A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
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| Volume 6 Number 16 - Tuesday, April 20th, 2004 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
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Visa Crisis in Israel for ChristiansThe United Christian Council in Israel is an association of nearly thirty Evangelical organizations involved in congregational services, education, pilgrimages, and charitable giving in Israel. Many of our members have their founding before the creation of the State of Israel. We, along with other Christian institutions—Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox alike—are facing a major visa crisis in Israel that is threatening our work and church life in the Holy Land. As a result of newly implemented attitudes and criteria that have reversed long-standing policy and practice, members of our association are being denied the clergy A3 visas they once enjoyed for their religious service. This problem has become so acute that the ability to continue our work is being threatened. For years Israel followed a fair standard in issuing visas to clergy and key laity serving in Israel. As stated in published official documents, a clergy (A3) visa was issued “…to all personnel officially serving in Christian institutions in whatever capacity.” The Department of Christian Communities would recommend and the Ministry of Internal Affairs would issue an A3 clergy visa for all involved in long-term religious service in recognized institutions. This included a wide spectrum of Christian personnel: pastors, administrators, priests, nuns, and laity with special skills. A New Discriminatory Government Policy Elements in the current government, however, have initiated a governmental policy shift toward controlling, limiting, and reducing the number of Christians in Israel. With reassuring words, officials claim they are in the process of “redefining visas.” The A3 clergy visa previously used by all is now earmarked only for senior pastors and a new visa category for the others is to be created sometime in the future. Without being offered an equivalent visa now our church life is being threatened because our organizations and church personnel are not being offered appropriate visas and the entire process has become irrational and problematic. We have experienced long delays that stretch into months of several visits, often far beyond the expiration date of the old visas. Some are issued for only months rather then the usual one to two years. A new alarming situation is to refuse renewal of many of are seasoned pastors simply because they are not senior pastors of a large congregation. These restrictive actions and arbitrary attitudes run across the Christian spectrum. Although positive reactions and assurances are expressed verbally in our discussions with respective authorities, the problem remains the same “on the ground.” In fact, if expressed intentions are implemented as planned, many of the various church, educational, and charitable programs we oversee will be severally harmed, for some even to the point of closing. Here are but a few examples. Restrictive Actions are Degrading Christian Institutions and Personnel Last month, one large Christian Zionist organization that once held nine A3 clergy visas for their key personnel is now being offered only one. The explanation put forth was that the A3 clergy visa would now only apply to those who hold pastoral positions. The alternative visa currently being offered is the general volunteer visa, which they intend to restrict to a total of two years—for life! How can we function with personnel in key positions having to be replaced every two years? This would simply curtail or close many of our religious activities. In addition, the volunteer visa degrades or nullifies the “religious service” motivation of our personnel. There is talk of a possible “alternative visa” category that would replace the A3 clergy visa for these people, but to date it is only talk. No one knows if it will be “equivalent” in benefits or if it will recognize the “religious nature and motivation” of the service, which is the key criteria behind clergy visas. The question looms out: Why not simply renew the A3 visas until the new categories are created and then re-evaluate everyone accordingly? Instead, we are being squeezed down and squeezed out. A good example of this is the case of one of our member organization that has its founding in Israel during the British Mandate period. They applied for the renewal of nine A3 visas previously enjoyed for years. Of these, all except two serve as pastors or associate pastors. All nine were denied the recommendation for renewal. In addition, one pastor of a small congregation in Haifa has been stuck in America unable to return to his position as head pastor. Government Officials Relentlessly Pursue Their Agenda All of our people waited months for a decision on their visa renewals—applications that were filed in November for visas expiring at the end of December. One reason for the delay was a long government-wide strike. However, this factor has long been over, and now we face delays due to efforts of key personnel in the Ministry of Interior as they relentlessly press their personal agenda. Examples of the rampant confusion, contradiction, arbitrary behavior that prevails are numerous. Yossi Hershler has publicly stated that there are nearly 30,000 A3 visas in Israel and that this bloated number must be reduced. These numbers are inflammatory misrepresentations in the extreme. Career government personnel and published documents inform otherwise—that there are only about a total of 3,000 clergy A3 visas issued. The clergy visa needs of our member organizations only total to fewer than 100. Eli Varon, administrative assistant in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, has stated that the new policy being implemented is to restrict the A3 clergy visa to pastoral positions and that “another solution” will be found for non-pastoral A3 visa holders. We can live with an equivalent “new category,” but it doesn’t exist. Many of our key people are only being offered a simple volunteer visa that has a maximum of a cumulative of two-years for life. Again, why not merely renew the current A3 visas until the new categories and visas are established and then evaluate everyone’s visa accordingly? Given the well-established pattern of manipulation, stonewalling, and even bald misstatement that has characterized the Ministry of Interior’s approach to us for the past two years, we must conclude that the offer of this volunteer visa is nothing but a face-saving evasion intended to achieve the same, singular goal: reduction of a significant number of long-term Christian presence in the country. (One source rumored that the goal was an across-the-board 20%). Again, what is happening “on the ground” speaks volumes. The decision to offer the Christian Zionist organization mentioned above—an unwavering friend of Israel— only one of the nine A3 visas once held was both irrational and arbitrary: Irrational because it was offered to someone other then organization’s top leader and arbitrary because none were acting pastors that fulfilled the new criteria for A3 visas. In addition, Yossi Hershler has informed us that he intends to be highly restrictive in recommending new A3 visas, even to ordained pastors of legitimate congregations. He told our lawyer that he intended to restrict the pastoral A3 visa to congregations of 500 people or over. Considering that few, if any, congregations meet these criteria, it easy to conclude his “agenda.” He also stated that no new congregations being formed within driving proximity to another would be granted a new pastoral visa. They can simply join in worship with an established church nearby, regardless of language barriers and difficulties in differences in faith and worship this would impose. Evangelicals Are A Primary Target These restrictive actions and arbitrary attitudes run across the Christian spectrum, for Catholics and Protestants alike. Christian Evangelicals, however, have become a focused prey to the new agenda. This is probably the case for several reasons: the limited scope of each organization, the independence from a church hierarchy, and the fear that ‘evangelicals’ are here for the sole purpose of evangelizing Israel. Once again, irrational thinking prevails since 2/3 of a billion Protestant/Evangelicals worldwide are consistently Israel’s best friends. They are the largest group making pilgrimages to Israel during the last three years of the intifada and are the most ardent defenders of Israel’s actions in her war on terrorism. Their visa requirements are relatively small; yet, they bring in millions of dollars from abroad through donations, pilgrimages, education, and employee Israeli’s whenever feasible. What Can Be Concluded?
Since
Evangelicals have been here as friends of Israel
before and during the formation of the Jewish
State—a State that flourished around us—it is
difficult to defend such xenophobic fears and the
wisdom behind restrictive policies considering the
financial and PR benefits Israel receives in
hosting us. There is only one plausible
explanation—key personnel in the Ministry of
Internal Affairs are implementing a
discriminatory campaign to arbitrarily control,
limit, and reduce the numbers of Christians in
Israel. If this is the case, it would foolishly
reverse understandings established with our (and
other Christian) organizations since the founding
of Israel and bring into question Israel’s
democratic commitment to freedom of religion and
the international agreements entered into as
stewards of the Holy Land. |
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