“I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”
The above passage from Parashat Yitro—the first and arguably the most poignant of the Ten Commandments, recited two weeks ago in synagogues around the world—still reverberates. It should be the guiding light for every Jew; the understanding that unlike some other religions, we believe in a single almighty and have a direct relationship with Him that we will not relinquish even under threat of death—a fate that Jews have unfortunately suffered.
As I have argued in earlier articles (“Jews for Jesus remains a deceptive cover to convert Jews”—Jerusalem Post[1]; Israel Has a Missionary Problem[2]) myriad initiatives emanating from various Christian denominations for millennia have pursued Jews for conversion to belief in the divinity of Jesus through pacific and coercive means. Notwithstanding the many genuine Christian supporters of the State of Israel and the Jewish people who we cherish and continue to work closely with, over the last 60 years, the deceptive “Messianic” movement has emerged, and even more recently some Evangelical Christians who, under the cover of veritable “support” for Israel, actively leverage that backing to “lead the Jews to perfection” and “provoke them to jealousy”—two highly anti-Semitic and domineering notions.
The traditional Jewish world is now faced with a new threat with the potential election of what some insiders have described as a “Christian slate”[3] to the 39th World Zionist Congress—Zionist Movement’s international Jewish parliament—in elections that will be held in the U.S. beginning March 10. Israel365 Action and its parent organization Israel365 has been approved for participation in the election process over objections from some sitting representatives and appeals to the election board despite accusations that “Israel365 Action may have a hidden Christian agenda.”[4] Indeed, ever since its founding in 2012, Israel365 has enabled Evangelical Christians—many of them active missionaries—to gain added legitimacy within Jewish circles. This paper argues that Israel365 Action’s participation in the World Zionist Organization (WZO) elections and, subsequently in the Zionist Congress would insinuate pro-Christian elements associated with active missionaries into the WZO and its affiliates. This would be a tragedy for the Zionist Movement and the Jewish People considering Israel365’s association with zealous evangelizing and messianic entities who have a Christ-centered agenda directed towards the Jewish people as outlined below.
The first glaring problem with Israel365 becomes evident when reviewing their basic GuideStar profile: the organization’s true identity is a U.S.-incorporated entity called “Teach for Israel Inc.”, chaired by Christian clergyman David Swaggerty who served as Senior Pastor at CharismaLife Ministries in Columbus Ohio from 1983 until his retirement in late 2023[5]. Swaggerty and perhaps other members of Teach for Israel Inc’s small five-member board are presumably not Jewish by any definition of the word and are therefore themselves precluded from participating themselves in the elections that are open only to Jews, as determined in the Constitution of the World Zionist Organization (Article 22)[6]. One does not need to resort to judicial activism to conclude that if only Jews can vote in an election, a slate that is led by a Christian should be disqualified from participating in the elections. In addition, Israel365 has the ability to easily reach hundreds of thousands of Christians with its election propaganda. Due to the lack of any vetting procedure, any of these non-Jews could ignore the Constitutional provision, pay the nominal registration fee and attest that they are Jewish and do not subscribe to another religion swear in order to vote in what is meant to be a Jewish-only affair.
Furthermore, Israel365 Action’s platform fails to endorse any of the fundamental principles and goals of the World Zionist Organization that are set in its fundamental mission statement: the Jerusalem Program (Article 2, Section 2 of the WZO constitution[7]). In fact, Israel365Action’s program and agenda run contrary to many principles of the Jerusalem Program: the distinctiveness and unity of the Jewish people, mutual respect for the multi-faceted Jewish people, shaping an exemplary society with a unique moral and spiritual character, and common responsibility of the Jewish people for its continuity and future. Instead, its online platform accuses “The Jewish establishment” of “weakness and self-delusion” and denigrates “establishment leaders” with “wast[ing] time on interfaith dialogue”. Furthermore, it determines that “faith-based Christians who stand with Israel” are “Israel’s most reliable allies” and promises to “invest in these vital relationships, focusing particularly on the next generation of Christian supporters…”—all of which are outside the purview of the Jerusalem Program. Furthermore, the Israel365 online platform also differs from the platform that appears on their website[8] indicating a lack of transparency and honesty.
Perhaps the most conspicuous issue that should disqualify Israel365 from the ballot are its blatant affiliations with missionaries. While Israel365 claims they are “an Orthodox Jewish institution that…unequivocally rejects any Christian attempts to proselytize Jews and will not associate with any Christian institution that proselytizes Jews”,[9] the organization is heavily connected to Christian missionaries and associates with them in an effort to normalize and legitimize their influence on Jewish audiences. The following are only some examples:
- Pastor Jim Scudder, who previously served as president of Israel365 Midwest,[10] has repeatedly and bluntly advocated for the proselytizing of Jews[11] and has advised Christian audience how to do so[12]. He’s talked about evangelizing while on a trip to Israel[13] and argues disingenuously that belief in Jesus as god does not constitute conversion to Christianity[14]—a continuation of millennia of Christian anti-Jewish subterfuge. Scudder also co-authored a book entitled “Evangelism Made Simple: How a Clear Presentation of the Gospel Can Make Your Witnessing More Effective”,[15] which is a guidebook on how to evangelize people more effectively. Chapter 14 tells readers how to evangelize Jews specifically.
- Israel365 has cooperated heavily with the Nathaniel Foundation,[16] run by the couple Victoria and Paul Sarvadi, on initiatives such as the Texas Israel Summit[17] and March of Remembrance[18]. While the Nathaniel Foundation makes the innocuous claim to simply be a “non-profit organization supporting many U.S, charities as well as the performing arts,” the Foundation actually serves as a funding source for many outspoken missionaries and proselytizers, such as: Youth With A Mission,[19] that calls on Christians to “Get trained. Encounter Jesus. Go to the Nations”; Jewish Voice[20] whose motto is “We want every Jewish person to know that God’s plan for them includes Jesus the Messiah”; and the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America,[21] that aims “most importantly, to introduce our Jewish brothers and sisters to the Jewish Messiah Yeshua”. Paul and Victoria Sarvadi are also the ministers and founders of the Nathaniel Fellowship[22]—“an assembly of Christian and Jewish believers in Yeshua, the Messiah”—which has hosted staff members of Tree of Life Ministries[23], an aggressive missionary organization[24] and pastors of Living Israel[25] that boasts of having “plant[ed] 35 churches in 23 cities in Israel, 22 in Eastern Europe, 4 in London and ongoing plants in Israel and other nations.”
- Israel365 founder Rabbi Tuly (formerly Noah) Weisz prayed with and embraced Joel Rosenberg,[26] the messianic founder of the Joshua Fund who boasts to have “worked in Israel to enable key support to help advance major media evangelistic efforts taking place in Israel, In both Hebrew and Arabic languages; Provide outreach celebrations, Holiday parties, and other key projects to share the Gospel among Arabic and Hebrew speakers.”[27] Rosenberg has also said,[28] “It is exciting to me that the Bible tells us to love the Jewish people, to bless the Jewish people, in all kinds of ways but one of those ways it so make sure we share with our Jewish family, friends, neighbors the goods news that the Messiah has actually already come…People loved our [Jewish] family enough to tell us…Jesus the Messiah and you should receive him as your savior; that the only way to get to heaven.”
- Israel365 boasts of a relationship with the evangelical Regent University,[29] established by the late Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson. The university awards an MA in Evangelism and Mission that “can equip you to effectively spread the gospel in your community and to the nations.”[30]
- Rabbi Rami Goldberg, director of Strategic Relations for Israel365, conducted a prayer call with Paul Isaacs[31] of Lifewise Ministries[32] that “is on a mission to reach all 50 million public school students with the gospel.”
The elections for the Zionist Congress opened today, and Israel365 Action is launching its “Total Victory” campaign with an online event featuring Steve Bannon. When voters cast their ballots, they should ask themselves if an organization that serves as a shill for so many proselytising Christians, conceals that it is chaired by a pastor, and flaunts the provisions of the WZO constitution, deserves their support.
* This article first appeared on the B’nai B’rith website
