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Christian pastors, influencers join 1,000-strong Israel mission backing Jewish state, fighting antisemitism

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Christian pastors, influencers join 1,000-strong Israel mission backing Jewish state, fighting antisemitism

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A delegation of 1,000 U.S. Christian pastors and influencers — the largest group of American Christian leaders to visit Israel since its founding — arrived last Tuesday as part of a Friends of Zion initiative.

The trip, organized in partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is designed to provide training and prepare participants to serve as unofficial ambassadors for Israel in their communities.

Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem and a confidant of President Donald Trump, said most Evangelical bible believers are Zionists, making them a key ally in efforts to counter antisemitism.

MIKE JOHNSON: US-ISRAEL ALLIANCE ‘REALLY IMPORTANT’ FOR MULTIPLE REASONS, ANTISEMITISM SHOULD BE ‘CALLED OUT’

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The largest delegation of evangelical Christian pastors and influencers ever brought to Israel meets with former Hamas captives at the site of the Supernova music festival on Wednesday as part of the Friends of Zion Ambassador Program. (Shlomi Amsalem)

“These devils that hate Jews hate Christians just as much. What is being said against the State of Israel is one hundred times worse than what the Nazis said on their party platform in 1920, and everyone is ignoring it. They don’t realize how dangerous this is,” Evans told Fox News Digital.

“The new wars of the 21st century are media wars, ideological wars, economic wars and proxy wars. And while Israel has never fought an ideological war, its enemies have,” he added.

Evans said members of the visiting delegation were vetted to ensure no hidden agendas and signed a pledge committing to stand in solidarity with the Jewish people. “We had over 2,000 apply; we chose those best suited for this first trip. These 1,000 pastors represent tens of millions of Americans and have major media and social media influence,” he said.

The initiative was approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Evans has known for 45 years.

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Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem, meets with former Hamas hostage Edan Alexander. (Shlomi Amsalem)

“When we were on Mount Herzl, one widow was there sharing her story. Her daughter no longer has a daddy. Thinking that my little girl might not have her dad broke my heart. I connected on a deep personal level,” Tamryn Foley, a member of the National Faith Advisory Board’s executive team, told Fox News Digital.

The board is the largest coalition backing and advocating for people of faith, led by Pastor Paula White-Cain. Its mission is built on four pillars — protecting religious freedom, promoting a strong America, defending life at all stages and honoring family values — and it identifies the U.S.-Israel alliance as central to that agenda.

“I stand with Israel very strongly, and so does the group of pastors I work with. I don’t think we realized how big this event would be. We wanted to show support, and since we’ve been here, it’s been so much more than we thought,” said Foley, who lives in Florida.

“I am going back home with a fire to make sure young people in my country know the truth. It’s one thing to understand something intellectually, and another to come here, meet people who have been affected, and connect with them on a heart level,” she continued.

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MIKE PENCE: NO PLACE FOR ANTISEMITISM IN AMERICA TODAY, TOMORROW OR EVER

“There is so much negative propaganda in our country. It’s loud, and we need to do a better job of educating young people. They’re capable of seeing through the nonsense and lies — I don’t think we give them enough credit. We need to present them with the truth and plant the seed for lifelong support for Israel,” Foley said.

One objective of the training, he explained, is to reach young people — claiming countries like Qatar have turned against Israel by investing millions of dollars to spread antisemitic content through universities and digital platforms.

Evans said the Muslim Brotherhood, for example, has waged ideological warfare, describing it as a “powerful demon because it doesn’t clear customs, and you can’t kill it with a bullet.

“More than half of the Palestinian population embraces Hamas’s ideology of radical Islam,” he claimed, “which isn’t based on land for peace but on establishing an Islamic state and eradicating the Jewish state.”

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Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem, meets with former Hamas hostages Keith and Aviva Siegel. (Shlomi Amsalem)

AMERICAN-ISRAELI HELD HOSTAGE IN GAZA FOR OVER 580 DAYS SENDS MESSAGE TO HAMAS: ‘I’LL GIVE YOU HELL’

Evans noted that the Evangelical movement, representing 9.7% of the global population, has significantly influenced U.S. foreign policy through its belief that the biblical land belongs to the Jewish people.

“The president loves us and knows how we feel about Israel,” he said. “We believe the president respects us and that we have his confidence and ear. We would not have had the hostages back without him. He will stand with us and will not cave in to Jew-haters’ intentions regarding Judea and Samaria or a Palestinian state. He will try everything he can to help Israel,” Evans added.

On Wednesday, the delegation met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and visited the site of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre at the Supernova music festival, accompanied by former hostages Emily Damari, Tal Shoham, Moran Stella Yanai, and Aviva and Keith Siegel, who received the “Here Am I” Award for their advocacy work.

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The largest delegation of evangelical Christian pastors and influencers ever brought to Israel tours the site of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre at the Supernova music festival on Wednesday. (Shlomi Amsalem)

“We are seeking to unify — and demonstrate that unity — between evangelical Christian leaders in America, Israel and the Jewish people, and to counter any perception that this community is divided on the issue, because it is not,” Pastor Mike Atkins, a member of the delegation, told Fox News Digital.

“The antisemitism that erupted had long been simmering beneath the surface on university campuses and in major European cities. This is an open stand against the lies, and a declaration of our commitment to truth,” he said.

Atkins explained that the delegation has been exposed “at the highest levels” to firsthand insights — visiting the site of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, listening to victims, and seeing the realities on the ground in Israel. Delegates, he said, have also received extensive information through symposium speakers on how to combat antisemitic deception and will continue to do so as they coalesce into a coalition.

“To the youth, I say: join the movement. Commit to never again allowing the poisonous deception of antisemitism to penetrate our culture. Take a stand, speak up, and do not remain silent,” he said.

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“The best medicine for Jewish Derangement Syndrome, an acute form of bigotry and antisemitism, is for people to come to Israel and see and hear for themselves. These American spiritual leaders are committed to using their pulpits and influence to provide truth,” Huckabee told Fox News Digital.

“Truth is the best antibiotic to combat the conspiracy theories and falsehoods said about the United States, its partnership with Israel and the Jewish people,” he added.

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Video: Fire Breaks Out Near Glasgow Central Station

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Video: Fire Breaks Out Near Glasgow Central Station

new video loaded: Fire Breaks Out Near Glasgow Central Station

Firefighters brought a blaze under control after it consumed a building on the same street as Scotland’s busiest station. It forced train service to close, the authorities said.

By Jiawei Wang

March 9, 2026

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Private security firm helping Americans evacuate the Middle East amid war with Iran

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Private security firm helping Americans evacuate the Middle East amid war with Iran

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As Americans are stranded in the Middle East amid the U.S. and Israel war with Iran, government and private agencies are working around the clock to conduct evacuations.

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In addition to the U.S. Department of State’s 24/7 task force aimed at evacuating Americans, private security firm Global Guardian is also working around the clock to complete the same mission.

As of Friday, Global Guardian has evacuated more than 4,000 people from the Middle East, according to its CEO and President, Dale Robert Buckner.

While operations and logistics teams sit in an office building in northern Virginia, the firm has personnel in more than 140 countries, allowing Global Guardian access to nearly every corner of the world for emergency response or evacuations.

Global Guardian receiving calls for evacuations in the Middle East.

“We provide medical evac services, we provide kidnap, ransom, extortion negotiation payment if someone is kidnapped or extorted,” Buckner said. “We’re providing about 300 missions a month of executive protection travel, in about 84 countries a month.”

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The private security firm also conducts camera surveillance of residences and commercial property and has cyber analysts monitoring mobile devices. 

After the U.S. and Israel struck Iran in a joint attack last weekend, the firm has been coordinating multiple emergency response evacuations — but this isn’t the first time it has assisted Americans out of a crisis zone.

“That means getting people out of Puerto Vallarta a week ago, and Jalisco, Mexico. That means getting people out of Asheville, North Carolina when it got wiped out by a hurricane,” Buckner said. 

STATE DEPARTMENT GIVES UPDATES ON AMERICANS FLEEING MIDDLE EAST

Logistically, getting tourists out of a war zone and back to safety is a process, but the firm works fast, completing their first border crossing within the first six hours of the missile strikes.

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Immediately, the firm received a call from a pair of students studying abroad, Deputy Vice President of Operations Colin O’Brien told Fox News. He said they were trying to leave Dubai.

“Within about four and a half hours from the phone call, we had our teams in motion to go pick these people up and it was two college-aged women,” said O’Brien.

Global Guardian security firm is working around the clock to execute emergency evacuations in the Middle East.

“Put them in the car, we were then able to move from the Omani border and by eight hours we were at the border. Work through the border checkpoint to a hotel in Muscat, where we could stop and give them a short rest while we arrange their transportation home,” he says. 

The group said it remains active year-round to ensure evacuation plans are in place before disasters strike.

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“There’s a narrative of, here’s the pickup point, here’s the key crossing site,” Buckner said. “This is what you’re gonna need from a paperwork standpoint, legally. And then we’re gonna put you in a hotel or straight onto a commercial flight. Most likely, at this point in the war, we’re gonna put you on a private charter.”

WHAT’S NEXT IN OPERATION EPIC FURY

Buckner said most of these missions happening in the region are ground movement, done by locals. He says in the 140 countries the firm is in, they have ground teams working year-round. Consistently training year-round. 

“We’re communicating, we’re coordinating, we’re executing. Executive protection agents, armed agents, armed vehicles, large-scale event support with medical and security personnel,” he said, describing the firm’s standard operating capabilities.

“We’re coordinating whether the firm needs drivers. From Dubai to Oman, Israel to either Oman, Jordan or Egypt. Out of Bahrain into Saudi Arabia,” Buckner said.

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While the firm is coordinating with the State Department, it said it has not yet conducted a flight mission on behalf of the department.

Security firm analysts create plans to evacuate Americans.

Global Guardian offers these services through what it calls a “Duty of Care Membership,” which Buckner said costs $15,000 per year for a family of five.

“You are going to sign a contract — whether it’s a family, a family office or typically a large corporate logo. Then we become, at your beck and call,” Buckner said, describing the emergency response services included in the agreement.

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For Americans currently stuck in the Middle East, Buckner said the cost of evacuation using ground and air resources varies depending on the situation and location.

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Hungary's opposition leader Péter Magyar calls on Russia to refrain from election interference

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