During the week covered by this review, we received 5 articles on the following subjects:
Christian Zionism
Anti-Semitism
Interfaith Relations
Anti-Missionary Activity
Christian Zionism
The Jerusalem Post Magazine, May 24, 2019; Yedioth Akko, May 29, 2019
The first article was an interview with the founder of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), John Hagee. CUFI recently celebrated reaching 6 million members, 13 years after being founded with 400 members. Over the years, CUFI has been politically active, asking President Donald Trump to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem, pushing Trump to cut funding to Palestinian refugees, as well as asking for recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. CUFI boasts 162 television stations and 51 radio stations, which reach 190 nations. John Hagee has been the subject of some controversy, e.g. when a sermon from the 1990s surfaced in which he appeared to imply that Hitler was a part of God’s plan to return the Jews to their homeland. In the interview, Hagee said that “the defenders of Israel neither slumber nor sleep”, and that CUFI’s work has only just begun. He also said that Jewish attitudes towards Evangelical love for Israel have been changing, and that while once suspicious, “most members of the Jewish community accept that we are being honest about our intentions”. He also commented that “… there has never been a more pro-Israel president than President Donald Trump.”
The second article reported that two Israel-loving Evangelical Christians from the Ukraine arrived in Israel to play music for patients in hospital wards. This is the fourth time in two years that the two have volunteered in this manner, playing music for Holocaust survivors, Jewish immigrants, and low-income citizens.
Anti-Semitism
Haaretz, May 26, 2019
German official, Felix Klein, who is charged with fighting anti-Semitism, recently advised German Jews to avoid wearing their kippas in public. This is in response to a 20% rise in anti-Semitic incidents across Germany. 90% of the incidents were perpetrated by members of the far right. Others, however, disagreed with Klein, saying that reducing the visibility of Jews only cedes territory to extremists.
Interfaith Relations
Matzav Ruach, May 24, 2019
Representatives from different faiths, hailing from Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, and Switzerland, met with Pope Francis to present to him an ecological initiative aimed at preserving birds who migrate across the borders of Israel and Jordan. The Pope showed support for the initiative, which is also meant to promote peace through alternative means of cooperation.
Anti-Missionary Activity
Kehala Kadisha, May 27, 2019
Eitan Bar, a “converted missionary” who is known for “anti-Semitic provocations”, has recently written in a book that Yad L’Achim has successfully managed to get Jews to leave the Messianic Jewish “cult”. In light of this success, Yad L’Achim has decided to put out another magazine under the title of “HaMa’amin” (“the Believer”), to provide another perspective on its position against the “Christian cult”. The magazine will be published in Hebrew and Russian.