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ABSTRACT
In the sixty years between 1948 and 2008, Israel's relationship with the movement of Messianic Jews developed in light of changes in Israeli society. Although wide circles of Israeli Jews consider Messianic Jews to be converts to Christianity, Messianic Jews describe themselves simply as "Jewish believers in Jesus (Yeshua)." Israeli religious discourse often identified them with Christian missionaries, and in some cases, missionary organizations were indeed transformed into congregations of Messianic Jews, at times operating directly through their organizations and at other times indirectly. Israeli authorities worked to prevent the spread of the movement and its activities in the country. The "Jewish believers in Jesus" in Israel faced various forms of defamation and harassment, administrative obstacles, and legal restrictions including a denial of the right to apply for Israeli citizenship through the Law of Return, a right guaranteed to all Jews.
Keywords: Messianic Jews, Messianic Jews in Israel, State of Israel, Religion, NGOs, Missionary activity.
INTRODUCTION
AVRAHAM EvEN-SHOSHAN, A HEBREW LINGUIST AND LEXICOGRAPHER, defined Messianic Jews as a cult of Jews who declare themselves Jews by nationality, loyal to the State of Israel, and Christians by religion.1 Gershon Nerel, a Messianic Jewish scholar, defines Messianic Jews as Jews who have freely accepted the philosophical and theological truth of Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, "from motives of internal recognition and conviction," and not as a result of coercion or for the sake of material gain.2 Nerel claims that Messianic Jews are "located at the theological seam-points between the world of Judaism and the world of Christianity," and asserts that "both Christianity and Judaism see them as a kind of 'hybrid creature' whose place is on their extreme fringes."3 Ya'akov Ariel writes that,
Missionaries, such as the Southern Baptist Robert Lindsey noted that for Israeli Jews, the term notzrim, 'Christians' in Hebrew, meant, almost automatically, an alien hostile religion. Because such a term made it nearly impossible to convince Jews that Christianity was their religion, missionaries sought a more neutral term.... They chose Meshychim, Messianic, to overcome the suspicion and antagonism of the term notzrim.4
Most Messianic Jews in Israel and the Diaspora arrive at their faith as a result of missionary activity.5 According to the halakhic (legal) definition, Messianic Jews are Jews who have...