By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
Aug 16, 2005
Israeli Knesset Member Yuri Shtern believes if evangelical Christians in the country were to join with Israelis and march towards Gaza to express their opposition to the uprooting of thousands of Jews from their homes it would help stop the ?disengagement.?
Shtern, a senior member of the National Union Party and co-chairman of the Christian Allies Caucus in the Israeli Knesset, was responding to questions about the disappointment expressed in some Israeli quarters at the almost non-existent response of Christians to the uprooting of Jews from the land.
According to the plan, the Sharon government will destroy 25 Jewish towns in the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria before handing the abandoned land over to the Arabs for the creation of a Palestinian state.
That state will pose an existential threat to the State of Israel.
While millions of evangelical and other Christians support Israel and affirm the Jewish nation?s right of ownership to its biblical homeland, and while groups and organizations have consistently expressed their opposition to the land-for-peace process, apart from a handful of individuals no Christians have been seen actively opposing the uprooting.
Some pro-Israel Christians have explained their lack of action by rejecting involvement in ?political? issues.
Speaking on condition of anonymity earlier, another Israeli involved in the Christian Allies Caucus said he was ?disappointed? at the silence in the Christian world.
?Where are you now that we really need you?? he asked.
Shtern told the Jerusalem Newswire Monday that the Caucus was really non-political in the sense that it represents most political positions in the Knesset.
What the Caucus expected of Christians, he said, was that they confirm the historical and religious right of the Jewish people to this land.
Asked how he felt about the level of Christian anti-disengagement activity, Shtern said he was ?not disappointed as [the withdrawal] is basically an internal Israeli affair.?
Nonetheless, he believed that Christians raising their voices and demonstrating against the expulsions would be ?helpful.?
On hearing that a group of about 150 people identified only as Christian Zionists had journeyed down to the Gaza's Kissufim Crossing Monday, Shtern said he believed that if non-Israelis could come to the country and protest on behalf of the Palestinian Arab cause, those opposing that cause could also come and protest.
Approached for comment, Bridges for Peace (BFP), one of the more prominent Christian organizations in Jerusalem, said it believed Gaza was part of the biblical Land of Israel.
Two busloads of its staff had been down to Gush Katif in June to affirm this and show their support for the Jews there, and most of its members in Jerusalem were sporting orange ribbons on their cars, backpacks, etc.
In its weekly news update to supporters around the world last week, BFP stated its belief that Gaza ?was part of the land promised by God to the children of Israel [and was] in the area given to the tribe of Judah.
?Our hearts are heavy as we see the planned evacuation of Jewish citizens from this covenantal land. Most of those being evacuated are deeply religious people, who love and honor God. We join them in their prayers that God will intervene and by a miracle allow them to stay in their homes.?
BFP went on to say, however, that ?we also recognize that God may not act in the manner we would like or in the time we would prefer. He always fulfills His Word, but not always in the way human rational would expect. ? We must continue to praise Him, trust Him, and hope in His salvation.?
In a ?statement on the disengagement debate? released in May 2004, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem ? which has been referred to as the flagship of the Christian Zionist movement ? said it did not believe it had the ?right or position to meddle in Israel?s political developments.?
But in a more recent press release (July 25, 2005), the ICEJ said it was ?convinced that Israel is placing herself in grave and serious danger by the ?Gaza pullout.??
The organization warned that those nations participating in the present process to divide the land would ?eventually fall into the hands of the living God.?
Calling on Israelis to set aside ?a day for humility and repentance,? the ICEJ said that ?while we will never tell you what to do because we respect your democracy, we must urge you to cast yourselves upon?God [Who] ? has always responded to your cry and will do so now.?
It urged ?Christians everywhere to reject all forms of anti-Semitism and pray for the Jewish communities of Gaza.?
Other Christian leaders believe more needs to be done.
In a statement emailed to his list two weeks ago, veteran Christian Zionist leader Jan Willem van der Hoeven said that ?no amount of prayer for the preservation of the wounded and traumatized people of Gush Katif in Gaza is going to help if we are not willing, on every occasion we have, to speak up courageously and unashamedly against the injustice being done to these people, even be it by their own present government and prime minister.
?To just pray ? in our closets or joint prayer meetings ? for God to intervene when we fail to do our own sacred duty is to evade our responsibility.?
Van der Hoeven pointed out that hundreds of thousands of Israelis have already been fasting and praying for months.
?If God would save Israel [in biblical times] because 7000 have not bowed the knee to Baal, He surely sees the hundreds of thousands who fear Him and have been petitioning Him during these days,? he said.
Many like Van der Hoeven believe Israel has primarily gone along with the peace process because of the enormous diplomatic pressure placed on her by the international community.
Were enough Christians to rally to Israel?s side, especially those from the United States who form a powerful voting bloc, Israel would be better able to withstand the world?s demands.