Israeli Prime Minister suspends bill against conversion to Christianity

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By RockedBuzz 3 Min Read

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that he will not allow the passage of a bill proposed by the ruling coalition party that would have provided prison terms for conversion to Christianity.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: EPA/DEBBIE HILL / POOL

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that he will not allow the passage of a bill proposed by the ruling coalition party that would have provided prison terms for conversion to Christianity.

The proposed bill has sparked outrage among evangelical Christians, who are among the strongest and most influential supporters of Israel in the United States.

The bill was proposed in January by several ultra-orthodox Jewish members of the Knesset (parliament), including the head of the parliament’s Finance Committee, Moshe Gafni. It says that an attempt to convert someone to one’s faith should be sentenced to one year in prison, and an attempt to convert a minor to two years.

“Recently, attempts by missionary groups, mainly Christians, to convert to their faith have increased,” the bill states.

The bill has not moved forward, but it gained widespread attention in America’s evangelical Christian world this week after it was reported by the evangelical news website All Israel News.

“We will not advance any law against the Christian community,” Netanyahu tweeted on Wednesday.

Gafni said that he had proposed this bill as a procedural matter, as he had done before, and there were no plans to move it forward.

Evangelical Christians, especially in the United States, are among the strongest supporters of Israel, seeing this country as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy.

Israel views positively the political and financial support provided by evangelical Christians, without considering it to have any hidden religious purpose.

Most Jews, however, find any attempt to convert them to Christianity deeply offensive, remembering the centuries of persecution and forced conversion of Jews.

Joel Rosenberg, editor-in-chief of All Israel News, welcomed Netanyahu’s announcement, which comes amid protests in Israel against plans to reform the judiciary and growing tensions with the US administration over West Bank Jewish settlements.

“Netanyahu is a long-time and proven friend of the global Christian community, and his actions today (..) are further proof of that,” Rosenberg said.

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