Netanyahu Meets The Evangelical Warriors Of The IDF

When 17 young evangelical soldiers walked into the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, they brought with them something that no diplomatic briefing could: the faces of people who chose to bleed for the Jewish state. 

Sons and daughters of Christian families who uprooted their lives, moved to Israel, and handed their children over to a military fighting for its survival. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greeted each one personally, looked them in the eye, and listened.

The meeting, facilitated by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), also included more than 20 Arab Christians serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Among those in attendance were the siblings of Uriah Bayern, a German-born Christian soldier who fell in the early weeks of the war in Gaza. Bayern's family has lived in Israel for decades and operates a nursing home for Holocaust survivors in the north of the country. Netanyahu greeted them with particular care.

Voluntary service in the defense of Israel by those with no legal obligation carries a weight all its own. These soldiers were not drafted. They chose.

"I'm here in the Prime Minister's Office with an extraordinary group of young men and women," Netanyahu said in a video released during the meeting. "These are Christian soldiers, men and women, in the Israeli Defense Forces. They fill all the important positions in our incredible military and they do incredible work."

Netanyahu did not shy away from the controversy that preceded the meeting. In the days before the gathering, the IDF jailed two soldiers for 30 days and removed them from combat duty for damaging a statue of Jesus during operations in southern Lebanon, a decision condemned across the political and religious spectrum, including by Israeli rabbis. The Prime Minister addressed it directly: the conduct of those two soldiers stands in stark contrast to the reality of Christian men and women wearing the IDF uniform.

"This is completely contrary to what is presented outside," Netanyahu said. "It's not only that Israel fights for the rights of Christians around the Middle East, but that Israel has Christian soldiers who fight for the defense of Israel and for our Christian brethren throughout the area, throughout the region and beyond."

ICEJ President Jürgen Bühler described the path to the meeting. "We were approached a few days ago by the Prime Minister's Office to join a special reception at his office for Christian, mostly Arab soldiers," Bühler said. When he informed the PMO that evangelical soldiers, children of Christian expatriates, were also serving, the response was immediate: bring as many as possible.

"Some served in elite units, others as pilots, many fought in Gaza," Bühler recounted. "He was very moved -- encouraged by their stories, especially those who come from abroad in our service." Bühler told Netanyahu directly: "These are the modern-day Orde Wingates and Lord Petersons in the IDF."

Netanyahu cited the Jewish historian Joseph Klausner, including his work Jesus of Nazareth, as having shaped his own understanding of Christianity, a striking disclosure that underscored the depth of his engagement with the soldiers' world, not merely a courtesy call.

Approximately 185,000 Christians live in Israel today, making up just under 2% of the population. Hundreds serve voluntarily in the IDF. Lt. Col. (Res.) Ihab Shlayan, the highest-ranking Christian to have served in the IDF, has put it plainly: "As Christians living in the Holy Land, we see what is going on in the Middle East and the rest of the world and understand that despite the problems, we are in the safest country in the region and are at home here."

That reality stands in sharp relief against what is happening to Christian communities across the broader region -- in Syria, in Iraq, in Lebanon -- where ancient Christian populations have been decimated or displaced. Israel named its first Christian ambassador as special envoy to the Christian world the week prior to the meeting, a signal of where the country's priorities lie.

"Israel is the one country in the Middle East where the Christian community is thriving, is growing, and it's expanding," Netanyahu told the soldiers. "And I want to salute all of you."

The Jewish state and its Christian soldiers are, together, standing between that swallowing and the people of the region. Sunday's meeting in Jerusalem was a recognition of that fact, quiet, personal, and long overdue.

Originally published at Israel 365 News