The October 7 massacre and subsequent multifront war between Israel and radical Islamist groups have exposed who truly stands with Israel and who does not, according to Christian evangelical leader Steve Wearp, founder of Blessed Buy Israel.
BLESSED BUY ISRAEL
(ILTV)
“This war is making people take a stand on one side or the other, and it seems to be very clarifying,” Wearp said. “What do people really believe? Where is their heart at?
“Those who love Israel are actually stepping up to the plate and making a difference,” he continued. “Many others are going to the radical left and calling for destruction. I think this is a matter of education and definitely a spiritual issue, where people’s hearts have been turned. They've been lied to and captured by a false philosophy that allows them to support Hamas.
“How can you support Hamas? How can you support what they’ve done? How can you support Hezbollah, or Assad, or the Iranian regime? How can you stand there silently by?”
Wearp added that he reassures his Jewish friends: “You will never, ever, ever be alone again.”
Wearp founded Blessed Buy Israel to support life in the Biblical Heartland by selling products handcrafted by residents of Judea and Samaria. The idea for the company emerged in 2015 when the Obama administration supported the European Union’s decision to label Jewish-made products from the area.
“It was an attempt to support BDS,” Wearp recalled. “My family and I sat down and decided we would not be like our forefathers. We were going to make a difference.”
The family’s commitment deepened after the passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which declared any Jewish presence in the West Bank illegal under international law. Wearp and his family went to Judea and Samaria, meeting small business owners and families to find ways to get their products to market and counter international pressure.
Since then, Wearp says the residents of Judea and Samaria have become some of his closest friends.
“It totally changes your heart and your attitude,” Wearp said. “These are the people we care the most about. These are the people we walk with continually, on a daily basis.”