The head of a Hispanic Christian group leading an effort to unite over 230,000 churches in America in support of Israel described America’s relationship with the Jewish state in recent interview as a “huge matter for us” in the 2024 presidential election.

Jesse Rojo — the director of Philos Latino, an organization dedicated to strengthening spiritual and physical ties between Hispanic Christians and the Holy Land — told the Jerusalem Post this weekend that the war declared on Israel by jihadist terror groups in the region is “not a conceptual conflict happening thousands of miles away” for the group, but has an immediate impact.

“We wanted to let them know that the Hispanic community has always been pro-Israel, and now we are coming together as a unit to let them know that we are standing up for Israel and our Jewish neighbors,” Rojo explained, later adding, “To the extent that Israel becomes a topic in the presidential election, Hispanics will be paying attention very closely, and Israel will be a huge matter for us when it comes to the ballot.”

The topic of American relations with Israel has risen to become a priority election issue in light of the Hamas atrocities of October 7. Incumbent leftist President Joe Biden has faced condemnation from both pro-Israel and pro-terrorist groups, the former for reportedly pressuring the Israeli government to create a “Palestinian” state — a core Hamas demand — and the latter for allegedly being insufficiently pro-Hamas. Pro-Hamas Muslim groups have branded Biden “Genocide Joe” and vowed to turn out the vote against him in critical swing states, such as Florida and Michigan. Biden’s challenger in the general election, former President Donald Trump, enjoyed positive relations with the Israeli government during his tenure and has declared categorical support for Israel against Hamas.

Philos Latino published a declaration, signed by leaders representing tens of thousands of American churches, on January 19 in which it called for Hispanics to pray and fast for peace in Israel. The group has also organized a protest scheduled for Sunday, January 28, outside of the embassy of Qatar in Washington, DC, demanding that the Islamic emirate expel Hamas from its territory.

Qatar has hosted the elite leadership of several jihadist terror groups, including Hamas and the Afghan Taliban, for decades. Hamas leaders are believed to have organized the atrocities committed during the invasion of Israel on October 7 from their luxury residences in Doha and reportedly fled, at least temporarily, in response to Israel’s self-defense actions in Gaza.

While overtly offering safe refuge to terrorists, Qatar also maintains cordial relations with much of the West, including the United States, because it has asserted itself as a trustworthy “mediator” between these groups and legitimate governments. Qatar also hosts a U.S. military base, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed outraged about this week.

“I was very angry recently and didn’t hide it from the Americans that they renewed their contract for a military base in Qatar,” Netanyahu said. “Why didn’t you say ‘I ask you to bring back our hostages.’ That’s pressure! … Qatar has leverage on Hamas. First of all, pressure Qatar.”

Hamas terrorists invaded Israeli territory from their stronghold in Gaza using paragliders on October 7, launching a wave of mass killings, gang rape, infanticide, torture, abduction, and other atrocities. The terrorists entered residential communities and murdered families in their homes in the early morning hours. Israeli authorities have uncovered evidence of gruesome instances of sexual assault, including executions during gang-rapes and the mutilation of women and their corpses after their deaths. Many terrorists filmed themselves torturing and desecrating corpses, in some cases uploading the videos to the social media pages of their victims using their phones.

“The horrific massacre of innocent Israeli families committed by Hamas on October 7 has unleashed an unprecedented surge of violent Jewish hatred around the world, abetted and incited by pro-Hamas rioters that have targeted Jewish neighborhoods and synagogues,” the declaration published by Philos Latino read.

“Many of us are immigrants or descended from immigrants, and we believe that the United States of America is a unique bastion of freedom,” the statement continued. “We also believe that this freedom stems from the Hebraic tradition and the Jewish people who brought that tradition to the world. An America without Jews is an America without a soul.”

“While our theological and political perspectives may vary, we see the urgent need to come together in prayer for peace in Israel and in Gaza and for the safety and protection of the Jewish people around the world,” it concluded. “We call on the church and all Christian Latinos and Hispanics to join us as we commit to fasting and prayer until the remain hostages are returned; to speak up against evil with good (Romans 12:21); and to defend the cause of those in need (Proverbs 31:8-9).”

Among the organizations signing the declaration are the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, the Reformed Church in America, the National Hispanic Pastors Alliance, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, the South Central Hispanic District of the Assemblies of God, and the Latino Coalition for Israel.

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