Holy Land Hustlers
How the evangelical grifters carved up Palestine under the banner of “God’s plan”
There’s nothing holy about any of this. These evangelicals aren’t flying into Palestine because they’re moved by scripture. They’re flying in because they figured out the occupation gives them a free shot at taking land that doesn’t belong to them. Nadav Weiman ran into one of them in Hebron — some guy from Tennessee, building a sukkah on Palestinian land he had no right to touch. The man said he was there to “hasten redemption.” He wasn’t. He was there because he knew he could get away with it.
And he’s not the only one. Evangelical volunteers have been showing up for years to “help” settlers expand outposts. They come through organizations like HaYovel, which openly brings American evangelicals to work on settlement agriculture — vineyards, orchards, whatever settlers decide to plant on land taken from Palestinian families. These volunteers know exactly what they’re doing. They know the land isn’t theirs. They know Palestinians can’t stop them. They know the settlers want them there because it helps cement control. They call it “service.” It’s not service. It’s unpaid labor for land theft.
There are evangelical donors who fund surveillance towers and security roads in the West Bank. They send money through churches and “Israel ministries” that brag about helping “restore Judea and Samaria.” They know what they’re paying for. They know the land is stolen. They know Palestinians are being pushed out. They just don’t care, because none of the consequences touch them.
Evangelical tour groups walk through Palestinian neighborhoods with armed escorts, pointing at people’s homes like they’re props. They go into places like Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah and talk about “biblical heritage,” even though the families living there have been there for generations. They know those families are fighting eviction cases. They know settlers are trying to take the homes. They know their presence helps normalize it. They still show up, because they like the feeling of being part of something “historic.”
Some evangelicals join settler “prayer walks” on Palestinian farmland. They stand on someone’s olive grove and declare it “promised land.” They know it’s not theirs. They know exactly whose land it is. They know the family that owns it can’t stop them because the army will side with the settlers. They pretend it’s spiritual. It’s not spiritual. It’s trespassing with a religious excuse.
There are evangelicals who help build structures in outposts like Eviatar, which was thrown up on land belonging to Palestinian villages like Beita. They helped put up tents, platforms, and temporary buildings. They knew the land was stolen. They knew Palestinians were protesting. They knew the army was protecting the outpost. They still helped, because they wanted to be part of “redeeming the land.” They weren’t redeeming anything. They were helping settlers grab a hilltop.
They attach themselves to the most extreme settlers — the ones who already believe Palestinians shouldn’t exist — because those settlers give them cover. They help build illegal outposts. They show up on Palestinian farmland and declare it “biblically promised,” even though they know damn well it belongs to a family that’s lived there for generations. They walk through Palestinian neighborhoods with armed escorts, pointing at people’s homes like they’re objects. They call it faith. It’s not faith. It’s theft with a religious sticker slapped on top.
Their churches back home raise money for this. They hold events where they talk about “standing with Israel,” but what they’re actually funding is settlement expansion, surveillance towers, and infrastructure built on stolen land. They know what they’re paying for. They know who gets hurt. They know the occupation makes it possible. They just don’t care, because none of the fallout touches them.
They love the performance of it. They love being able to say they “stood on biblical land.” They love taking photos on hilltops that belong to Palestinian farmers. They love telling people they “helped reclaim Judea and Samaria,” even though they didn’t reclaim anything — they just inserted themselves into a violent system and took advantage of it. They’re not prophets. They’re not spiritual warriors. They’re not part of some ancient story. They’re outsiders who realized they can steal land if they say the right religious words.
They know Palestinians can’t stop them because Palestinians have been stripped of every tool that would let them stop anything. They know settlers will protect them because settlers want more bodies on the land to justify taking it. They know the army won’t intervene because the army exists to make sure settlers and their friends can do whatever they want. They know they can build on stolen land and call it holy because nobody in power is going to challenge them. They know they can walk away whenever they want, back to whatever American suburb they came from, and brag about how they “helped fulfill prophecy,” even though everyone involved knows it was just theft dressed up in religious language.
This isn’t divine mission. It’s grift. It’s exploitation. It’s people who saw a violent system and decided to squeeze themselves into the cracks so they could take something that doesn’t belong to them. They come to “hasten redemption,” but all they’re really doing is helping erase another Palestinian neighborhood, another family’s land, another piece of a place they don’t have to answer to. They’re not holy. They’re hustlers. And they know it.
Name and Shame
Here are some of the churches, ministries, and networks that have sent volunteers, money, or organized programs directly tied to settlement expansion, outpost construction, or “biblical land restoration” in the West Bank:
HaYovel (Missouri, USA)
International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ)
Christians United for Israel (CUFI) – Cornerstone Church, San Antonio, Texas
Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry (New Jersey)
Christian Friends of Israeli Communities (CFOIC Heartland)
Bridges for Peace (Tennessee + Jerusalem)
The Joshua Fund (founded by Joel Rosenberg)
Specific U.S. churches tied to these programs:
James River Church (Springfield, Missouri)
Grace Chapel (Franklin, Tennessee)
Cornerstone Church (San Antonio, Texas)
Calvary Chapel network (multiple states)
New Hope Christian Church (Ohio)
Victory Christian Center (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
This barely scratches the surface.
What you have right now — HaYovel, ICEJ, CUFI, CFOIC, Bridges for Peace, Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, Joshua Fund, plus the specific churches — that’s the tip of the spear, the ones that openly brag about it, the ones who don’t bother hiding their involvement.
But behind them?
There’s an entire ecosystem.
Not five churches.
Not ten.
Not twenty.
We’re talking hundreds of evangelical churches across the U.S. that have:
sent volunteers
raised money
hosted settler leaders
run “biblical tours” into settlements
funded “Judea and Samaria” projects
partnered with settler councils
adopted settlements
sponsored outpost construction
donated to “biblical agriculture” on stolen land
And that’s just the ones that do it directly.
Behind them is a second layer — churches that don’t openly say “settlements,” but they donate to the ministries that do.
They send money to ICEJ, CUFI, CFOIC, HaYovel, Bridges for Peace, etc.
They host fundraisers.
They run “Israel nights.”
They send youth groups.
They send pastors.
They send “prayer teams.”
They send “restoration volunteers.”
And behind that is a third layer — churches that don’t even realize their money ends up in settlement activity because they donate through umbrella networks.
So yes — it’s huge.
It’s sprawling.
It’s organized.
It’s decades old.
And it’s absolutely bigger than people think.
Yes, it is huge. And they are fascists through and through.
Great article and informative. Some may feel sorry for these people saying that they have been manipulated and fooled. I don’t. To me they are just greedy low life, too lazy to make their own way in the world, so they take advantage of the misfortune of other people to grab something which isn’t theirs. All the while cloaking these blatant robberies from helpless people in religious mythology. As you point out, they are not simple minded or naive, they know exactly what they are doing.