ECI to give Israel a birthday present which will last
Invites churches and Christians to recommit their support for Israel

Brussels 12 May 2008 – The European Coalition for Israel is planning to give the state of Israel a different kind of birthday present on its 60th anniversary which will be celebrated in Europe on Wednesday May 14. In the week leading up to the festivities the Coalition is calling on national and local churches in Europe to recommit their support for Israel and for the safety of the Jewish state.  

- “During the last hundred years Christians of various backgrounds have stood side by side with the Jewish people in solidarity and support for their own homeland. This year one such organization turns 100, indicating that even 40 years before the declaration of independence, there were Christians in Europe who had read their Bibles and believed that God would bring back the Jewish people to the land and give it back to them as their own Jewish homeland”, explains founding director Tomas Sandell in Brussels.

In time for Israel’s 60th anniversary the European Coalition for Israel feels it is time to ask Christians in Europe to recommit themselves in their support for Israel.
– “Israel continues to be under threat, both from militant terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as from hostile nation states such as Iran. At a time when a leader of a UN member state, namely Iran, is openly threatening Israel with annihilation it is time for Christians in Europe to stand up and be counted’, says Sandell.
 
The European Coalition for Israel was founded in 2003 as an organization to promote better relations between Europe and Israel and to commemorate the Holocaust at a time when Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism was again on the rise in Europe. Over the years the Coalition has successfully presented its case to the European institutions in Brussels as well as to the governments and parliaments in the European Union member states.
 
Christians in Europe have not always been this active.
- “The church in Europe has been influenced by a theology which teaches that politics is of the world and not worthy the attention of a true believer,” explains Sandell. “We believe this passiveness is detrimental at a time when the Judeo-Christian foundation of our societies is eroding and the state of Israel is under threat of a nuclear attack”, says Sandell.
 
This week the Coalition will start inviting new groups and churches to partner with them in order to build an ever stronger base of support for Israel in the European Union. The Coalition has recently changed its structure from being a closed membership based organization to becoming an open and inclusive network which seeks to actively partner with national and local churches as well as with associations and private individuals.
 
Later this summer the chairman of the European Coalition for Israel, Helmut Specht, is scheduled to meet with the president of Israel Shimon Peres to personally commit to the goal of increasing the support for Israel.