Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
“At that time they shall call Yerushalayim the throne of Hashem; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of Hashem, to Yerushalayim; neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.” Jeremiah 3:17 (The Israel Bible™)
The U.S. branch of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) delivered President Donald Trump and the U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman a strategy paper calling for the Trump administration to move America’s Israeli embassy to Jerusalem this year.
In the paper, delivered as Israel prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the reunification of the holy city May 23-24, the Christian Zionist group identified three main reasons the international community has used to justify the refusal to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital: the internationalization of Jerusalem as suggested in the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan, the need to be “even-handed” on the issue of Jerusalem and “fear of a potential Islamic backlash.”
“This is not a policy based on principle, fairness or historical right, but it is based solely on weakness and fear,” the ICEJ said in the policy paper. “The United States should announce its firm decision to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to move its embassy there in the weeks before Israel marks the 50th anniversary of a reunited Jerusalem.”
With its forces vastly outnumbered by Arab armies, Israel’s victory in the 1948 War of Independence was widely considered a modern-day miracle. The Jewish state shocked the world again in 1967 by significantly expanding its borders and reunifying Jerusalem during the Six-Day War.
In 2017, the perceived miracles keep coming. Ahead of the 69th Israeli Independence Day (Yom Haatzmaut), JNS.org recounts five of Israel’s latest crowning achievements.
1. Baseball fever
Team Israel far surpassed expectations at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March, starting the international tournament with a four-game winning streak—including victories over baseball powerhouses South Korea, Taiwan and Cuba—before losses to the Netherlands and Japan ended its run.
Israel’s squad, comprised of Jewish Americans who are eligible for Israeli citizenship, garnered significant attention from major mainstream media outlets. ESPN ran a feature article dubbing Israel’s the “Jamaican bobsled team of the WBC,” given its current underdog story. The New York Times ran with the headline, “With Mirth and a Mensch, Israel Upsets South Korea in WBC,” referring to the team’s mascot, the popular plush Hanukkah toy Mensch on a Bench.
“Thus saith Hashem: I return unto Tzion and will dwell in the midst of Yerushalayim; and Yerushalayim shall be called the city of truth; and the mountain of Hashem of hosts the holy mountain.” Zechariah 8:3 (The Israel Bible™)
By: Sean Savage
Aside from its centrality to Jewish peoplehood as the home of the ancient Jewish Temples and now the modern state of Israel’s capital, Jerusalem is also synonymous with Judaism for many Bible-reading Christians. As such, prominent pro-Israel Christian organizations are lining up to express their support for President Donald Trump’s promise to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and to hold the president accountable for his words.
Susan Michael, U.S. director for the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), said Christians already understand that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and would like to see the American government follow suit. In fact, ICEJ has had its own “unofficial” embassy in Jerusalem since 1980, a point that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted in his 2016 Christmas address.
Israel is scheduled to become the fourth country to land a spacecraft on themoon, with a launch planned for the end of 2017 by billionaire businessman Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.
The launch is set to send satellites from several other countries into space, but the Israeli spacecraft is the only one designed to continue to the moon. The dishwasher-sized spacecraft was built by the Israeli SpaceIL team for Google’s Lunar XPRIZE competition, which aims to promote space technology and interest in the private sector. Thanks to advanced innovation and engineering, the Israeli team was the first to reserve a spot for a space launch out of 33 teams in the competition.
The “ticket to the moon” cost the Israeli team more than $10 million, a sum reached with funding by the group’s two main benefactors: Morris Kahn’s Kahn Foundation and Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson’s Adelson Family Foundation.
“And say ye: ‘Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks unto Thy holy name, that we may triumph in Thy praise.’” I Chronicles 16:35 (The Israel Bible™)
The Jewish Agency for Israel said that 2016 will see a record 700 Brazilian Jews immigrate to Israel.
According to the Jewish Agency, 650 Brazilian Jews have already made aliyah this year, with around another 50 expected by the end of December. This is up from 496 new Brazilian immigrants in 2015 and 280 in 2014.
“The Brazilian Jewish community is a warm, Zionist community with strong ties to Israel,” Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky said during a visit to Brazil. “Since Israel’s establishment, more than 15,000 Brazilian Jews have immigrated to Israel, contributing to the Jewish state’s national character and strength.”
The head of the Jewish Agency delegation in Brazil, Revital Poleg, noted that the increase in aliyah is tied to the ongoing economic crisis in Brazil, but is also rooted in the strong ties the country’s Jewish community has to Israel.
“Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son; but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned.” Genesis 21:22 (The Israel Bible™)
“I have no doubt that my visit here will help the ties and the cooperation between our two peoples grow stronger in security and our ability to keep our people safe, in agriculture, in water, in technology, in culture and in education,” Rivlin said in a joint press conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi.
In his remarks, Modi noted the threats of terrorism and extremism both countries face, and the need for more international cooperation to combat these forces.
“President Rivlin and I deeply value our strong and growing partnership to secure our societies,” Modi said. “Our people are constantly threatened by forces of terrorism and extremism. The international community must act with resolve and determination against terror networks and the countries that harbor them. We agreed to intensify our cooperation to combat the forces of extremism and radicalization that threaten all peace-loving nations.”
“For Tzion’s sake will I not hold My peace, and for Yerushalayim’s sake I will not rest, until her triumph go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a torch that burneth.” Isaiah 62:1 (The Israel Bible™)
John Hagee Ministries distributed more than $2 million to Israeli and Jewish charities Sunday at the 35th annual “Night to Honor Israel” held at Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas.
Twenty-one Jewish and Israeli organizations supporting aliyah, the IDF, medical care for the needy, education, and terror victims, among many other causes, received the donations from Pastor Hagee in a large celebration for the Ministries’ supporters.
“Christians and Jews are spiritual brothers,” said Hagee at the event. “We are united. We are one.”
“Israel’s enemies are our enemies, and we are with you through thick and thin!” he declared, garnering a standing ovation from the audience.
Organizations receiving support from Hagee Ministries included: Afikim Family Enrichment Association, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Bikur V’Ezras Cholim, Friends of the IDF, Galilee Medical Center, Heart of Benjamin, Herzl Institute, Herzog Hospital, Holocaust Memorial Museum of Houston, International Council of Young Israel, Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum, Jewish Agency for Israel, Just One Life, Koby Mandell Foundation, Megemeria School (training for new Ethiopian immigrants), Ohr Torah Stone, Nefesh B’Nefesh, Netanya Academic College, Save a Child’s Heart, Shurat Hadin and the Women’s International Zionist Organization.
Hagee Ministries has distributed more than $98 million to Israeli and Jewish charities since holding its first “Night to Honor Israel.”
In his remarks, Pastor Hagee, who besides leading Hagee Ministries is the founder and national chairman of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), touted the continuing growth of Christian Zionism and the threats Israel faces.
Hagee also called for the U.S. Congress to pass the Taylor Force Act, which was named in memory of American veteran Taylor Force killed by a Palestinian terrorist in Israel in March. The bill seeks to cut funding to the Palestinian Authority (PA) if they continue their policy of paying monetary rewards for terrorism.
“We must not give one dime to the Palestinian Authority so long as they continue to support terrorism in both word and deed,” Hagee said.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton served as the evening’s keynote speaker, explaining the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship.
“If Israel is not secure, the United States is not secure,” Bolton said.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told a rally in Jerusalem held by Republican supporters he will make “America and Israel safe again.”
On Wednesday evening, hundreds of Israeli Trump supporters gathered in a Jerusalem restaurant overlooking the Old City in an event titled “Jerusalem Forever,” organized by the Republicans Overseas Israel. The event came just hours after UNESCO voted on a second resolution ignoring Jewish and Christian ties to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City.
“I love Israel and honor and respect the Jewish tradition, and it’s important we have a president who feels the same way,” Trump said in the minute-long video message.
“My administration will stand side-by-side with the Jewish people and Israel’s leaders to continue strengthening the bridges that connect, not only Jewish Americans and Israelis, but also all Americans and Israelis,” he added. “Together we will stand up to enemies, like Iran, bent on destroying Israel and her people. Together we will make America and Israel safe again.”
Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, also recorded a video message for the event, and spoke about the common threats Israel and the U.S. face.
“Donald Trump and I stand with Israel because Israel’s fight is our fight, because Israel’s cause is our case,” Pence said. “Like the U.S., Israel is hated by terrorists and the failed states that support them. She is hated by too many progressives because she is successful and her people are free.”
Christian Evangelical supporters wave during the annual parade in Jerusalem, marking the Jewish holiday of Sukkot or the Feast of the Tabernacles. Oct 04, 2012. (Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Hispanic Evangelicals Emerging as New Powerhouse of Israel Support
“And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” Genesis 12:3 (The Israel Bible™)
By Rafael Medoff/JNS.org
WASHINGTON – When Hispanic-American pastors from around the country met in the nation’s capital last week, the main issue on their agenda was not immigration or health care – it was Israel.
The pastors represented evangelical congregations from Connecticut to Oklahoma. This rapidly-growing portion of the U.S. Latino electorate could have a significant impact on American policy toward Israel in the years ahead.
The mobilization in Washington was the work of the Hispanic Israel Leadership Coalition (HILC), an arm of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, which represents 40,118 Hispanic evangelical congregations across the country.
HILC president Pastor Mario Bramnick told JNS.org the purpose of the all-day gathering was to “pray together, to consult with our Israeli and Jewish friends, and to strategize practical ways to help the Jewish state.”
Building bridges
An estimated 160 pastors took part in a morning session Oct. 5 at the Israeli Embassy, where they met privately with Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer. Bramnick, the spiritual leader of the New Wine Ministries Church in Cooper City, Florida, said they discussed “ways to engage the Hispanic-American community and build bridges between Hispanic Americans and Israel.” He said, “[Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and Amb. Dermer clearly understand the importance of reaching out to Hispanics.”
In the afternoon, several dozen of the pastors and other Hispanic evangelical activists held strategy sessions at a hotel in suburban Silver Spring, Maryland.
Pastor Mario Bramnick, head of the Hispanic Israel Leadership Coalition. (Pictigar.com)
Among the speakers was Pastor Ruben Mendez, of the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas. He focused his remarks on the importance of encouraging pastors to become educated about Israel by visiting “and witnessing for themselves the great miracles that God has wrought, just as the Bible promised.”
Bramnick then discussed the HILC’s recent political action initiatives, saying that Christians have a moral obligation to serve as “Daniels, Josephs, and Esthers,” by speaking out for Israel. He cited the HILC’s opposition to the Iran nuclear deal, its successful lobbying to strengthen the Israel plank of the Republican Party’s platform, and its campaigns against Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) efforts in Florida and California.
Bramnick told JNS.org he and his followers “strongly condemn” the recent resolutions adopted by mainline Protestant denominations, such as the Lutherans and the Presbyterians, calling for divestment from Israel and a cutoff of U.S. aid to Israel.
Bramnick sees a connection between those denominations’ liberal positions on social issues and their turn against Israel. “Just as they have strayed from what the Bible says about family and social matters, so too are they disregarding what God says about the Land of Israel belonging to the Jewish people,” Bramnick said. “Once you reject God’s word on some issues, it’s only a matter of time before you do the same on other issues.”
Jesse Rojo, of the Philos Project, which educates young Hispanics about the Middle East, said that “some young Latinos are confused about Israel as a result of what they hear from the media or on campus.” Nonetheless, he added, “young Hispanics are naturally predisposed to being pro-Israel, because you can’t read the Bible and not see that God wants us to support Israel.”
Several Jewish organizations are working closely with the Hispanic pro-Israel activists. Among the speakers at the strategy session were Betty Ehrenberg, executive director of the World Jewish Congress-North America; Jorge Diener, Hadassah’s director of special projects, and Sammy Eppel of B’nai B’rith-Venezuela, who co-chairs the Latin America division of the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism.
Growing political power
Demographic trends suggest that Hispanic evangelicals will enjoy increasing political and social influence in the years ahead. According to Bramnick, that bodes well for Israel, “because the number of Hispanic evangelical voters is growing quickly, and for many of them, Israel is an important issue on Election Day.”
Evangelical Protestants are the largest single bloc of Christians in the United States, about 26 percent of the national population. Catholics make up 21 percent, and mainline Protestants constitute approximately 14 percent. While the evangelicals have maintained their percentage of the population in recent years, the number of mainline Protestants has been decreasing.
Among evangelicals, Hispanics are the largest ethnic minority group. About 11 percent of evangelicals are Latino and 6 percent are African-American. By comparison, among mainline Protestants, only 6 percent are Hispanic and 3 percent are black. Evangelicals as a whole are becoming more ethnically diverse: 24 percent of evangelicals were members of ethnic minorities in 2014, up from 19 percent in 2007.
Although the majority of Hispanic Americans are Catholic, their numbers have been diminishing rapidly. In 2010, 67 percent of U.S. Latinos were Catholic, but by 2013 that slid to 55 percent. By contrast, Protestants – most of them evangelicals – were just 12 percent of America’s Hispanics in 2010, but reached 22 percent by 2013, according to the Pew Research Center, which tracks and analyzes religious trends in the U.S.
Hispanic adults are an increasingly potent force in American politics. California has the largest percentage of Latinos–more than one-third of its residents–which in presidential races almost always backs the Democrat candidate. But a number of presidential battleground states also have significant Latino populations. In Arizona, they constitute 21.5 percent of eligible voters. In Nevada, 17 percent, in Florida, 18 percent and in Colorado 14.5 percent.
“And there shall be six branches going out of the sides thereof: three branches of the candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candle-stick out of the other side thereof.” Exodus 25:32 (The Israel Bible™)
A menorah carving found in a 1,400-year-old Byzantine church in Jordan provides the first substantial evidence of Jewish presence in the ancient city of Abila, which has long thought to have a Jewish population, Haaretz reported.
The seven-branched menorah with a three-legged branch was carved on a stone block found in the second tier of a wall in the church, while excavating the Byzantine church from the sixth or seventh century C.E.
“This is the first physical evidence of a Jewish presence at Abila, and holds great promise that further discoveries will give more evidence in this direction,” said Dave Vila, head of the excavations.
Archaeologists can only confirm that the menorah carving predates the church which is 1,300-1,400 years old.
The stone block is believed to be repurposed from another structure, such as a synagogue. Menorahs similar to this carving are often discovered on mosaic synagogue floors from the Late Antiquity period, from the late third century A.D. to the mid-seventh century A.D.
The Czech Education Ministry reversed its decision requiring the company that prints atlases for the country’s schools to stop naming Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Education Minister Katerina Valachova told Czech Radio on Tuesday, the Prague Daily Monitor reported.
“Jerusalem is Israel’s capital from the viewpoint of the declaration of the country to which this relates, which means Israel,” Valachova said. “If there is a sentence relating to all of the international steps, I believe that this fact will not offend either side.”
Palestinian Ambassador to Prague Khaled Alattrash convinced the government to force textbook publisher Shocart to rewrite all books listing Jerusalem as the capital or risk losing certification.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat wrote to Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka on Sept. 4 urging him to rescind the decision.
“Jerusalem is on the map!” Barkat responded to the decision.
Barkat said he’s thankful to the Czech government for its decision and “for refusing to surrender to Palestinian incitement and lies. I am pleased that my letter to Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and the additional diplomatic efforts have positively impacted this decision.”
“Behold, God is mighty, yet He despiseth not any; He is mighty in strength of understanding.” Job 36:5 (The Israel Bible™)
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), the largest Lutheran denomination in the U.S., passed two Israel-related resolutions earlier this month at its triennial assembly in New Orleans, La. One resolution established an “investment screen” that will recommend where Lutherans should invest their money with regard to Israel and the Palestinians. The other urged a cutoff of U.S. aid to Israel unless Israel meets a series of conditions and calls for the immediate U.S. recognition of “the state of Palestine.”
Dexter Van Zile, a Catholic pro-Israel activist, who monitors and analyzes the Christian media for the Committee on Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) said, “the Lutheran Church has an outrageous obsession with Israel.” He told JNS.org the group “has been beating up on Israel for a long time, and this is just the latest example.”
ELCA logo
David Brog, of Christians United for Israel, said in a statement that the resolutions “blame Israel and only Israel for the conflict in the Middle East. Such one-sided scapegoating of the Jewish state will only fuel further Palestinian rejection and violence.”
Lutheran student activist Austin Reid told JNS.org the church’s resolutions “send a message of discrimination against Israel and neglect to hold the Palestinian leadership accountable for misguiding the Palestinian people.” Reid is an Emerson Fellow at StandWithUs and attends the ELCA-affiliated Capital University in Ohio.
Other observers are more hopeful.
The church setting up an “investment screen,” rather than directly calling for a boycott of Israeli products, is a positive development, according to Emily Soloff, the American Jewish Committee’s (AJC) associate director of Interreligious and Intergroup relations.
Soloff, who attended the Lutheran conference, called the resolutions “problematic” and come across as one-sided. But, she emphasized, the assembly did not adopt the explicitly pro-BDS language which was proposed by a number of individual church synods, or branches.
Rabbi David Sandmel, director of interfaith affairs for the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), conducted a workshop on Lutheran-Jewish relations at the New Orleans conference. He said he was “not thrilled” by the resolutions, but whether the investment screen will lead to divestment “depends on how [it] is structured, and that is not spelled out.” He added that the Jewish community “should not leap to conclusions while the jury is still out.”
Will “screen” lead to divestment?
Some Israel advocates are pessimistic about the “investment screen.”
“[It] is just a step away from boycotting,” CAMERA’s Van Zile said. “The Lutherans seem to be doing something similar to what the Presbyterians did a few years ago. First, they set up criteria that would disqualify Israel from investments. Then they declared they can’t invest in Israel because it doesn’t meet the criteria.”
An investment screen translates to divestment from Israel, according to the website, Exposing the ELCA, run by Conservative Lutheran dissidents.
“This resolution will be used by the ELCA to divest from Israel and select companies that do business with Israel.”
They go further. The resolution says the investment screen must develop “human rights social criteria,” which will determine where the church’s social-purpose funds should be invested. This is based on concerns raised in an official Lutheran church report.
ELCA members vote at the triennial assembly in New Orleans, La. held Aug. 8-13. (ELCA)
The report, called the ELCA Middle East Strategy is a 2005 church document that recommended “making consumer decisions that favor support to those in greatest need, e.g. Palestinian providers as distinct from Israel settlers on Palestinian territory.”
The document accused Israel of fostering an “environment of oppression,” and claimed that Israel’s security fence “poses an imminent threat to the future of the church in the Holy Land.” The document also complained about the “destructive effect” of Israeli policies on “the ability of Palestinians to marry and raise families.”
The marriage and families reference could lay the groundwork for falsely accusing Israel of “genocide,” according to some experts. Article two of the definition of genocide adopted by the United Nations in 1948 includes “imposing measures intended to prevent births within [a targeted] group.”
The language choice raises the danger that the Lutheran church “may falsely allege, or at least imply, that Israel is guilty of genocide,” Prof. Elihu Richter, director of the Jerusalem Center for Genocide Prevention, told JNS.org. That allegation could then be used as a basis for denying U.S. aid to Israel and justifying a Lutheran boycott of Israeli companies or products.
Ignoring Palestinian abuses
The second ELCA resolution calls on the Obama administration to present a plan for establishing an “independent” and “viable” Palestinian state, with a “shared Jerusalem” as its capital. The Lutherans also urge the president to extend diplomatic recognition to the “state of Palestine” immediately, rather than wait for the issue to be negotiated between the parties, as the U.S. and Israel prefer.
On U.S. aid to Israel, the resolution asserts the U.S. should halt all military and financial assistance unless Israel agrees to “comply with internationally recognized human rights standards as specified in existing U.S. law, stop settlement building and the expansion of existing settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, end its occupation of Palestinian territory, and enable an independent Palestinian state.”
Pro-Israel activists see those terms as blatantly one-sided. Former Assistant Secretary of State Elliot Abrams, writing in Newsweek, called the ELCA “a church in decline but one whose enthusiasm for attacks on Israel never wanes.” He noted when the Lutherans refer to construction in eastern Jerusalem, they are referring to “just construction by Jews,” with no mention of Palestinian construction in the city. Likewise, the resolution targets U.S. aid to Israel, but ignores U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority, which is approximately $500 million annually.
The church’s reference to “human rights standards” likewise reflects a double standard, Abrams writes. “These requirements apply to one single country: Israel. In a world awash in repression and human rights violations, only Israel.”
In its latest annual report on global human rights, the U.S. State Department found that the Palestinian Authority carries out “arbitrary arrests based on political affiliation,” engages in “torture and abuse” of prisoners, “restricts freedom of speech and press…through harassment, intimidation and arrest, discriminates against women,” accuses victims of sexual harassment of “provoking men’s harassing behavior,” and “rarely punishes perpetrators of family violence.”
In the Lutheran resolutions, there was no mention of the PA’s behavior.
The ADL’s Rabbi Sandmel said Palestinian human rights violations were “not mentioned” either by the delegates, who attended his workshop, nor the Lutheran church professionals with whom he spoke individually. It would have been “helpful” and “more balanced” if the Lutherans “showed as much interest in Palestinian violations as they do in Israeli violations,” he added.
Soloff, of the AJC Committee, told JNS.org that she did not hear any delegates discussing Palestinian human rights violations during the sessions she attended. She believes “there was a consciousness of Palestinian corruption” that was not articulated. Soloff said the failure to acknowledge the PA’s human rights abuses was “disappointing,” but “in the larger picture, the ELCA did demonstrate a much more nuanced and balanced approach between Israel and the Palestinians than some other mainline Protestant churches have done.”
Pro-Palestinian activists pleased
Supporters of the resolutions see the ELCA’s positions as consistent with the pro-BDS stance of other churches. The group, Isaiah 58, a Lutheran faction that lobbied for the resolutions, issued a statement declaring, “the ELCA adds its own voice and approach to the growing number of U.S. churches that have endorsed economic acts of conscience in support of Palestinian freedom and human rights.”
The group hailed the “investment screen” resolution as “an important step to ensure that we are not profiting from” Israel’s “nearly half-century-old military occupation of Palestinian lands,” according to a prepared statement.
Similarly, The Electronic Intifada, a leading pro-Palestinian website, praised the resolutions as “a massive shift” demonstrating “the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has become the latest U.S. denomination to take economic action against the Israeli occupation.” In 2013 at the previous ELCA assembly, 70 percent of the delegates voted against an “investment screen” resolution, the website pointed out.
Text of the 1994 “Declaration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America to the Jewish Community,” in which the Lutheran Church repudiated Martin Luther’s anti-Semitic writings. (Screenshot from ELCA.org)
Meanwhile, the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., the United Church of Christ, and the Quakers have all endorsed divesting from Israel. The Episcopal Church has rejected divestment, while the Mennonite Church has delayed a decision until 2017. The United Methodist Church’s pension fund dropped five Israeli banks from its investment portfolio in January. However, in May, the Methodists’ national conference voted to reject BDS.
Future of Lutheran-Jewish relations
The ADL’s Rabbi Sandmel is focused on what he sees as indications that “there is opportunity for conversation [with Lutheran leaders] about some of these issues.” He said “for someone like me, who has pretty close relationships with these folks, it’s important to recognize it’s not just the text of the resolutions that matter, but also their broader context and how the dynamics within the church will affect future contacts between church leaders and the Jewish community.”
Some activists are skeptical about those relationships.
CAMERA’s Van Zile said, “Some Jewish leaders are reluctant to criticize the Lutherans, because they want to maintain good relations with their few remaining allies within the denomination. But nobody should be fooled. The anti-Israel activists within the Lutheran Church have been in the driver’s seat for a long time.”
Still, Sandmel said he’s encouraged that in the background material for the Israel-Palestinian resolutions, the ELCA acknowledged that “some Jewish leaders have interceded with the U.S. government, some directly with the government of Israel” in connection with “the critical funding for the ministries of Augusta Victoria Hospital,” a Lutheran-sponsored medical center in east Jerusalem.
The hospital was in danger of closing in 2014 because the Palestinian Authority refused to pay the more than $25 million that was owed in unpaid bills for treatment of Palestinians whom the PA sent there. ELCA officials successfully lobbied the Obama administration and the European Union to pay the PA’s bill.
It has not been previously reported that Jewish leaders were involved in that lobbying effort, nor have those leaders or their organizations been identified.
The ELCA cited the episode as evidence of the benefits resulting from having the church “serve as a place where the concerns of Palestinian Lutherans and the concerns of American Jews have been in conversation.”
