A Small Idaho Deli, a Torn Flag, and a Lesson Too Many American Jews Still Haven’t Learned

My wife and I recently spent eight days in Idaho, and on the drive from Sun Valley back to Boise for our flight home, we stopped for lunch at a place Google Maps happened to route us to: Apple Barrel Deli and Bakery in Mountain Home. We had no idea what we were walking into.

The first thing we saw was a large Israeli flag flying next to an American one at the entrance. Inside, we ended up in a long conversation with the owners, Jeff and LeAnn, about why those flags were there.

They put the Israeli flag up after October 7th, not as a calculated gesture, but because they are Christian Zionists who felt Israel needed to see support from ordinary Americans, including ones in a modest Idaho city most people outside the state have never heard of. A few weeks later, someone stuck a hate group sticker onto the Star of David in their window. Then one morning, Jeff arrived to open the shop and found that someone had come overnight and torn up the Israeli flag. Local news covered it. The mayor called it what it was and promised prosecution. Jeff and LeAnn did not back down. They put up a new flag, and in response to the vandalism, they began placing photos of the hostages in their windows so everyone walking in for a sandwich would see the faces of the people being held.

I should also mention the food, because it matters. It is excellent. Not just sandwiches, but breakfast, soups, baked goods, and everything we tried was genuinely good. This is not a place you visit out of obligation. You will want to go back for the food alone.

I have thought about that conversation since we left, and about something else too. In the days right after October 7th, before most of the institutional Jewish world had even finished processing what had happened, the first calls, texts, and emails I received expressing horror and solidarity came from Christian Zionists. Not from many of my fellow Jews on the left, who took days, sometimes longer, to say anything unequivocal at all. That still sits with me.

Christian Zionism is not a fringe curiosity. It represents tens of millions of Americans, evangelicals in particular, who support Israel out of theological conviction, historical memory, and, in the case of people like Jeff and LeAnn, plain moral clarity. Too many of my fellow Jews, especially on the left, look at that support with a raised eyebrow. They question the theology behind it or assume it comes bundled with a political package they are uncomfortable with, and treat the support itself as suspect rather than something to be grateful for. To be clear, this is not most American Jews. The vast majority support Israel and its right to exist and defend itself. But the skepticism toward Christian Zionists specifically, even among many who are otherwise pro Israel, is real and worth examining.

That wariness comes from a real place, rooted in centuries of complicated history between Jews and Christian institutions. But standing in that bakery, hearing about a torn flag and a hate sticker and a couple who never once considered backing down, I kept thinking that this kind of caution, whatever its origins, is one we cannot afford right now, and maybe never could. Jeff and LeAnn get nothing out of supporting Israel. No institutional payoff, no community pressure pushing them toward it. If anything, it has cost them. They did it anyway because they believe it is right.

Jews have real allies who do not look, vote, or worship like us, and we too often greet them with suspicion instead of gratitude. That needs to change. If you are ever driving through Mountain Home, Idaho, stop at Apple Barrel Deli and Bakery. Get a sandwich, or better yet, try the soup and the baked goods too. But go to say thank you as well. People like Jeff and LeAnn are a reason Israel is not as alone in this country as it sometimes feels.

Josh Kantrow is a pro-Israel activist and a partner at a law firm in Chicago, where he practices technology and privacy litigation. He is a longtime contributor to publications on law, politics, and culture, and a frequent guest on podcasts and television. You can follow him at https://www.facebook.com/share/1BztjaVBKk/.