No ban on preaching Christianity in Israel, experts say | Fact check

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
·4 min read
22

The claim: It's illegal to openly preach Christianity in Israel

An Oct. 25 Instagram video (direct link, archive link) shows a man sitting in his car talking about Christian supporters of Israel.

"Imagine two billion Christians, the world over, blindly supporting them," the man says. "And in Israel, it is illegal to openly preach the word of Jesus Christ."

The post garnered more than 16,000 likes in four days.

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Our rating: False

It is legal to preach Christianity in Israel, where freedom of religion is guaranteed for all. Two lawmakers proposed a bill outlawing Christian proselytization in January, but it did not advance.

Christian proselytizing not illegal in Israel

Several experts pointed out that the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel from 1948 guarantees freedom of religion.

"There is no legal prohibition in Israel about preaching Christianity in Israel, and it is protected under free speech," Tamar Hofnung, a visiting scholar at the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies, told USA TODAY in an email.

Rahav Aharoni, founder of the Aharoni Law Offices in Israel, also told USA TODAY there's no limitation on any kind of worship or religion in Israel.

Kenneth Wald, a professor emeritus of American Jewish culture and society at the University of Florida, said the Instagram video's claim is "nonsense," noting in an email, "The Ministry of Religious Affairs recognizes many Christian denominations."

"There is some bureaucracy but no prohibition on Christianity," Wald said in an email.

While preaching is not illegal in Israel, there are limits.

The 1977 Israeli Penal Code prohibits the proselytization of minors without the consent of their parents, as well as religious conversion in exchange for material benefit. However, Hofnung pointed out that this prohibition pertains to all religions, not specifically Christianity.

Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, a psychology professor at the University of Haifa in Israel, told USA TODAY he isn't aware of anyone being charged with breaking the penal code for proselytizing.

Proposal to outlaw Christian conversion never passed

In January, two ultra-Orthodox Jewish lawmakers proposed a bill to outlaw the solicitation of a person "directly, digitally, by mail or online in order to convert his religion," but it never advanced. The bill, proposed by assembly members Moshe Gafni and Yaakov Asher, would have made Christian proselytization punishable by up to one year in prison, or up to two years for those who attempt to convert minors.

After the bill received widespread criticism among evangelical Christians in the U.S., Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared a post on X in March saying it wouldn't advance.

"We will not advance any law against the Christian community," the prime minister said in the post.

Gafni also said he introduced the bill as a procedural matter, as he has done in the past, and there were no plans to advance it, the Associated Press reported at the time.

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Similarly, Hofnung said a "fringe radical organization" called Yad L'Achim has tried to push legislation outlawing the proselytization of Christianity in the past but wasn't successful.

"This, it should be noted, is not an essential item on the Israeli agenda ... and I see zero chances of it passing anytime soon," she said.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

PolitiFact previously debunked the claim as well.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Christian preaching not outlawed in Israel | Fact check