An education ministry spokeswoman confirmed that a contract for almost a million shekels of state funding had indeed been signed but would not respond to a request for confirmation that no other provider of such content exists.
The spokeswoman also claimed that the program in Ariel had “no connection” to the Christian retreat center in California, emphasizing that the approved state funding would not go directly to the evangelicals but rather to the municipal company in Ariel that runs the facility.
According to the JH Israel website, however, a key objective of the Ariel facility is to provide participants with “a deeper connection to God by embracing their biblical and cultural heritage.”
The target audience for what plainly appears to be religious education, according to the site, are young Israelis who have become “disconnected from the roots of their faith.”
While it’s true that many Israelis have been disconnected from our people’s identity, culture and Torah, our youth should not be learning these things from American Christians. Torah learned through a distorted Christian lens or interpretation can be even more dangerous for those without a basic education in these things, as they would be less able to recognize idolatrous concepts laced into Biblical stories and spiritual teachings.
The fact that the education ministry, under the leadership of the nationalist Naftali Bennett (Bayit Yehudi), is funding an evangelical project to educate Israeli youth displays an irresponsible lack of boundaries when it comes to working with Christian Zionists. It appears that some West Bank Jews, generally excluded by pro-Israel Diaspora organizations and vilified by the international community, have become so desperate for political and financial support that they’ve opened the door to evangelical groups and closed their eyes to obvious missionary agendas.
According to the terms of the contract, the education ministry will allot close to a million shekels to the municipal company to enable between 3,000 and 4,000 high school students to participate in its leadership training program this year. The funding has been specifically earmarked for Jewish teenagers from the Ethiopian community, a sector often targeted by missionary groups.
The education ministry had requested that the contract be exempt from the usual tender process, on the grounds that the Ariel facility provides a unique package of physical and educational activities unavailable elsewhere in the country. Its request was reportedly approved by the treasury accountant-general.
The National Leadership Center is endorsed on the education ministry website, which appears careful not to mention its Christian evangelical connection or the request it submitted for a tender exemption.
Spread out over 130 acres of land, including six obstacle courses, the National Leadership Center was opened in 2010 and is run by a company affiliated with the Ariel municipality.
According to the facility’s director, Eran Glazer, roughly 5,000 Israeli students participate in its programs each year. Until now, participants have been required to pay their own way. This is the first year that the education ministry is funding participation.
It is unprecedented for evangelicals to be included in official education ministry programming. In 2014, the ministry turned down 40 million shekels in funding from the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) – an organization that raises money primarily from evangelicals – for its summer-camp program.
The decision was in response to a protest campaign launched by Israeli parents that had reached the Supreme Court.
The Binyamin Region Rabbinical Council issued a ruling against the education ministry accepting IFCJ’s money for the “A Summer of Friendship” program. According to the council, “after extensive examinations and consultation with rabbis – and in the wake of comments on this matter by Rav Dov Lior, Rav Tzefania Drori, and Rav Shlomo Aviner, leaders of the national religious community – we have come to the conclusion that it is forbidden to take part in this program. Communities must not accept budget money from this program.”
Christians teaching Jewish young people about their Biblical heritage? I can hardly believe that government funding is supporting this program. If I were an Israeli, I would be marching in protest against such a ridiculous idea. If the Jewish people don’t wake up and smell the Christian coffee, there will soon be no authentic Judaism, which can be taught only by Jews.