During the week covered by this review, we received 12 articles on the following subjects:
Israeli/Jewish attitudes concerning Christians/Christianity
Film / Political Issues / Christian Zionism
Political Issues / Christian Zionism
Political Issues
Jewish Holidays
Anti-Missionary Activity
Attitudes towards Christianity
Haaretz, September 13, 2020
In response to an article that appeared in Haaretz last week, about a lion donated to the Jerusalem Municipality by a Christian sculptor causing a minor scandal, member of the Jerusalem City Council, Dr. Laura Wharton, wrote a letter saying that there have been increasingly extreme responses towards the arts from politicians. For example, another member of the Jerusalem City Council, Yaakov Halperin, brought about the cancelation of concerts in Jerusalem churches because he said he worried young Jews would attend and then be tempted to become Christians. Other Knesset members have demanded that a statue of King David near the Dormition Abbey be moved because it was too close to a church, and because King David is not sufficiently clothed.
Film / Political Issues / Christian Zionism
Haaretz, September 13, 2020; The Jerusalem Post, September 15, 2020
Two documentaries, tackling American attitudes towards Israel, have recently been released. Kings of Capitol Hill, a film by Israeli director Mor Loushy, examines the increasingly conflicted relationship American Jews have had with AIPAC during the Trump presidency, even while the Evangelical lobby grows stronger. As one journalist explained in the film, both Israeli and American Jews see Donald Trump through the lens of their existential crisis, but “while Israelis see Trump understanding their existential dread, American Jews see Trump as their existential dread.” The second film, ’Til Kingdom Come, by Israeli director Maya Zinshtein, examines the American Evangelical relationship with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. One particular Israel-loving church in Kentucky, headed by Pastor William Boyd Bingham III and his son, is the focus of the documentary. When pushed about his eschatological views, the pastor said in the end: “You don’t want to come across and hear me say ‘You blind, stupid Jewish people: Can’t you see this evidently set before you, the historical biblical evidence is here. Now you’re going to go through the tribulation and get your tail busted – and get humbled down there so you’ll say: ‘You know that little crazy wacky preacher over there in Kentucky? All those things he was saying – he’s right! And now we’re going through this whole big mess over here in Israel. It’s unbelievable. Why didn’t we see this before? Now we’ve been humbled. We’re not so arrogant now. Now we see it!” One writer said the film helps to show what motivates Evangelicals and to better understand them. It also shows how there is a clash of world views between the Fellowship and Evangelicals, but both manage to compartmentalize their differing world views in the interest of cooperation.
Political Issues / Christian Zionism
The Jerusalem Post, September 17, 2020; The Jerusalem Post, September 18, 2020; Shavua Israeli, September 19, 2020; Makor Rishon, September 18, 2020
During the recent deal between Israel and the UAE brokered by President Donald Trump, the name of God was used six times by the various attending leaders. The author said that was because the deal was encouraged by Evangelical Christians using faith-based diplomacy, and Trump is trying to court the Evangelical Zionist vote. In the article, Joel Rosenberg said that while most Evangelicals believe the land promised to Abraham will one day be in Israel’s hands, they still want to advance religious freedom and peace between Israel and its neighbors. “Above all,” he said, “Evangelicals want Israel to be safer, stronger, and more peaceful.”
The second article listed Yael Eckstein, CEO and president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, as the 40th most influential Jew. The Fellowship provides medical emergency assistance, support for Holocaust survivors, funding for Jewish immigration, and generally seeks to be a first responder to the needs of Jews worldwide. The Fellowship is funded mostly by Evangelical Christians. The Fellowship seeks to ensure the continued strategic support of Christian friends for Israel.
The third article was about Dennis Prager, who started PragerU, which puts out explanatory political videos from a rightwing perspective. The organization is beloved by Evangelical Christians, and every year Prager is invited as the guest of honor at a Christian conference which aims to get pastors involved in politics and to vote according to their faith.
The final article was about various non-Jewish social media personalities who use their platforms to support Israel and oppose BDS. A number of them attributed their support to their Christian upbringing.
Political Issues
Yeted Ne’eman, September 15, 2020
The author of this article argued that the Israeli Government has allowed more than 50,000 gentiles into Israel from Ethiopia in order to be united with family, even though the government does not allow the unification of Palestinian or Muslim families. The article said Israel is currently waiting for 2,000 mostly Christians Ethiopians to come to Israel out of 8,000 that are waiting to immigrate. The author argued that the decision to bring over Christians is the result of pressure from missionary organizations, and that immigration is also a moneymaking business.
Jewish Holidays
Hed Krayot, September 11, 2020
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is attempting to alleviate loneliness in the elderly community by distributing 11,000 jars of honey for Rosh Hashanah to those who promise to, in turn, give those jars to the elderly and check up on them.
Anti-Missionary Activity
HaMevasser, September 16, 2020; HaModia, September 16, 2020; Matzav Ruach, September 18, 2020
All three articles reported that a group of 25 Jews who recently left either the Jehovah’s Witnesses or Messianic Judaism, completed a “repentance walk” in Jerusalem. The tour was organized by Yad L’Achim, and the highlight of the walk was a visit to the Wailing Wall, where “survivors” prayed and asked for forgiveness in order to erase their pasts and begin again with a clean slate. One person, who said he had been part of a cult for four years, claimed he felt like a new person after the walk.