians in their 20s. And I asked you, “Hey, can I handpick a group of young pastors that I think can truly be influencers in their congregations, communities, and in their states?” You immediately agreed, and I’m so encouraged by the group that came together. There’s one pastor with us this week who’s got 1,000 youth a week coming to his events. Another pastor with us has a dozen youth pastors that he’s investing in. Others are teaching at Bible colleges and training the next generation of Christian leaders.
As for why it’s so important to invite wives and not just pastors to come to Israel – well, it’s such a richer experience when you get to see the Holy Land as a couple. They’re going to go home talking about it together, remembering it together, and processing it together. They’re going to share their memories with their own kids and the young people they minister to. Dana and I just think that’s so much better than the pastor coming alone. And I know you and Lynn and your team see it the same way.
You know, Joel, I'm just so blessed. I get to work around God's best. I'm from a little tiny town, you know, with one traffic light. And I just love that God lets me work with these amazing couples – with senior pastors and with youth pastors who have a lot of influence. And I’ve found that if their wife is not on board with them on any given issue, then it’s going to be a problem. I've seen this repeated over and over and over. So, we try to invite the husband and the wife. And you know, we also find that negativity about various church issues doesn’t usually come straight to the pastor. A lot of times, the negativity that comes in a church – the person who's being negative – won’t talk to the pastor. They'll go to the wife. Or the wife will pick it up in the hallway, or going out to the car after church, or at lunch after church. I've seen it over and over and over again. So, it’s very important that a pastor’s wife be well-educated and informed about all kinds of issues – especially these days about God’s love for Israel. It’s important that she can answer questions and counterattacks. Plus, she’s going to have a big influence as she raises her own kids and ministers to other wives and moms. So, if she can come to Israel and see it for herself, that is so much better – so much more effective and life-giving.
ROSENBERG: Well, we love that. Lynn and I and our team at The Joshua Fund love building that culture of investing not just into pastors but into couples. So, I totally agree with you on that. What are some of the takeaways that you're hearing from these young pastors and their wives about what really touched them most this week?
CONNELLY: Oh my goodness, there have been so many great moments, high points. I mean, we all loved being on a boat together on the Sea of Galilee, singing praise songs, looking at the same mountains and the same water that Jesus looked at – and where He walked on the water. Meeting Israeli pastors and their wives – both Jewish and Arab – and hearing their stories and seeing what God is doing in and through them. That’s been amazing. And doing a humanitarian relief project with The Joshua Fund staff and a wonderful Messianic congregation near Gaza – that was so special. Coming to Jerusalem. Visiting the Garden Tomb, the Mount of Olives, and praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. These have all been such special times.
But it’s not just the high moments – it’s been the low moments, too. You’ve helped everyone really understand the emotional pain of what Israelis experienced on October 7th and over the past two years of war. These are moments that just drag your heart down – hard – into the depths of what the Israeli people have dealt with since October 7th. It was so important to invite us to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to watch the 49-minute classified film – the compilation of videos of Hamas atrocities against Israelis. To a person, people have told me, “I hated watching it. But I had to watch it. I had to watch that film. I thought I understood what happened that dreadful day, but it turns out I didn’t really understand it. I don't know how I could have come here and not watched that. Thank you for having us see it. We need to bear witness to the horror of that day.” And I agree. Thank you, Joel, for designing this trip to show everyone the biblical history of the country, the modern history, the bitter recent history, and to talk to us about the prophetic future of Israel. There have been so many highs and lows. It’s been an emotional roller coaster.
ROSENBERG: It has been, and I know it hasn’t all been easy, but I’m grateful everyone was willing to watch that film – and to go down to the Gaza border, and walk through communities like Kfar Azza that were savaged on October 7th, and go to the site of the Nova music festival, and meet with actual survivors and hostage families, and hear their terrible yet heroic stories.
CONNELLY: Absolutely – their stories are so moving and so powerful. The lady at the Nova site who survived that attack and hid among bodies – they thought she was dead because of the blood on the back of her head, where a Hamas terrorist had hit her with a rifle butt. She looked like she was dead. That saved her life. And walking through people's homes that were just decimated, where people were brutally murdered – it’s overwhelming.
So, they've been on an emotional roller coaster. But they have loved every minute of it. They wouldn’t trade it for anything. They're going to come back, and I want to encourage them to bring their own groups.
It’s been a phenomenal trip. I mean, you guys are top-notch. Your whole team’s a bunch of pros. Everybody has been fired up – to a person. They've been thanking me the whole week, and it's like one highlight after another.
ROSENBERG: I'm so grateful, Chad. And if all that weren’t enough, we concluded the week – by God's grace – with an invitation from President Herzog and the First Lady to come to the Presidential Residence and sit with them for nearly an hour. That was extraordinary – to be able to introduce the pastors and their wives to President Isaac Herzog and his wife, Michal, and for them to be able to ask their questions and interact with the First Couple. Not everyone coming to Israel gets the opportunity to do that.
CONNELLY: It was just humbling that President Herzog would spend that kind of time with us. He and his wife were so humble. They were so relational. And, you know, he asked us questions. He gave us a lot of time to ask our questions. I think ten different pastors asked a question, and he just answered everything. He was wide open. It was special. Most people have never been in the American White House, much less the Israeli “White House.” And for him to make us feel that we were important to him – I don’t know how to describe that. It's one of the most impressive things that we got to do.
ROSENBERG: Amen. Anything else that especially moved you and the group this week before we wrap up this interview?
CONNELLY: Well, the trip to the church in the South, near Gaza – doing an actual relief project with The Joshua Fund – oh my goodness, that was amazing. Seeing what you guys do, putting the hands and feet of Christ to work. Actually working in a church. Getting to know some of your ministry partners. Putting together care packages for survivors of the Holocaust. That was a big highlight of our trip. And that pastor and his congregation – they’re down in that “Gaza envelope,” as you guys call it – they’ve been so heavily affected by the war. And for you to minister to them in that kind of loving way, it’s just super special. So, every bit of the trip just built up to a crescendo – the Garden Tomb, the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane – just a super time. And then, like you said, to top it off by meeting with the President of Israel, who spent his time asking the group what they think about Israel and answering their questions – that was incredible.
ROSENBERG: It really was. The Lord really blessed this delegation beyond what we had asked Him for. It's an honor to work with you, Chad. Lynn and I are so grateful for you and Dana and the entire Faith Wins team.
CONNELLY: Thank you, Brother Joel. We love working with you and Lynn. We’re so grateful for The Joshua Fund and ALL ISRAEL NEWS. And we’re so grateful for your heart for training and equipping pastors and their wives. Love you, man, so much.
Joel C. Rosenberg is the editor-in-chief of ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS and the President and CEO of Near East Media. A New York Times best-selling author, Middle East analyst, and Evangelical leader, he lives in Jerusalem with his wife and sons.
