Ha'aretz, March 31, 1998
No missionary activity in Holy Land
The Associated Press
Representatives of 50 Christian evangelical
groups have agreed to make an unprecedented
joint statement promising not to carry out
missionary activity in Israel. As a result, MK
Nissim Zvili (Labor) said yesterday he would
drop his sponsorship of an anti-proselytizing
bill that has drawn protests from Christians
around the world.
"This is better than a law," Zvili told The
Associated Press. "This is a very big
accomplishment."
In the statement, the Christian groups say
they "rejoice in the presence of the Jewish
people in this country of their ancestors" and
agree to avoid "activities which have as their
intention to alienate them from their
tradition and community."
Missionary activity touches a particularly raw
nerve in the Jewish state, home to 300,000
Holocaust survivors.
Clarence Wagner, director of the evangelical
foundation Bridges for Peace, said the
statement was an important step toward
understanding between Jews and Christians. But
none of the groups were engaged in
proselytizing anyway, adding: "We don't
believe that we have been or are in any way a
threat to the Jewish people. We are among the
most vocal supporters of Israel worldwide."
Christian groups opposed the proposed bill as
stifling their freedom of religious
expression, Wagner said. The agreement, which
is to be announced formally tomorrow, was
reached through the mediation of Joseph
Alpher, director of the American Jewish
Committee's Israel office. The accord
represented "a dynamic Christian commitment to
the vitality of Israel and Judaism," he said.
Another sponsor of the anti-proselytizing
bill, MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism)
said yesterday that he rejected the agreement.
"We have a long account with Christendom,"
Gafni said. "They tried to wipe out Judaism by
force - the pogroms, the Crusades, the
Inquisition, the expulsion from Spain, and now
they are pursuing us even into our own
country."
But the decision by Zvili to drop his
sponsorship will deprive the bill of
broad-based support. Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu has also said he opposed the bill,
which Alpher said he hoped would now "wither
on the vine." As initially proposed, the bill
would have banned possession of any written
material that proselytizes, which some
Christians feared could be used to ban
possession of the New Testament.
© Copyright 1998 Ha'aretz. All Rights Reserved
