ICEJ to Host 3,000 for Feast of Tabernacles 2026 in Jerusalem

ICEJ to Host 3,000 for Feast of Tabernacles 2026 in Jerusalem

By David R. Parsons, ICEJ Senior Vice President & Spokesman

Despite three years of war in Israel, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) is expecting to host some 3,000 local and foreign participants from over 70 nations at its upcoming Christian celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem from September 25 to 30, 2026.

This year’s Feast will take a strong stand of support for the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria as they face a growing wave of economic sanctions from European nations.

“We are excited to be celebrating the biblical festival of Sukkot once more with Christians from around the world,” said ICEJ President Dr. Juergen Buehler. “Yet our Feast also is taking place amid the series of extremely troubling sanctions being imposed by European nations on Jews living in Judea and Samaria, the Golan, and even Jerusalem.

“These discriminatory measures are intended to choke out the existence of Jewish communities, which remarkably came back to life in Israel’s ancient heartland after centuries of Jewish exile among merciless Gentile nations. These acts of economic warfare targeting hundreds of thousands of Israeli Jews are racist and far too reminiscent of past Jewish boycotts for us to remain silent.”

The ICEJ will counter these measures at the Feast by inviting Yesha community leaders to address the gathering, offering products for sale from Judea and Samaria in the exhibit hall, and arranging tours for Christians from Europe and elsewhere to visit shops, wineries, and Bible sites in the Judea and Shomron regions.

In addition, this year’s Feast will highlight the ICEJ’s extensive efforts over recent years to help the Israeli communities along the Gaza border recover and rebuild their homes and villages following the October 7, 2023, terror invasion. The Christian Embassy currently has nine major rebuilding projects completed or underway in the Gaza envelope, while a tenth project will be unveiled at the Feast to assist the hard-hit kibbutz of Nir Oz in restoring the most central facility of its communal life.

“This year’s influx of Christian pilgrims at Sukkot are coming from all over the world to deliver a strong message of their unwavering solidarity with Israel, and especially those deeply impacted by October 7 and the emerging threat of European sanctions,” Dr. Buehler stated. “I am thrilled that our Feast pilgrims will include delegations from Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, and other countries now targeting Israel. The presence of these Christian supporters of Israel is also vitally important considering the unrelenting surge of global antisemitism.”

The Feast will begin at the Kfar HaNokdim oasis in the Negev desert on Erev Sukkot (the evening before the biblical Feast of Tabernacles begins) and then move up to Jerusalem for five days of events, including the popular Jerusalem March, the Roll Call of the Nations, Israeli Guest Night, Communion at the Garden Tomb, and a Prayer Vigil in the Rose Garden overlooking the Knesset.

You can participate in this year’s feast—and represent your State!—by watching online. Join thousands from around the world in solidarity with Israel and as we look forward to the fulfillment of this feast when, as spoken of by Zechariah, “everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (14:16).