Subject: Christian Alliance for Israel Conference
Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 23:04:06 +0000
To: "Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>

From:           Eddie Chumney
Subject:       Christian Alliance for Israel
To:            <HEB_ROOTS_CHR@geocities.com>

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              THE JERUSALEM POST DAILY INTERNET EDITION


 Mon, Mar 02, 1998


                 Will PM mark jubilee with Jews for Jesus?


     By MARILYN HENRY

 NEW YORK (March 2) -- What may be the largest official "Israel at 50"
 celebration in the US is being sponsored by a Christian coalition and may
 feature Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, along with Messianic Jews, The New
 York Jewish Week reported on Friday.

 The event, planned by the Christian Alliance for Israel and sanctioned by the
 Israel 50th Anniversay Committee, will be held from April 29 to May 3 in
 Orlando, Florida, and may draw up to 18,000 people.

 Netanyahu's media adviser, Shai Bazak, said that the prime minister would
 not be traveling to the US before May 16. This would preclude Netanyahu's
 participation in the Florida event.

 "We are not planning anything else in the US," Bazak said. He was unaware of
 the events planned by the Christian Alliance for Israel.

 The alliance is comprised of Christian individuals, churches, and organizations
 "who share a love for and a commitment to Israel and the Jewish people," the
 newspaper reported.

 However, Jews for Judaism, a counter-missionary group, said the event was a
 "who's who of the missionary movement."

 Mark Powers, the head of Jews for Judaism, told the Jewish Week that one of
 the organizers, Jonathan Bernis of Hear O Israel ministries, "claims to have
 converted 35,000 Jews in the last three years in Russia."

 Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, who has conducts outreach to the Evangelical community,
 said he turned down an invitation to appear because "it had a strong messianic
 thrust."

 The chairman of the Israeli anniversary committee, Marvin Josephson, told the
 Jewish Week that the request to allow the alliance to use the official
 designation came from Israel, but he declined to say from whom.

 "We checked [the alliance! out with a responsible Jewish organization that
 monitors such things, and we were told they are a very responsible
 organization," he said.

 The alliance told the paper that Netanyahu has said he will participate in
 person or via satellite TV hookup. However, Netanyahu's office said no
 decision has been made on whether he will attend.

 The event's planner, Cheryl Schang, said she is sensitive to Jewish concerns
 about Messianic Jews.

 "Whenever a Christian group stands up and says they're doing something big for
 Israel, messianic people want to be involved," she told the paper. "Rightfully,
 we think they should play a role, but they have to abide by certain guidelines,
 " including a ban on proselytizing.

 The Orlando event could be something of a wake-up call to the Jewish community,
 whose commitment to traditional Israel celebrations has been waning and whose
 plans for Israel's 50th anniversary have failed to generate excitement.

 In New York, for instance, it was up to yeshivot two years ago to help the
 Jewish Community Relations Council rescue the decades-old annual Salute to
 Israel Parade, after it was all but abandoned by the UJA and the Israeli
 Consulate.

 Jay Bushinsky contributed to this report.

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