Latino Evangelicals Launch Pro-Israel Group In California To Counter Rising Antisemitism

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

ANAHEIM, USA (Worthy News) – Hundreds of evangelical Latinos and their pastors have launched a Zionist non-profit group in California targeting Spanish speakers in the U.S. state and beyond.

La Iglesia a Favor de Israel, or “the church in favor of Israel,” (LAFAl) was established at a noisy event to counter what organizers view as ongoing anti-Israel sentiments.

During a recent founding ceremony “Shofars blasted, Israeli flags flew and Israeli music filled halls of Bethel Church, House of God in [the city of] Anaheim [in] California,” observed the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), covering Jewish and Israeli-related topics.

The brainchild behind LAFAl is Nicaraguan Pastor Marvin Garcia, who has led a Los Angeles church for the past 25 years. In published remarks, he said he responded to “a need to educate Spanish-speaking evangelicals about the importance of supporting the Jewish state.”

He acknowledged that for those who speak English, there is Christians United for Israel. However, “we wanted to reach the 80 percent of those evangelical churches that speak Spanish, do not know of our biblical connection to Israel, and have received negative exposure about Israel in the Spanish media.”

There are currently about 200 Latino evangelicals in southern California, who come from 20 churches, and their 35 Latino pastors who are members of the new group, according to Garcia.

GROUP SEEKS TO COMBAT ANTI-ISRAEL SENTIMENT

The group comes amid broader concern about mounting antisemitism in the United States following often violent anti-Israel protests, including around universities, Worthy News reported. LAFAI also expressed concern about perceived anti-Israel attitudes in the media.

“The vision we have for LAFAl is to provide moral, spiritual, and any other support to Israel and the Jewish people, because we love them and want to show them our solidarity,” Garcia stressed.

Membership in the group is free, but it asks three commitments from members and churches: “to allow us one service to discuss Israel, to attend our conference on Israel and help us gain access to media or social media to express our solidarity with the people of Israel,” Garcia noted.

Ruben Malekan, an Iranian rabbi living in the Los Angeles area, sang a Hebrew song at last month’s founding event and delivered a Spanish-language message thanking attendees for supporting Israel.

“At this difficult time when Israel is facing serious threats to its survival from Islamic terrorists on multiple fronts and antisemitism is on the rise in America, we in the Jewish community need to show our appreciation to our Christian friends, who are standing with us and Israel,” Malekan told JNS.

LONG-STANDING EVANGELICAL TIES WITH ISRAEL

Garcia said his activism on behalf of Israel has spanned decades and includes launching two pro-Israel associations in Nicaragua.

He has also promoted Israel among evangelicals in El Salvador and Guatemala and has led Latino evangelical groups to Israel to reinforce their biblical connection to the Jewish state, he said.

David Edery, who has overseen an informal group of 300 evangelical pastors, Friends of Israel–Amigos de Israel, for more than 30 years, said members of the group have built ties with Israeli officials, nonprofits, and the consulate in Los Angeles.

The group includes “hundreds” of evangelical Zionist churches in Southern California, Hawaii, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, and Arizona, whose members visit Israel annually and raise funds for humanitarian causes there, Edery said.

“We, in the Jewish community, need to step up and embrace our friends in the Latino Christian community, who are the fastest growing population in America and can make a huge difference for Israel in the future,” he added.

LATINO PASTORS VOW TO FIGHT RISING ANTISEMITISM

Richard Escobedo, senior pastor at Word of Faith Center in the Los Angeles area and a member of Friends of Israel, told JNS that Latino churches have long supported Israel and oppose Jew-hatred.

“As Christians, we are mandated by God to stand and support Israel and the Jewish people,” Escobedo said. “It’s vital that we come against the tide of growing Jew-hatred in America, because this hate always starts with the Jews but doesn’t end with the Jews.”

“It’s a demonic evil, and we need to educate the Hispanic church that it should not be tolerated anywhere,” he added.

Escobedo said his congregation gathered last year to honor the victims of the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas against Israel and invited the local Jewish community “to celebrate Israel’s independence and raise funds for Israelis.”

JEWISH COMMUNITY EXPRESSES APPRECIATION

Edery told JNS that cooperation between Latino evangelicals and the local Jewish community has been mutual. He recalled that the previous Israeli consul general in Los Angeles donated computers to youth in Latino churches in 2023 “to show our appreciation to our Christian friends and help lift them up.”

Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center said he welcomed the visible support for Israel amid rising antisemitism nationwide.

“How wonderful it is that there are righteous Christians amongst us, who haven’t abandoned us; to the contrary, they stand tall in solidarity today with the Jewish people,” Cooper said. “God bless these wonderful faith leaders and their congregations, who publicly stand with the truth and with the people of Israel.”

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