Speaking just for myself as an individual Christian the existance of the nation of Israel is important to me as a Biblical fact. We Christians look forward in the unknown future, I may well have been dead for thousands of years before this happens, when Christ returns for the second and final time to the earth from Heaven. Israel and the City of Jerusalem are where we believe and are taught Jesus will descend in a cloud.
Jews and Arabs are blood kin, both groupings are of Semitic origin.
In our Holy bible, the Book of Genesis, Chapter 16, we read of the birth of Ishmael as the first born son of Arbaham, by his Egyptian wife (given to Abraham by Sarah, Abraham's Jewish wife).
We see the same old story of jealousy between women, in this case two wives of Abraham, Hagar who was given to Abraham by Sarai, her Mistress, as Abraham at this point in time was childless and Sarai was thought to be barren:
Chapter 16, verses 5-16: "And Sarai said unto Abram, my wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judget between me and thee. But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her face. And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the way of Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will miltiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael. And Abram was four score and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.
Genesis, Chapter 17, further explains how what we know today as "the Jews" became God's chosen people. In verses 1-8: And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name anymore be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
Then in Genesis, further on in Chapter 17, came the promise of Isaac, in whom the line of Christ runs in our religion: Verses 15-27: And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred yars old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall be beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
A major disagreement between Judiasm/Christianity and Islam in discussed in Genesis, Chapter 22, when Abraham offers Isaac as a potential burnt offering to God. Verses 1-14: And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah: and offer him there for a burn-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose up early in the mornning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and rose up and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the donkeys; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife,; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spoke unto Abraham his father, and said, My father,: and he siad, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will rovide himself a lamb for a burnt-offering: so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God told him of; and Abraham build an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, an dlaid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretch forth his hand, and took the knive to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou has not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day. In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
This Biblical history is the original basis in both Old and New Testament, our Holy Bible of the description of Jesus as the Lamb of God, who came to taketh away the sins of the world, that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn it, but that through Him they might be saved. Jesus in my Christian belief was sacrified on the cross, crucified dead and buried, then arose from the dead, testsified of His Fahter in Heaven to his disciples, then ascended into Heaven on a cloud. Jesus = the sacrificial lamb of God to atone for all our sins.
This very lengthy posting is not meant to be rude or disrespectful to others beliefs and interpretations. Rather it is to explain how I as an individual Christian see and reason as a stand alone person when it comes to the topic of Israel as a nation and the importance of the survival of Israel, what it means to me, personally.
Thank you to those who took the time to read through this long posting.