Iran wants to dominate the world through Islamist extremism, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned during the Government Press Organization’s seventh annual Christian Media Summit on Thursday.
“Here in Israel, we are fighting a very visible enemy, radical militant Islam,” Bennett warned in a pre-recorded message, delivered to the virtual conference. “The terror that begins in Tehran seeks to destroy Israel, dominate the world, and drive it into a dark abyss.”
Bennett said that people should not kill or spread war and hatred in the name of the God of life, peace and love.
The only place in the Middle East that fully protects Christians is Israel, where the Christian community is “growing, thriving and prospering,” he said. “More than ever, Israel stands united with Christians. We’re brothers and sisters. We are united. We won’t let anyone extinguish our light.”
Bennett thanked Christians for standing up for Israel and the truth.
The theme of this year’s Christian Media Summit was the Abraham Accords, which Bennett called “a new dawn for Israel’s standing in the region.”
The accords increased regional stability and prosperity, he said.
“Just like the doors of Abraham’s tent were open, the doors of Israel are open to a better and brighter future,” the prime minister stated.
Bennett emphasized the importance of Jerusalem to Christians and Jews. “Jerusalem is the beating heart of Israel, and our hearts beat with love for Jerusalem and the State of Israel.”
President Isaac Herzog hailed the Abraham Accords as the consequence of a “culture of tolerance and respect for different religions,” in Israel, the UAE and Bahrain, and their “common conviction that the path to peace and a brighter future lies in cooperation, rather than conflict, in dialogue, in place of distrust.”
Herzog also warned about growing antisemitism and the delegitimization of Israel, while saying Israel can count on its Christian allies “to be our partners in the effort to counter the lies and spread the truth about Israel, as well as being our partners in promoting the spirit of peace of the Abraham Accords.”
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid similarly thanked “millions of Christians [who] proudly stand shoulder to shoulder with us, fighting the wave of antisemitism we see today, wherever it rears its ugly head. Thank you for telling our story, for listening to our story. Thank you for being part of our story.”
Among the speakers at the government-organized media summit was Friends of Zion Heritage Center founder Mike Evans, despite his scathing attack on Bennett earlier this year for forming a government without former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and for arguing that Evangelicals will abandon Israel if Netanyahu is not its leader.
Netanyahu also spoke at the conference.