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US, Guatemalan Jerusalem Embassy Moves a Victory for ‘Faith-based Diplomacy’

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The moving of the US and Guatemalan embassies to Jerusalem this week was the “greatest victory” ever for “faith-based diplomacy,” a leading advocate told CBN News.

The Israeli Knesset Christian Allies Caucus (KCAC) honored the US and Guatemala in a session at the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) on Wednesday for moving their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Speaker after speaker credited Evangelical Christians and God, Himself, for accomplishing the move.  But they said the fight is far from finished.

“This week was the greatest victory in the history of faith-based diplomacy,” said Israeli Josh Reinstein, director of the KCAC.

“We knew that for dozens and dozens of years there were millions and hundreds of millions of Christians praying for the peace of Jerusalem and the recognition of the capital of Israel, but this week those prayers were answered,” Reinstein told CBN News.

The US made history when it moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on Monday, becoming the first nation to do so. 

Two days later, Guatemala became the second country to move its embassy to the city that Israel has considered its capital since its founding 70 years ago. The connection of the Jewish to Jerusalem goes back 3,000 years.

“We’re standing in a miracle, literally standing in a miracle,” said Daniel Williams, Executive Director of the Israel Allies Foundation (IAF). IAF partners with KCAC and works with Congress and parliaments worldwide “to mobilize political support for Israel based on Judeo-Christian values,” its website said. 

“Some of you have been praying your entire life but we’re also standing in the middle of millions of prayers that have been prayed around the world for centuries, that this moment would arrive, that the world would begin to realize that this is the capital of the nation of Israel and the homeland of the Jewish people,” Williams said. 

“The fight is not over. The battle is not over. This is a moment for us to breathe deeply, miraculous air.  We’ll forget pretty quickly because we go right back into the fight and yet something really tremendous is happening.  It’s time to take a little bit of a victory lap this morning and say thanks be to God for this very moment,” he added.

Former US presidential candidate Michele Bachmann spoke about her experience on Monday at the ceremony to dedicate the US Embassy in Jerusalem.

“I feel like am in a room filled with heroes,” Bachmann said.

“It struck me that the incredible work that every single person in that audience had done.  It was a situation where everyone was a part of the reason why the embassy opened and no one could take the credit for it because this was something that occurred so miraculous that it was clearly coming from the right arm of a sovereign God to make this happen,” Bachmann said.

Also present at the event was the Guatemalan delegation, including the country’s President Jimmy Morales, interviewed by CBN News on Sunday.

Israeli Knesset members (MKs) also took time out of their schedules to honor the Christians and celebrate with them the move of the US and Guatemalan embassies to Jerusalem.

“What we’ve seen in the past few weeks, ever since the leaders of North Korea and South Korea met, ever since the Iranian deal was cancelled and the exclamation saying there’s no compromise with evil and ever since the United States Embassy moved to Jerusalem, you know what’s shocking in the Israeli secular press?” asked MK Yehuda Glick, who is a religiously observant Jews.  “They can’t get over one thing.  Why are you mentioning God so many times?”

“By denying our connection to Jerusalem, actually it’s also the denial of Christianity,” said MK Anat Berko.

“What happened in Jerusalem this week, I’m going to paraphrase John Hagee, will echo in the halls of Damascus (Syria); it will reverberate in the streets of Tehran and not just on a religious level” said government minister Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the US. 

In the world of diplomacy and policy “the most important quality that a country and a leader can have is credibility. When the President of the United States draws a red line and someone flagrantly crosses that red line and the president remains inactive, countries take notice.”

“This is history in the making, not just history for a moment but history that is and will continue to change the world forever,” Pastor Larry Huch, told CBN News. “This is the fulfillment of bible prophecy and we all know that.”

Alan Clemmons is a representative in South Carolina’s House of Representatives.  He has worked to pass legislation that prevents the state government from working with organizations, corporations or companies that participate in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel.

“This week was a win for Israel and the supporters of Israel,” Clemmons said. “But it’s not the last battle in the world’s war against Israel,” he said. 

“Though we are celebrating and jubilant, we must continue to be vigilant.  We must continue to work to break down the barriers of misunderstanding in the world so that people come to understand truth as it regards Israel,” he added.

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About The Author

Julie Stahl
Julie
Stahl

Julie Stahl is a correspondent for CBN News in the Middle East. A Hebrew speaker, she has been covering news in Israel full-time for more than 20 years. Julie’s life as a journalist has been intertwined with CBN – first as a graduate student in Journalism, then as a journalist with Middle East Television (METV) when it was owned by CBN from 1989-91, and now with the Middle East Bureau of CBN News in Jerusalem since 2009. As a correspondent for CBN News, Julie has covered Israel’s wars with Gaza, rocket attacks on Israeli communities, stories on the Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria, and the