In the minds of many Americans, Christian support for the Jewish state stems from various ideas about the end of history. And indeed, dispensationalism—a school of Christian thinking about the unfolding of history—has played an important role in Christian Zionism. But increasingly those devout Christians who believe it to be their duty to support the Jewish state do so because of a new theology that sees the Jews’ status as God’s chosen people as irrevocable. Gerald McDermott, among the foremost scholarly proponents of this theory, explains his thinking to the Christian Hebrew Bible scholar Dru Johnson, who poses tough questions about anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, and the place of Jews in Christian notions of salvation. (Audio, 34 minutes.)

Yesterday, the Iranian foreign minister flew to Geneva to meet with European diplomats. President Trump, meanwhile, indicated that cease-fire negotiations might soon begin with Iran, which would presumably involve Tehran agreeing to make concessions regarding its nuclear program, while Washington pressures Israel to halt its military activities. According to Israeli media, Iran already began putting out feelers to the U.S. earlier this week. Aviram Bellaishe considers the purpose of these overtures:

The regime’s request to return to negotiations stems from the principle of deception and delay that has guided it for decades. Iran wants to extricate itself from a situation of total destruction of its nuclear facilities. It understands that to save the nuclear program, it must stop at a point that would allow it to return to it in the shortest possible time. So long as the negotiation process leads to halting strikes on its military capabilities and preventing the destruction of the nuclear program, and enables the transfer of enriched uranium to a safe location, it can simultaneously create the two tracks in which it specializes—a false facade of negotiations alongside a hidden nuclear race.