End of Days and divine providence: Netanyahu gives interview to evangelical Trump adviser
Paula White, head of White House Faith Office, asks PM about Armageddon, Trump assassination attempt, in latest US interview amid PM’s yearslong shunning of most Israeli media
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on his trip to Washington, DC, sat down for an English-language interview published Friday with a prominent evangelical Christian leader and adviser to US President Donald Trump, in which he lauded the American president and urged Christians to visit Israel.
The forty-minute interview with pastor Paula White — the head of the White House Faith Office and a longtime proponent of the so-called “prosperity gospel,” which sees material wealth as a product of God’s favor — was conducted at the Blair House, where foreign dignitaries stay as guests of the president.
It began with a question about the coming of Armageddon: “The Christian vision of the End of Days foretells of some profound transformation and redemption, and based on the events that are unfolding today, do you feel that we are seeing these signs of the vision come to fruition?” White asked.
Netanyahu responded that the return of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel was itself a miracle and a realization of prophecy, while also paying homage to Zionist leader Theodor Herzl, whom he referred to as “a great prophet, like a modern Moses.” The prime minister then spoke about Trump, noting, among other things, that the leader recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, “which is also mentioned in the Bible many times.”
White — who was once criticized for a sermon in which she prayed for the miscarriage of “all Satanic pregnancies” — then brought up the assassination attempt against Trump last summer, referring to it as “6:11” after the time the shooting occurred on July 13, and relating that 6:11 p.m. was also “the exact time that [former US president Harry] Truman signed” the US’s recognition of the State of Israel in 1948.
“I personally don’t think that would be a coincidence, but divine providence, of God saving his life, and having a purpose for the world,” she said.
Netanyahu — without explicitly assenting to her claim of divine guidance — agreed that “history is different because of that quarter-inch,” referring to the proximity of the would-be assassin’s bullet to Trump’s temple.
The prime minister then noted that he keeps a copy of Truman’s declaration next to a copy of Trump’s declaration recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, saying: “They’re both so pregnant with meaning, you know, that I just had to put one next to the other.”
The interview also included a discussion of anti-Israel protests across the United States, which have cropped up in particular on college campuses during the war in Gaza; the value of Christians visiting Israel; the importance of the Bible in the eyes of Israel’s founders; and the rise of Christian Zionism in evangelical communities around the world.
Speaking about the anti-Israel protests, White noted that “some of that messaging has come from other countries. Maybe it’s Iran, Qatar.” The latter state funds the prominent, Israel-hostile Al-Jazeera network and has been accused of investing in American universities to inflame anti-Israel sentiment there.
“You’re right, Iran has been sponsoring this,” Netanyahu said. “But Qatar has to choose,” noting: “They recently helped us with the [Gaza] ceasefire — the temporary ceasefire — but they were hosting those Hamas terrorists.”
No mention was made of the ongoing, so-called “Qatargate” scandal, in which several of Netanyahu’s close aides — though not the prime minister himself — are accused of taking money from Qatar to perform PR services on the country’s behalf, including efforts to play up the Gulf state’s role in hostage-ceasefire negotiations.
Netanyahu has also been widely criticized in Israel for overseeing the transfer of Qatari funds into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip over many years leading up to the October 7, 2023, cross-border invasion from Gaza that started the ongoing war. The premier has adamantly refused to take responsibility for the failure to prevent the assault.
The October 7 onslaught — in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages — was mentioned once, by White. Netanyahu mentioned the “seven-front war” several times, first while praising Trump for releasing weapons Netanyahu said had been held up by former US president Joe Biden’s administration in a “critical arms embargo,” and then to say that the war had gotten in the way of his regular Bible study.
Netanyahu’s comment about Qatar hosting Hamas leaders was the only reference to the terror group in the 40-minute interview.
No mention was made of the hostages in Gaza — 24 of whom are believed to be alive, and 35 of whom are confirmed dead — still held captive by Hamas and other terror groups in the Strip, though Netanyahu was wearing a yellow-ribbon pin representing their plight.
For several years now, Netanyahu has preferred to speak to English-language outlets over local media. Though he has frequently appeared on American news networks and alternative media platforms — speaking to podcasters Dr. Phil, Dave Rubin, and Jordan Peterson, among others — he has declined to give any Hebrew interviews since the October 7 attack apart, from four appearances on the staunchly pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 and one on the podcast of pro-Netanyahu pundit Gadi Taub.
The Times of Israel Community.