Evangelical Christian sponsors of "A Night to Honor Israel" are hoping for a large Jewish turnout when they rally at the Harvest Training Center in Cranford on Sunday, Sept. 16.

The event, sponsored by the Texas-based Christians United for Israel, invites participants to "unite our voices and send a strong message to our community and leaders that Christians are standing with Israel and the Jewish people."

In a widely e-mailed invitation, the group gave a written assurance that nothing in the program "could be considered conversionary, offensive or a violation of Jewish sensitivities."

Lori Price Abrams, director of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ's Community Relations Committee, said among those who plan to join her in attending the event are CRC chair Merle Kalishman of Livingston and CRC associate Melanie Gorelick.

"We are committed to bringing a leadership delegation. We want to go meet these folks and build relationships. That's what we are in business to do," said Price Abrams. "We are certainly open to people who are supportive of Israel and we want to understand them. They have been candid in understanding we don't share other policy issues, and there are some we probably disagree on."

The event comes as the latest in a series of gestures by pro-Israel Christians that have left some Jews deeply ambivalent. In April, addressing the national plenum of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, David Brog, the executive director of Christians United for Israel, urged Jews to put aside their political differences with Evangelicals and their fears of proselytizing to accept their support for Israel.

CUFI founder Pastor John Hagee was a keynote speaker at this year's American Israel Public Affairs Committee's policy forum.

The organizer of the Cranford event is the Rev. Walter Healy of the Church of Grace and Peace in Toms River. "Because this is the first of a kind in New Jersey, I suspect we will indeed have Jewish participation, but I have no idea how strong that will be," he told NJ Jewish News.

In an effort to win broad support, the invitation to the event included an "Open Letter to the Jewish Community."

Christians "grieve over these crimes against you," it reads. "Even many of our forebears who did not actively perpetrate crimes against the Jewish people grossly misrepresented Him who we call Prince of Peace. He called us to love and worship our Heavenly Father, and to love our neighbor actively, especially the Jew as His chosen people."

Healy said his staff contacted the Jewish federations. "We supplied them with statements and invitations. I hope they would be conveyed to their own constituencies. We also contacted individual rabbis to invite them and their congregations. Some are coming; some are not."

The pastor describes himself as an evangelical Christian who would "probably be recognized as outside the mainstream of Protestantism."

He said he expected a Christian rally on behalf of Israel would become an annual event.

"It will grow as the Jewish community learns to trust and believe that it is a frank and sincere effort as friends, as opposed to Christian missionaries," he said.

As CUFI's New Jersey director, Healy said, he has joined his colleagues in lobbying members of Congress, declaring they were "absolutely opposed to a nuclear Iran and absolutely in favor of the United States remaining a strong ally of Israel."

Asked whether Israeli settlements on the West Bank should be dismantled in the interest of peace with the Palestinians, Healy said he "could not speak for the national organization. But in my own opinion there is a biblical mandate. The land belongs to Israel. They are God's stewards. Men should not mess with what God has covenanted."

"The U.S. ought to stop pressuring Israel to push land for peace," he added. "We are not believers that appeasement has ever succeeded in the history of man."

The rally begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Harvest Training Center at 69 Myrtle St. in Cranford. In addition to Healy, those scheduled to speak include Brog and a representative of the Consul General of Israel in New York.

"We are going to learn, we are going to listen, and we have no commitment to do anything," said Price Abrams. "What they are putting out is their love and support for Israel and the Jewish people. The Jewish people can at least meet them halfway and go as invited guests."

Added Kalishman: "I am very curious. It is something I've never come face to face with, so I'm planning to go with an open mind. We may disagree on some issues, but this is not a quid pro quo. We welcome the support of others who support Israel."