You don't have to be Jewish to be a Zionist.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, met with Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird on April 9, 2013, in Jerusalem. In January 2014, it's Stephen Harper's turn to visit Israel, where he will be warmly received.

“Israel has no better friend in the world than Canada; no stronger ally who will stand up for you. We won’t stand behind you; we will stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel. Canada will not remain silent while the Jewish state is attacked for defending its territory or people.”

Foreign Minister John Baird spoke these words at a conference in Israel two years ago. Most of his cabinet colleagues have also visited the country to do business and to show support. And the prime minister himself is in Israel on Monday.

He’s being very warmly received. Though Canada doesn’t figure prominently in public consciousness in Israel, Israelis share their political leaders’ appreciation of the Canadian government’s commitment.

It’s aptly reflected in the appointment of Canada’s new ambassador. Vivian Bercovici is, by all accounts, an admirer of Israel. In her writings, including her past contributions to this paper, she has enthusiastically endorsed Israel’s current government and described Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “a respected leader who has enhanced national security, immeasurably.”

Stephen Harper is proof that you don’t have to be Jewish to be a Zionist. The speech he made recently in Toronto at a gala dinner sponsored by the Jewish National Fund of Canada reflected his deep commitment to Israel that is not tainted by expediency or political opportunism.

His Zionism seems to be rooted in his Christian faith. Christian Zionism, particularly among Protestants, has a long history. It was, for example, very strong in 19th- and early 20th-century Britain. One of the results was probably the historic so-called Balfour Declaration of 1917 stating that “Her Majesty’s Government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”

The League of Nations had just given Britain a mandate to administer Palestine, but Israel came into being only three decades later, alas, after the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis. Had there been a Jewish state earlier, many more Jews would have been saved. The establishment of Israel after the Holocaust has become the supreme vindication of Zionism as the guarantor of the continuity of Judaism and the survival of the Jewish people.

This has further strengthened Christian Zionism. It accounts for much of today’s support for Israel around the world, though it’s based not on commitment to Judaism but on the belief that Jesus’ Second Coming is contingent upon the Jews returning to their homeland. The tacit support of Israel by successive presidents of the United States and its Congress is an implied outgrowth of this political theology.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry may not be a Zionist, yet his current valiant efforts to bring Israelis and Palestinians together can perhaps best be understood within this framework.

Harper arrives in Israel at a crucial moment, when Kerry is urging both sides to make painful concessions for the sake of peace. Dare we hope that, given his credentials, Canada’s prime minister will be able to persuade the political leaders of Israel to make the necessary sacrifices for the sake of the continuation of the Zionist program, just as Israel’s leaders agreed to the partition of the country in November 1947 that made it possible a few months later to establish the State of Israel? Or am I too naive?

Though Mahmoud Abbas, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, whom Harper is also seeing during his visit, is likely to be less hospitable and forthcoming, a wholesome influence that the government of Canada may have on the government of Israel could perhaps persuade the Palestinians to revise their hard line. Or is that beyond being naive?

Dow Marmur is rabbi emeritus at Toronto’s Holy Blossom Temple. His column appears every other week.