Major Pro-Israel Summit In Dallas Cancelled After Leftist Terror Threats

A major pro-Israel conference slated to begin in a few days in Dallas that had 1,000 committed attendees postponed the event "indefinitely," citing "escalating terror threats."

The decision came after organizers had already changed venues for the Israel Summit, which draws major Christian and Jewish pro-Israel speakers, because of security concerns. It was set to take place from June 9-11.

"This is America in 2025. A pro-Israel conference scheduled for Dallas this week, where I was scheduled to speak, which sold over 1,000 tickets, was forced to cancel because of threats from violent Jihadists," stated David Friedman, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel.

"Law enforcement was completely cooperative, but the threats were of a nature that required cancellation," Friedman said. "When the president says we need to take our country back, this is a good example of what he means."

Josiah Hilton, show host for the Israel Guys, which was to co-host the event with HaYovel, stated that just 10 days before this year's event, local police and intelligence officials in Dallas notified organizers that it had been elevated to a "high-threat event."

That meant that they would have to develop "a mandatory security plan with a substantial budget estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars," and their original venue was no longer feasible, according to Hilton.

At the time, organizers believed that security concerns were due to the recent murder of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington.

The organizers were able to quickly secure what Hilton called a "new and significantly safer location just north of Dallas." At the new site, there was to be "top-tier private security, with additional support from local law enforcement and coordination with the Texas governor's office." (JNS sought comment from the governor's office, from the FBI, and from Dallas and Arlington police.)

Organizers announced on Thursday that the new venue, which they didn't name, was also forced to withdraw, "citing escalating safety concerns and mounting external pressure."

That pressure "came in the form of indirect and direct threats made by American, pro-Hamas, Jihadist groups, who issued calls to 'target' the Israel Summit and the private facility where the event was slated to be held," organizers said.

Joshua Waller, an Israel Guys co-host and director of operations at HaYovel, stated on social media that the cancellation was "due to the immense security needs that were needed to secure a relatively small gathering of Christians and Jews to support Israel, in Texas, of all places."

While they had the full cooperation of Texas law-enforcement agencies, the sheriff's department, Texas Rangers and the FBI, organizers decided they had to cancel. 

"Every option was explored, yet ultimately, no safe path forward remained--a reality organizers never imagined possible in the United States," Waller stated.

The Palestinian Youth Movement Dallas and Jewish Voice for Peace mobilized, under the banner of "Texas un-welcomes the genocide summit," and outed the new location: televangelist Kenneth Copeland's facilities in an isolated area near Newark, Texas.

After a barrage of security threats, the new venue also had to cancel. Hilton said that "we completely understand."

"It's not their fault," he said. "We brought this along with us, having a pro-Israel event."

He and fellow organizers are shocked at how it is growing increasingly difficult to hold a pro-Israel event, as free speech is being suppressed. 

"These pro-Hamas thugs are allowed to do whatever they want," he said. "It's very concerning."

Despite the cancellation, "we aren't counting this as a loss to the anti-Israel people," Hilton said. Organizers plan to hold the event "in the near future," fighting for "free speech and the right for Americans to gather and show their support for Israel," he said.

At the new event, "we're going to come back bigger and stronger, with more people," he said. This year, organizers were "caught off-guard" and "just ran out of time," he added.

The three-day conference was planned as "more than just a response," per the organizers. "It's a rallying point for those who stand unapologetically with Israel, especially in Judea and Samaria, Israel's biblical heartland."

For more than 20 years, HaYovel has coordinated Christian volunteers to spend time in Israel, generally helping grape farmers or planting trees. 

HaYovel started The Israel Guys, a media initiative, in 2013. Millions worldwide watch the current version, which has five hosts and began in 2021.

Ohad Tal, a Knesset member, and former congresswoman Michele Bachmann were among the scheduled speakers. There was also a premiere of a film about the Temple Mount and a concert planned.

In May 2024, the inaugural Israel Summit was scheduled for the Sonesta Nashville Airport Hotel, but the hotel canceled the event--and room reservations for about 400 participants--10 days before it was to begin.

A Nashville-based Palestinian group had issued an "urgent call to action" for its members to call the hotel and tell them, "We will not allow genocidal racists to hold a conference in our city." The hotel reportedly consulted with local police, concerned about physical danger.

The radio personality Dave Ramsey offered his Ramsey Event Center, south of Nashville, as an alternate site without charge and said that the event would become "10 times what it was before."

With the publicity, attendance doubled from 400 to 800.

In November, the Jewish National Fund held a conference in Dallas, which drew up to 1,000 protesters daily, some of whom stayed up all night making noise to keep attendees away, though they were stationed far from the hotel venue.

For weeks leading up to the event, Students for Justice in Palestine and other groups in a "Cancel JNF" coalition inundated the host hotel with calls and emails.

The National Religious Broadcasters convention, the annual gathering of evangelical media, held its conference near Dallas in February. There were many pro-Israel panels and events without incident.

The need to cancel "highlights a troubling trend," Hilton stated, "the growing normalization of antisemitic threats and anti-Israel extremists, which are fueling intimidation and silencing voices of support for Israel across the United States."

Originally published at JNS.org