Knesset Outsources US Campus Public Diplomacy to Militant Christian Zionists

by Didi Remez

Meet the newly formed Evangical Christian Zionist Ambassadors for Israel

An article in this morning’s Yediot (full translated text at the bottom of this post) reports that that a bi-partisan group of MKs has partnered with a Christian Zionist organization to recruit evangelical students to represent Israel on US campuses:

MKs who are members of the lobby to promote relations with Christian communities around the world, concluded that the best response to the powerful show of force put on by Muslim students on campuses overseas could not be provided by the Jewish students but, rather, by the Christian students, who are no less eager to help Israel.

The lobby, which is headed by MK David Rotem (Yisrael Beiteinu), began finding and training Christian students in prestigious universities and colleges in North America and Europe. The goal is to establish non-Jewish support groups for Israel on each campus so as to have the Israeli position presented.

The lobby, in which dozens of MKs from various parties are members, is considered to be one of the most active lobbies in the Knesset. Members of the lobby contacted the Evangelist organization, Eagles’ Wings, which helped them locate suitable students overseas. The prospective members  must have good skills at oral and written presentation, and an ability to appear before an audience. Thus far some 150 students have been found, and the goal is to train 30 additional students every year. The “ambassadors” undergo training in Israeli public relations, they visit Israel and meet with politicians, academics and  Israeli diplomats. The most recent group, which was comprised of 15 Christian students, finished its tour of Israel just ten days ago.

Coteret has been following the “Tea Partying of the US-Israel relationship“: The growing identification of Israel with the radical, neocon and theocon, right-wing of the Republican Party. However, this seems to be the first instance semi-official public representation by one of these groups.

The partner organization, Eagles’ Wings, has a very clear agenda for its cooperation with Israel: Religious warfare.

To pretend that the civilized world does not face a serious threat at the hands of militant Islam is the willing blinding of oneself to obvious and imminent danger. Proof is in abundance around the world. Militant Islam is dedicated to global conquest and the destruction of Israel, America, and the West. Its adherents are daily sacrificing their children as homicide bombers to accomplish their aim. To pretend by its attack on Judeo-Christian ethics, that our radicalized secular society is not allowing the expansion of this very force of Islam (which will then ultimately turn on the secularists), is to be culturally and historically illiterate and to refuse to see reality. But at this moment, a spiritually complacent Western church seems unaware or in denial of the twin threats to the future of Western civilization – radical Islam and militant secular humanism.

Stearns

Indeed, its Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Robert Stearns, endorsed a “Never Again Rally”  organized by the militant Stop Islamization of America (SOIA) to stop construction of the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque.” This is an issue that has split the US Jewish community, with most non-Orthodox Jews unambiguously on the other side of the controversy. Israeli leaders’ insensitivity to the sensibilities of most  Jewish-Americans should not come as a surprise, however. After all, the Knesset lobby behind this initiative is headed by MK David Rotem (Yisrael Beiteinu), author of the explosive Conversion Law, who recently told the New York Times that:

“They [Reform and Conservative Jewish leaders] are acting like absolute idiots.”

Stearns, by the way, is also Director of Region 10 (Connecticut, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York)  of Pastor Hagee’s Christians United for Israel (CUFI), a financial supporter of Im Tirzu, the organization behind the recent smear campaign against the New Israel Fund (NIF).

Israel’s Christian Zionist Ambassadors

Tzvika Brott, Yediot, August 15 2010 [page 14; Hebrew original here and at the bottom of the post]

In recent years, Israeli politicians have been forced to curtail lectures they give in universities overseas, and in some cases even to cancel them altogether because of the disruptions caused by pro-Palestinian students. Now, some MKs believe, a solution has been found.

MKs who are members of the lobby to promote relations with Christian communities around the world, concluded that the best response to the powerful show of force put on by Muslim students on campuses overseas could not be provided by the Jewish students but, rather, by the Christian students, who are no less eager to help Israel.

The lobby, which is headed by MK David Rotem (Yisrael Beiteinu), began finding and training Christian students in prestigious universities and colleges in North America and Europe. The goal is to establish non-Jewish support groups for Israel on each campus so as to have the Israeli position presented.

The lobby, in which dozens of MKs from various parties are members, is considered to be one of the most active lobbies in the Knesset. Members of the lobby contacted the Evangelist organization, Eagles’ Wings, which helped them locate suitable students overseas. The prospective members  must have good skills at oral and written presentation, and an ability to appear before an audience. Thus far some 150 students have been found, and the goal is to train 30 additional students every year. The “ambassadors” undergo training in Israeli public relations, they visit Israel and meet with politicians, academics and  Israeli diplomats. The most recent group, which was comprised of 15 Christian students, finished its tour of Israel just ten days ago.

“When you send a Jewish student to defend Israel, people say straight away that he isn’t objective,” said MK Yoel Hasson (Kadima), who is a member of the lobby. “Conversely, when a large group of Christian students comes and presents the truth about Israel from the perspective of a non — Jewish person — that Israel is not a militaristic country but is a progressive and high-tech country — that has a redoubled public relations impact.”

Thus far, pro-Israel groups have been established at Oxford University in England, Amsterdam University in Holland, Berkeley, Georgetown and University of Florida in the United States, as well as at two prestigious colleges in the United States. “This initiative has the potential of changing the trend in Israel’s favor on campuses across the United States and Europe,” said Josh Reinstein, the chairman of the lobby.

The students say that they have encountered positive responses on campus. “We don’t get into political arguments,” said one of them. “Instead, we talk about subjects that everyone can identify with. That is the simple truth about Israel. If we weren’t there to explain it, no one would be standing up to the lies that are being spread about you.”

Source: Coteret

If you liked this article, please consider making a donation to Intifada Palestine by clicking on the following PayPal link. Thank you!