Israel Passes Law to Protect Christians in IDF - David Lazarus ISRAEL TODAY

Israel Passes Law to Protect Christians in IDF

Friday, July 15, 2016 |  David Lazarus  ISRAEL TODAY

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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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Confronting BDS: Israeli Christians and the State of Illinois

By Tzippe Barrow

CBN News Internet Producer - Jerusalem

Friday, July 24, 2015

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JERUSALEM, Israel -- The biblical accounts of the angel Gabriel portray him as a messenger imparting God's plans, first to the prophet Daniel and later to the priest Zechariah and his long-awaited offspring, John the Baptist.

Like his biblical namesake, Father Gabriel Nadaf, an Arabic-speaking Greek Orthodox priest from Nazareth, the town where Jesus spent his childhood, has made it his life's work to help Christians better understand his homeland, the Jewish state of Israel.

The Christian Empowerment Council in Israel published a new guideline this week to help Christians respond to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.

Entitled "Test the Spirits: A Christian Guide to the Anti-Israel Boycott Movement," the 12-page pamphlet, can be downloaded as a PDF file from CEC's website.

Father Nadaf serves as the organization's spiritual leader.

"As the spiritual leader of the Christian Empowerment Council here in Israel, it is my responsibility to encourage Christians around the world to think about Israel in biblical and moral ways," Father Nadaf writes in the introduction. He encourages Christians to consider their personal views toward Israel, asking that God guide them "in great wisdom."

According to its website, CEC has made headlines internationally "for its pioneering work integrating Israel's Christian community into the wider Israeli society and supporting and guiding young Christians in the IDF  [Israel Defense Forces] ."

In 2013, Father Nadaf's 17-year-old son was brutally beaten by a 21-year-old affiliated with the anti-Israel Hadash Party near his home in Nazareth. At the time, his father said their goal was "to intimidate me and my family."

In an interview earlier this year, Father Nadaf told CBN's Scott Ross, "Despite all the threats and incitement against me, I will not turn back from my way." 
 
In addition to its work in Israel, CEC also monitors Christian denominations abroad, such as the Episcopalian, Mennonite andUnited Church of Christ that have adopted BDS. 

"There is much confusion in the global church about Israel, and God is not the author of confusion," Father Nadaf writes in the introduction.

"Rather, God wants us to seek after his heart, to get wisdom and to get understanding. God does not want his church to be ignorant about such an important topic as Israel; yet, there are many in the church today sowing confusion, spreading hatred of the Jewish state," he writes.

Meanwhile in America Thursday, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner made history signing an anti-BDS law, the first state to pass such legislation.

In the press release, the governor said "We need to stand up to anti-Semitism whenever and wherever we see it."

"This historic legislation is an important first step in the fight against boycotts of Israel, and I hope other states move quickly to follow our lead," Gov. Rauner said.

Israel Recognizes 'Arameans' as Nationality

CBNNews.com

Thursday, September 18, 2014

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JERUSALEM, Israel -- In what many are applauding as an "historic decision," Israeli Interior Ministry Gideon Sa'ar approved the designation of Aramean Christians as a nationality in Israel.

Sa'ar said Arameans fulfill the criteria of a nationality, including historical heritage, religion, language and culture. He instructed Population Authority head Amnon Ben-Ami and his staff to register Arameans applying for their Israeli ID cards by their nationality.

IDF Maj. (res.) Shadi Halul called it an "historic decision and an historic change for the relations between Christians and Jews in the State of Israel," the Israeli daily Israel Hayom reported.

Halul said the decision is "proof that Israel protects its citizens and the identity of its minorities, unlike all the Arab nations around us."

Father Gabriel Nadaf, a Greek Orthodox priest from Nazareth, also praised Sa'ar's decision, calling it "brave."

Nadaf said it paves the way for Israeli Christians from all Eastern Orthodox churches to be designated as Aramean on their identity cards.

Father Nadaf has been encouraging Israeli Christians to serve in the IDF for years, supporting the Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum, founded by Maj. Ihab Shlayan.

"[Israeli] Christians won't be held hostage, won't be ruled any longer by those who would force their ethnicity, religion, way of life on them,"Israel Hayom's Dror Eydar quoted Shlayan. 

"We won't be protected wards and hide behind the groups who control the street. We want to live in Israel and a historic wrong was righted. Congratulations to the Aramenas and here's to a fruitful life together in the Holy Land," he said.