With their cowboy boots planted firmly in the soil of the Holy Land, a group of American cowboys arrived to help Israel in the best way they knew how.
“I love the Jewish people and I believe this is their God-given land,” Ezekiel Strain said as he stood in a West Bank field where he and his fellow cowboys have been helping with the harvest, according to the website CTech.
“I wanted to help out wherever I could here. They’re a small country and they need the help. We should help them,” he said.
“My heart breaks for Israel. I want to show my support and show we care about you guys and care about the things you care about. We’re for peace,” Strain said.
He is among cowboys from Arkansas and Montana who responded to the need for men to take up the chores that were dropped after Hamas slaughtered 1,200 people on Oct. 7 and the Israeli Defense Forces called up thousands for its war against Hamas.
John Plocher said the cowboys are doing whatever needs to be done, according to Fox Business.
“We’ve been out in the communities helping with just regular tasks, just stuff where they’re — all the men have been called up for the draft. So, we’ve been working on some of the farms around here and stuff like that,” he said.
Plocher said that instead of teaching Israelis how cowboys do things, “they’re teaching me.”
“The people of Israel live. They are here in the land, it’s their land. And I’m just excited to be here and support and work with them,” he said.
The work has a deeper purpose, Plocher said.
“I’m a Bible believer. I believe in the whole Bible and I believe in God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And yeah, we believe that this land was given to the Jewish people by God. And they have a right to this land,” he said.
John Plocher, a cowboy from Montana, arrived in Israel with his fellow cowboys to assist Judea and Samaria communities amid the ongoing war. Speaking with @Yoni_Kempinski, he expresses the American people’s support for Israel and shares some Montana wisdom for defeating Hamas. pic.twitter.com/OgcizYQhPo
— Israel National News – Arutz Sheva (@ArutzSheva_En) November 13, 2023
The cowboys are working through a group called HaYovel that supports volunteer efforts to help Israel.
Tennesse-born Direction of Operations Joshua Waller said there was no hesitancy in taking up the work.
“We have no choice. It is a moral duty. We have to stand for life, we have to stand for the Jewish people,” he said.
Cowboys from Arkansas and Montana are coming out to Israel to assist in agricultural needs, since foreign nationals who worked in this industry, have returned home during the war.
These gentlemen are not Israeli.
These gentlemen are not Jewish.
They are simply Americans that… pic.twitter.com/ZjSHF51nLN— Netanel Worthy – נתנאל וורתי (@NetanelWorthy) November 6, 2023
Strain said the work was nothing out of the ordinary.
“We’re just out here picking vegetables, but it’s something good, something that needs to be done, and we can show support for Israel in a good way,” he said.
“I come from the country and there we support Israel because you guys have values and morals and you care. You care about life and you want peace. We want peace, too. We support that,” Strain said.
Montana and Arkansas cowboys are on a mission from God: “We want to help Israel”
“It’s not like this is anything crazy. We’re just out here picking vegetables, but it’s something good, something that needs to be done,” says one of the cowboyshttps://t.co/6SaSotwYBc
— CTech (@Calcalistech) November 13, 2023
In an interview with Fox News, Waller said the help the cowboys are providing in the West Bank is vital.
“It’s so critical right now to be giving a helping hand to these farmers … their farms are really in jeopardy of being lost if they can’t get the crops, get the people that they need to keep things moving,” Waller said.
RIGHTEOUS COWBOYS
These young men from Arkansas and Montana landed today in Israel. After labourers were forced to abandon the area near the Gaza Strip, they came to help farmers in the South who were worried about losing their livelihoods.
Thank you, guys. Y'all are heroes. pic.twitter.com/pLNlfP9R29
— (((Emanuel Miller))) ? (@emanumiller) November 6, 2023
“We have terrorism lurking everywhere. One thing the world doesn’t understand is that this is the fourth front of the war. They don’t understand that the battle is touching this area,” he said.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.