When the Rev. Franklin Graham visited Israel two weeks ago, he witnessed a nation that was still reeling from the devastating October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas and a leader who was desperate to reunite hundreds of hostages with their families while also protecting his country. But most of all, he saw a serious need for the Gospel to bring comfort and hope to a people who had suffered unimaginable loss.
“This was an all-out invasion and it cost the lives of 1,200+ Israelis. The largest loss of Jewish lives we’ve seen since the Holocaust,” Mr. Graham told The Washington Times’ Higher Ground. “The people I met with are just brokenhearted. They’ve lost their loved ones; they’ve lost their security. They put their faith in the wall, they put their faith in the Iron Dome, they put their faith in the army and it all failed them.”
Mr. Graham said that he had the chance to pray with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as many Israelis who had been personally affected by the attack and was encouraged by how open and grateful they were for the prayers.
“In the middle of all this, I found talking to people and quoting God’s word… gave them comfort,” he said. “There is a great spiritual need right now and Gods Word was not rejected. When I quoted Scripture to them, they received it — and they received it warmly. God is at work. He loves Israel, these are His people… I believe God is going to use this.”
The faith leader was in Israel to help with relief efforts by Samaritan’s Purse, which he has led for more than 40 years. In addition to working to get food to families in affected areas and meet their basic needs, the ministry also donated 21 ambulances to Israel’s medical emergency system, including seven armored ones, to replace the ones that were destroyed during the terrorist attack.
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“I don’t think anybody understood the size or scope of this invasion,” Mr. Graham said, noting that ambulances and other first responders were targeted immediately during the attack. “It was thousands of these guys coming in… They came over in pickup trucks with heavy machine guns and fighters in the back… They would go from community to community raping, killing.”
To make matters even worse, Israelis have faced growing antisemitism in American and across the globe despite suffering such inhumanity at the hands of Hamas, a trend Mr. Graham says is the result of left-wing ideology and hate.
“There’s no question, the left-wing, the communists in this country have a big toe hold on our culture,” Mr. Graham noted. “The Department of Education has been promoting this left-wing ideology so it shouldn’t surprise us that they’ve turned on Israel, they turned on the people of God. They hate God and they hate God’s people.”
“I just pray that God will give us a man or a woman who fears Him, who will lead this nation and who will get on their knees on a daily basis and ask God for help and God for wisdom,” he added. “We need some godly leadership in this country.”
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Marissa Mayer is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her work has been featured in Christian Post, The Daily Signal, and Intellectual Takeout. Mayer has a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Arizona State University.
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