For Israel, God has a backup plan from Latin America

Sometimes the deity moves in completely unexpected ways.

Right now, it looks like the whole world is ganging up on Israel, except for a few Western (American and European) holdouts, and even these are starting to waffle.

But the deity had a backup plan.

What America’s press has totally ignored is the radical transformation of Latin America.

In Brazil, the population is 31% Evangelical.

In El Salvador, the population is 40% Evangelical

In Guatemala, the population is 40% Evangelical.

In Honduras, the population is 40% Evangelical.

In Chile, the population is 18% Evangelical.

In Argentina, the population is 15% Evangelical.

While America ebbs in its support for Israel, and by extension: Christianity, Latin America is slowly turning to a serious embrace of Evangelicalism, with its concomitant love of Israel. Many of the governments are still leftist, but they are now strongly constrained by a large and growing pro-Zionist evangelical movement.

Guatemala completely identifies with Israel.

El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele has condemned Hamas, even though he himself is of Palestinian extraction.

Why? Because depending on the statistics – in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras – Evangelicals are either the largest religious demographic or on the cusp of becoming the largest demographic. Mighty Brazil is not far behind.

The change has been so rapid that even Wikipedia is not keeping up, with one Wikipedia page supporting old data, while another shows more recent numbers.

And this has consequences.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva has moderated his views on the Mideast. He has to, or he would lose all support from the 31% of the electorate which is Evangelical. The prior president, Jair Bolsonaro, was completely in Israel’s camp. And it is unclear if Lula even won fairly. Bolsonaro may reflect Brazil’s true sympathies.

To get a sense of this: Brazil’s Evangelical community may soon outnumber America’s.

That’s a Bible Belt.

Argentina has just elected an intensely pro-Israel president who repeatedly talks of converting to Judaism and once waved an Israeli flag at a campaign rally. After Javier Milei won his election, his first foreign trip was a pilgrimage to the Ohel in New York, where Chabad Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson lies buried.

In Chile, the Palestinian community still packs a punch. President Gabriel Boric recently went to a Palestinian community Christmas celebration. If our politicians have to answer to AIPAC, then Chile’s politicians have to answer to Palestinians (Chilestinos).

But that may soon change.

These “Chilestinos” are the most benighted pressure group in Latin America. Their Christian ancestors fled to Chile in the 19th century to escape the Muslim Ottoman tyranny. They have risen to become either the first or second most influential group in Chile. But they forgot their ancestors’ fear of Islam.

And for a while, these Chilestinos hijacked Chile’s foreign policy. They belonged to older denominations like Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Catholicism, which have replacement theologies where the Church is believed to have replaced Israel altogether.  A few Protestant denominations, such as some Lutherans, have replacement theologies as well.

And so, these Chilestinos were virulently anti-Israel.

But that is starting to change. Evangelicals are growing, albeit slowly in Chile; yet, they are still making their power felt.

Most Evangelicals do not subscribe to replacement theology but hew to a theology that sees a central place for Israel, with the church merely being grafted in. The disagreement with the Jews is over Christ, but the existence of Israel is strongly supported.

And if some of the branches [Ancient Israel] were broken off, and you [Christians], being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them [the Jews], and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches [the Jews]. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. Romans 11:17-18

The Chilestinos are not thrilled about the growing Evangelical influence.

But the consequences are felt. Even the leftist governments in Latin America have to answer to a very large Evangelical electorate. Venezuela is an exception, but it is also unstable.

When I first started my website, Latin Arabia, over a decade ago, I was amazed by the power that the Arabs had in Latin America. They were intelligent, prosperous, and rich. They became political leaders. They changed the local culture.

They had their differences. Countries with large Palestinian demographics were pressured against Israel. Countries with large Lebanese Maronite (Catholic) demographics were not pressured against Israel. The Maronites remembered how badly the Muslims treated them. But in all cases, the Arabs’ massive influence was felt.

In Brazil, one of the most popular fast food chains is called Habib’s. which specializes in Lebanese cuisine. Lebanese Kibe is a national favorite in Brazil. And why not? There are more Lebanese in Brazil than in Lebanon. If America embraced the German frankfurter and the Italian pizza. Brazil has embraced Lebanese Kibe.

In Chile, a major soccer team is called Palestino (Palestinian). If America has the Fighting Irish football team, Chile has Palestino futbol.

But as America’s influence is ebbing, Latin America’s is rising, and it may be pro-Israel. Over the past ten years this has become amazing to watch. The change has rocketed up. Even I, who watched this, did not expect so fast a rise.

While the Muslims like to claim that Islam is growing in South America, the numbers are vastly exaggerated, and probably temporary at best. Even imams admit this. On paper, Argentina should have half a million Muslims, but in reality only has around 5,000.  What happened?

Islam cannot thrive for long where Christians are free to preach.

Billions of dollars were wasted to make converts to Islam, while Evangelicals literally flipped the demographics and almost no one noticed. Iran still tries to influence Latin politics, but even there, the Evangelicals are winning.

It is as if God had a backup plan.

Esther 4:14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place …

If the United States continues to wane, support for Israel will arise from another place.

Mike Konrad publishes a website on these issues:  Latin Arabia.

Image: Screen shot from New York Post video, via YouTube