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.)

The head of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)—which provides educational and social services to the descendants of Palestinian refugees—recently predicted disaster if the organization is unable to raise $100 million in the next few months. Ruthie Blum explains why this official’s claim that UNRWA “is indispensable in the lives of Palestinian refugees” is simply false: