OPINION:
As part of my work in the Knesset dealing mainly with the “Christian World” — I was exposed for the first time to the people who have an immense heart for Israel and the Jewish people. I frequently speak in churches and was able to become closely acquainted with Christian believers, their pastors, businessmen and other Christian grass-roots leaders.
In the beginning, such relationships were unusual for a Jewish person like me. I grew up in a secular family with traditional values. I had heard the stories of my grandfather, who was a rabbi in a small town in Poland, and how Christians had treated him and the rest of our Jewish people back then.
With time, however, I have become more aware of these born-again Christian’s beliefs, and I can acknowledge the basic pillars of their faith, love and devotion to Israel. I believe that now is the hour to call for Jews and Christians to unite. We need to think of ways to bridge over our dark past and common fears, especially after years of church persecutions, inquisitions, pogroms, crusades and the Holocaust.
I know it’s hard to comprehend, but almost each and every Jewish family has relatives who suffered from anti-Semitism and someone who was murdered during World War II. Our grandparents remember clearly the anti-Semitism and hostility of their neighbors and their eagerness to help the Nazi regime in their work without having been asked. Even our closest ally today, the United States, in the past turned its back on us. In 1939, the U.S. denied accepting the ocean liner St. Louis with 908 Jewish refugees on board. Later, most of those refugees found their death in Nazi Germany gas chambers.
It’s very understandable why the Jewish nation has trust issues. “Never again!” we say as a nation. “Never again!” we declare as a Jewish state. And yet we are completely aware that in order to survive in such a tough neighborhood as ours, we have a need for a partner, a strong ally, an ally that will not base its support on temporal political-economic ground. Today we don’t have a diplomatic relationship with Turkey — tomorrow we might have it. Yesterday we didn’t have a diplomatic mission in the United Arab Emirates — today it exists. Those political maneuvers are inevitable, but hardly stable or predictable. We need much more constant common ground — someone who shares the same values as we do — culture, traditions, history, beliefs and having the holy book as a light tower ahead of them.
As far as I understand, the Judeo-Christian partnership is the only long-lasting covenant that has its roots going deep down under the ground of everyday interests and could serve us to overcome many challenges that we are facing today. Combating the war against Muslim terror around the world, we hear constantly that after the “Shabbat people,” the turn of the “Sunday people” will come. We hear that behind the small Satan (Israel) stands the big Satan (United States). We need listen carefully and prepare.
They mean what they say.
It’s already happening. All major Christian cities in the holy land have a Muslim majority today: Bethlehem, Jericho, Hebron and Nazareth.
In the early 20th century, Christians comprised about 20 percent of the Middle East population. Now they make up roughly 5 percent.
The percentage of Christian population in the birthplace of Christianity — in countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon — is declining rapidly. They were persecuted, forced to convert to Islam or run away, tortured and even crucified in public squares.
We know how it feels.
Israel is the only place in the Middle East where there is a constant growth of the Christian population. From 34,000 Christians in 1949 to about 170,000 Christians living in Israel today, which indicates growth of about 500 percent.
Just recently, the Vatican’s Commission for Religious Relations with Jews released a historic document outlining the church’s stance toward Judaism. For the first time, it announced that Jews do not need to be converted to Catholicism, that God did not revoke his covenant with Israel.
Moreover, “Because of the strong bond of friendship between Jews and Catholics, the Catholic Church feels particularly obliged to do all that is possible with our Jewish friends to repel anti-Semitic tendencies,” the document states. “Pope Francis has repeatedly stressed that a Christian can never be an anti-Semite, especially because of the Jewish roots of Christianity.”
I am convinced that this approach could indicate a fresh start for Judeo-Christian relationships. We have a rare opportunity to put our concerns aside and to reunite for a bigger cause. What better time to do so than at Christmas.
• Eli Nacht is director of the Israel Empowerment Lobby, a parliamentarian caucus in the Knesset.
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