Page - 136 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 06/01

Jerusalem became a singular focus for Zionists after 1967, when, after Israel’s victory in the Six Day War, the previously marginal group of religious Zionists gained more power in Israeli politics, accompanying a shift to the right. The nationalis- tic-messianic wave within Israel saw the influence of the religious Zionists increase greatly, along with the Settler movement, and become more mainstream. Drawing on their religious-messianic interpretation of events, which saw Israel’s remarka- ble victory as the direct intervention of God, the religious Zionists superelevated the State of Israel, strongly emphasizing Jewish particularism and their natural and unique claim to the land of Israel.27 Since 1967 the fusion of Jewish elements and Zionism has created a distinct religious-national ethos. Israeli Judaism turned from the religion of a nation to a national religion.28 To legitimize that process, the Zion- ists sought a construct of Jerusalem that merged religious conceptualizations of the heavenly Jerusalem with the earthly city. The US, its Evangelical Christians and Jerusalem If a line has to be drawn, then let it be drawn around both of us – Christians and Jews, Americans and Israelis. We are one. We are united. And we will not be dis- couraged, and we will not be defeated. In the end, when the last battle has been fought, the flag of Israel will still be flying over the ancient walls of Jerusalem. Israel will prevail. – Pastor John Hagee29 In Lindsey’s30 framework, Israel will have the misfortune of hosting the battle of Armageddon, with all its attendant destruction, but Jews can take heart in the knowledge that, if they survive, they will be saved by converting to Christianity. –Paul Miller31 Evangelical Christians and their conceptualizations of Jerusalem played an impor- tant role in the opening ceremony for the US embassy. Protestantism has had a centuries-long influence on US politics, and today Evangelical Christians are at the forefront of that symbiosis.32 In the 1980s and 1990s, aided by the rise of neo-con- servatism, Evangelical Christians developed into a powerful lobby group with a de- 27 Hellinger 2008, 534–535; Mayer 2008, 240; Baumgart-Ochse 2010, 34–36; Reiter 2013, 116. 28 Javadikouchaksaraei 2017, 43. 29 Pastor John Hagee, cited in Durbin 2013, 325. 30 Hal Lindsey is an American Christian writer and conservative commentator who – in his books as well as in his television show – offers an interpretation of “global developments through the theological framework of dispensationalism” (Miller 2014, 12). 31 Miller 2014, 13. 32 Newman 2007, 583–585. Jerusalem between Political Interests and Religious Promise | 135www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/1, 127–151