War, what is it good for – sneaking through controversial legislation
Turns our that Edwin Starr’s classic 1970 song, “War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing” – was not exactly correct – at least not to some in Israel’s ultra-Orthodox governmental coalition.
They discovered that, the fog of war is exactly the right time to sneak through legislation which might otherwise get too much scrutiny when things are less hectic.
Noticed by opposition leader, Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid party, he “slammed the government on Monday for continuing to advance controversial coalition legislation during wartime, accusing it of harming national security.”
Amidst the most controversial of the bills which were introduced, none might be more disturbing than the one introduced by coalition members, Moshe Gafni and Yaakov Asher which would criminalize speech that “supports Jesus on the internet, in the media or via email.”
Tried once before, in March, 2023, Gafni’s bill “prohibiting solicitation for religious conversion” specifically targeted Christians who, if caught sharing their faith with others, could be sentenced to prison for a period of one to two years.
Knowing that such a bill could have broad interpretations, negatively impacting on believers in Jesus, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intervened by saying, “We will not advance any law against the Christian community,” consequently shelving the bill rather than voting it down.
Now, it’s back, up for another go-around, but the passage of such a bill would play right into the hands of journalist and podcaster Tucker Carlson’s vicious accusations, who, in his recent interview with Israeli Ambassador Mike Huckabee, asserted that Christians do not enjoy religious freedom in Israel.
Disavowed by Huckabee, and more recently by Ethan Hedding, the grandson of former International Christian Embassy head, Malcolm Hedding, who was recently interviewed by Dinesh D’Souza, stated that such a charge was completely false. He related his own personal experience during his IDF military service where he was given complete freedom, by his superiors, to attend church every Sunday as well as celebrate his religious holidays. (Ethan Hedding’s interview begins at the 41:00 mark)
What’s obvious is that Gafni never had any intention of abandoning his obsession with Christian censorship, to the point where he would end up supporting the very persecution of which Tucker spoke.
Although no such harassment exists in the Jewish homeland, it is perplexing how such legislation could even be acted upon. Would emails no longer be private? Would an interview, such as the one conducted by Dinesh D’Souza, lead to the imprisonment of Ethan Hedding? And what about Christian tourists who might be innocently asked about their faith, by an Israeli with whom they’re speaking?
All of these potential scenarios are highly problematic, displaying an ignorant disregard for the rights of Christians, whose speech or personal beliefs should not be viewed as a threat to anyone. Clearly, Gafni is on a crusade to silence individuals whose opinions or creed differs from that of his. So, what comes next, censoring Conservative or Reform Jews? Because their brand of Judaism is surely looked upon by him as apostate.
Such an action also implies that Israelis are not smart enough or strengthened in their convictions to make their own determinations as to what sounds right to them or not. Why should anyone believe that intelligent Israelis need a shield of protection so as not to be entrapped by those whose beliefs differ from theirs?
The bigger question may actually be, “Are Christians who live here or come as tourists, even a threat to the Israeli population?” If they were, wouldn’t Christian tourism have been stopped long ago? But, to the contrary, Christians who choose to visit Israel are amongst the most loyal of all groups and always enthusiastically welcomed.
Their grasp of the scriptures provides them with the knowledge that this land was bequeathed to the Jewish people, whom God promised to return, as the rightful inheritors.
If anything, they stand in awe of the chosen people, unlike many others who, similar to Tucker, embrace Replacement Theology, espousing that Jews were disenfranchised from their land and no longer have any claim to it. Conversely, evangelicals are the greatest promoters of Aliyah and put their money where their mouth is since they are amongst the biggest contributors towards that effort, with many ministries devoted to helping Diaspora Jews return to their homeland.
But none of this is important or relevant to Gafni who is fixated on promoting only one brand of Judaism – and that is the orthodox persuasion.
By re-introducing this bill, Gafni proves that he will not rest until this legislation becomes the law of the land. But how will that impact on our Christian friends throughout the world? Will they want to continue to support a country where they could end up being jailed just for saying or writing the name Jesus?
With all of Israel’s many detractors, worldwide, why would we want to alienate a group who happens to be our most fervent supporters? It makes no sense at all unless you really believe that they are out to hurt Israelis, and that’s apparently what Gafni thinks.
But his obvious paranoia does not serve him nor his country well, because there is no coordinated Christian effort taking place in Israel to harm Israelis, and, to the extent that Gafni insists on bringing forth a measure which claims there is, he is the only one guilty of harm – a truly regrettable action directed at our true, blue friends.
He, sadly, represents the worst fears and biggest concerns that feed into the conspiracy theorists who continue to angrily accuse Israel of just about everything imaginable under the sun. What benefit can possibly be derived from Gafni’s suspicions, which imagines the darkest intent of visiting Christians or the estimated 190,000 who already live here?
Essentially, it can be interpreted that Gafni neither supports freedom of speech nor freedom of choice, because by reviving a bill, which was dead on arrival, last time, he still believes that only he has the monopoly on what Jews should ultimately believe. Shouldn’t everyone make their own choices?
A former Jerusalem elementary and middle-school principal who made Aliyah in 1993 and became a member of Kibbutz Reim but now lives in the center of the country with her husband. She is the author of Mistake-Proof Parenting, based on the principles from the book of Proverbs - available on Amazon.
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