Adam Milstein: Embrace the Support of Faith-Based Communities

Not long after a huge victory in the 2024 presidential election, president-elect Donald Trump selected former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee to serve as U.S. ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is well known as a staunch Evangelical Christian, a marked departure from Trump’s previous pick in his first term, David Friedman. Friedman is Jewish, as are most U.S. ambassadors to Israel who served under Obama and Biden, such as Daniel Shapiro, Thomas Nides and Jack Lew.

The choice of Huckabee is therefore a telling one. The Evangelical Christian community is highly supportive of Israel for its own theological reasons. Namely, they believe Jews must have their own state in the Holy Land of the Bible in order for the second coming of Christ to occur. Many Jews and Israelis have pragmatically accepted the support of Christian Zionists while others feel this kind of support, and specifically Huckabee’s avowed endorsement of Israelis’ right to permanently settle in Judea and Samaria, is dangerous for Israel.

Regardless of one’s thoughts on Evangelical support of Israel, Trump’s selection of Huckabee over a Jewish diplomat shows how open the new administration will be to a faith-based vision of the region from a Christian perspective. To successful venture philanthropist Adam Milstein, this could be a positive development for Israel. In a recent article for The Jerusalem Post, Milstein urged the Jewish community to be pragmatic and embrace the new Trump administration for the positive gains it could provide Israel, and Huckabee could well prove a boon to Israel’s goals.

Milstein is the co-founder of the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation, a charitable organization that supports a network of nonprofits that work to strengthen American values, support the U.S.-Israel alliance and combat hatred and bigotry in all forms. The Milstein Family Foundation works with organizations like Christians United for Israel, a leading Christian grassroots movement that supports Israel’s right to exist, and Israel Christian Nexus, which brings Jews and Christians together in support of Israel.

Milstein argues that over the last several decades, “the Jewish community focused political capital almost exclusively on the American left, often rejecting overtures from the right,” where much of the Christian support for Israel comes from. Indeed, a large majority of Jewish Americans voted for Kamala Harris in the presidential election. But in New York, a Fox News exit poll showed only a slight majority of Jews, 56%, voted for Harris while 43% voted for Trump. This may point either to a warmer embrace of Republican policies toward Israel or a turning away from the anti-Zionist and antisemitic creep within the Democratic Party. Milstein has been outspoken on the dangers of left-wing, ideologically-driven frameworks like Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Critical Race Theory (CRT), and intersectionality on Jews as well as on other faith-based communities.

In a March 2023 article in The Jerusalem Post, long before progressives took to the streets in support of Hamas following the October 7th attacks, Milstein explained why these ideologies are such a threat. While the ideas behind frameworks like intersectionality and CRT, such as raising up oppressed peoples, are positive in theory, in practice they “[erode] the core principles that make our country exceptional, such as America’s commitment to individual rights and equality, rule of law, tolerance, pluralism, due process, freedom of speech, and free-market capitalism.” This is because these frameworks classify people based on race and identity groups, promoting an “us” versus “them” mentality that “puts ‘victimhood’ at the center” of politics.

Milstein feels that the greatest targets of CRT are faith-based communities — Jews, Christians, and all those “whose values fall outside the CRT framework.” CRT effectively brands all of Christianity and all of Judaism as “oppressive institutions that need to be radically remade if not dismantled” because of purported wrongs committed against so-called oppressed peoples. It paints religious groups as monoliths and does not leave room for a nuanced picture of diverse and complex religious communities that are often social justice-driven.

CRT also aims to dismantle America’s meritocracy which would disproportionately harm Jews, many of whom have historically found success because of hard work and good grades. Milstein presents the example of California’s ethnic studies curriculum, heavily shaped by leftists who subscribe to DEI, CRT and intersectionality. “Jews and Asians, although minorities and regardless of their individual achievements and life circumstances, are considered ‘white adjacent'” within this curriculum, and therefore are “beneficiaries of the white power structure and contribute to the oppression of people of color.” Milstein argues that this “disallows merit” and ignores the complexity of American society, causing bigotry and ignorance.

When the left wing of a major political party deems Americans who prioritize traditional religious values as promoters of white supremacy, it’s no wonder that party bleeds support. The institutionalization of this kind of bigotry through school curriculums goes hand in hand with the rabid demonization of Israel within the Democratic party following the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Therefore Milstein’s argument that Jewish Americans should be willing to “engage with a broad spectrum of political thought” and “[work] collaboratively with any leader who supports the Jewish people” cannot be ignored.

Prospective U.S. ambassador Mike Huckabee may hold views that are distasteful to many progressive or liberal-minded Jewish Americans. But with a Democratic party that so often fails to disavow the antisemitism festering on its left wing, Christian Zionism may be a vital source of support for the American Jewish community’s and Israel’s future.