Jesus is Making Front-Page Headlines in Israel

David Lazarus : Dec 14, 2015
Israel Today

Already on the first day of exposure, the numbers of visitors and comments are enormous.

(Israel)—The second largest internet portal in Israel is putting Hebrew-language testimonies about Jesus on their front page, and 95% of Israelis are hooked into the internet every day, all day. (Screengrab via www.igod.co.il)

Walla!, the mainstream Israeli media giant, is producing, at their own expense, a series of up to 24 live interviews with Messianic Jews about Jesus. In the interviews, a well-known Israeli actress asks Israeli Believers questions about faith in Jesus.

Some of the topics being discussed are:

• Who are these Messianic Jews;
• What is the difference between Messianic Judaism and Christianity;
• Talmudic fables intended to dismiss Jesus;
• Why is the Hebrew New Testament not available in Israeli book stores;
• Isaiah 53

Management at Walla! had noticed popular video clips about Jesus produced by the Israel College of the Bible (ICB) on social media. In an unprecedented and exceptional move for a mainstream Israeli media company, Walla! asked the team at ICB if they could produce their own series about Jesus for the Israeli public. (Screengrab via www.igod.co.il)

Walla! has already begun placing the clips about faith in Jesus on the front page of their site, and they are uploading new clips during the busiest hours of their Internet traffic. Already on the first day of exposure, the numbers of visitors and comments are enormous.

Of the multitude of subjects argued and debated in Israel, Jesus is by far the most controversial. Walla!, the second largest Internet news company in Israel, has taken a bold and risky step by promoting interest in Jesus, and in Messianic Jews, to their massive audience. There are likely to be repercussions and resistance to such a major promotion about Jesus, but the management of Walla! seems to think that Israelis are ready to listen.

Eitan Bar, one of the Messianic Jews being interviewed for the series, says that Messianics in Israel can expect strong reactions as well. "Please pray for us and for all of the Messianic Jews in Israel. We know that there will be unyielding opposition."

Bar and the team at ICB are also asking for prayer that this massive exposure to Jesus would bring the Gospel closer to Israeli hearts and minds. They are garnering support from Messianic Believers across Israel to get active in the discussions with the thousands of comments and interactions about Jesus with Israelis on the website.

Bar also suggests some practical ways Christians around the world can help.

"Use your blogs and websites to link to the Messianic websites being promoted by Walla!. This really helps as it increases exposure to these sites and raises the sites rating on Google’s search engine. When Israelis search for keywords in Hebrew like 'Yeshua the Messiah', 'New Testament', 'Jesus of Nazareth' or 'Messianic Jews' they will be pointed to the Hebrew websites where they will be able to learn more about who Jesus really is, rather than to the many anti-Messiah, deceitful websites, some even denying that Jesus ever existed!"

The two Messianic websites (Hebrew) being promoted by the series are: www.igod.co.il and www.messiah.co.il