About a year ago (April 2011), Israel's Channel 1 did a three-part report on the activities of the anti-missionary organization Yad L'Achim. The programs are available on YouTube and they're well worth the time it takes to watch them. (Each segment is roughly ten minutes in length.) It's all in Hebrew, of course, but with the English subtitles it's very easy to follow the discussions and interviews.

Since the horrible attack on a messianic family in Ariel, Israel, in 2008 (click here for background info), the spotlight of media attention in Israel has been riveted on Yad L'Achim, an extremist anti-missionary hate group. It's encouraging that the Israeli mainstream media—at long last—is calling attention to the activities of such extremist groups. They are a small minority, thankfully; however, as we saw in the Ami Ortiz case (mentioned above), they're capable of inflicting pain and suffering that is hugely disproportionate to their small numbers.

As you watch, note that there are still extremists who, even on TV, out in the open, defend the actions of Yad L'Achim. In their way of thinking, the Messianics are essentially "asking for it" because they're trying to lure unsuspecting Jewish people away from their faith and "convert" them to Christianity. That's how they see it. To them, it's a war.

Actually, if the Messianics were trying to "convert" Jewish people to some form of non-Jewish, institutionalized Christendom (like Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, or any one of a number of others), Yad L'Achim's frothing at the mouth might be slightly more comprehensible.

But they're not. Not even close. Most of the Messianic believers in Israel are simple, down-to-earth Jewish Messiah-followers. They're not part of any "Christian" denomination or church. In Hebrew, they are Meshichi (Messiah-followers) rather than Notzri (denominational "Christians").

Are some of them supported by churches (whether in North America or elsewhere)? Yes, of course—some of them receive support from Christians outside of Israel. What's wrong with that? The United Jewish Appeal has received significant support (to the tune of millions of dollars) from US churches (including, perhaps most notably, Pastor Hagee's Cornerstone Church here in Texas)—and we don't hear anyone complaining about that, do we?

But I digress. Getting back to the topic at hand, here are the three installments of the report from Israel's Channel 1:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIPrhXREm3w&feature=relmfu

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEPpkzxYYRA&feature=relmfu

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMyblyb3EOY&feature=relmfu