Christian Zionism, American Exceptionalism, and the Protestant Roots of U.S. Middle East Policy

In his speech to the Knesset in January, Vice-President Mike Pence declared that, “in the story of the Jews,” Americans have “always seen the story of America.” This observation, says Samuel Goldman, is hardly a new one, and indeed is necessary to understanding U.S.-Israel relations. Taking Pence’s comments one step further, Gershon Greenberg explains that the idea of America as the Promised Land can be traced all the way back to Christopher Columbus, and American history cannot be understood without reference to the land of Israel as portrayed in the Hebrew Bible. Looking at more recent history, Michael Doran explains how certain strands of American Protestant thought shaped the U.S.-Israel alliance, and how opposing strands informed, and continue to inform, this alliance’s discontents. The three explore these ideas further in an in-depth discussion. (Video, 72 minutes.)