"The Christian Right, Not AIPAC, Drives the GOP's Pro-Israel Stance"

"Generally speaking, Americans tend to be pro-Israel thanks to acute and widespread awareness of the Holocaust and of Jewish statelessness as one of the principal reasons the Holocaust occurred (you could contrast this, by the way, with the average Americans very limited awareness of Palestinian history). Beyond that, there is a very specific set of religious perspectives that make America more pro-Israel than similar but more secular countries"

"A particularly large and politically active group of conservative American Evangelical Christians, moreover, not only identify themselves with Jews thanks to a common scriptural legacy, but also place the State of Israel at the very center of their vision of global salvation. Indeed, many conservative Evangelicals believe that in consolidating their hold over a Greater Israel, the Jewish State is unwittingly setting the stage for the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus Christ. These conservative Evangelicals, who also don’t tend to be fond of Muslims, have become the single most important constituency in the Republican Party’s base..."

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/02/christian-right-bigger-deal-than-aipac-in-gop-israel-policy.html