Israel Suspends Messianic Channel Accused of Evangelizing to Jews
Israel’s media oversight commission said Sunday it has suspended GOD TV’s Hebrew-speaking Messianic channel after accusing it of allegedly violating its broadcasting license by evangelizing to Jews.
Earlier this year, GOD TV launched a new channel called Shelanu TV, which translates to “Ours” in Hebrew. The channel signed a seven-year contract with HOT Cable, Israel’s largest cable network, to broadcast stories from the Messianic community to the Israeli public.
The Council for Cable and Satellite Broadcasting, Israel’s media oversight commission, originally granted HOT Cable a license to broadcast Shelanu TV. The Messianic channel quickly drew backlash when critics accused it of purposely evangelizing to Jews.
While evangelism is permitted in Israel, it is illegal to proselytize to minors and or use material means to entice someone to change their religion. GOD TV maintains that Shelanu TV is in full compliance with Israeli law.
However, many were outraged when the network’s CEO Ward Simpson said in a since-deleted promotional video that Shelanu aims “to take the gospel of Jesus into the homes and lives and hearts of the Jewish people.” {eoa}
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