Poll: Evangelicals see End Times as near, but support for Israel goes beyond prophecy

A majority of evangelicals believe they are living in or near the End Times, according to a new survey that gauged views on a range of Middle East issues.

It also found that evangelical support for Israel remains strong, driven by a variety of factors.

The survey, conducted for Chosen People Ministries by SurveyUSA, found that 60% of evangelicals strongly agree the world is currently in or near the End Times, while 23% somewhat agree and 10% are unsure.

For the purposes of the study, evangelicals were defined using the National Association of Evangelicals/Lifeway Research framework, which classifies someone as evangelical if they strongly affirm four core statements – including that “Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my sin.”

Most evangelicals say they ground their support for Israel more in present-day concern than in prophecy – with roughly two-thirds (67.3%) saying their support stems from “caring about the Jewish people today, not from beliefs about the end times.” Nearly 4 in 10 (39%) strongly agree with that statement.

An overwhelming majority of evangelicals (83.7%) agree that “Christian support for Israel can be grounded in concern for the dignity and rights of all people in the Holy Land.” A similarly large share (87.1%) also agree that “Christians should love and support Jewish people whether or not they accept Jesus as Messiah.”

Still, theology continues to shape those views.

About half of evangelicals (49.5%) say they believe the modern state of Israel represents the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, with another 25% saying they somewhat agree. Meanwhile, nearly 7 in 10 (68.8%) say they believe “God’s covenant with the Jewish people remains intact today.”

“Taken together,” a Chosen People Ministries analysis said, “these findings underscore that …. evangelicals’ support for Israel is not merely eschatological or instrumental but is deeply intertwined with inclusive moral commitments to Jewish dignity, the legitimization of Judaism as an independent religion, and unconditional concern for Jewish well-being in the present.”

The survey also found that among evangelicals:

• 56% say Israel was “completely justified” in responding militarily to the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, while 19% say it was partially justified.
• 45% say Israel’s military actions following the Oct. 7 attack were fully appropriate, while 23% say they were “mostly appropriate” but at times “excessive.”
• 59% say they support Israel in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, while 16% don’t know and 16% back neither.

The results were based on interviews with 3,806 evangelicals and mainline Protestants and conducted in December.