The Media Review is an English-language synopsis of articles that were originally published in the Israeli press. The articles, most of which were written in Hebrew, focus on Messianic Jews and Christianity. This synoptic translation is a Caspari Center exclusive. The Media Review reports what was said in the press irrespective of its accuracy, and the information does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Caspari Center. On occasion the editor includes explanatory matter in brackets, preceeded by the words [Editor’s note:].

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During the week covered by this review, we received 13 articles on the subjects of Messianic Jews, anti-missionary activity, Christian Zionism, Christians in Israel, Christian tourism, Christianity, and conversion. Of these:

3 dealt with Messianic Jews

1 dealt with anti-missionary activity

2 dealt with Christian Zionism

4 dealt with Christians in Israel

1 dealt with Christian tourism

1 dealt with Christianity

1 dealt with conversion

Zman haDarom, March 26; Yediot Ashdod, March 26; Makor Rishon, March 25, 2010

All three of these articles declared the "end" of the "Pnina Pie" affair in announcing the rabbinate's "victory" over Pnina Conforty and the "Messianic Jewish sect" (see previous Reviews).

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Yated Ne'eman, March 16, 2010

In a lengthy article, R. Gil reviewed the work of Lev L'Achim, including its anti-missionary activity: "The rescue efforts of Lev L'Achim correspond to the behavior and sophisticated methods of the dangerous Christian organizations. The talented field workers are trained in changing identities and appearance and hold in their wardrobes items of clothing which can turn them instantly into a member of any profession, age, religion, or state to meet the needs and circumstances. 'Disguise is the name of the game,' explains a former beggar called S., one of the central figures in the organization who is responsible for the rescue of dozens of youth (but not only) from Arab villages, monasteries, Messianic sects, and Christian organizations seeking to devour them night and day. Under the ground, silently, bubbling like boiling and threatening lava, the Messianic activity goes on relentlessly against depressed Jews and youth who feel isolated and frustrated enough to fall into their false net and purposes. They get to every possible place and the constant battle is to see who gets there first. The intrepid workers are always a step ahead in order to remove the veil from the smiles of the hypocrites and tell the new victims the true purpose behind the funds poured into their coffers, the envelope of warmth and love, and the unconditional help. Early exposure of the activists demands a lot of disguises. Sometimes, in the same operation the worker changes identity several times, and the disguises are so good that when he meets an acquaintance the latter can't uncover the worker's true identity. The costumes are necessary in order to create trust, to penetrate the dangerous sects, and to undermine them from within." The article does not refrain from revealing the most common - and allegedly most successful - disguise: "The slovenly, unkempt guy in jeans and faded T-shirt, who says he's looking for faith, trying to find his way in the world, who's open to anything, and so confused that he's ready to try any sect offering new ideas, however weird they may be."

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Yediot Yerushalayim, March 26; Haaretz, March 26, 2010

Several prominent national-religious rabbis are due to publicly announce their opposition to receiving funds from Christian Zionist sources next week. "In the knowledge that they were preparing for the convention, the rabbis came out against the receipt of funds from evangelical organizations, writing that monies from Christians 'are not an innocent gift but an attempt by the mission to steal souls'" (Yediot Yerushalayim, March 26).

According to a Japanese sect, the salvation of the world is due to commence from Hebrew University in Jerusalem (Haaretz, March 26). The "Church of the Holy Jesus," or the "Beit Shalom Church," is a "Protestant church with about ten thousand members" which "sets at its center admiration for Israel and particularly - strange to say - the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Most of the church's leaders speak fluent Hebrew. They pray daily for Israel's peace and raise money on her behalf from amongst their members." The focus on the university derives from the group's belief that it is responsible for educating young Israelis who will become future leaders - "not just of the State of Israel but of the whole world."

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Yediot haMifratz, March 26; Haaretz, March 28, April 2 (Hebrew and English editions), 2010

According to a report in Haaretz (March 28), "Dozens of Christian organizations and churches have signed a letter sent to the Old City police chief, protesting what they say is the police's policy of preventing worshippers from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Easter, even though they permit tens of thousands of Jews to go to the Old City on Passover. The signatories say that for two years the police have prevented Christians from exercising their religious rights during Easter week. This includes strict controls on the number of people allowed to take part in prayers at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. According to their attorney, Mazen Qupty, the police set up roadblocks and issue special entry permits to select the people they want to reach the church. 'Christians are denied their fundamental right to exercise their religion freely because of roadblocks in the Old City, the presence of police with machine guns, as well as rude and hostile attitudes from police and Army officers,' the signatories said in their letter sent to the ministers of public security and religious services, as well as the police commissioner and attorney general. 'The curfews and forced closures make these movements almost impossible. In sharp contrast, Israel allows Jews free access to their synagogues.'"

Similar problems were experienced by an American Christian tourist seeking to worship in a church in Haifa - and was seriously injured by a local resident (Yediot haMifratz, March 26). "While the church was full of worshippers, the accused suddenly and without reason assaulted one of the tourists, stabbing him in the chest with two kitchen knives in his possession and then throwing him to the ground and struggling with him before the worshippers managed to separate the two ... The accused fled the scene and was only arrested two weeks ago. In his interrogation, he denied involvement, claiming that he had never visited the church."

A similar story was heard from members of the Palestinian Christian community, who "against the background of the security arrangements" for Easter, "severely criticized Israel, claiming that it was imposing a closure on the Old City of Jerusalem and around the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and infringing the rights of freedom of worship. The [Palestinian] organizations stated that Israel was granting entrance permits to 3,000 Christians to the Christian sacred sites in Jerusalem - in contrast to Israel's assertion that it had granted 10,000 permits. At the same time, the pilgrims noted that even those who had received permits are finding it difficult to get to the ceremonies and participate in them freely due to the closure policy."

As part of an examination of the use of Aramaic in the region, Dorit Shilo (Haaretz, April 2, English edition) looked at the history of the Maronite community in Israel and Lebanon: "The Maronites took root in the Fertile Crescent around 350 C.E. After the Arab conquest, they established an autonomous enclave on Mount Lebanon, which fought for its existence for 1,400 years and still struggles to keep its Aramaic heritage, language and culture alive. Aramaic Christian literature largely developed between the third and eighth centuries C.E. Learned Aramaeans translated Greek texts to Aramaic and then to Arabic, making Aramaic into a kind of 'pipeline' for transferring Hellenistic ideas and science to the Arab world. Nonetheless, the degeneration of Aramaic was inevitable with the invasion of the Mamluks, a military ruling caste originating in Egypt. Gradually Arabic not only superseded the everyday language, but also the sacred tongue of the church. In 1517 the Maronites, still mostly located in Lebanon, forged an alliance with the Druze in a bid to shake off Mamluk rule. It was a prosperous, successful period for both communities, as they regained their independence and retained their cultural autonomy. It was the Aramaeans who created the mold for an expanded Lebanon as a state for all its citizens regardless of creed, a feat they would later regret as a historic mistake, as it converted them into minorities in their own state ... The Maronite Christians in Jish [the ancient Gush Halav, Paul's birth place, according to Jerome] enjoy a vibrant community life and maintain close ties with Maronites living elsewhere in Israel - mostly in Nazareth, Acre and Haifa. These include 2,000 former South Lebanon Army soldiers who sought refuge here after Israel's pullout from southern Lebanon in 2000 ... Students ... learn not only basic phrases ... but also the Maronite liturgical tradition and the meaning of Aramaic prayers. On major holidays like Christmas and Easter, young pupils bring their language skills to church, having already mastered the prayers and hymns almost as well as their elders. 'We don't identify ourselves as an Aramaean nation in contrast to other nations. We seek self-determination alongside the Jews and the other minorities in this country,' Khallul [a resident of Jish] says. 'The State of Israel is very precious to us - I am very proud of my military combat service as a captain in the Paratroopers Brigade, and no small number of Israeli Maronite Aramaeans enlist in the Israel Defense Forces of their own free will, in light of their support for the state. Our Aramaic language is almost a twin sister to Hebrew, and we feel a tremendous, profound feeling of belonging to this place, and all the traditions it holds.' The various Maronite streams in Lebanon were in constant contact with the Zionist movement in Palestine from the 1930s onward. During the 1939 Arab Revolt, Maronites provided food to the besieged Jews of Safed by donkey, and smuggled Holocaust survivors through the border crossing at Bir'am when the British closed Palestine to Jews fleeing Europe. David Ben-Gurion even worked to establish a Maronite Christian state in Lebanon with Jewish Agency money, as part of his vision of ushering in a new age in the Middle East."

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Haaretz, April 6, 2010

According to this report, "Three Christian pilgrims - all U.S. citizens in their 30s born in Eritrea or Ethiopia - were expelled from Israel last Thursday, just hours after landing at Ben-Gurion International Airport. The individuals were reportedly denied entry into the country after one of them told Israeli officials she was acquainted with an African refugee, who authorities discovered had not been granted asylum in Israel." A lawyer retained to represent the three stated that "an Interior Ministry official at the airport told her the pilgrims had been denied entry because 'they had come to visit a refugee.' The attorney insisted that these were not appropriate grounds for barring entry, but was told that there were other reasons for the authorities' decision, which was reached after several hours of questioning. The Interior Ministry, says Ben-Natan, refused to consider the possibility of releasing the individuals on bail, maintaining that the decision could only be overturned by court order ... the three individuals all work in the United States, and ... as U.S. citizens who have lived there for nearly two decades would have no reason to relocate to or seek asylum in Israel. [The director of the African Refugee Development Center] also cast doubt over whether border control and ministry officials would have shown the pilgrims the same treatment had they been white ... After being deported, Bayu said, the three U.S. citizens - who had planned to stay in Israel for about two weeks - were barred from entering the country for 10 years. His organization is considering filing a petition with an Israeli court over the ban ... Haaretz asked the Interior Ministry several months ago for figures on the number of foreigners denied entry to Israel last year as compared to the year before - figures widely believed to be on the rise. The ministry has yet to respond to the request."

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Haaretz, March 26, 2010

The Dutch Protestant Church criticized Israel last month in a letter sent to Israel's ambassador to the Netherlands, Harry Kney-Tal, "calling on Israel to halt expansion of West Bank settlements, revise the course of the separation fence and abandon the policy of demolishing Palestinian homes. In the letter, Peter Verhoeff, the president, and Arjan Plaisier, the secretary general, affirmed Israel's right to exist and Protestant solidarity with the Jewish people but based their demands on the controversial 'Kairos Palestine Document,' entitled 'A Moment of Truth.' They stated that they understood the document 'not as a negative call which turns against Israel, but as a call for justice and peace.' Authored three months ago by Palestinian Christians, the document calls for an international boycott of Israel and refers to violent attacks on Israelis as 'Palestinian legal resistance.' The letter triggered one of the most serious crises in years in the relations between Dutch Jews and Protestants." Holland's Central Jewish Board has threatened to sever ties with the church over its defense of the Kairos document. "In a phone interview with Anglo File, Plaisier of the Dutch Protestant Church said the letter to the ambassador did not constitute an endorsement of the Kairos document in its entirety, and that assumptions to the contrary were 'false.' He added the Jewish community's analysis of the 12-page document was 'one-sided' ... Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Wiesenthal Center's L.A. office said he sent his 'strong letter' to the church because its actions have global implications. 'The Protestant Dutch church's support for the Kairos document was done with approval from the World Council of Churches in Geneva and we are concerned about a possible domino effect,' he said. Cooper added he was 'aware that this was a sensitive issue' for the Dutch Jewish community, but added that the Kairos document and support for it are 'part of the same drive to delegitimize Israel within Christian denominations, which has already reached the U.S. and unless checked will end up affecting every Jewish community living in predominantly Christian societies.'"

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Yediot Tel Aviv, March 26, 2010

This lengthy article featured a prominent Indian doctor who, with his family, converted to Judaism following the death of the Chabad emissaries in Mombai in 2008, with whom he was close friends. As part of his spiritual search, Dr. Aaron Abraham (formerly Behegirdas Fararas) studied the New Testament with some young Americans, whom he promptly discovered were merely looking to convert him, telling him that he should not read the "Old Testament" because he was going to become a Christian.

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