Disarming
and Converting Israelis
by
Shelomo Alfassa
Israel
National News - September 21, 2005
Recently, the media
has reported that Gush Katif activists have warned that organizations
desiring to help expelled former residents of Gush Katif and northern
Samaria may have an ulterior, missionary motive. Nothing could be more
true.
The history of
modern proselytizing in Eretz Israel started with a major aliyah in
the early 19th century. Rabbi Yisroel of Shklov was one of the closest
disciples of the Vilna Gaon. In 1810, he led a delegation of students
and followers of the Gaon, together with their families, to the Holy
Land. It was during this period that Christian missionaries made their
first major push towards the conversion of Jews in Eretz Israel. During
the period of 1809-1812 Ottoman Palestine was overrun with Christian
proselytizers. Under the British mandate, itself a Christian authority,
Christian missionary efforts had already assumed proportions that threatened
to undermine the spiritual and religious survival of the Jewish population
of the land.
As in the past,
missionaries today spend substantial amounts of money establishing churches,
hospitals, charities, feeding kitchens and workshops where Christian
publications are given out for free or at low cost. These campaigns
are well thought out, with Christian leaders relying on the ignorance
of the Jews so as not to have their plans thwarted. In a successful
campaign that helped those early new immigrants with food, money and
social services, they succeeded in spreading their gospel. Their hidden
agenda is today barely noticed, covered up in layers of what seems like
intrinsic sacrifice on the behalf of Jews they just want to help.
Today, there is
no longer a small campaign by a single group of missionaries to convert
Jews in Israel, but a strategic and well-crafted plan, funded by billions
of dollars, to make it happen. This is no exaggeration; literally billions
are being spent to convert Jews across the world and specifically in
Israel. There is a book written by a notorious Christian preacher and
missionary in which he describes how he and his wife made aliyah several
years ago. In his Messianic Jewish Manifesto, the author calls for Christians
to go ahead with the attempt at aliyah. This man is a member of the
Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism, the world's most aggressive
Christian missionary support and management group, an organization founded
by none other than Reverend Billy Graham. A highly secretive organization,
based in Denmark with a wide global network, its membership includes
every major Protestant and Messianic missionary group in the world.
In Israel alone, its membership totals at least six agencies, six congregations
and 29 individuals.
The "Thailand
Report on Jewish People", developed at a meeting of the Lausanne
Consultation on Jewish Evangelism, made mention of the fact that Christians
need to increase their activity against the Jews, going as far as identifying
Jewish targets as Ashkenazi and Sephardic. They have already converted
thousands of Jews in schools and universities throughout Israel. They
say that more thought should be given to the nature of the training
necessary for reaching the different segments of the community: "We
observe that some training is more geared to reaching Orthodox Jews,
whereas secular Jews form a great majority in most communities."
American Evangelists
Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell have both been involved in Christian
proselytizing by radio. Robertson started broadcasting from across the
Lebanese border in 1979. At one time, he wanted to put up an antenna
in Samaria, which had the capability of beaming radio signals to Jerusalem,
but he was challenged by local residents. Today, because of the liberalism
inherent in the Israeli government, Christian evangelicals have been
issued licenses to operate radio stations based out of Jerusalem. These
stations have been given the right to continue their work of converting
the Jews to Christianity, while Jewish radio stations that teach Torah
continue to be banned or face difficulty obtaining permits.
There is not only
a radio campaign, but a television one as well. It was in 1979 that
Robertson's organization began broadcasting Christian programming 28
hours a week in Israel. In 1982, Hope TV station in Lebanon was donated
to Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network and became Middle
East Television. In 1997, Middle East Television began Christian evangelism
on the AMOS-1 communication satellite over the Middle East to a potential
audience of 200 million people in 15 nations, including Israel. They
broadcast their idolatry over Israel's channel 24, where you can watch
The Harvest Show - and it is not a vegetable they seek to harvest, it's
Jews. They broadcast in Hebrew, while shows in English have Hebrew subtitles.
They show programs such as the Beverly Hillbillies, Head of the Class,
and The Andy Griffith Show mixed in among Pat Robertson's 700 Club,
This Is Your Day, Evangelist Joyce Meyer, Dr. Lester Sumrall, Another
Day of Victory and Harvest. The Jews in Israel are virtually bombarded
by television shows that teach them they are incomplete unless they
accept the Christian way of life and belief.
Christian evangelical
groups in Israel run something called the Joseph Project. It is an organization
designed to look like a humanitarian organization, but is actually a
missionary based group that targets new, Russian-speaking immigrants.
The Joseph Project is a division of the Messianic Jewish Alliance of
America. This organization is endorsed by mainstream Christian organizations,
including the Christian Coalition of America, Christian Broadcasting
Network, Promise Keepers and Pat Boone, entertainer and Christian evangelist.
This group was founded in February of 1996 on the principles that:
"The torch
of the Messiah Yeshua's [Jesus'] love will be set on a high hill,
through the testimony of both Messianic Jews and Gentile Christians
together... And finally, the Messianic Jewish community will be able
to demonstrate in practical and loving terms that we truly are part
and parcel of our Jewish people."
In 2003, their
Ship of Blessing unloaded in Israel's Ashdod Port. The cargo, $20 million
worth of "humanitarian aid", was put into port warehouses,
awaiting clearance for distribution. Part of the load was set to go
to the Israel Defense Forces' Friends of the Soldiers Association. They
said other cargo would go to "our storefronts and other aid outlets."
This group has sent over 32 containers worth of materials, some 640
tons of resources. This begs the question: what was in these humanitarian
packages? Who inspects these - the secular Israeli government? Most
people will be surprised to hear this, but the Messianics operate a
store in Jerusalem right outside the Old City on Jaffa Road, where,
in a storefront display, they hawk their wares to unsuspecting Jews.
This missionary
group is affiliated with Holy Land Ministries, which has a homeless
shelter for women in south Tel Aviv and a shelter for homeless men in
Jaffa. Joseph's Project has been granted three large storage facilities
located midway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem by the Ministry of Welfare.
Yes, you read that right, the Christian missionaries are providing homeless
shelters for Jews, and are operating missionary book stores filled with
material written to convince Jews to accept Jesus - all inside in Israel,
free and clear, with no opposition. The Joseph Project is but one of
the many Christian organizations in Israel that exist for the sole purpose
of conversion of the Jews of Israel. The MJAA is one of the most acutely
dangerous organizations in the Messianic world. Another of their projects,
Operation Tikvah, targets the Ethiopian Jews, and they boast to have
converted more than 700 of them already in recent years.
These proselytizers
don't neglect a geographical dimension in their evangelistic plan. They
strategize over areas within Israel where there is almost no Christian
presence, as well as when the optimum time to operate is. And while
many evangelicals are targeting Jews in Israel, some have spoken out
against it. One Christian leader, named Pastor Kenneth Rawson, has made
an ominous statement that should be required reading by every Jew in
Israel:
The Biblical
interpretation of most Evangelical Zionists demands a Christian Israel
before Jesus can return. In fact, they believe two-thirds of the Israelis
will be killed and damned eternally while only one-third will convert
and escape damnation. This is well-publicized in the Evangelical bestseller
book series Left Behind.... They are pressing their conversion agenda.
There are Evangelical tour groups trained to disarm, and then convert
Israelis. Evangelicals have ingratiated themselves into Israeli communities.
In Ariel, an Evangelical friend of the mayor is conducting a covert
missionary operation with a vision to multiply this operation throughout
Israel. Christian Jews from the Ukraine, Argentina and elsewhere are
immigrating to Israel. Israel is becoming honeycombed with 'one on
one' missionaries and home churches. Israelis, wake up!