Glenn Beck stirs controversy in Israel. Reuters

The temperature may have dropped a little in Jerusalem on Wednesday night, but it was more than compensated for by the heat produced by Glenn Beck as he brought his "Restoring Courage" rally to the Old City.

The former Fox News presenter and devout Mormon stood at a podium beneath the gunmetal grey of the dome of the al-Aqsa mosque to direct a tirade of invective at governments, human rights organisations, the United Nations, Europe and Arab states – and sometimes just "them", whoever they are.

Despite a strangely subdued start, the rightwing polemicist finally roused his audience to whoops and cheers with his trademark preacher's inflection. But all the while, the distant noise of anti-Beck protests provided a backdrop to a 90-minute programme of declamation, music and presentations.

Dressed as though attending a funeral, Beck stood in sharp contrast to the casual attire of his overwhelmingly white American Christian audience, many of whose baseball caps and T-shirts denoted their state of origin, their church or their adherence to the US Tea Party movement.

But the surprising number of empty seats belied the organisers' claims that demand for tickets had outstripped availability at the 2,000-capacity Davidson Centre.

Beck, who was deemed too extreme even for Fox television after 400 advertisers pulled their commercials from his show earlier this year, had come to Jerusalem to "restore courage" to the Jewish state and salute Israelis as "people who stand against the entire tide of global opinion". "The world is burning," he said. "Whatever we've grown to think is solid and strong and durable is under siege. The threats are mounting. The evil is growing. Darkness is falling."

After many impassioned references to God's covenants to return the Jewish people to their land, Beck turned his attention to what he saw as a legion of enemies that Israel and its God-fearing supporters faced.

Referring to the UN, he said: "In New York, so-called leaders are talking about human rights. But what they do is abuse the very meaning of this phrase. They condemn tiny Israel, democratic Israel, free Israel – Israel which values human life above all others."

He said western governments focused on criticism of Israel instead of condemning countries such as Syria which was "slaughtering its people". "In some countries it is a crime not to condemn Israel. The diplomats are afraid. They are cowards and so they surrender to falsehood. The truth matters not."

Even some Israelis, he said, were beginning to doubt themselves. "My friends, do not lose hope. You must not lose confidence in yourselves. You must draw courage." Always remember, he added, that they were "led to this land by God. He promised that Israel would rise again. We have seen this promise fulfilled. Israel, we have witnessed the dawn of your redemption."

Israel's steadfastness was especially important given "what the world describes as the 'Arab Spring'. I said, are you mad? Behind many of the revolutions is a familiar force which I said would come to the borders of Israel and bring death. And so it has in the past seven days."

The reference was to last week's attack on the Israeli-Egyptian border in which eight Israelis were killed.

Human rights organisations, he said, had become "grotesque parodies of the principles they pretend to represent. They denounce nations like Israel and America and leave alone nations which have no freedoms at all. Whatever moral force they once had is spent."

The audience reserved its most fervent responses and standing ovations for its familiar enemies of big government and liberal institutions. It included representatives of Christian Zionism whose ardent support for Israel is derived from the belief that the Jewish people's return to the holy land is a prerequisite of the second coming of the Messiah.

But the accompanying belief that Jews must then convert to Christianity in order to be saved has prompted widespread opposition to Christian Zionism – and Beck's rally – within Israel. Some rabbis denounced the broadcaster and called on Jews to boycott the event.

From the left, opposition stemmed from Beck's rejection of a Palestinian state on the basis that it would cut off the holy sites of Jerusalem "from the rest of the world".

But protesters were kept well away from the rally, whose venue was itself controversial. The podium, a choir and orchestra, and rows of plastic chairs were sited at an archaeological site below the Temple Mount, revered by Jews, which is also known as Haram al-Sharif, the third holiest site for Muslims. The Muslim call to prayer rose above the al-Aqsa mosque as the audience awaited their hero.

For Bonnie Wimsatt, 59, from Washington DC, part of a group of Christians on a 10-day tour of which the rally was the climax, her reason for the 6,000-mile trip was simple. "We're here to support Israel‚ a peace-loving nation surround by people who want to harm them," she said. "They're always fighting a battle – they can't go outside their front door without someone shooting at them."

At the overflow venue a few miles away, where around 2,000 people gathered to watch the rally on a large outdoor screen, Michael Novatka, a born-again Christian and "self-proclaimed Jew" from Florida, said: "Glenn Beck tells the truth, but the rest of the world doesn't want to hear it. I've been watching him for years, and agree with what he says. Now that he's left Fox, he's stepping it up."