In Budapest on Friday, Israel’s Knesset Christian Allies Caucus will celebrate its sixth birthday, marking a rare bright spot in Israel’s relations with the rest of the world.

Founded by the late MK Yuri Shtern, the Caucus will celebrate in Budapest by inaugurating its 16th sister caucus in the Hungarian parliament, with hopes to reach 30 by the end of the year.

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem joined the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus in late July to launch the initiative in the current 20^th Knesset of Israel. Founded by the late MK Yuri Shtern 11 years ago, the Caucus has to be re-launched in each new government.

The event was attended by 25 Israeli parliamentarians, including three ministers, Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein, former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman and Michael Oren, former ambassador to the US. A special welcome was given to Rabbi Benny Elon, a former head of the caucus, who has been recovering from cancer.

The Executive Director of ICEJ Juergen Buehler had the honor to address the audience, quoting former president Shimon Peres saying Jewish-Christian relations were the best they have been in 2000 years.

“Nowhere in the world do we have a parliament with a caucus that reaches out specifically to Evangelical Christians,” Buehler said. “Our support for Israel is strategic at this time!”

The KCAC underlines the historical development of Jewish-Christian relations and it was established to build direct lines of communication, cooperation and coordination between the Knesset and Christian leaders around the world. Sister caucuses have been launched in the parliaments of some 32 countries.

In the new Knesset, the caucus will be chaired by Yisrael Beytenu faction chairman Robert Ilatov, assisted by his deputy from the Zionist Union, Deputy Knesset Speaker Yoel Hasson.

In his address, Ilatov said the caucus would focus on four main areas in the 20th Knesset: strengthening KCAC's 32 sister caucuses worldwide, combatting the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement, working against the nuclearization of Iran, and striving for recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's eternal capital by countries around the world.

KCAC director Josh Reinstein acknowledged that Israel is dependent on Christian support, while Former KCAC chairperson, Minister Gila Gamliel, pointed to the Bible saying that God will bless the Christian supporters of Israel for their devoted work. 

The ICEJ's 35th annual Feast of Tabernacles celebration in Jerusalem was addressed on Monday evening by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and President of the World Jewish Congress, Amb. Ronald S. Lauder, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a greeting by video. The trio of senior Israeli and Jewish Diaspora leaders all warmly embraced the thousands of Christians from over 80 nations attending this year's Feast gathering, marking a milestone in Jewish-Christian relations.

"To have President Rivlin, who represents the people of Israel, and President Lauder, representing the Jewish people worldwide, appear at our Feast tonight and deliver such warm words is an historic moment for our movement," ICEJ Executive Director Dr. Juergen Buehler told the lively audience. "And Prime Minister Netanyahu once again welcomed our presence, just weeks after he conveyed his appreciation in a letter to the Christian Embbasy for all our assistance to the nation during this summer's conflict."

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s greeting:

President Rivlin started his remarks by telling the pilgrims “I am very pleased to see you, friends of the people of Israel and supporters of the State of Israel, and welcome you on your journey to the Holy Land.”

“The people of Israel’s spirit was forged for many centuries in over a hundred Diasporas, far from their natural place. In all of those places, we lived and longed for our homeland, yearning to return to the land of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and Solomon."

Today, in these challenging and unstable times, this vision is relevant more than ever," Rivlin continued. "The connection of Zionism to the Christian community bares deep historical roots. Many years before the establishment of the state of Israel, the Zionist movement was assisted by friends and supporters from different religions. Since then, and until nowadays, this friendship has grown stronger, to serve as a solid bond for other countries and societies around the world."

"Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for your dedication. Thank you for your consistent trust and support," he added.

"In light of the Sukkot festival, we appreciate you, Lovers of Israel and Jerusalem, for taking part in the joy of this holiday, and fulfilling in your lifetime the vision of the prophet Isiah, that we all follow. 'Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for…'" said Rivlin.

President Reuven Rivlin's Speech:

“Thank you, my Christian brothers and sisters, for standing with Israel through this very difficult year," said Lauder in his address. "And thank you for standing here, in Jerusalem, the undivided capital of the Jewish State of Israel. Israel has no better friends in the world than you. We know that you have watched out for us, and we will always watch out for you. The fact is, there is no safer place in the Middle East for Christians than here in Israel," he added.

"In Israel, Christians can pray in the open. In Israel, Christian holy sites are protected. In Israel, Christians do not fear for your lives. And here in the Jewish State of Israel, the Christian population is growing, not shrinking," noted Lauder.

"At the same time, 120,000 Christians have been killed throughout the Middle East and Africa every year of the past ten years. (Others) have fled as refugees. This is not by accident, the rampage against Christians is by design,” Lauder told the gathering.

He added that he had spoken up for Christians under attack, because “when hundreds of thousands of Christians are killed, this isn’t war, its genocide. And Jews know what happens when the world is silent to genocide. We learned that lesson the hard way, and we never want to see that repeated again, not to us, not to you, not to anybody."

"I am now convinced more than ever that we must join forces," Lauder insisted. "A Jewish-Christian coalition makes complete sense. Together, Christians and Jews must speak as one and tell the world, no more discrimination, no more terror, no more death and no more silence!”

Lauder also described the growing problem of anti-Semitism in the world, adding “the same people who go after us are also going after you. That is why Christians and Jews must join forces and act together. We must always remember our shared values and our shared past."

"The Festival of Sukkot reminds us that there is a strong are to help us when our own arm fails us…throughout time, Jews have always faced great challenges. But with God’s help, Jews have always prevailed. Today, there is one big difference. Today, we do not stand alone. Anything that comes our way, we face together with you," stated Lauder.

Lauder drew his warmest response from the Christian audeince when he quoted from Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy: “God did not give us a spirit of fear, but the spirit of power, love and a sound mind.”

"That is exactly what we say in the Torah, that we must not be afraid, we must find strength," assured Lauder. "This doesn’t come from the President of the World Jewish Congress, this comes from a higher source. Do not fear, have courage, have strength. We will be strengthened together, and we will not fail!"

Ambassador Ron Lauder's Address:

Benzion Netanyahu, the father of Israel's current prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, died on Monday, 30 April 2012, at age 102. Following is a profile of his life and career which was published just a few weeks before his passing in the March 2012 issue of The Jerusalem Post Christian Edition; www.jpost.com/ce


Robust hands rest atop a cane and his eyes are watching, serene. The family dog so wants attention from him. He is a very great man, and my son and I are enjoying an evening with him in Jerusalem.

Benzion Netanyahu, patriarch of a legendary Israeli family, will turn 102 this month, and his memories stretch from white-hot sand dunes in Tel Aviv in the 1920s, to the latest news of the still raging conflict with the Arabs. His insights into the Zionism movement are invaluable for historians and students alike.

It is a history that he lived. His family emigrated to Palestine from Poland when he was ten years old. Benzion studied in the teachers’ seminary run by David Yellin, and later went on to study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He specialized in history and was especially inspired by professor Joseph Klausner.

Netanyahu's father, Nathan Mileikowsky, used to sign some of his articles with the name “Netanyahu” (Hebrew for “gift of God”). It was a common practice for Israelis at the time to adopt a Hebrew name and his son Benzion eventually adopted this family name.

In subsequent decades, he contributed greatly to many of the successes of Zionism. To begin with, Benzion is the father of three accomplished sons: Yonatan, the revered IDF commander who fell in the Entebbe rescue mission; Binyamin, Israel’s current prime minister; and Iddo, a physician and gifted writer. All three sons served in the elite counter-terrorism unit Sayeret Matkal.

Benzion, who with his beloved wife, Cela, raised the family in Jerusalem, near the Old City, is by profession an historian of world renown and a professor emeritus at Cornell University. His classic work, Origins of the Inquisition in Fifteenth Century Spain, analyzes what brought about the Spanish Inquisition.

The landmark book overturned centuries of accepted scholarship on the motives of Catholic leaders in Spain in confronting conversoes – Jews forced to adopt Christianity – about their supposed secret practice of Judaism. Today, Benzion’s reassessment is considered a towering work in the field of Inquisition studies.

Incredibly, he has remained prolific in his latter years and a collection of his essays will be published in a new book, The Founding Fathers of Zionism, by Balfour Books in April. Originally released in Hebrew, the book profiles five Zionist pioneers whose pre-state activism led to the modern miracle on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. The Founding Fathers provides rich insights into Theodor Herzl, Leo Pinsker, Max Nordau, Israel Zangwill, and Ze’ev Jabotinsky. Benzion himself worked closely with Jabotinsky, founder of the Revisionist movement within Zionism.

When Benzion Netanyahu succeeded Jabotinsky as director of the Revisionist chapter in the US during the 1940s, he stood out from many mainstream American Jewish leaders in his promotion of the Zionist cause. He set about to mold American public opinion to support the idea of creating a Jewish state and pressure the US government itself also to support the concept, as well as to pressure England to desist from its anti-Zionist policies in Palestine.

For instance, when it was learned that the pro-Nazi Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin el-Husseini, was living in France at the end of the war, Benzion sponsored large newspaper advertisements featuring a photograph of Husseini meeting with Hitler and urging that he be tried for war crimes. Among his crimes, Husseini had sabotaged a prisoner exchange deal with the Germans that would have saved the lives of 4,000 Jewish children.

Benzion Netanyahu also became close to Col. John Henry Patterson, the British commander of the First Zion Mule Corps who had moved to America after retirement. Binyamin Netanyahu has stated that his brother Yonatan was named after Patterson, such was the respect that his father had for the Christian officer who so helped the Zionist movement by forming the first Jewish fighting force since the Bar Kokhba revolt.

Individual histories so often impact the destinies of nations, and for Israel it would prove fateful that Netanyahu’s family (he was born in Warsaw) left Europe before the Nazi specter arose. In the family dining room in Jerusalem (Netanyahu purchased the home  in 1950 and has lived there mostly ever since, except for teaching stints in the US), the Netanyahu family discussed a whole host of subjects, and the sons developed a deep sense of pride in their country and the sacrifices of its pioneers.

The most poignant moment for the Netanyahu family came when Yonatan, assigned to lead the rescue force to free Jewish hostages being held by PLO terrorists at Entebbe airport on July 4, 1976, was killed seconds before the terrorists were gunned down. Binyamin Netanyahu has said that the tragedy propelled him into the fight against terrorism. He and Iddo both served with distinction in the same unit, although they were on standby during the Entebbe operation. Iddo’s own 2003 book, Entebbe: The Jonathan Netanyahu Story, is a moving account of the raid and its aftermath.

I first met Benzion almost a decade ago, and patiently waited for his book manuscript to be translated from Hebrew into English. Sitting with him in a living room that is itself wrapped in history is quite an experience, as he vividly described the drive toward statehood.

“Russia hated the Jews before she knew them,” he said wistfully. It is a fascinating line, and one from his new book. It recalls the thoroughly singular experience of the Jewish people, so unlike any other people in history. Jew-hatred incubates in many hearts, seemingly before a person is aware of it.

Still, I believe he realizes that the successes of Zionism — that the people of Israel are alive and secure in their ancient homeland — rise higher than the painful steps it took to get here. His books, from The Founding Fathers, to a slightly obscure title — Don Isaac Abravanel: Statesman and Philosopher — are riveting, and have key insights not only for Jews and Christians interested in the history of the Jewish people, but for anyone ready to be inspired by heroic tales of survival against absurdly steep odds.

Christians especially will thrill at the historical detail of the modern ingathering of the Jewish people to their ancestral land, given the depth of that history provided by Netanyahu in The Founding Fathers. For example, the societal conditions in 19th century Russia neatly overlay the soaring prophecies from Isaiah and Jeremiah that promise the Return. Indeed, Netanyahu writes about the very moments when The Return became real for European Jewry:

“The ‘legion of prophets’ arose indeed fifteen years later with the appearance of Herzl, Nordau, Zangwill and their crusading associates. It was only then that Pinsker’s dream of establishing the leadership of the movement in a western country was finally realized. It was then that the first Congress could be convened and the Jewish question placed before the governments of the world and made an international issue.”

His latest book is a tour de force, as usual, and the smiling, twinkle-eyed old man sits in triumph in the ancient city of his forefathers — a living testimony to the power that life has over death.

This article was first published in the March 2012 issue of The Jerusalem Post Christian Edition; www.jpost.com/ce
Jim Fletcher is a writer and pro-Israel activist who can be reached at jim1fletcher@yahoo.com

In recent years, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem has intensified its effort to reach out in compassion to Israel's aging community of Holocaust survivors, which currently numbers around 200,00. Most of these survivors are now well into their 70s and 80s if not older, and many suffer from illnesses related to the severe malnourishment they endured as youngsters during the worst deprivations of World War II. Besides serious medical problems, many also struggle with acute loneliness and other emotional traumas.

One of the ways we are assisting them is through an adoption program whereby Christians around the world can befriend and support an individual Holocaust survivor.

The ICEJ's Holocaust Survivor Adoption Program is not only a vital source of financial support, it also helps the survivors know that they are not forgotten. Each one is deeply grateful for this assistance and tells their Jewish friends and neighbors about their Christian sponsors.

Some of the adoptions are done through the Israeli charity L'Chaim, while other potential adoptees reside in the Haifa Home for Holocaust Survivors.

By becoming a part of the program, you can have a personal sense of connection to these precious Holocaust survivors and the assisted-living home we have created for them in Haifa. On a recent visit, we learned more fully how much the support means.

"I love her without knowing her!" said Esther as she held a postcard from her adoptive Christian sponsor close to her heart. "After losing family in the Holocaust, it means so much that people are thinking of us."

As Yitzhak slept, devoted wife Fanny smiled with pleasure as a letter to the couple was translated into Hebrew. Yitzhak sleeps a lot, she explained, as he is very weak now. When Yitzhak was only 10 years old, he worked as hard as any adult in the Lodz slave labor camp to avoid deportation to the death camps. His small size allowed him to escape from the ghetto at night to try and steal food and other items to help its Jewish residents cope. Now he is weakened by poor health and old age to the point that it has basically overcome him. But Yitzhak takes comfort in knowing that his waning years are being spent within the secure and loving environment of the Haifa Home for Holocaust Survivors.

Many Christians today say they would have risked their lives to help rescue Jews if they had lived back during the Nazi genocide. Yet right now, we have the opportunity to help those who did survive but still struggle with its impact even in old age. Please consider making one of these dear ones your personal friend.

Contact us at icejaid@icej.org for more information on adopting a Holocaust survivor. Or send a generous donation to ICEJ AID to help us cover the continuing renovations and daily operating costs of the Haifa Home for Holocaust Survivors. Make your gift today by clicking here!