“It is regrettable that the Chief Rabbinate acted solely on the misrepresentations of those bearing false witness against us. Over the past 35 years, the ICEJ has established a strong, proven track record of sincere friendship and support for Israel as a Jewish state. This track record has put us in good stead with numerous official institutions in Israel, including our partnerships and cooperative efforts with the Knesset, the Foreign Ministry, the Tourism Ministry, the Jewish Agency and Yad Vashem, among others. We have held countless rallies in capital cities worldwide to stand with Israel and to combat against anti-Semitism. We have addressed parliaments around the world, challenging initiatives directed against Israel in scores of countries. In addition, the ICEJ has sponsored the aliya of nearly 120,000 Jewish immigrants to Israel, and assisted with the successful absorption of tens of thousands more…"
Israel’s Haredi Chief Rabbis Lash Out At Pro-Israel Christian Group, Apparently Based On Lies Told Them By Racist Haredi And Orthodox Groups
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Israel’s haredi Chief Rabbis David Lau and Yitzhak Yosef issued a public letter today attacking the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ). The letter accuses the the pro-Israel Christian group of trying to convert Jews to Christianity and warns Israelis not to attend the ICEJ’s annual Sukkot Feast of Tabernacles gathering, Israeli media reported today.
The Sukkot gathering has been held annually for 35 years running.
The ICEJ, which is part of the evangelical movement, donates money to Israeli charities and engages in pro-Israel activism. For example, in Haifa ICEJ runs an assisted-living facility for Holocaust survivors and it has donated 25 bomb shelters to Israeli towns that border the Gaza Strip.
Nonetheless, despite those good works and even though there is no credible evidence the ICEJ engages in missionary activity – and even though the group’s leaders have issued statements against proselytizing under the group’s banner, as well – the chief rabbis still strongly oppose it.
“Part of this organization’s goals is to change the religion of Jews from the religion of Israel and to bring them under the wings of Christianity,” the chief rabbis letter claimed, insisting these “elements” want to convert “all the inhabitants of the world to Christianity” – especially Jews.…“Even though it is possible that the organizers of this conference are friends of the State of Israel, practically the event expresses a spiritual danger that undermines [the state’s] Jewish character.”
The chief rabbis likely acted on information provided them by activists linked to or inspired by Yad L’achim, a haredi-Chabad anti-miscegenation organization, and the hard right-wing racist Kahanist Lehava organization.
Rabbi David Rosen, the International Director of Inter-religious Affairs of the American Jewish Committee was in the past an adviser to the office of Israel’s chief rabbis. He told the Jerusalem Post the chief rabbis were mistaken in their assessment of ICEJ.
“It seems to me that someone has set up the chief rabbis, for reasons known to these persons, and this is unfortunate because the ICEJ is extremely responsible in not advocating any missionizing or proselytizing activity at all. Instead of censuring this organization, they should be applauding it,” Rosen said.
The ICEJ reportedly said the chief rabbis acted on lies told them by anti-Christian activists.
“It is regrettable that the Chief Rabbinate acted solely on the misrepresentations of those bearing false witness against us. Over the past 35 years, the ICEJ has established a strong, proven track record of sincere friendship and support for Israel as a Jewish state. This track record has put us in good stead with numerous official institutions in Israel, including our partnerships and cooperative efforts with the Knesset, the Foreign Ministry, the Tourism Ministry, the Jewish Agency and Yad Vashem, among others. We have held countless rallies in capital cities worldwide to stand with Israel and to combat against anti-Semitism. We have addressed parliaments around the world, challenging initiatives directed against Israel in scores of countries. In addition, the ICEJ has sponsored the aliya of nearly 120,000 Jewish immigrants to Israel, and assisted with the successful absorption of tens of thousands more,” the ICEJ told the Post in a prepared statement.
“This will be our 36th annual Feast celebration in Jerusalem,” that statement continued, “and we have always been warmly welcomed in Jerusalem, in keeping with the biblical tradition of the gentiles being welcomed at Succot. It is thus a shame that some are trying to scare the Israeli public against us. We trust that the Chief Rabbinate will reconsider this decision, which could do much harm to the new level of close Jewish-Christian relations that have developed over the past 60 years.”