Dr. Mike Evans, a leading American Evangelical supporter of Israel and longtime ally of US President Donald Trump, delivered a forceful public appeal in Shiloh on Saturday.
He called on the US administration to resist any pressure on Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and to expand Washington’s designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.
Speaking not far from the ancient biblical city, which he described as “the first capital of the State of Israel,” Evans opened by expressing “deep appreciation for the American administration and for President Trump’s leadership,” while urging both leaders “to stand firm with Israel regarding the future of Judea and Samaria.”
He said Israel’s claim to the territory is based primarily on faith and history, not politics.
Shiloh as Israel's 'first spiritual capital'
“The connection of Israel to Judea and Samaria is rooted in faith, scripture, and divine covenant, and not merely in political considerations,” he said, adding that “the core of biblical history unfolded in these regions.”
Evans underscored Shiloh’s central place in that story, noting that it was the location of the Tabernacle and the seat of the prophet Samuel, and has long been revered in religious-Zionist circles as Israel’s first spiritual capital.
Archaeologists and historians describe ancient Shiloh as a major Israelite cultic center during the time of the Judges, before Jerusalem became the political and religious capital.
Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem and a prominent Christian Zionist, has for years mobilized pro-Israel support among tens of millions of Evangelical Christians in the US. He previously presented Trump with the Friends of Zion Award for his policies toward Israel during his first term, including moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem.
Warning against pressure on Israel
Turning directly to Vice President JD Vance, Evans urged the administration “to reject any policy that would pressure Israel to relinquish control of Judea and Samaria to radical Islamic forces.”
He warned that “thousands of suicide bombers have come out of that area” and said that territorial concessions there would pose “a direct threat to Israel’s security.” During the Second Intifada in the early 2000s, many of the suicide bombings inside Israel were planned or launched from the West Bank.
Evans also linked his appeal to internal conservative debates in the US, singling out media personality Tucker Carlson, whom he accused of fueling anti-Israel trends inside parts of the “Make America Great Again” movement.
Referring to Carlson, Evans said the “foundation of the MAGA base is Bible-believing Christians who believe that Israel is Bible land,” arguing that support for Israel is a core tenet of the Evangelical wing of the Republican Party.
Evans praised a recent executive order signed by Trump that began the process of designating certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
However, he urged the administration to go further.
Evans called on Trump “to complete the designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization” and to explicitly extend it to Brotherhood-linked groups and networks operating in Qatar, Turkey, and Syria, arguing that the movement’s ideology “seeks domination and destruction and has no connection to any genuine peace framework.”
The executive order issued last week directs Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to recommend specific Brotherhood branches for designation, focusing initially on Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan.
Evans’s comments reflect pressure from some conservative and pro-Israel activists to broaden that list to include Brotherhood-aligned structures in states that host or support Islamist movements, notably Qatar and Turkey, both of which have been accused by Israel of backing Hamas.
Vance, Trump, and Israel
Evans’s appeal comes amid ongoing discussion in Jerusalem and Washington over the contours of Trump’s second-term policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and wider regional Islamism.
Vance, who was sworn in as vice president in January, has generally presented himself as supportive of Israel, but has also voiced concerns about some Israeli moves in the West Bank. In October, he reportedly described a symbolic Knesset vote on annexing parts of the territory as “stupid” and “offensive” during a visit to Israel, comments that drew criticism from some on the Israeli Right.
At the same time, Vance has rejected claims that the Republican Party has become increasingly antisemitic, saying recently that while “in any bunch of apples, you have bad people,” it is “slanderous” to suggest that the conservative movement is “extremely antisemitic,” and insisting that leaders must be “firm in saying antisemitism and racism is wrong.”
Trump, for his part, has centered his Israel policy on confronting Iran, deepening ties with Arab states, and supporting Israeli security operations against Hamas and Hezbollah, while also seeking to position himself as a defender of Christians and Jews against Islamist extremism.
His move to target Muslim Brotherhood chapters follows earlier designations or proposed designations of groups such as Hamas and, more recently, the left-wing antifa movement.
Evangelical backing and ‘shared faith’
Evans has repeatedly argued that Israel’s long-term strategic asset is the alliance with Bible-believing Christians in the US and elsewhere.
In an interview with The Jerusalem Post in October, he warned that Israel is “losing the media war” to Hamas and urged Israeli leaders to invest more heavily in public diplomacy and evangelical outreach to shore up international support.
In Shiloh, he returned to that theme, depicting Trump and Vance as key figures in that alliance.
Throughout his address, Evans “reaffirmed his full support for President Trump, the American administration and the enduring alliance between the United States and Israel,” according to the statement.
He concluded by framing that partnership in religious terms.
“This alliance is built on shared faith, shared values, and the biblical foundations that unite both nations,” he said, calling Shiloh “a living reminder that the promises made here thousands of years ago are still being fulfilled in our time.”