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A handful of politically active Christian Zionists are protesting Israel's withdrawal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip, due to start in August. Protestors may even enter Gaza itself to stand literally shoulder to shoulder with those settlers willing to defy the pullout.

But Malcolm Hedding won't be with them. Hedding, executive director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, a leading Christian Zionist group, remains neutral on "political" issues such as the Gaza withdrawal.

Hedding told CT that his organization's position is that the nation of Israel will inherit all the land God promised the Jews "when the Messiah comes [again]. Not before."

"It would be chutzpah for evangelical Christians—as we are—to tell where, or how, or when [Israel] should designate her borders. It's a matter of the timing of the kingdom."

Israel's withdrawal of Jewish settlers reveals a fault line running through Christian Zionism. Hedding, a South African, says ICEJ supports "biblical Zionism," which does not take sides on partisan political issues in modern-day Israel as other groups do.

"We can't be more interested in land recovery than in spiritual restoration," Hedding says. "That would put you in a position of a political Christian Zionist, and there are enough of those around."

Some Zionists, both Jewish and Christian, deeply oppose Israel ceding any land to the Palestinian Authority. Gershom Gorenberg, Jerusalem-based journalist, author, and Orthodox Jew, told CT that "99.9 percent" of Israeli Jews identify themselves as Zionists, and yet the Gaza pullout still has widespread public support.

"If a thousand [Christian Zionist protestors] were to show up," Gorenberg said, "the reaction in the Israeli public would be intensely negative." He said the pullout is not likely to prompt massive violence. But he noted, "Could somebody on the edges go over the top? Yeah."

Copyright © 2005 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Love in the Land of Enmity | The local joke is that Gaza is hell. But that doesn't seem to deter ministry there.

INSIDE CT
Reporting Eye to Eye | The Holy Land has always been treacherous.

CT interviewed Brother Andrew about his work in Israel and Palestine.

Deann's previous coverage from the Holy Land includes:

Burning Out the Faithful | Druze attack Christians in 'pogrom.' (April 21, 2005)

How Free Are We? | One year later, Christian leaders examine the International Religious Freedom Act. (March 6, 2000)

Our past coverage of Israel and Palestine includes:

Evangelical Collective | New association seeks more rights in Israel. (May 16, 2005)

Burning Out the Faithful | Druze attack Christians in 'pogrom.' (April 21, 2005)

The Risks of Regime Change | Middle Eastern Christians might end up more repressed under democracy than under dictators. (March 18, 2005)

Gatecrashing for Jesus | Brother Andrew discusses ministry in the Middle East. (Jan. 31, 2005)

Spitting on God's Image | Christians complain of assaults in Old City. (Nov. 03, 2004)

O Jailed Town of Bethlehem | How eerily still we see thee lie. (May 11, 2004)

Uneasy Unity | Christians take different paths as "road map" hits impasse. (Sept. 11, 2003)

West, Meet East | Who Are the Christians in the Middle East? examines millions of forgotten believers. (Sept. 11, 2003)

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July 2005, Vol. 49, No. 7