Vice President Mike Pence arrived in Israel this week to tell Israelis and, in particular, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that the Trump Administration stands ready to do Israel’s bidding in military, economic, and diplomatic support and that the U.S. embassy will be moved to Jerusalem by 2019.

Pence’s assurance of the embassy move was, of course, in the wake of Donald Trump’s recent assertion that Israel’s capital is Jerusalem, a unilateral decision by Trump that was decried not only by Palestinians, but by many nations and their diplomatic corps around the world. Trump had ridden roughshod over years of peace talks and negotiations over a state for the Palestinians and he had done so with his “only-I-can-accomplish-this” attitude.

The vice president, in his speech to the Knesset, did not mention the longstanding problem of the Palestinian people and what to do about a state and a homeland for them. Americans do not seem to know that Palestinians also claim Jerusalem as their capital and that included Trump and Pence. Also, Jerusalem is a most holy site for Catholics and other Christians. Neither the vice president nor Trump address the inhumane treatment of Palestinians under what is politely called the “occupation.”

President Trump sent the right man for the job, in that he is just one of legions of fundamentalist Christians who are in support of the Jewish state for their own religious purposes and to fulfill their own religious beliefs. Within the recent past, another fundamentalist Christian, Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, stood in the West Bank and declared it to be a part of Israel, even though that territory was to be returned to the Palestinians when the statehood question was settled. However, there have been so many Jewish settlements built in the West Bank over the past several decades, even if it were returned to the Palestinians, it would resemble a gerrymandered congressional district in the U.S.

Netanyahu has said loudly and clearly that he is not going to stop the settlement building and that there will not be a two-state solution. As well, he and his right-wing colleagues in government have said in many ways that there will not be a one-state solution, either, because such an arrangement would be destructive of a Jewish state, which was the reason for establishing Israel in the years after World War II. Whatever Netanyahu and his government do to the Palestinians, Trump and Pence seem to be okay with it. Thus, the very premature announcement that Trump would move his embassy to Jerusalem, regardless of the price paid in blood and suffering.

Pence and other Christian fundamentalists are interested in Israel because, according to Wikipedia, some “Christian Zionists believe that the gathering of the Jews in Israel is a prerequisite for the Second Coming of Jesus. The idea has been common in Protestant circles since the Reformation, that Christians should actively support a Jewish return to the Land of Israel, along with the parallel idea that the Jews ought to be encouraged to become Christians as a means of fulfilling Biblical prophecy.”

Apart from the political and diplomatic implications of Trump’s and Pence’s disruptions in the Holy Land, there is a clear and profound religious connection, at least for Pence, but for Trump, it is very difficult to discern religious beliefs and principles in Trump’s makeup.

Jane Eisner, long associated with The Forward, a U.S. Jewish newspaper, had this to say about recent Trump Administration actions: “This is all a huge concern, of course, because Pence and his compatriots are driving Israel policy in the Trump administration, as I explained, replacing a bipartisan, pluralistic approach with one based on one religious perspective and anchored in one political party. When that policy becomes more Christian, it becomes less Jewish; as ‘pro-Israel’ becomes synonymous with conservative Republicans, American Jews — still largely identified with the Democratic party — will move away. That disconnect is highlighted in the divergent attitude towards the Jerusalem decision, which Pence hailed today as if he was announcing a great deliverance.”

She noted that, last September, a survey by the American Jewish Committee found that only 16 percent of those polled wanted the U.S. to move its embassy to Jerusalem immediately. Thirty-six percent only wanted it moved in conjunction with the Palestinians, and 44 percent not at all. This is the AJC, remember, an establishment voice. Eisner added: “While Trump’s Jerusalem decision may be wildly popular in Israel, it is not supported by most American Jews. It is, however, a long-standing dream of certain evangelical Christians and right now, that’s who counts.”

In recent times, it has become more difficult to tell the difference between religious policy and political policy and governance. Pence is reported to favor government that lines up with biblical teaching, if not follows it to the letter. Some are confused by his own religious conversion. One radio commentator on the subject said Pence “converted from Catholicism to Christianity.” Surely, many Catholics would be surprised to hear that.

It really does not matter to Netanyahu and his supporters why the Trump Administration has fallen into line. What matters is that Trump has fallen into line and Israel will take full advantage of that. Trump cares little for those who are on the margins in the U.S., many because of official policy and many millions because of bigotry and racism, so why should he be concerned about a few million Palestinians?

Since Palestinians were extirpated from their homes and homeland when the Jewish state was created by the manipulation of a few colonial powers, they have been refugees in their own land and in other places. Some 700,000-800,000 Palestinians were removed from their homes “for their own safety,” and they were told they might return in the near future. That was more than a half-century ago and they’re still waiting. Few but other refugees would know the anguish and suffering of living for generations as refugees, in camps and makeshift villages and cities, as the Palestinians have.

Neither Trump nor Pence are moved by what has become the overriding issue in the Middle East for millions around the world, the “Palestinian question.” And there seems to be even less concern by the heads of what was the most powerful and respected nation on earth.

The other monumental question that should have been addressed by Pence, as water carrier for Trump, is the possession of (reported) hundreds of nuclear weapons by Israel, one of the developers and manufacturers of some of the most sophisticated weapons and weapons systems in the world. Israel has never admitted to possession of nuclear weapons and delivery systems and no country has challenged their secret. Pence assured Netanyahu and Israel that the Trump Administration would never allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon. He and Trump do not recognize irony, even when it stares them in their face.

For Pence, however things turn out for Palestinians, Israelis, and others who populate the Middle East, he must be satisfied that he has done his part to fulfill his religious belief that, with Jews in control of all of Israel (no inconveniences like Palestinian land), the way has been prepared for the second coming of Christ.