What does a run-down mining town in Kentucky have to do with America’s Middle East policy? In her electrifying documentary, Maya Zinshtein reveals the dangerous ties between religion and politics. Starting with a portrait of a small community of evangelicals, whose members enthusiastically donate their modest savings to lobbyists for the Israeli right, the filmmakers slowly uncover an unusual alliance beyond faiths. What enables it is a passionate belief of the evangelicals in the imminent fulfillment of the biblical prophecy about the end of the world in which Israel has a role to play. Using her access to an Israeli lobbyist in the United States, Zinshtein uncovers the extent to which religion influences American policy concerning one of the most explosive places in the world, including the American decision to move the country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. She follows the money trail—from small donations dropped into church collection plates to transfers in the millions to buy weapons—and analyses the connections. Her film sheds new light on the Middle East and, unfortunately, does not inspire optimism.

Konrad Wirkowski