Israel at War: Week 94
United States Ambassador to Israel, Governor Mike Huckabee, sent a pointed, direct letter to Interior Minister Moshe Arbel threatening to publicly declare that Israel no longer welcomes Evangelical Christian groups to Israel. The cause for this letter came from Christian groups having issues receiving timely responses to their tourist visas to travel to Israel. He wrote to Arbel, “It would be very unfortunate that our embassy would have to publicly announce throughout the United States that the State of Israel is no longer welcoming Christian organizations…”
Interior Minister Arbel, a member of the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, responded that he was “particularly surprised” by the way Ambassador Huckabee raised his concerns. “Every request that was personally brought to the attention of my office has been addressed in an exceptionally short time frame,” Arbel insisted. Arbel concluded his response, “I greatly appreciate your support for Israel and your steadfast commitment to our partnership. For this reason, I believe it is incumbent upon us to act in a spirit of coordination, mutual trust, and respect—even when misunderstandings or difficulties arise.”
Perhaps Interior Minister Arbel is letting his personal concerns about Christian groups proselytizing in Israel impact their visa approval. Several evangelical Christian organizations with long ties to Israel experienced delays with their requests for visas, including The Baptist Conference in Israel and the Christian Missionary Alliance.
(Source: timesofisrael.com)
