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A growing number of Arabic-speaking youth are volunteering to serve in the Israeli army. And that has meant an increase in intimidation and threats from those in the Arab community who oppose coexistence within the Jewish state.
At the annual holiday gathering hosted by the Christian Empowerment Council (CEC) last week, Israel Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked vowed to do everything in her power to protect Israel’s Christian soldiers.
“You [Arabic-speaking IDF soldiers] are realizing Ben Gurion’s vision by partnering with us in protecting this country, as well as in breaking down barriers between Jews and Christians,” said Shaked.
Shaked thanked Father Gabriel Naddaf, spiritual head of the CEC, for his unwavering efforts to integrate Christians into Israeli society. Because of those efforts, she noted, “many Christians soldiers fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with Jewish soldiers.”
Shaked concluded by telling the Christians: “We will never abandon you. We are with you during the tough times.”
In his address to the gathering, Father Naddaf repeated his position that Jews and Christians are brothers, and must take equal responsibility in defending and developing Israel.
“We and the Jews are the native roots of Israel. We need to be citizens with equal obligations and rights in everything ,” said the priest. “Our forum has made it its mission to integrate Christians into Israeli society by enlisting the young people in the IDF in order to protect our home.”
The conference was attended by hundreds of young Christian soldiers, senior army and police officers, heads of Jewish and Arab municipalities, and a number of high-ranking government officials, like Shaked.
Also in attendance were a number of Bedouin and Druze sheikhs, who similarly encourage their youth to serve Israel by joining the IDF.
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The Knesset passed a bill this week designed to protect Arab Christians who enlist in the Israeli army. The law, which includes an extended prison sentence for anyone who tries to dissuade a Christian Arab from serving in the IDF, became necessary in the face of stiff opposition and violent attacks against the Christian soldiers.
Much of the hostility towards the Christian soldiers comes from Arab members of Israeli Knesset. Knesset member Aida Touma-Suliman of the Joint Arab List attacked the bill during the debate. “They want to drag the Christian Arab population into volunteering for the army that is occupying their people,” she said. “We will try to suggest to our young people a path that is total pride and honor, and not to be part of any machine (IDF) that oppresses our people.”
There are over 130,000 Christian Arab citizens in Israel, a potential source of significant recruitment for the IDF. However, Arab Christian enlistment has been severely limited due largely to the threats and incitement against young Christians wanting to join the army. That appears to be changing as unprecedented numbers of Christians are enlisting.
Father Gabriel Naddaf, a Greek Orthodox priest who has advocated for a strong connection to Israel and IDF service for Christian Arabs, has also been threatened with violence, and even death. His 17-year-old son was attacked in Nazareth. The attacker was identified as an activist from the Arab Hadash party in Israel’s Knesset. Other Arab MKs have also condemned Naddaf, calling him “an agent of Zionism who seeks to divide Arabs.”
Arab Knesset members present during discussions over a bill ultimately designed to end intimidation against fellow Arabs (albeit Christians) were extremely vocal in their opposition. MK Talab Abu Arar from the Joint Arab List told the plenum, “I, as a Bedouin Arab, call on all Bedouin Arab soldiers to throw away their uniforms … and to return to the struggle against racist policies (of the IDF) against Arabs in general and against Bedouin in the Negev in particular.”
It was a bold and dangerous decision by the Israeli government to encourage Arab Christians to enlist in the IDF. Now that the government has passed a bill putting into law protections for the Arab Christians who want to serve in the army, a clear message has been sent to the rabble-rousers stirring up violence between Jews and Arabs in the country; they will be punished.
Our prayer is that this bold message will contribute to greater integration and cooperation between the many Jews and Arabs who want to live together, and serve together, in Israel.
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“There are friends that one hath to his own hurt; but there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24 (The Israel Bible™)
Father Gabriel Naddaf addresses the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) Texas Region gala on March 28 in Houston. (Photo: Alan Ross/JNS.org)
Father Gabriel Naddaf, who visited Houston to address the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) Texas Region gala on March 28, is best known for his efforts to bolster Arab Christians’ integration into Israeli society through their voluntary enlistment in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). For Israeli Jews, by contrast, national service through the IDF or other avenues is mandatory.
Naddaf’s pro-IDF stance is often accosted by Israeli Arabs and Palestinians, so much so that the pastor’s son was physically assaulted for that reason in December 2013. Yet Father Naddaf has pushed on with his IDF recruitment efforts, and upon meeting him in person, it’s clear that he exudes Israeli pride. What language other than Hebrew, then, would have been appropriate for this interview?
When Naddaf co-founded the Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum in 2012, the average number of Arab Christians enlisting in the IDF was 35 per year. That number skyrocketed to 150 in 2013 and continues to increase annually, albeit at a slower pace year to year, Naddaf says.
“It’s still not that a high a number, but the numbers are rising slowly every year,” he says. “You have to understand that there is a lot of pressure against [IDF enlistment] inside of Arab society, from Muslims and also from Christians who were taught for years that they should stand with the Muslims, with the Arabs, and not with the State of Israel. It’s a long process, but it’s changing. More and more Christians are joining this historic movement. I tell the Christians, ‘At this time, you see what is happening in the Middle East. It is very important to stand with the State of Israel.’ This is the Christians’ home. The Christians should defend, along with the Jews and with the Druze and with the Bedouin, the State of Israel and the Holy Land. Their roots are from the Holy Land, so they have to be on [Israel’s] side.”
FIDF’s Houston gala – during which Naddaf spoke in English – raised more than $500,000 to support the wellbeing of Israeli soldiers. Naddaf’s FIDF-organized United States trip also included a stop in New York City.
Pictured at the March 28 Friends of the Israel Defense Forces Texas Region gala: (back, from left) IDF Brig. Gen. Muni Katz; IDF Lt. Col. David Sonego; FIDF National Director and CEO Maj. Gen. (Res.) Meir Klifi-Amir; Brig. Gen. (Res.) Gila Klifi-Amir; Father Gabriel Naddaf; and IDF Capt. Gil Aginsky; (front, from left) FIDF Texas Region Gala Dinner chairs Bennet and Robin Greenspan as well as Susan and Max Reichenthal; and FIDF Texas Region Executive Director Scott Kammerman. (Alan Ross)
“I’m coming [to America] and I’m meeting my brothers,” Naddaf tells JNS. “Both of them, the Jews and the Christians, they are my brothers and I hope that I will keep meeting my brothers.”
Scott Kammerman, the executive director of FIDF’s Texas Chapter, says he first met Naddaf – and was inspired to bring him to Houston – at a Christians United for Israel (CUFI) “Night to Honor Israel” program.
“I noticed this Greek Orthodox priest was getting up there, and when [CUFI founder] Pastor [John] Hagee was explaining [Naddaf’s] mission, how he encourages Arabic-speaking Christians to join the IDF, the entire congregation of Pentecostals and evangelicals, completely different Christian denominations, stood up and applauded,” Kammerman tells JNS.org. “I thought to myself, ‘This is so important.’ His mission, and not just his mission, but the mission of all pro-Israel Christians…as Jews, we need to embrace and thank those Christians who are standing side by side with us, yad b’yad (hand in hand).”
Naddaf describes the current state of global terrorism as a case of history repeating itself through a new cast of characters.
“Today’s terror has a cultural and religious background…it’s not a political conflict,” he told JNS. “It’s a religious conflict. For religion, people do believe that it’s worth it for them to die because they’ll receive good things in the world to come…and it’s not just me saying this. The killers are also saying this, that they’re going to kill ‘non-believers,’ so they’re talking about religion and culture.”
Despite the ongoing internal terrorism and regional terror threats Israel faces, the Jewish state is witnessing the parallel development of increasingly positive relations with Arab neighbors like Egypt, which in January stationed an ambassador in Israel for the first time in three years and shares Israel’s goal of defeating Islamist terrorism in Gaza as well as the Sinai Peninsula.
What does an Israeli-Arab Christian leader like Naddaf think about Israel’s ties with Arab states?
“It’s very important for Israel to have relationships with strong Arab leaders, like [Egyptian President Abdel Fattah] El-Sisi, who is behaving much better towards the Christians [than his predecessor, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi],” Naddaf says. “I am also hearing voices from other leaders in the Middle East who are looking to have better relations with Israel. It’s positive and important, but we have to understand that in the Middle East, there are always ups and downs—including downs when the extremists are taking the lead, like what’s happened with Iran. But every time there is a good leader and a strong leader that looks to cooperate with Israel, it’s very good. It’s also easier if those [Arab] states will become more democratic.”
Given the Islamic State terror group’s conquering of large swaths of Iraq and Syria, JNS asked Naddaf what he thinks Israel can do to help persecuted Mideast Christians. He responds that Israel “can help keep and save Christians in the Middle East in their own home and place.”
“It’s not good to take people out of their homes because of any situation,” he says. “[Christians] should stay in their homeland, and that’s where Israel can help. A Middle East without Christians will be less stable. Without Israel, Christianity around the world would be nothing, because the Christians in the Middle East and Israel are the source of Christianity. Israel and the Middle East, it is where Christianity began. If there are no Christians in the Middle East, then what’s the significance, for example, of Christians in China? It is like if there would be Jews in Germany and France, but not in Israel. Something would be missing.”
“Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, ‘Are you for us or for our adversaries?’ He said, ‘No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD.’” (Joshua 5:13-14)
As Christmas approaches, an Israeli priest is spearheading a program to dramatically increase the number of Christian Arabs enlisting and serving in the Israeli Defense Forces. The Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum, led by Greek Orthodox priest Father Gabriel Naddaf of Nazareth, aims to double the number of Christian Arabs enlisting and serving in the Israeli Defense Forces.
The Forum, which is supported by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, has seen a huge jump in numbers since it began its work. It saw a 50% increase from its founding year in 2012, in which only 40 Christian drafted to the Israeli army, to 2014, when over 100 drafted. In March of 2015 alone, 102 Christian Arabs entered the IDF due to the work of the Forum.
Israeli law does not require minorities in the Jewish State to serve in the IDF, so all of the Arab Christians recruits are choosing to volunteer. A notable exception has always been the Israeli Druze community, which is proudly Zionist and has served in the IDF since the state’s creation in 1948. Now, Father Naddaf hopes that some of the 165,000 Arab Christians in Israel will follow in the Druze’s footsteps.
The initiative is really part of a larger movement by Father Naddaf to recast the entire Arab Christian population as a group which, like the Druze, identifies as patriotic Israelis, rather than enemies of Israel. He aims to integrate the minority into mainstream Israeli society. Father Naddaf has even coined a new moniker for the community, calling its members “Israeli Christians” rather than Arab Christians. He explained, “Calling them ‘Arab-Christian’ puts them on the side of Palestinians and terrorists, when in reality they’ve lived in Israel for generations and just want to live in peace and security.”
While the Forum, which also gives financial aid to needy Christian families in Israel and discharged IDF soldiers, does not receive government support, Father Naddaf and the Fellowship were recognized by Israel’s Defense Minister, Moshe Ya’alon, in a Jerusalem ceremony last week.
At the ceremony, Father Naddaf thanked “Christian donors around the world” for supporting him through the Fellowship, saying, “Your assistance is essential for the strength of Israeli society.” He added, “This society will achieve peace and defeat evil.”
Father Gabriel Naddaf hosts Arab Israeli IDF soldiers in a Christmas celebration. (Photo Credit: Courtesy of Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum.)
On Monday, Father Naddaf hosted a festive Christmas party for some of the Israeli Christian soldiers that the Forum has helped to enlist, distributing holiday treats and thanking them for their service to Israel.
The Christian population of Israel is one of the largest Arab Christian communities in the world, and the only one in the Middle East region which is actually showing signs of population growth. While Christians are often persecuted for their religious beliefs in the Middle East, to the point of kidnapping and wholesale murder in the case of the Islamic State, Israel’s Christian population is free to worship as it wishes. It is also one of the best-educated populations in the country.
“Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD; but they that deal truly are His delight.” (Proverbs 12:22)
In response to repeated statements by Palestinian Authority (PA) officials that Jesus was a Palestinian, Israeli Christian leader Father Gabriel Naddaf denounced the claims on Facebook earlier this month.
“On what authority does President Abbas claim that Jesus was a Palestinian?” Naddaf wrote. “The Bible says that He was born in the Jewish city of Bethlehem to Jewish parents from the city of Nazareth and was circumcised on the 8th day as a Jew and presented to the Jewish Temple by His parents according to the Mosaic law.”
The PA has had a long-standing policy of rewriting history to undermine Jewish connections to the Land of Israel and to strengthen Palestinian and Arab claims to the land.
Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has documented this effort since 1998, when Al-Ayyam daily paper printed, “Dr. Yussuf Alzamili [Chairman History Department, Khan Yunis Educational College] called on all universities and colleges to write the history of Palestine and to guard it, and not to enable the [foreign] implants and enemies to distort it or to legitimize the existence of Jews on this land… [History lecturer Abu Amar] clarified that there is no connection between the ancient generation of Jews and the new generation.”
According to PMW, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said last Christmas season, “We celebrate the birth of Jesus, a Palestinian messenger of love, justice and peace.” This was not the first or last time Abbas or other PA officials have made or repeated such a claim. Some have gone so far as to call Jesus “the first martyr” for the Palestinian cause.
In a television special earlier this year about former Greek-Catholic Archbishop of Jerusalem Hilarion Capucci, who exploited his position to smuggle arms, PA Secretary-General of the Jerusalem Council Hanna Issa claimed the archbishop told him, “First of all, don’t forget that the first Martyr (Shahid) was Palestinian – Jesus the Messiah. Look how they tortured, crucified and killed him…”
“His family were Torah-observant Jews,” Naddaf explained, “and as an adult, Jesus Himself affirmed the authority of the Torah and the Prophets. He attended Synagogue on Sabbath and even taught in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and observed the Jewish feasts of Hanukah and Passover.”
Naddaf also called out the PA for its abuse of history for political gains. “According to the Bible, the Land of Israel, including Judea and Samaria, belongs to the Jewish people forever. So, no matter how much the Palestinian Authority tries to distort history, they cannot manipulate the Word of God to legitimise their political aims. The Promises of God to His people cannot be erased.”
The speaker was Gabriel Naddaf (center of photo), a spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem and spiritual leader of the Nazareth-based movement encouraging young Arabic-speaking Christians to join the Israel Defense Forces.
Naddaf was standing before the European Parliament for an emergency session on the recent limitations being imposed on Israeli produce in European markets.
In his speech, Father Naddaf said that the decision to exclusively mark Israeli products in Europe is racist and anti-Semitic, whether this is being done openly or quietly on the side. “This is anti-Semitism at it’s worse,” Naddaf exclaimed, noting that singling out products made in Israel will hurt all the citizens of Israel, Arab and Jew alike. But most of all it will damage the Palestinians, as tens of thousands of Palestinian families earn their living from the very factories being boycotted by the Europeans.
“Singling out Israeli products betrays the very core of Europe’s Christian heritage, and is yet another sign of the weakening Christian values in Europe,” Naddaf told the parliamentarians.
The priest added:
“While Europe is busy specially marking Israeli products, the lands throughout the Middle East and Africa are being drenched daily with the blood of Christians. In the Middle East there is only one country, just one where Christians can live in security, where they can prosper, and where there have freedom of religious expression. Here Christians are able to practice their religious traditions, can be elected to parliament and where they have full democratic rights. It is the only country in the Middle East where the Christian population is growing and prospers.
"This is the Jewish nation, the nation of Israel – and we, the Christians, must protect her, and protect the freedoms we Christians have here in Israel. We Christians should be protecting this holy land, which is the source of the Christian faith.”
In closing, Naddaf stated that he will continue to fight against any and all attempts to harm or weaken Israel in any way. He promised to also continue the fight against any attempt by anyone to damage the Israeli economy, or to sour relationships between Christians and Jews in Israel.
Father Naddaf supports the full integration of Arabic-speaking Christians in all of Israel’s institutions, including the army and national service. As a result of that, he has received threats by other Israeli Arabs, even politicians. His oldest son, Jubran, was physically attacked on December 2013 for the activities of his father. On the other hand, Naddaf has received the support of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Ministry of Defense, members of the Knesset and other Israeli officials.
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Earlier this summer, a fire broke out at the Church of the Multiplication (of the Loaves and Fish) on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The perpetrators are believed to have been Jewish extremists, and the suspected arson made headline news around the world.
Over this past weekend, the St. Charbel church in Bethlehem was similarly set alight, suffering even more extensive damage. Oh, but there weren’t any Jews involved? Well then, never mind…
That would seem to be the approach taken by the Palestinian Authority, the mainstream international media, the United Nations, world governments, and just about anyone engaged with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
An Arabic-language Christian news source reported that the Palestinian police were investigating and leaning toward ruling the fire an accident, but that local Christians in Bethlehem were insisting it was an act of arson by Salafi Muslim extremists.
Once a predominantly Christian town, Bethlehem today has a Muslim majority that plays host to groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Father Gabriel Naddaf, the Nazareth-based priest encouraging local Christians to integrate as part of the Jewish state, demanded in a Facebook post the “denunciation of the burning of the holy St. Charbel Church at the hands of Palestinian extremists.”
He also called out the Palestinian Authority for its “incompetence” in protecting Christians and their holy sites.
“I hope those Christians who demonstrated against the burning of the Church of Loaves and Fish will also demonstrate against this severe attack,” added Naddaf.
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