Knesset hosts “forgiveness before God” session for foreign Christians over failure to support Israel

Israel has held an event in its parliament bringing together dozens of Christians from around the world, during which some participants asked God's forgiveness for what they said was insufficient support for Israel by their home countries.

According to Israeli media reports, Israeli lawmakers, government officials and Christians from 38 countries gathered at the Knesset as part of the 10th "Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast" event.

During the gathering, Sarah Zhu from China said: "God, forgive us for everything we have done by failing to support Israel."

She also asked for forgiveness for opposing Israel, saying: "God, I pray that you teach us how to love Israel and how to support Israel."

Clive Urquhart and Jane Urquhart from the UK said: "God, forgive us for turning our backs on Israel, for not defending the Jewish people, and for allowing antisemitism to roam freely in the streets of our country."

Praying for the Church to be forgiven for what they described as Israel being left alone, the pair added: "As a nation, let us once again stand with Israel and the Jewish people, offer them our support, and be their friends."

An unnamed participant from South Korea, speaking in tears, said: "God, forgive the Korean nation for the words spoken against Israel and the people of Israel."

Videos of the event shared on social media prompted criticism from many users. Some described it as "crazy" that Israel had brought dozens of Christians from around the world to its parliament to ask God's forgiveness on behalf of their countries for not supporting Israel strongly enough.

Others drew attention to remarks by Harald Eckert from Germany, who invoked the phrase "never again" in reference to the Holocaust during his speech at the Knesset. Critics said such statements amounted to uncritical support for Israeli policies despite the scale of the humanitarian crisis and destruction in the region.

Some social media users described it as a diplomatic absurdity that foreign civilian groups with no official diplomatic authority or state mandate were asking forgiveness "on behalf of their countries" under the roof of the Israeli parliament.

They also pointed to what they described as Israel's genocide in Gaza since October 2023, as well as what they said were unlawful Israeli actions in the occupied Palestinian territories and in Lebanon.

In a written statement, Gaza's Health Ministry said that since a ceasefire came into effect on 10 October 2025, 932 people had been killed in Israeli attacks, 2,859 injured, and the bodies of 781 people recovered from under the rubble.

It added that the total death toll from Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 2023 had risen to 72,941, with 172,967 people injured.