Israel MP tears up Gospel after calling it an
"abominable book"
Ben-Ari rips the New Testament to shreds
Michael Ben-Ari a religious conservative was
photographed tearing up a copy of the New
Testament which was given to him by Israeli
Evangelicals
Yesterday a photographer captured the shocking
scene of Israeli MP Michael Ben-Ari tearing up a
copy of the New Testament and throwing it in the
bin. He did not commit this act in just any old
place; he did it in the Knesset, the Israeli
Parliament. Mr. Ben-Ari is a member of HaIhud
HaLeumim (National Union) a religious Jewish
right wing party close to the Occupy Movement.
The gesture - which brings to mind the action of
U.S. pastor Terry Jones who set fire to a copy of
the Koran - was in response to an "unacceptable
provocation" by the Israeli Bible Society, an
Evangelical entity which in recent days sent a
copy of the New Testament in Jewish to all 120
Israeli MPs. ""We are pleased to send you this
book which we hope will help you and illuminate
your way," the accompanying letter written by
Victor Kalisher read. "We hope and pray that this
book may help you in your important position in
service of the people."
A very unwise move in a country like Israel where
Christian proselytism is a topic that has always
caused tension. Arutz Sheva, the news agency
that is most sympathetic to the religious
conservatives, promptly reported the news the
other day, with the headline: "Christians Flood
Knesset with 'New Judaism'". The article said
many MPs were furious about this gesture and
that Tzipi Hotolevy, a member of the Likud party,
has specifically asked Knesset's president,
Reuven Rivlin, "to put a stop to the dissemination
of what she said is outright missionary material
in the Knesset."
But yesterday, Michael Ben-Ari decided to go even
further and got a photographer to capture the
moment when he publicly ripped the pages out of
the book in question and then threw them in the
bin. As he did so he said: "This abominable book
[the New Testament] brought about the murder of
millions of Jews in the Inquisition and autos da
fé." "This is a provocation by church missionaries
and there is no doubt that this book and those
who sent it belong in the garbage can of history."
One look at the MP's CV and it becomes
instantly clear as to why he decided to make this
gesture. Mr. Ben-Ari who is 48 years old was
born to Eastern Jewish parents and grew up in
one of the roughest neighbourhoods on the
outskirts of Tel Aviv. Today he lives in the Karnei
Shomron settlement and is the first Israeli MP to
not hide the fact that he is a follower of Meir
Kahane, founder of the racist party Kach. The
party was banned in Israel for inciting anti-Arab
hatred after the massacre of 29 Palestinians in
1994 by colonizer Baruc Goldstein at the Tomb of
Abraham in Hebron. For this reason, the U.S. has
denied him a visa on more than one occasion,
referring to U.S. anti-terrorism legislation. In
2009 Mr. Ben-Ari captured people's attention
when he made some inflammatory comments
about Benedict XVI's visit to Israel: "Giving the
Pope a State welcome would mean turning one's
back on the millions of Jews who were killed
throughout the history of Christianity."
The MP's glaring insult to the New Testament
could have repercussions for relations between
Israel and Evangelical conservatives, who have
been one of Prime Minister Netanyahu's foremost
allies in the U.S. The incident comes just a few
weeks before Mormon Mitt Romney's visit to
Israel. . As part of his race for the White House
Romney added a visit to Jerusalem precisely in
order to show a break with the Obama
administration on the issue of the country's
closeness to the Jewish State.
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