Quarterly Journal of West Asian Studies
(Faṣlnāmah-i Gharb-i Asiyā)

Quarterly Journal of West Asian Studies (Faṣlnāmah-i Gharb-i Asiyā)

Mechanisms of Evangelical Influence on US Foreign Policy Towards Israel: The Trump Era(2016-2020)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 Allameh Tabatabaei University - Faculty of Law and Political Science - Department of International Relations
2 Allameh Tabatabaei University, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Department of International Relations
Abstract
US foreign policy towards Israel, especially during the presidency of Donald Trump (2016–2020), has often been analyzed solely based on geopolitical considerations or the role of traditional lobbies, with less attention paid to the identity, discursive, and institutional mechanisms of the Christian evangelical movement. The aim of this research is to explain the mechanisms through which American evangelicals have influenced the Trump administration’s foreign policy towards Israel. The main question of the research is what mechanisms have American evangelicals used to influence US foreign policy towards Israel during the Trump presidency? The research hypothesis is based on the fact that evangelicals have influenced the direction of this policy through discursive, institutional, and network mechanisms, although this influence occurred in a complex interaction with other political and strategic variables and cannot be considered the exclusive cause of decisions. This qualitative research was conducted with an explanatory-analytical approach and a case study strategy, and the data were collected through library and documentary methods (official documents, speeches of officials, think tank reports, and opinion poll data) and examined through qualitative and comparative content analysis. The theoretical framework of the research is a combination of structuralist theory and the institutional influence model, which allows for a balanced examination of identity-discourse variables alongside structural channels of influence. The research findings show that decisions such as moving the embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing the Golan Heights, and supporting settlements cannot be explained solely by geopolitical calculations, but rather these decisions make sense in the context of the overlap of religious-identity worldviews with institutional and network structures. The influence of evangelicals is the result of the synergy of three discursive, institutional, and network mechanisms that have transformed religion from a cultural element into an influential factor in American foreign policy.
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  • Receive Date 26 May 2026
  • Revise Date 15 July 2026
  • Accept Date 17 July 2026
  • First Publish Date 17 July 2026
  • Publish Date 22 December 2025