MembersOn the Matter of Unity

Being challenged constantly by the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, a group of Messianic Jews and Evangelical Arab Christians met in Germany this past May to discuss the issue of unity among them.

This gathering resulted in a joint pledge (see adjacent) that for some reason didn’t generate any discussion within the Israeli Messianic community. Representing Messianic Jews were Joel Goldberg, Meno Kalisher, David Zadok, Evan Thomas and Lisa Loden. Representing the Israeli Arab Evangelicals were Azar Ajaj and Esam Odeh.

Representing the Palestinian Evangelicals were Bassem Adranly, Nihad Salman and Jack and Madeline Sara – the last three connected to Bethlehem Bible College, and, as such, to the highly controversial Christ at the Checkpoint conferences. Arab Evangelicals, it should be noted, represent a fraction of the small Christian community in Israel and the West Bank.

The document reflects a typical Evangelical naiveté that ignores the complexity of the conflict. Article 3, for example, states that heavenly citizenship should eclipse ethnic and national identity. This strongly suggests that Messianic Jews should prefer the Evangelical identity over their Jewish heritage. Perhaps this is why...