“Without the foundation of Judaism, there would be no Christianity. Without Christianity and Judaism, there would be no America.”
These are the words US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee spoke to a group of Christian and Jewish leaders and legislators who gathered in moving prayer and song at Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, expressing goodwill and hopes for the future. For many, prayer made a stronger statement than a political speech or handshake.
At the third annual prayer event, Ambassador Huckabee firmly stated, “There would be no Western civilization. We can never forget the spiritual basis and the spiritual partnership that is vital to both countries.”
MK Tatiana Mazarsky, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and MK Michael Biton at the Knesset Day of Prayer, Nov. 26, 2025 in Jerusalem. (Felice Friedson/The Media Line)
Yesh Atid Member of Knesset (MK) Tatiana Mazarsky explained that the designated day of prayer at the Knesset fills a palpable void, particularly after two years of war.
She told The Media Line, “I believe in the power of prayer. This is the third year that we are doing a special event to pray together, Jews and Christians, for the peace of Jerusalem.”
Mazarsky said prayer has the power to strengthen the Jewish people, especially at a time when they face enemies on all sides, including those who would deny the Jews a state of their own.
As the volatile ceasefire is challenged and agreements regarding a second phase remain elusive, Mazarsky stressed, “The war is not over. And the enemy does not give up on its goals.” She cited more than 30,000 Israelis “injured in body, injured in the soul,” and the extensive damage caused by missiles, with soldiers still on alert: “We need the support.”
Joining Israeli politicians and Jewish representatives was a large contingent from the National Association of Christian Legislators, including Pastor Greg Locke. A conservative preacher from Nashville, Tennessee, Locke is often called upon to defend the Jewish state against detractors. Locke attributes the growing opposition to Israel to a prophesied time when “everybody begins to turn on Israel. You’re going to find out who is really courageous in those days,” he told The Media Line.
Locke, who has been targeted by critics for his highly conservative beliefs, said, “Although we faced a lot of hate for various political and religious stands, the slander for the Jewish people has been the most vitriolic we’ve ever experienced.”
He attributes the vitriol to ignorance and to the tendency of social media channels, such as TikTok, to encourage users to rush to judgment and to falsely conclude that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. “It’s changed the way people get information,” Locke said.
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Despite the pressure on the Jewish state, Pastor Locke is proud to say he has made 16 visits to Israel in 18 months. “Everybody’s like, that’s the worst time to go. I said no, it’s the best time to go, because I just began to feel this drawing from the Lord.”
Explaining what makes Israel special, Pastor Locke said, “It’s the only geographic spot on the planet that God says to specifically pray for.” He mentioned that he often travels with rabbis and that it is rare for pastors and rabbis to be so close.
Hananya Naftali, who serves as a social media adviser to the Prime Minister’s Office, explained on the sidelines of the event how he decided to confront opposition to Israel and speak out against growing hate.
“I used to be a shy person,” he told The Media Line. “As soon as I joined the military and I realized what’s going on around us, that there are people who are misinformed, that there are people who want to spread more hatred against Israel, I realized we don’t have the luxury of being silent.”
The only way to combat modern-day antisemitism that wears the masks of anti-Zionism is to speak up
“The only way to combat modern-day antisemitism that wears the masks of anti-Zionism is to speak up.” He added, “We are no longer weak people who need to fight for a seat at the table. We have a voice and should use it. We don’t need to apologize for existing in our homeland.”
Despite tireless efforts to defend Israel online, bots flooding social media networks interfere with this task and rapidly disseminate misinformation, often faster than a human can. Naftali pointed out that Elon Musk has revealed a new feature on X that fully reveals other users’ locations to expose bad-faith actors.
According to Naftali, “We discovered a lot of accounts pretended to be, for example, Republicans Against Trump … that they’re tweeting from Bangladesh, from Nigeria, from South Asia, and they’re all but Americans. That’s the good-case scenario.”
The same technology also showed that bots originating in Russia and China are being weaponized against Israel.
Asked what lessons to take away from the recent war, particularly regarding messaging, Naftali said that greater coordination in public relations efforts is essential: “It needs to improve.” He added, “A lot of people want to do good, but they don’t know who to use as their source. But we also need to understand and keep in mind that we are in the business of telling the truth. Sometimes it takes time to get the truth out.”
On the sidelines of the prayer event, Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel praised the US administration’s designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.
“Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood. They’ve been banned,” she told The Media Line. According to Haskel, the Muslim Brotherhood was caught “trying to deny the 7th of October, victim-blaming women and men who were tortured and raped at the hands of Hamas. This is just unbelievable that this is allowed to spread in America today. It’s a serious threat.”
Albert Veksler, global director and co-founder of the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast, and MK Tatiana Mazarsky, at the Knesset Day of Prayer, Nov. 26, 2025 in Jerusalem. (Felice Friedson/The Media Line)
The ban on the group in the US has “torn off the mask of the danger, the real danger all around the world by those radicals. … I believe that years from now we will be living in a better place — a more stable, more peaceful, more tolerant [place].”
Haskel also spoke about the power of the prayer gatherings and their effect: “We truly had miracles. And I think those prayer gatherings here in Israel and all around the world, it strengthen us.”
Albert Veksler is no stranger to hosting prayer breakfasts around the world. Speaking to The Media Line, he thanked MK Mazarsky for promoting the initiative and remarked that “we had the National Association of the Christian Lawmakers, 15 of them different legislators from the United States level, and also the two princes from Belgium who were from the family that hid hundreds of Jewish children during the Second World War.”
Veksler, global director and co-founder of the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast, announced that the next gathering will be held in Taiwan, hosted by the country’s vice president: “It’s going to be a high-level reception [with attendees] from the Taiwanese government, from the Israeli Knesset, and many, many friends of Israel actually coming together from Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, all around Asia.”
He spoke of the power of prayer to sustain people and inspire hope: “Sometimes people have lost hope in prayer.”
Prayer always works, and as you can see through … testimonies of our hostages who were in the tunnels
“Prayer always works, and as you can see through … testimonies of our hostages who were in the tunnels,” he said. “I remember particularly the man who said how he was talking to a crack in the ceiling, and then he was talking to another place. He was talking to a lamp in the ceiling. And then he was talking to the pitch-black tunnels. And then he started talking to God. And he said the moment he started talking to God, things became better for him.”