As Zach Bauer steps into his new role as CEO of Passages, it will be his first position with the group that organizes Birthright-style trips to Israel for Christian college students. For years, however, Bauer has thought of himself as a “Passages student before there was a Passages,” he told eJewishPhilanthropy in his first interview since being tapped as chief executive of the group. 

“I went to Israel for the first time right after high school with my family,” recalled Bauer, a former staffer for then-Rep. Mike Pence — who went on to work for Pence’s 2024 presidential campaign. “It was an experience that I’ll never forget, connecting my faith roots to the roots of the Hebrew faith. I never felt closer to God than at that time, and I came back from that trip as an even stronger supporter for Israel than I had been before.” 

Passages, which launched in 2016, has sent thousands of Christian college students to Israel, where they learn about the country’s modern history and visit historic biblical sites. But despite the popularity of Passages trips — and the critical role evangelical Christians play as a source of support for Israel in the U.S. — recent surveys show support for Israel among young evangelicals has declined. 

Bauer sat down with eJP to discuss the future of Passages at this critical moment for the organization’s key constituency. 

The interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Haley Cohen: Younger evangelicals are more reserved in their support for Israel than their older counterparts. A February 2024 Tel Aviv University study found that nearly half of American evangelicals under 30 expressed neutrality over whether they were supportive of Israel, and studies show that support for Israel among young evangelicals has been on the decline since 2017 or so. How concerned are you that Generation Z Christians are not as attached to Israel as their parents and grandparents? Is this happening because they are less religious? Less knowledgeable about history? 

Zach Bauer: It’s a concern, but it helps us realize that our mission is even more relevant and important than ever before. We need to rectify those numbers and do our best to educate and inform the younger generation of Christians who may not fully understand the roots of their faith and the connection to the Jewish faith. That’s part of our mission and goal. These recent surveys bring a greater sense of urgency that we have an important role to play in how this unfolds in the years to come.   

HC: How have the numbers of young Christians wanting to go to Israel changed since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel? Of course, there are logistical difficulties, such as higher flight costs as most U.S. airlines are still not flying to Israel. But are less Christian college students even wanting to go to Israel in the first place right now? If so, do you have fresh ideas to get them engaged?

ZB: [The] Oct. 7 [attacks] changed a lot of things. In terms of trips to Israel, we had to put those on hold. We had a trip that went at the turn of the year and we’re getting back into regular operations planning trips for this summer. Flight costs is one issue we’re dealing with. 

Since Oct. 7, Passages refocused a lot of our energy and attention to the advocacy side, since we couldn’t do trips but still wanted to show our solidarity for Israel on campuses.In just 39 weeks, we had over 70 events on college campuses across the country. Over 16,000 individual contacts with students across the country. Even though our trips are starting to return to normalcy, we’re going to continue to evolve and expand our advocacy because we see it as a vital part of our mission going forward.

After Oct. 7 [we saw a rise in] engagement amongst students that had never been on a Passages trip but were excited to get involved and help stand in solidarity with Israel [through programs on campus]. The challenge is going to be trying to carry on that momentum going forward. On the one hand, it’s great that our trips are restarting. We’re excited to get operations back to normal. On the other hand, it’s going to be key to get these students that have attended our advocacy-related events, to keep them engaged going forward. 

Some of the events that students have been most engaged in have included Shabbat dinners with chapters of Hillel and other Jewish campus groups. Christian students have enjoyed experiencing what a Shabbat dinner is like. We’ve also done prayer vigils for the hostages. It’s been a wide variety of advocacy related events. We’re looking to get creative and find other ways we can get students involved. 

HC: But with antisemitism and anti-Israel rhetoric soaring on college campuses over the past 15 months, that must be taking a toll on at least some of these students, right? Whether it’s through Israel trips or campus programming, how will Passages address that? 

ZB: Yes. I’ve been disheartened by watching it on TV so I can only imagine what some of the students witnessing it firsthand are thinking themselves. Seeing what was going on on college campuses since Oct. 7 made me excited about this opportunity and the role we could potentially play in stemming the rising tide of antisemitism. There’s a lot of work to be done. It’s an uphill climb, but I’m excited about the potential we have. 

On some campuses, there’s a lack of coordination in targeting students who would otherwise be willing to stand up to Israel. [For example, there was] a college student who said he wasn’t advocating for Israel because “no one asked me to.” [In other cases] when support of Israel is not as strong as students initially thought or it once was, [we ask] are they afraid of retaliation? 

We need to raise up Christian men and women who are not afraid to speak out in defense of Israel. It’s a challenge because they may feel that they are in the minority, but I feel that it’s a very loud [anti-Israel] minority on some of these campuses that get the attention. 

HC: In April 2023, we reported that following a $12 million grant from the Marcus Foundation, Passages planned to expand in the coming years to send thousands of high school students to Israel. I understand this was put on pause after Oct. 7. What’s the status of the high school program now? Are you planning to restart it? 

ZB: We’re still working on the high school project. [Nothing has been planned yet for Israel trips]. But we have trips for high school students in the works this year to come to Washington to attend the Museum of the Bible and the [U.S.] Holocaust [Memorial] Museum. 

I want to create a pipeline, for both high school and college students, that will go on a trip to Israel and then come back to their respective campuses and communities and be outspoken, pro-Israel advocates and then get into influential fields —  whether that’s in public policy, law, medicine, whatever that may be — but that they use the experience they had in Israel and bring it back to the U.S. and speak out in defense of Israel and against antisemitism.