Advent is a unique time of celebration for many Christians. It is about the anticipation of the birth of Jesus, a Palestinian baby boy born in Bethlehem. Christians reflect on hope, joy, love, and peace, while waiting to celebrate this Palestinian baby’s birth.

Yet, many Christians ignore the reality of Palestinians Christians while supporting Israeli occupation, apartheid, and genocide. Christian Zionism spans from passive support for the concept of Israel based on church teachings to outright genocidal apologists defending and promoting Israel’s war crimes. But what is Christian Zionism?

Christian Zionism is a belief held by some Christians that to bring the second coming of Jesus Christ, Jews from across the world must all gather in the holy land of Israel and then convert to Christianity. This is also called millennialism. There are also many Christians who support Israel who don’t believe this biblical prophecy, or at least who don’t say so publicly.

Tarek Tahan, For Palestinian Christians, Our Plight Is Too Often Ignored and Justified by Christian Zionists

In Tahan’s article, Fadi Handal, a Palestinian Christian living in Toronto, said: “I feel like we’re often tokenized, which is the part that gets to me mos…Actually, maybe ‘tokenized’ is not the right word. I would say ‘weaponized.’”

Christians often claim Palestinians are being forced out of Palestine because of discrimination from their Muslim neighbours.

Xavier Abu-Eid, a Palestinian Christian living in Ramallah, “explains that his community’s existence is largely ignored because, ‘It is not convenient for [Christian Zionists]. Our existence quickly kills [the] narrative’ that this is being done for Christians…We are also bad news for Islamophobes because we make people see this not as a religious conflict, but as a national liberation struggle from a setter-colonial enterprise that never cared whether we were Christians or Muslims.”

Tarek Tahan, For Palestinian Christians, Our Plight Is Too Often Ignored and Justified by Christian Zionists

Another Palestinian Christian living in Toronto, Augie Habesch, shared a similar sentiment: “We [Christians and Muslims] are on the same team, fighting the same struggle.” That is the struggle against occupation and settler-colonialism. In Canada, Christian Zionism is traced back to the 1870s and 1880s. Henry Wentworth Monk raised funds in Canada and England to buy land in Palestine for European Jews. It would become ingrained in the fabric of the settler colonial state of Canada. In November 1915, Solicitor General and future Prime Minister Arthur Meighan said: “I think I can speak for those of the Christian faith when I express the wish that God speed the day when the land of your forefathers shall be yours again. This task I hope will be performed by that champion of liberty the world over — the British Empire.”

The reality for Palestinian Christians living in Palestine

Palestinian Christians continue to fight against the occupation of their lands and genocide of their people. Israel has repeatedly bombed churches in Gaza (in 2023, 2024, and 2025) while harassing, abusing, and arresting Palestinian Christians in the occupied West Bank. When Alice Kisiya, a Palestinian Christian and journalist from al-Makhrour, set up a small church “in which she led prayer vigils in which Christians, Jews, and Muslims participated…’The police and the army demolished the church piece by piece—and took the pieces with them.'” In a recent interview with journalist Ido Amiaz, Kisiya said “The Israeli government have been systematically ethnically cleansing Christian Palestinians to exclude the Christians out of the conflict zone and to raise the Islamophobia.”

This is why it is important to expose Christian Zionism. It is not a fringe community. “For every Jewish Zionist, there are 20 or 30 Christian Zionists and therefore Netanyahu knows he needs the Christian, particularly the Christian right in America, Canada, Sweden, Holland and in much of Europe in order to maintain his position and to continue the expansion of the Zionist agenda in Palestine.”

To begin, we’re taking a deeper look at International Fellowship of Christians and Jews

What is International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ)?

IFCJ is an international organization, with a Canadian branch, founded by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein in 1983. It is now led by his daughter Yael Eckstein. “Since the death of Eckstein’s father in 2019, the group has more than doubled its revenue.” You can read more about IFCJ and Christian Zionism in US politics here: God’s “Blank Check”: Christian Zionists Are Pouring Billions of Dollars Into Israeli Extremism.

IFCJ claims they have “helped hundreds of thousands of Jews escape poverty and anti-Semitism and return to their biblical homeland, funded humanitarian assistance that has touched the lives of millions of Jews in Israel and around the world, provided life-giving aid to Israel’s victims of war and terror, and much more. It “is a power player in Aliyah [immigration to Israel] efforts, raising millions annually to help fund flights, resettlement, and emergency transport, with much of the recent focus on bringing in Jews fleeing war zones such as Ukraine, Russia, and Ethiopia.”

Support for genocide and occupation

Recently, IFCJ was implicated in the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” (GHF). The head of GHF is Johnnie Moore, “a deeply divisive and controversial figure whose influence stretches from the evangelical heartlands of America to the volatile frontline of Israel’s ongoing occupation and oppression of Palestine.” Moore is on the IFCJ Board. When asked about the current situation in Gaza, Eckstein said: “‘Israel does everything it can in order to minimize any death, let alone civilian deaths…It’s fighting an impossible war.’”

More explicitly, IFCJ supports Israeli soldiers and their families. They state: “For Israel, national defense is a very serious matter. Because the need to remain on guard against attacks from her neighbors is critical – a need that became so painfully apparent on October 7, 2023 – military service is mandatory for all Israelis.”

They also spew anti-Palestinian racism and blatantly false information. For example, in a recent blog post titled “Yellow Line Crossings Persist, IDF Kills Five Terrorists Over Weekend.” These so-called “terrorists”? Palestinians crossing an imaginary and invisible line in their occupied land. Two of these five individuals were “Palestinian brothers, aged 11 and 8…[they were killed] by Israeli forces while collecting firewood for their wheelchair-bound father. The military claimed the boys were ‘two suspects posing an immediate threat’ and were therefore ‘eliminated.'”

They also express support for Israeli military attacks in the West Bank. For example, in their article “IDF Conducts Counterterror Operation in Northern West Bank.”

IFCJ Canada (IFCJC)

While IFCJC’s website is more reserved, with less explicit references to support for the Israeli military, they still show their cards. For instance, in an episode of their radio show titled “A Staunch Zinoist“, the host “tells the story of a Christian soldier who helped form and train the precursor to today’s IDF.” They also regularly post about Israeli “hostages” while labeling Palestinians as “terrorists”.

IFCJC’s financials show clear support for Israel

Additionally, the majority of IFCJC expenses, beyond administration and fundraising (the latter which is extremely high), goes to Keren L’Yedidut in Israel. A significant amount of Keren L’Yedidut’s focus is on support for the Israeli military. In 2022 alone, Keren L’Yedidut stated it supported 180,000 Israeli soldiers.

Between 2013 and 2024, IFCJ sent over $59 million dollars to two organizations in Israel. They sent an additional $23.5 million to pro-Israel groups in Bulgaria, Russia, and the Ukraine.

Who are these recipients?

Keren L`Yedidut

The largest amount of money is going to Keren L`Yedidut or IFCJ Israel. In 2025, Keren L’Yedidut announced the launch of “eight vehicles, to pamper IDF fighters, who are at the heart of the operational activity, with an investment of approximately NIS 7 million.” They explained that the vehicle included: “rich refreshments, Wi-Fi, TV and seating areas, will give the fighters moments of well-being and pampering in the field. In 2024 the mobility “met” in the field over 480 thousand fighters.” This includes all of the occupied Palestinian territory, “from the northern border to the combat zones in Gaza, from the training camps to the most remote outposts.” While the Israeli military are bombing and starving Palestinians in Gaza, Keren L’Yedidut and IFCJC are “pampering” Israeli soldiers. 

Keren Hayesod

Keren Hayesod is one of the constituent bodies of Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI). JAFI is focused on immigration and creating a Jewish majority state. Keren Hayesod also encourages illegal settlement. They do this work in close collaboration with the Government of Israel. Together, the Word Zionist Organization (WZO), JAFI, Keren Hayesod, and the Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) “comprise the four pillar national institutions of the State of Israel, all of which enjoy a special protected legal status.”

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)

JDC assists the Israeli military in recruit preparedness. In 2024, JDC Israel proudly appointed a 25-year Israeli miltiary veteran, Brigadier General (Res.) Hadas Minka-Brand as its new Executive Director. JDC is offering a tour experience in 2026 for annual donors of $5,000 or more. Individuals will fly to Israel to “[s]upport Israel at a defining moment…” and “[m]eet injured soldiers and reservists rebuilding their lives with community-based rehabilitation and employment pathways.”

It is clear that IFCJC is funneling Canadian tax-subsidized funds to organizations in Israel that support the Israeli military and illegal settlements in occupied Palestine.

They have also coordinated with the Israeli military to enter Syria to provide aid to Christian communities, who IFCJ said were “facing persecution” after the fall of the Assad regime. In a press release, IFCJ’s CEO said, “It is our responsibility to stand with Christians on our borders to provide them with aid, and to stand with all Christians facing persecution across the Middle East in the same way Christians have always stood by Israel during her times of greatest need.” However, this support for “all Christians” excludes Palestinians Christians who are being targeted by Israel.

IFCJC is also giving to pro-Israel organizations in Canada

Between 2013 and 2024, IFCJC gave over $5 million to four Canadian charities.

Who is funding IFCJC?

Between 2013 and 2024, IFCJC received a total of over $7.6 million from 266 Canadian charities. The majority of these charities are Christian churches / organizations.

Notably, there is a significant discrepancy between the total funds IFCJC reports receiving from other charities, and what other charities report giving to IFCJC. This is not an isolated issue. We have identified more than $100 billion in discrepancies across CRA filings since 2003.

Want to learn more about the IFCJC donors?

Take a look at this interactive map outlining the location of each IFCJC donor.