Jimmy Carter Says His Mideast Peace Push Drove Evangelicals To GOP
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Ex-President Jimmy Carter says his push for Middle East Peace played an important role in turning the evangelical voting bloc into the arms of the Republican Party.
Carter told the Associated Press, that he, “took a position of wanting to see balance between Israel and the Palestinians.” Carter wasn’t able to bring about a final peace deal and was seen by some as not being pro-Israel enough.
He claims that this was a major factor in evangelicals aligning with the Republican Party, which has since adopted a hardline pro-Israel stance. They were a major factor in President Trump’s shocking upset win.
“Evangelicals are naturally inclined from a religious point of view to be loyal to Israel,” he said, noting their more literal interpretations of the Bible. Trump has emboldened Christian Zionists. They played a role in Trump’s decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, and Trump’s Vice President, Mike Pence, addressed their annual conference this year.
Carter pointed out that Christians Zionists also believe “that the Jews should also all become Christians — that’s not often mentioned.”
In the interview Carter, a devout Baptist, admitted that Democratic Party positions on abortion and women’s rights, also played a major role in evangelical allegiance to the GOP.
Contact Avichai Scher at [email protected] or on Twitter, @avi_scher
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
