c. 1997 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Dan Murrill is an evangelical Christian who took time away from his salesman’s job Monday (May 19) to stand outside the Embassy of Israel and both praise the Jewish state for being”God’s chosen nation”and condemn it for a proposed law he fears could make it illegal to possess a New Testament there.”I believe in evangelizing and spreading the word of Jesus Christ,”said Murrill, who lives in Woodbridge, Va.”This law could slam the door on that in Israel.” Murrill joined some 125 Christians and Messianic Jews who demonstrated for two hours outside the Washington embassy in opposition to a bill in the Israeli Knesset (parliament) that would make possession of religious materials used in conversion efforts a crime punishable by a year in jail.

Carrying Israeli flags and”We Love Israel”signs, the demonstrators staged a bit of street theater in which black-clad”Israeli policemen””arrested”a group of Christians witnessing to other protesters who played”Israeli Jews.””They’re doing the same thing now as they did 2,000 years ago,”one of the”arrested”Israeli Jews said, referring to Jewish rejection of Jesus.

The proposed bill would also outlaw the importation, reproduction or distribution of religious materials for use in conversion efforts. Current Israeli law makes it illegal to try and convert minors or offer financial inducement to convert.

Opponents say the proposed law is so broad as to outlaw simple possession of a New Testament, although one of the legislation’s chief sponsors says that is not the case.

Nissim Zvili, a member of Israel’s opposition Labor Party, also says the proposed bill will not hamper traditional Christian worship or other expressions of the faith in Israel, where the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches have large followings within the Arab community.

However, Zvili and the bill’s other supporters have not hidden their desire to make it more difficult for evangelical Christians from the United States and elsewhere to proselytize Israeli Jews.

That has galvanized elements of the international evangelical community _ for whom spreading the gospel is central to their faith _ to vociferously attack the proposed law as an assault on religious freedom.

Messianic Jews _ Jews who profess belief in Jesus as the Messiah but maintain Jewish identities _ have joined the opposition. They view the proposed law as an attempt to stem the growth of their movement in Israel. “It is wrong for Israel, which calls itself a democratic state, to slide into state-sponsored religious persecution,”said Joel Chernoff, general secretary of the Philadelphia-based Messianic Jewish Alliance of America.

Chernoff fears that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will back the proposed law to shore up support for his ruling coalition among ultra-Orthodox Jewish political parties. In addition to Zvili, the bill’s other major supporters are from the ultra-Orthodox right wing.

Reports from Israel have said Zvili’s support for the measure is part of a Labor move to lure ultra-Orthodox support away from Netanyahu.

The bill was prompted by a recent campaign, orchestrated from the United States by San Diego-based televangelist Morris Cerullo, in which hundreds of thousands of unsolicited copies of a Hebrew-language missionary pamphlet were mailed to Israeli Jews.

The well-financed campaign infuriated Israel’s Jewish religious leaders because of its foreign origin and its specific targeting of Jews. Christian missionary activities are a highly charged issue for Jews, who tend to see it as another example of Christian insensitivity toward Jews and Judaism.

The proposed bill has received preliminary Knesset approval, but must be voted upon two more times before it becomes law. Some changes to the bill are expected while it is in committee.

MJP END RIFKIN