Israel are being forced to downsize and revamp their services and some
are in danger of closing altogether due to a new enforcement of
government policy.
Christian ministries in Israel are bolstered by a foreign
volunteer staff that had been allowed to serve for up to five years.
But recently Israel’s Ministry of Interior began enforcing a rule
requiring volunteers to leave the country after 27 months, a move that
cuts some staffs by 50 percent or more as visas come due.
“It is shrinking the key Christian ministries and Christian
communities in Israel,” said Sharon Sanders, co-founder and director of
Christian Friends of Israel (CFI). “We all are feeling the crunch.”
As a result of the crackdown, CFI’s staff will drop from 50 to about a dozen volunteers and paid staff in the coming months.
The decision to uphold this policy came without warning, and it
already has forced many volunteers to leave the country. “It takes two
years for people to get to know the country and be able to function in
Israel,” said Rick Ridings, director of Succat Hallel, a 24/7 house of
prayer that has already lost key administrative staff.
Sabine Haddad, Interior Ministry spokeswoman, said volunteers
can return for another 27-month term but must get their visas in their
home countries prior to reentry. The law of entry demands that from now
on even first-time volunteers get a visa issued in their own nations
before they arrive, a bureaucratic process that could deter new
volunteers.
Due to the uncertainty, several volunteers have already decided
not to return. “We are [Israel’s] best friends in the world, so why
this is happening?” Sanders asked. “We love Israel, but this is not a
way to treat your friends.”
The ruling isn’t specifically aimed at Christians, but Yuval
Yerushalmi, attorney for some of the Christian organizations, admitted,
“All this is definitely making our lives more difficult.”
Certain religious officials have long opposed Christian
influence in Israel, accusing the organizations of trying to convert
Jews to Christianity. In recent years rabbis have ruled that it is “not
kosher” to take money from Christian donors or co-sponsor conferences
with them.
The heat has been turned up on Messianic Jews as well. A
reporter for Israel’s largest daily newspaper spent two months posing
as a Jewish believer in Jesus at two Israeli congregations and
published a scathing, eight-page article about what she called the
“cult” of Messianic Judaism.
Although the report cast Messianic Judaism in a negative light,
the exposure inspired nationwide interest in the small community,
comprised of roughly 15,000 Israelis. “We have had a lot of opportunity
to share the gospel,” said Jacob Damkani, who runs the evangelistic
Trumpet of Salvation ministry in Tel Aviv and was targeted in the
article. “Now, also, a lot of Israelis who keep silent are being asked
about their beliefs by their neighbors.”
Damkani is using the publicity to address Israelis who visit his Web site, answering several questions raised in the article.
The report followed a series of events that thrust Messianic
Judaism into the spotlight. In March, a bomb sent in a holiday gift
package by Orthodox Jews was meant to kill David Ortiz, a Messianic Jew
who openly shares the gospel.
Soon after, New Testaments were burned in Or Yehuda in an
organized campaign by a city official, and in May religious officials
opposed the participation of a Messianic teenage girl in the
international Bible quiz.
“The Lord is doing something to raise up Yeshua,” Damkani said.
“These events, one after the other, no one could put it together but
God Himself.”
—Nicole Schiavi in Israel
Cheri Fuller and Cindy Lamb Curry 
Marilyn Hickey 
Charisma Staff 
