Tuesday, July 21, 2009

CUFI annual summit - Evangelicals back Israel in Washington

Over 4,000 Christians are gathering in Washington this week to advocate for Israel on Capitol Hill,The fourth annual summit of Christians United for Israel (CUFI) has brought together Christian leaders and supporters of Israel from around the country, starting Monday and continuing through Wednesday.

The Christian Zionist organization cites biblical sources as imperatives for Christians to support and help the Jewish people and the State of Israel. For the first two days of the conference, participants are learning about issues relating to Israel and the Middle East.

Most of the speakers deal with Israel and Judaism. They include Rabbi Aryeh Scheinberg of San Antonio, Texas; Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, founder and president of The Israel Project; Congressman Eric Cantor; Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; Asaf Shariv, consul-general of Israel in New York; and talk radio host Dennis Prager. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will also address the conference via satellite.

While the Obama administration has been promoting a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, CUFI does not want President Barack Obama to ask Israel to make land concessions.