Some 3,000 people turned out for the kickoff event in Israel of conservative American talk-show host Glenn Beck’s four-day rally.
Beck professed his support for Israel and the Jewish people at the event at the ancient Roman amphitheater in Caesarea on Sunday night. He was joined on stage by historian David Barton, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin of Efrat in the West Bank, author Mike Evans, and Pastor John Hagee, the evangelical pastor at the helm of Christians United for Israel.
“We are not alone,” Riskin said in Caesarea. “We are Jews and not Christians; you Christians, nevertheless, have the courage to love us in our otherness. We are profoundly grateful for your courage to love us and stand with us.”
Beck said, “There’s an important distinction of saying I love Israel, I defend Israel, and not separating that from the Jewish people. Make sure to say not that we only love Israel, but we love the Jewish people as they are.”
Some 2,000 Christians, mostly American, accompanied Beck to Israel for the event.
The main program of the four-day rally, called Restoring Courage, is to come Wednesday night at the Davidson Center in Jerusalem. The event, with space for 2,000 people, is sold out. Beck originally had wanted to hold the event on the Temple Mount.
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