For at least three decades, American presidents have resisted Israeli calls to wage war against Iran. Donald Trump might be the first to give in.

Trump appears to be on the verge of relenting to pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to join the war that Israel launched on June 13. Whether Trump is prepared to authorize an American strike on Iranian nuclear facilities or go all in on a wider campaign to try to overthrow the government of the Islamic Republic is anyone’s guess.

His abrupt call for 10 million-plus civilian residents of Tehran to evacuate their homes and his threat to kill Ayatollah Ali Khamenei suggest that he is leading the US into yet another disastrous war in the Middle East—despite his campaign promises to the contrary.

Indeed, months of greenlighting Israeli attacks on its neighbors and the relentless mass killing of civilians in what Netanyahu calls a “seven-front war” make it unlikely that Trump will suddenly restrain Israel now. Rejecting his own officials’ assessment that Iran remains years away from the capacity to build a nuclear bomb, Trump seems to be impulsively improvising his own path—even issuing the absurd demand that Iran announce its “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” via social media on Tuesday, June 17.

Committing American forces to a direct military confrontation with Iran would be an about-face for Trump, who has previously voiced suspicions about Netanyahu and his decades-long campaign to enlist the US in a war with Iran. Such a move also risks dividing MAGA elites, sharpening differences between those who believe the US must always reflexively back Israel and those who think MAGA voters are weary of foreign entanglements. A public feud between Trump and Tucker Carlson over Iran has been the most visible fracture in the MAGA landscape so far.

However, there is another factor—one that continues to unify most of the MAGA world—that appears to have laid the crucial groundwork for Trump and his advisors to count on considerable support for war: white Evangelical Christians’ fixation on Israel and its place in what they call “Biblical Prophecy.”

Unlike George W. Bush, Trump himself seems immune from any kind of religious or prophetic speculation—but most of his party and its Evangelical base see Israel precisely through this lens.

In this worldview, the founding of Israel in 1948 and its territorial acquisitions in 1967 are the “fulfillment” of prophecies that the Bible foretold. As they anxiously await the “End Times” and the second coming of Jesus Christ, their interpretation of the Bible—and of current events—centers on understanding how prophecy is unfolding today.

Steadfast Friends of Zion

The Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, mobilized an Evangelical campaign to “Stand with Israel.” In Trump’s second term, influential Evangelical leaders have also campaigned for the president’s support for further Israeli settler annexations in the occupied West Bank, which they believe God has given to the Jews alone. As Pastor Mike Evans, founder of Friends of Zion, explained to Fox News, “Evangelicals believe that pressuring Israel to give up land will bring a curse on America. If they have to choose between God’s word and anyone else’s, they will choose God’s word.”

Images of the IDF’s total obliteration of Gaza and of scores of dead and starving Palestinian children have had a gradual impact on Americans’ views of Israel—but American Evangelicals have been mostly unmoved. According to an April 2025 Pew Research Center Poll, US public opinion toward Israel has grown more critical. 54% of Americans held a negative view of Israel in March 2025, versus 42% in March 2022. By contrast, 72% of white Evangelicals viewed Israel positively—nearly the same figure as American Jews (73%).

Moreover, 66% of white Evangelicals responded that they saw the war as “personally important,” only slightly trailing behind Muslims (68%), while 93% of Jews described it this way.

In white Evangelical communities, speculation about the meaning of October 7 and Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza and across the region has intensified since Israel’s attack on Iran. They are asking how Evangelicals—80% of whom voted for Trump in 2024 and who remain his most devoted backers—should respond to the moment. Are recent events in Israel signs that correspond to Biblical prophecy?

Good vs. Evil

Following news of Israel’s assault on Iran, Republican lawmakers and MAGA personalities took to social media to call for “prayer for Israel.” “Pray for Israel. Stand with Israel,” wrote Sen. Josh Hawley. Speaker Mike Johnson added to the chorus: “Praying for Israel and its people. America stands with you.” Sen. Katie Boyd Britt asked her followers to “Please join me in praying for Israel,” while Sen. Tim Scott declared, “Families across South Carolina and our country are joining together today in prayer for the people of Israel.” Lindsey Graham summed up one of his calls for Trump to punish Iran by proclaiming, “God bless Israel, God bless the United States and God bless President Trump.”

Building upon this religious framing of the conflict, Republicans have cast Iranians as enemies of God. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer told his followers, “Israel struck with precision—targeting military leaders and sites. Iran responded with barbarism—targeting innocent civilians. This is about good vs. evil. We proudly stand with and pray for our ally, Israel.”

In a similar vein, Trump’s former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded to the war by posting verses from the Book of Genesis that highlight Israel’s status as God’s chosen people and its enemies as God’s foes: “‘I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’ -Genesis 12:2-3”

The right-wing media personality Glenn Beck underscored that prayer was needed to keep divine providence in motion: “Heavenly Father, please protect Israel and her people…your chosen people. Forgive them and guide them as they strike at the head of the snake. We pray that you spare innocent lives and provide swift justice to those who forsake your name. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.”

“Are You Ready?”

Meanwhile, numerous Evangelical pastors have offered competing perspectives on how to interpret the war. As Pastor Jack Hibbs told his congregation at Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills, California on Sunday, “When you woke up, you were closer into Bible prophecy than in any other time of your life … You and I have never been this late down the prophetic road before.” Hibbs framed the war as “a collision of two global religions,” adding that “The reason why Islam exists is because it is Satan’s tool to try to destroy and thwart the very Word of God.”

For pastors like Hibbs, the Book of Ezekiel is the key to understanding the present because, in their reading, it expressly names Iran and Russia as the enemies besieging Israel: “If this is not Ezekiel 38, this is a huge step toward Ezekiel chapter 38.” Citing the Book of Revelation, Steven Myer claimed that the scripture “points to this coming global confrontation at Armageddon and it highlights the involvement of nations which include Iran and its allies.” These are not just ancient words,” cautioned Meyer, “They’re warnings and wakeup calls.”

“Is this moment the fulfillment of specific end times prophecy?” asked Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship in southern California. His reply was “Yes and no. The Bible clearly foretold that Israel would be scattered and regathered—fulfilled on May 14, 1948. And you might say it was then that the prophetic time clock began to tick. That was not just a sign, that was a super sign.”

Unfulfilled prophecies remain an interpretive challenge for some of these leaders, but others have gone beyond such ambiguities to echo key Republicans’ calls for a popular uprising and regime change in Iran. Tony Perkins, head of the influential Family Research Council, has insisted that “Nothing short of the end of the Islamic regime in Iran will suffice,” adding a plea to “Pray for the people of Iran that they would rise up and be able to topple the repressive regime.” Pastor John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel (which claims 10 million members), urged Trump to take action in the name of the “free world”:

We must stand with Israel today and every day. Iran’s future as an evil force in the Middle East is now in question. Only the people of Iran can take the country back. But Israel has opened the door for them and given the world room to breathe. Now the U.S. must take its seat at the head of the international table and stand alongside the only American ally in the free world willing to do what is necessary to protect the free world.

Taking stock of the moment, a June 16 article on the Christian Broadcasting Network concluded that “other pastors and faith leaders are also pointing out that Israel’s ‘Rising Lion Operation’ was a major step in the prophetic timeline and they’re urging people to prepare for Christ’s Second Coming.”

Although these arguments alone are unlikely to sway Trump, they may empower the president to believe that his MAGA base will follow him anywhere, not least of all because they think they are doing God’s work. Recent polling data contradicts this rosy view, but Americans in general and Republicans in particular have almost always rallied around the flag once the first bombs are dropped.

An additional clue may be found in a post shared on Trump’s social media in which his ambassador to Israel (and Baptist minister), Mike Huckabee texted the president, “God spared you in Butler, PA to be the most consequential President in a century—maybe ever.” Referring to Trump’s decision on Iran, Huckabee advised Trump that “HIS voice” was the only one that mattered. “I believe you will hear from heaven,” he continued,” concluding, “You did not seek this moment. This moment sought YOU.”

Trump is unlikely to listen to calls from heaven—but the idea of becoming a heroic, even prophetic figure—a man of destiny—in the eyes of his followers may help to explain why he might embark on the calamitous path of war, vainly and blissfully ignorant of all of the suffering and death that such a move would ignite.

Robert D. Crews is professor of history at Stanford University.