During the week covered by this review, we received 9 articles on the following subjects:
Political Issues / Christian Zionism
Interfaith Relations / Political Issues
Anti-Missionary Activity
Political Issues / Christian Zionism
Various Articles
In a blog post for the Times of Israel news site, Pastor Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Museum (FOZ), attacked Israeli politicians Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid for putting on a “political striptease show” by joining forces to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Evans had previously sent an open letter to Knesset members and ministers, identifying himself as a prophet of God, and asked politicians to seek God’s will about the upcoming Israeli elections. In that same letter, Evans said Knesset members and ministers do not trust in God, but instead are engaged in idolatry. He further said that Netanyahu was still God’s chosen one – a “man after God’s heart”. After it became clear that a coalition to oust Netanyahu was going forward, Evans posted the aforementioned blog post, calling Bennett a “pathetic bitter little man”, and further said: “I understand how the Holocaust happened… German Jews were busy insulting each other, drunk on the wine of pride. They did not see the smoke of Auschwitz rising because they were more German than they were Jews.” Evans vowed that he would use all his energy to destroy the anti-Netanyahu coalition before it destroyed the nation of Israel, as they were “rabid dogs” intent on “crucifying” Netanyahu. He threatened to mobilize his millions of Evangelical social media followers to join his fight, as Bennett and Lapid were working to “destroy everything we Evangelicals have sacrificed our lives to build.” He further wrote: “you have lost the support of Evangelicals 100 percent… We gave you four years of miracles under Donald Trump and this is how you show your appreciation sh***ing on our face. How dare you!”
Colette Avital, chairwoman of the Center for Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel, responded by branding Evans’ comments as anti-Semitic. “Jews brought the Holocaust upon themselves? What on earth is that? This is beyond anti-Semitism; it’s incitement now,” she said. Historian Chrissy Stroop said that blaming Jews for the Holocaust is a trope of Christian Zionism that can be found amongst the ranks of Christian Zionists that rose to prominence under Donald Trump (Evans is a former adviser to Trump). Joshua Shanes, associate professor of Jewish Studies at the College of Charleston and director of its Arnold Center for Israel Studies, called the blog post one of the “most revealing texts about the toxic relationship between Jews and Christian Zionists I have ever read”, noting that John Hagee has made similar accusations in the past. He further quoted a friend who, in response, said sarcastically, “Come now, when has it ever not worked out for Jews to have Christians mad at us for failing to play a role they’ve cast for us in their own cosmic drama?”
A few days after the blog post was published, dozens of Evangelicals gathered for the Annual Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast organized by FOZ. Rabbi Tuly Weisz, head of the non-profit organization, Israel 365, had been asked to give the opening prayer. Weisz stood up and said: “I will be honest, I cannot pray with you today, in fact, I can’t even wear my Kippah here today.” Weisz then removed his kippah in front of the crowd. He continued: “We are not only being attacked by our Muslim enemies; we are being attacked by our Christian friends.” Dr. Jürgen Buhler, president of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem (ICEJ), has issued a statement, adopted by numerous Christian pro-Israel groups, which said, “We the undersigned Evangelicals Christian leaders want to reaffirm our unwavering support for the nation and people of Israel… We respect Israel as a democratic state, which has the sovereign right to elect its own leaders. We further recognize that as foreign guests in Israel, it is not our place to interfere in Israeli politics but rather to stand in friendship and solidarity with the people of Israel and their elected government.”
A final unrelated article was about Christian Walker, a Christian social media influencer with 375,000 followers from Texas, who is using his platform to support Israel. Walker said he had been raised by a pro-Israel Christian mother and is himself a proud right-wing conservative. He said the Black Lives Matter movement in the US is “our version of Hamas”.
Interfaith Relations / Political Issues
Ramlod Plus, June 4, 2021
Ramla experienced internal strife during the recent war with Gaza, but unlike in other cities, rioting in Ramla ceased after less than 24 hours. The article credited the joint efforts of religious (Jewish, Christian, Muslim) and political leaders for the relatively quick return to normalcy, noting that religious leaders engaged in a reconciliatory meal together, and sent a strong message of commitment to common life, mutual respect, and coexistence.
Anti-Missionary Activity
HaModia, June 8, 2021; Iton Shacharit, June 6, 2021; Kol Ha’Ir Bnei Brak, June 9, 2021
Or L’Achim says it has successfully brought about the closure of a “Messianic Jewish missionary youth club” in the neighbourhood of Musrara in Jerusalem. Or L’Achim said the club targeted youth from rough socio-economic backgrounds.
Two articles reported that the father of a 16-year-old boy who was swayed by missionary content posted online, is suing the organization “Derech El”, which runs a Bible College in Israel. The college is responsible for producing videos on their YouTube channel, which are being watched by minors. It is illegal to proselytize to minors in Israel. The article claims that Messianic Jewish “missionary” Eitan Bar has said in one of the videos: “we bypass the Orthodox rabbis. We no longer need their approval or permission. Even behind the backs of parents, we directly infiltrate the phones of children or their computers.” The father is demanding missionary content be removed, or at least be limited to viewers over the age of 18.