This was expressed in a recent letter to President Reuven Rivlin and Interior Minister Arieh Deri, who is Orthodox.

“The Messianic community in Israel has typically been portrayed as a Christian movement carrying out missionary activities,” reported the religious Jewish website Israel National News. Heads of the various Messianic communities and ministries are calling on Rivlin and Deri to curb this misconception by ceasing all cooperation with anti-Messianic groups like Yad L’Achim.

According to the Messianic representatives, these groups inundate the Ministry of the Interior with lies about and incitement against Jews who believe in Jesus in order to prevent Messianic Jews from immigrating to the country. This practice was confirmed in a previous undercover investigative report by Channel 2 News. Those Messianic Jews already in the country have for years suffered harassment from the likes of Yad L’Achim. The anti-missionaries claim that Messianics steal Jewish souls. They say the same about other religious movements, including the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Reform Judaism, and various Far East religions and sects that have found expression in Israel.

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