Jews for Jesus remains a deceptive cover to convert Jews - opinion

With the State of Israel fighting now on at least seven fronts simultaneously – plus pitched battles on the diplomatic and public affairs arenas – Jews for Jesus, the oldest of the myriad “Messianic” organizations and their hundreds of offspring, represents another battlefield. 

Israel and the Jewish people must engage with it if we are to maintain our national and religious integrity and identity.

It was therefore surprising to find a fawning interview with Aaron Abramson, the new CEO of Jews for Jesus, in The Jerusalem Post (“I see us as brothers and sisters, not enemies,” August 30). 

Reporter Sarah Ben-Nun got it wrong from the beginning: Jews for Jesus does not “rouse all sorts of associations for Jews.” Neither has it “morphed over the past 50 years… grappling with issues new and old.” 

Jews for Jesus remains as it was established: a poorly veiled and deceptive cover for a full-court effort to convert Jews to Christianity. 

Jews for Jesus, and those who share its agenda, have spent the last 50 years trying to convince Jews of a lie: that you can be Jewish and “for Jesus” at the same time. 

The interview was an affront to religious and non-religious Jews.

NUMEROUS EVANGELICAL organizations are non-proselytizing and are genuinely supportive of Israel and the need for a strong and secure Jewish state. 

Those are not the groups we are concerned about here.

It has already been established not only by every recognized religious authority but also by the Israeli Supreme Court that a Jew who adopts Christianity is no longer a “Jew.” 

Writing for the majority in the Brother Daniel case more than 60 years ago, Justice Moshe Silberg concluded that the term “Jew” does not include a Jew who has become a Christian and that “Jew” and “Christian” are incompatible statuses.

He further concluded that the adoption of Christianity is inconsistent with the maintenance of the Jewish people’s historic culture as Jews, which entitles them to the Land of Israel.

Through lies and obfuscation, Abramson would have you believe otherwise. 

While I harbor deep respect for the beliefs of my Christian friends who accept my Jewish beliefs and do not seek to break my thousands-year chain of heritage, those, like Abramson and the 200 other “Messianic” organizations and congregations active in Israel, seek to “perfect” or “provoke Jews to jealousy” by misrepresenting the Bible and Jewish beliefs.

Playing the sleight of hand 

Instead of proudly presenting themselves as Christians, they play sleight of hand.

The State of Israel poses a unique challenge and opportunity for this special kind of defector, who, by their own admission, engages in proscribed activity in the hope of converting Jews.

The Holocaust, the establishment of the State of Israel, Vatican II, and the rise of “Christian Zionism” – faith-based support for Israel among Christian Evangelicals – have had a profound impact on Jewish and Israeli attitudes toward Christians. In just a few decades, they have gone from “trust but verify” to nearly universal and unencumbered embrace.

THE ACTIONS of Jews for Jesus, and the other 200 Messianic organizations and congregations active in Israel, contain the potential for setting back, or even destroying, the progress made in creating a healthier relationship between Jews and Christians. 

Missionaries felt protected by the common misconception among Israelis that Evangelical support in the US for Israel would evaporate – or even turn against Israel – unless they were allowed free reign to evangelize the Jews in Israel.

It was difficult, or impossible, to get the attention of Israeli leaders – overburdened by so many political, security, social, and economic challenges – to focus on this threat coming, ostensibly, from some of Israel’s staunchest supporters, even though these supporters claim to have converted 30,000 to 40,000 Jewish Israelis to Christianity. 

Today’s tactics are a continuation of age-old efforts by Christians to convert Jews – with the Jews in Israel set as a prime target. 

A plethora of organizations and umbrella groups are engaged today in a multi-million dollar campaign to convert Jews in Israel and around the world. 

One of these nefarious organizations is the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism – an offshoot of the Lausanne Movement established in the 1970s by Evangelist Billy Graham to “unite all Evangelicals in the common task of the total evangelization of the world.”

For the Lausanne Movement, Jews are one of 17 identified “unreached people groups” targeted for aggressive evangelizing – not representatives of a great world religion to be engaged with in respectful dialogue.

Even organizations that for decades denied their conversionary intentions now share it openly.

A secret cracked open 

In a recent online interview, Dr. Juergen Buehler, president of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, which for four decades has been deeply involved in humanitarian projects in Israel and building faith-based support groups around the world, said approvingly about a report on the spread of messianism in Israel: “That is an exciting report. There is a new openness even in Israel. 

We speak about the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast. Albert Wexler is actually a Jewish-background believer leading that, opening doors into the Knesset, inviting people to meet with members of parliament.”

Unfortunately, some Israeli MKs and former MKs, government ministers, and other Jewish figures participated in the September Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast in New York, giving further legitimacy to proselytizing efforts by their affiliates in Israel.

Other organizations, such as One for Israel, train Messianic youth to evangelize Jewish peers they encounter in the army, while Altar of Prayer promotes a pro-life agenda from a Christian perspective to Israeli women.

Speaking in the wake of a Knesset Christian Allies Caucus meeting following the October 7, 2023 invasion by Hamas terrorists and massacre, Evangelical leader Christine Darg attributed Israel’s suffering today to the Jews’s rejection of Jesus: “Israel is paying a terrible price because they did not recognize the time of their visitation.”

Unfortunately, many Israeli Jewish enablers provide cover to the missionaries. Some are motivated by a true, albeit naive belief, that the messianic promise of the prophet Isaiah, “For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people” is upon us and they encourage the Christians in moving forward the Messianic era. 

Concerned Israelis who have followed these developments for over a decade have created a level-headed declaration they hope will serve as a model for both Christians and Jews to set right their relationship in the Jewish state and beyond. 

Among other things, the declaration rightly defines the proselytizing of Jews as a form of antisemitism. How else would you describe efforts to tear Jews away from their faith?

Some Israeli agencies have taken action in recent years to counter Messianic inroads, including the Golan Regional Council that removed a Messianic monument erected on the grounds of the Ein Keshatot National Heritage site and the exclusion of Aliya Return Ministries by the Jewish Agency from its Bikat Kinarot absorption center and educational site.

Well over 100 years ago, and under significantly disadvantageous conditions, B’nai B’rith successfully countered missionary activity and fought for Jewish integrity in Israel. 

It is a battle that must be fought again today. We ignore this challenge in Israel and around the world at the peril of the Jewish people.

The writer is the director of B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem.