JERUSALEM — The evangelical Christian group Friends of Zion launched a media center in Jerusalem Sunday evening as part of a broader $100 million initiative to “defend Israel’s brand,” founder Mike Evans said. 

At the grand opening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “anyone who moves their embassy or diplomatic center to Jerusalem will have free access” to the facility. 

The Friends of Zion Media Center has “state of the art” facilities and will even feature a Donald Trump exhibit, according to Evans. Friends of Zion didn’t elaborate on what exactly the facilities include or provide further details about the Trump exhibit. The organization recently hosted 21 members of President Trump’s Evangelical Advisory and since 2015 has run a Zionist museum that aims to combat antisemitism. The museum has tripled in size since opening, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Overlapping with the gala event, Israel’s government press office hosted a four-day Christian Media Summit for 150 Christian outlets and Christians working in news media, including this reporter.  

Between sessions for questions from the media gathered, a singer emerged to lead the crowd in “Amazing Grace” behind a backdrop of Israeli flags. 

U.S Ambassador to Israel David Friedman thanked Christians in journalism who “portray Israel as a model of goodness, kindness, and human decency.” 

Friends of Zion, which claims about 67 million members worldwide, gathers evangelical support for Israel and with its new media center, aims to combat the “media war” over Israel, Evans said.

“The 21st century wars are first media wars, and that’s why we’re doing what we’re doing,” he said. He encouraged evangelicals working in news to paint Israel positively in their work—linking it strongly to Christian duty. 

Evans also linked evangelical Zionism to the reign of the Trump administration. 

“We evangelicals are the ones who got President Trump elected, and we’ll do it again,” Evans said. “Now you have an evangelical Secretary of State, evangelical advisors. The state of Israel has the opportunity of a lifetime, and there’s no guarantee we’ll have it after November.” 

In December 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump surprised his own administration by announcing the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and ordering the relocation of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Most world leaders rejected the statement, and the United Nations Security Council condemned it. Then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson clarified that Jerusalem’s status was not final. 

Friends of Zion also announced plans for a “spiritual service” on Tuesday at Trump Heights, a planned settlement in the Golan Heights, an Israeli-occupied territory effectively annexed from Syria in 1981. Israel seized the territory during the 1967 Six-Day War. The name Golan refers to the Biblical city of refuge in Deuteronomy 4:43 and Joshua 20:8.

The event is set to celebrate with prayer and worship Israel’s establishment of Jewish settlements in the Golan Heights, considered illegal by international norms. Syria has demanded the territory returned, but so far peace talks between the two countries have failed.

Liza Vandenboom is a student at The King’s College and an intern for Religion Unplugged.