JERUSALEM, Israel – A bill introduced by two ultra-Orthodox of members of Israel’s Knesset would make it a criminal offense to persuade anyone to convert to another religion.
The two lawmakers are part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, and they have been introducing versions of the law for years.
The Knesset bill would strengthen an existing law that makes it a crime to give anything of value to persuade anyone to change their religion and proselytizing to anyone under 18 years of age.
The proposed law states, “(Anyone) who persuades a person, directly, digitally, by direct mail, or online, to convert his religion, his sentence is one year imprisonment, and if the person was a minor, his sentence is two years imprisonment.”
Israeli legal expert David Benjamin told CBN News the scope of this effort seems extremely broad. “Wide as you can possibly get,” Benjamin said. “In fact, Chris, I mean any, you know, just anything you say which might be in favor of a certain religion, right? Could be construed, I suppose, as being an attempt to solicit someone. Right? Where do you draw the line?
Knesset members Moshe Gafni and Yaakov Asher from the United Torah Judaism Party, proposed the legislation. An identical bill was proposed during the last Knesset and similar bills have been proposed for more than 20 years.
While the proposed law would apply to all religions, it specifically singles out Christians, stating: “In recent times, the attempts of missionary bodies, mainly Christian ones, to persuade people to convert have increased. Sometimes these attempts do not involve the promise of money or material favors, and therefore are not prohibited according to the existing law, but their many negative consequences, including mental damage, require the intervention of the legislator.”
“Remember the whole issue of proselytization in Israel?”, Benjamin asked. “There’s always been a sensitive one, right? The Jewish state was set up to, to protect the Jewish people. Many Jewish people have been lost over the centuries, obviously to genocide. But also by assimilation, forced conversion, et cetera. So it’s a very sensitive point.”
Benjamin adds this effort would likely violate Israel’s Declaration of Independence.
“I think that the fundamental premise of the law is problematic in itself. I don’t think it’ll be, it’ll be unacceptable to outlaw. A person trying to persuade another person to adopt any idea, whether it be a religion or any kind of idea. You know, the free flow of ideas, freedom of thought, freedom of conscience, freedom of expression or, or fundamental pillars of any democracy.”
Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback warns it could harm Israel.
“When you start to limit your religious freedom … in your nation, that’s against the U.N. Charter of Human Rights that Israel and almost all of the rest of the world signed onto, too. You’re entitled to practice your faith or change your faith and I think this is dangerous for Israel, really, since they’ve been such a beacon of an open society in that region.”
Some feel that given the composition of the current coalition government, it might be possible for the bill to become law. Others disagree, since they say Prime Minister Netanyahu, who’s been a close friend of evangelical Christians for decades, would not support such a measure.
At a 2012 dedication of a windmill restored by Christians from Holland, he praised Christian Zionists. saying,”I don’t believe that the Jewish state and modern Zionism would have been possible without Christian Zionism. I think that the many Christian supporters of the birth of the Jewish State and the ingathering of the Jewish people in the 19th century made possible the rise of Jewish Zionism.”
CBN News reached out to Prime Minister’s Office for a comment but so far have not received a reply.
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