As Israels siege of Gaza raged on in March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made time for a meeting in Jerusalem with a delegation led by Mario Bramnick, a Florida-based pastor with close ties to former President Donald Trump who has become a leading figure in a theocratic movement dedicated to bringing forth the end of the world.

Bramnick may not be a household name to many Americans, but hes an apostle in the New Apostolic Reformation meaning members believe he was anointed by God to lead and receive prophecies and is imbued with spiritual gifts , including the ability to prophesy, heal and speak in tongues. He and the NAR, a burgeoning network of charismatic evangelical churches, believe in the biblical prophecy that the return of Jews to Israel will hasten the return of Christ.

Netanyahu likely knew he was meeting with an End Times evangelical pastor: The prime minister has long been invested in currying favor with such radical American Christians. Whats unclear is if Netanyahu knew just how radical the Christians in this delegation were, and just what their beliefs about Jewish people consisted of.

Bramnick is what some scholars call a Christian supremacist, owing to his prominent role in the NAR, which believes in the existence of the supernatural, including modern-day prophets and apostles. He sees Trump as prophesied to rule over the U.S., and wants to transform America, and then the world, into a Christian theocracy, all to hasten Christs return to Earth and to begin his followers rapture to heaven.

Part of that project, per the NARs interpretation of scripture, is unequivocal support of Israel. While millions of American evangelical Christians have long been fervent supporters of the Jewish state because of End Times prophecies, most have been content to allow Jews to be Jews until Christs return, when the Lord would convert them to Christianity and allow their entrance to Heaven. This is a form of end-days theology that scholars call premillennialism.

But Bramnick and the wider NAR network represent a major shift in evangelical support for Israel. They are postmillennialists: They want Jews to convert now.

They want to turn Jews into Christians, and ever since the Crusades and earlier, that kind of Christian opposition to Judaism, that Christian desire to annihilate Judaism, has been a large part of the antisemitism Jews have faced, said Ben Lorber, a senior researcher at Political Research Associates and author of the book Safety Through Solidarity: Fighting Antisemitism and Winning a Just World.

Its very kind of unnerving to see Christian Zionist leaders who say they support Israel now, but they hold that kind of intense agenda kind of under wraps, Lorber said. But thats really a large part of whats motivating them, and its very disturbing.

Lorber said Israels relationship with these Christian Zionists could ultimately be a devils bargain: What does it mean, after all, that figures like Netanyahu who claim that the war in Gaza is in defense of Jews across the world are forming alliances with Christians who want Jews to no longer be Jewish?