Anti-assimilation group accuses missionaries of using dental clinics in Jerusalem and Haifa ‘to spread the gospel.’
Missionaries in Israel try everything to preach Christianity to as many Jews as possible, even if it means flaunting laws that forbid preaching to minors and to the needy in exchange for monetary benefit. They get away with it by operating discretely, under the radar of law enforcement.
But clear evidence of such preaching reached Yad L’Achim recently in the form of a video which shows Evan Michael Levine admitting that the goal of a dental clinic he runs is to preach Christianity to the needy.
Levine is executive director of the HaTikva Project, a messianic organization, which, among other things, provides free dental care.
Yad L’Achim officials weren’t surprised by Levine’s comments, made to a church in the United States as part of a PR film. For some time, the organization’s counter-missionary department has been aware of his activities and reached out to municipal officials in Jerusalem in an attempt to get them to sever ties with his dental clinic.
Levine’s confession confirmed Yad L’Achim’s worst suspicions.
“The municipality of Jerusalem actually sends all the people in the welfare system that need dental care to our clinics, knowing in advance that we’re going to use it as an opportunity to share the gospel with them,” Levine said.
“We have a dental clinic in Jerusalem We have one in Haifa. We treat around 2,000 patients a year… We treat people from every walk of life – Orthodox, secular, Arab, Jewish – everybody comes to us, and we’re able to treat them with excellence. We do it in the name of J. openly and we actually follow up with them. [In the case of] a lot of the elderly we go and we meet with them in their homes and we share … with them and we bring them new testaments if they’re open to receiving them and we pray with them.”
Using the film as evidence against Levine, Rabbi Binyamin Kluger, a senior official in Yad L’Achim’s counter-missionary department, filed an official complaint this week with the police in Ma’ale Adumim, where the missionary lives.
At the same time, Yad L’Achim released a video to the general public which includes his confession and highlights his activities. The video warns people to stay away from the clinic.
“The public must know the real objectives of the clinic and take precautions,” a senior Yad L’Achim official said this week. “We expect the Israel Police to enforce the law and to question Levine and press charges against him. It is inconceivable that Christian missionaries will continue to engage in such despicable activities and get people to convert by taking advantage of their dire economic straits.
“We will not rest until this injustice is dealt with the utmost severity.”
