Are More Black Christians Standing With Israel?

Last year, Star Parker and a group of black pastors stood in solidarity to welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who gave a speech before the U.S. Congress. (See the full press conference here.)

The Jewish and Israel News recently published a story about black Christians going on pilgrimages to Israel:

“Over the course of the last year, there have been a rising number of delegations of black Christians, particularly clergy members, making pilgrimages to Israel. These groups are increasingly coming from traditional black churches in America. More than 20 high-ranking ministers from the Church of God in Christ (COGIC)—the largest black Pentecostal denomination and fourth-largest Protestant group in America, with 12,000 member churches—made headlines when they went on the first COGIC-affiliated trip to Israel in August 2015. The tour was led by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (The Fellowship).  
…
“In a show of solidarity with the Israeli government, a group of prominent black clergy members last year publicly denounced the decision by the Congressional Black Caucus to boycott Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress about the Iranian nuclear threat.

“While the incident ostensibly involved political disagreement rather than a racial dispute–over former House Speaker John Boehner’s not having consulted President Barack Obama before inviting Netanyahu–the public discourse about the prime minister’s speech took on racial overtones, in part because of the Black Caucus’s decision to boycott the speech. At a press conference organized by Star Parker, president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education think tank, the black clergy members made clear that the Black Caucus does not represent all black Christians and that they stand with Israel.”