It's the Judaism, Not the Zionism

(Law enforcement remain on site at the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, a Detroit suburb, on March 12, 2026, after an assailant drove a vehicle into the building and opened fire. Image credit: Jeff Kowalsky //AFP via Getty Images)

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Yesterday, an antisemitic terrorist rammed his truck through the front entrance of a synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan. He got out and exchanged gunfire with security guards before finally shooting himself in the head.

Thankfully, no one else was killed. One of the guards—the director of security for the synagogue—was severely injured but survived. He’s a hero. He and his team saved many lives. This is why synagogues have security teams. Because they’re constantly targeted by antisemites.

It was quickly revealed that the terrorist had two brothers who were killed by an Israeli drone strike last week in Lebanon, along with their children. It was further revealed that they may have been connected with the antisemitic political party and terrorist group Hezbollah.

Predictably, much of the online conversation in the wake of this attack focused on very curious reasoning for why the synagogue was targeted:

"The synagogue was attacked because it supports the State of Israel. Blame Netanyahu. Blame Israel. Jewish people are unsafe and constantly targeted because Zionism is evil and the Zionist state is murdering innocents. Zionism makes Jewish people unsafe. This wasn’t antisemitism.”

Okay, timeout. Let's think through this logically.

Because what you're telling me is that any place of worship, any building, any gathering of people is vulnerable to political violence if they publicly and loudly support Israel's existence.

If they fly the flag of Israel. If they support the existence of Israel. If they are outwardly Zionist.

You're claiming it's not about a Jewish building or Jewish gathering. It's Israel. It's Zionism.

I'll tell you why I find that line of thinking pretty ridiculous.

Many years ago, I used to attend evangelical churches. Most of my friends were evangelicals. I attended Bible study groups with evangelicals. I was immersed in evangelical culture.

One of the things you need to understand about evangelicals—specifically white evangelicals—is that most of them are obsessed to a certain and unhealthy degree with Israel.

Not all but definitely most. Evangelicals are more obsessed with Israel than the queer community is in love with Lady Gaga.

The primary reason for their obsession is that they believe Israel is central to a prophetic timeline for Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ, which will be ushered in by a period of great tribulation (violence and destruction) followed by a thousand-year reign of peace.

As part of their interpretation, the climactic final battle won by Christ will be centered in Israel and a "Jewish remnant" will convert to Christianity, and with that, God's promise to the Jewish people will be fulfilled.

To be crystal clear, they believe that Jewish people who do not convert will go to hell (along with all other non-believers). In fact, some evangelical interpretations guarantee that some Jewish people will refuse to accept Christ and will go to hell, regardless of their commitment to God and connection to Israel.

This is known as Christian dispensationalism. It’s a relatively newer theological framework as it was only systematized in the mid-1800s. Most Christians are not dispensationalists. I would get into all that here, but it’s besides the main point.

The reason evangelicals overwhelmingly support Netanyahu is because he has actively courted the support of dispensationalist Christian Zionists. Most believe that war in the Middle East is not only inevitable but necessary for the Second Coming of Christ, and Netanyahu has been quite accommodating of their outlook.

(Quite note: there are some Christians who are Zionists but not dispensationalists.)

The Trump administration is being run by dispensationalist Christian Zionists. The War in Iran is strongly motivated, in part, by the beliefs of these people. They’ve openly said as much — that this is a “holy war.”

Now, you might be wondering: why would Netanyahu and many other Israeli Jewish folks like him enthusiastically forge an alliance with a religious movement who buy into such rank, unabashed antisemitism and believe those who reject the belief of Christ as Messiah are going to hell?

Great question! And to that I say: why wouldn't they?

That's a fantastic deal for Netanyahu. Think about it.

"So, let me get this straight: you're telling me that you'll be unwaveringly committed to the security of Israel against all the people who want to kill us and you'll support us with your own military and you'll never abandon us, and all we have to do is tolerate your weirdo obsession with the Book of Revelation and transactional antisemitism but you won't require us to believe any of it as a condition for that support?

I think Netanyahu is horrible, but if I were him, with his particular mindset, I would take that deal in a heartbeat.

You mean you'll help me and my family not be viciously murdered by sociopathic antisemites as long as I smile and nod when you talk about your relatively friendly antisemitism? Sign. Me. Up.

This doesn't represent everyone. Not all evangelicals are into this. Many Israelis and Zionists find it completely repugnant. None of these communities are monoliths.

But you don't need monoliths when you have specific people in power with huge bases of support who find purchase in this bizarre and disturbing dynamic.

Going back to evangelicals, most are quite upfront about their belief that the security of Israel and war in the Middle East are necessary for the Second Coming of Christ. The Republican Party is dominated by such evangelicals and their enablers. The GOP is the home of dispensationalist Christian Zionism.

We all know this on some level because it's a big part of their branding and rhetoric. They openly tell the rest of us of in the United States that Israel's existence and security are one of their top priorities. Not simply one of many policy stances but one of their top policy stances.

To be clear, I also the support the existence and security of Israel, but that has nothing to do with dispensationalism even though I am a Christian. I simply recognize that violent antisemitism is a global scourge and Jewish people aren't truly safe anywhere in the world and Israel is specifically the target of monsters who want to kill Jewish people solely because of their existence.

For most evangelicals, their top motivation here isn't all that. They just primarily see Israel and Jewish people as the necessary vehicle for their bizarre and hateful theological framework.

Now, I say all that in order to ask you this: why aren't evangelical churches in America violently attacked by those who oppose Zionism as evil?

Why do these terrorists violently target synagogues and not evangelical churches in the United States? Why do they violently target Jewish gatherings and not evangelical gatherings in the United States? Why do they violently target Jewish organizations and not evangelical organizations (and enabling organizations) in the United States?

Why do they murder Jewish people but not Christian Zionists?

They shouldn't be violently targeting anyone, of course. All political violence is wrong. I will fully side with a non-violent person who diametrically opposes me politically every time before I'll side with someone who agrees with me but wields political violence.

But you'll notice that these horrific acts of terrorism very, very, very rarely happen to Christian Zionists.

Because it's not the Zionism. It's the Judaism.

We're not seeing Jewish people continue to be violently attacked out of a motivation against Zionism. We're seeing Jewish people violently attacked because they're Jewish.

We can have good faith conversations on Israel, Gaza, Zionism, etc.

We can share criticisms of the Israeli government.

But at the end of the day, if you're opting to explain away violent attacks on Jewish people as an unfortunate but understandable by-product of the larger political environment instead of the specific agency of the attacker and their antisemitism, you might be antisemitic yourself.

Maybe this is a good moment to sit with that and reflect on it.

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