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  Rabbis Criticize Evangelicals in Israel
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ContributorGerald Farinas 
Last EditedGerald Farinas  May 10, 2004 03:54pm
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MediaNews Service - Associated Press
News DateMonday, May 10, 2004 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0
DescriptionRabbis Criticize Evangelicals in Israel
The Honolulu Advertiser

Prominent Israeli rabbis are for the first time speaking out against Israel's profitable alliance with evangelical Christians in the United States who have funneled tens of millions of dollars to the Jewish state. The rabbis fear the Christians' real intent is to convert Jews, their aides said Monday. Others are concerned about the evangelicals' support for Israel's extreme right-wing, opposing any compromise with the Palestinians. The dispute touches on an increasingly sensitive issue in Israel: the country's dependence, both economically and politically, on conservative American Christians.

Besides contributing tidy sums to projects in Israel, some evangelical Christians have lobbied in support of the Israeli government in Washington. Troubling to Israelis is the fact that one influential group of evangelicals, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, a Chicago-based group that has raised tens of millions of dollars from Christian supporters of Israel, believes in a final, apocalyptic battle between good and evil in which Jesus returns and Jews either accept him or perish, a vision that causes obvious discomfort among Jews.

Two former chief rabbis of Israel, Avraham Shapira and Mordechai Eliahu, recently approved a religious ruling urging followers not to accept money from the group. The ruling, issued by Shapira in March and later signed by Eliahu, accused the fellowship of accepting money from groups involved in "missionary activity."

"I don't see any permission to receive funds that aid in the infiltration of the work of strangers under the false impression of aid to the needy," the letter said. Rabbi Simcha Hacohen Kook, another critic of the fellowship, said he fears the donors are trying to exploit Israel's most vulnerable people. "Those who don't have money don't ask questions," he said. "They are spending millions of dollars to make people closer to Chris
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