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Carol X Weakley  10/05/2006 03:44:11 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Carol X Weakley

Cable 
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UNCLAS        TEL AVIV 03911

SIPDIS
CXTelA:
    ACTION: CONS
    INFO:   POL DCM

DISSEMINATION: CONS
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: CONS:MOPTICAN
DRAFTED: CONS:MOPTICAN
CLEARED: CONS

VZCZCTVI238
RR RUEHC
DE RUEHTV #3911/01 2771558
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 041558Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 6719

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 003911 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR CA/OCS/ACS/NESA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CASC CVIS PHUM PGOV IS KIRF
SUBJECT: Bloodless Holy War: The Beckfords vs Yad L'Achim 
 
REF: Tel Aviv 00189 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Consular officers went to the city of Arad in the 
Negev desert to interview two American citizens about their ongoing 
conflict with the anti-missionary group, Yad L'Achim (lit.," Hand to 
Brothers"). While the Americans are clearly being harassed in their 
pursuit of daily activities, they do not appear to be in danger from 
Yad L'Achim.  What they are in has been called by media, "a 
bloodless Holy War over Jewish souls in the Jewish homeland."  Their 
antagonist is a relentless, unyielding organization and the 
prognosis is that eventually, Yad L'Achim may well succeed in 
getting one of the missionaries deported from Israel. End summary. 
 
Facts 
----- 
 
¶2.  Embassy Tel Aviv Consular officers and staff traveled to the 
Negev desert city of Arad on September 18 to visit Lura and Eddie 
Beckford, who had reported to us that they were being severely 
harassed as they tried to go about their business of running a chess 
club and converting Jews to Christianity.  While in Arad (and later 
in Beersheva), we spoke with the Beckfords, other members of their 
missionary community, local and regional police officials, and 
members of Yad L'Achim. 
 
¶3.  The saga started simply enough.  Lura Maiman immigrated to 
Israel in the 1990's with her Jewish husband, who died in 1999. 
Eddie Beckford was a buddy of Mr. Maiman's from the Vietnam War who 
eventually came to Israel and married the widowed Lura.  The two are 
self-styled Christian missionaries working to convert local Jews to 
Christianity.  A community of about 20 American-Israelis and 80, 
mostly Russian, immigrants has coalesced around the Beckfords and a 
Christian preacher named Yehoyakim Figris.  They attend Christian 
services held in members' homes and many of the men play chess or 
dominos in the Beckfords' modest club house.  Every week at their 
clubhouse the Beckfords distribute used clothing and other items 
along with Christian literature to anyone who wants it. 
 
¶4.  But things got complicated.  This missionary activity attracted 
the attention and determined opposition of the group Yad L'Achim, an 
organization dedicated to assisting new immigrants to Israel and 
fighting the conversion of Jews to other religions.  Stopping the 
Beckfords is a top priority of Yad L'Achim, and for years its 
members of have been harassing the Beckfords and others in their 
community.  Tactics include playing loud music incessantly to 
disturb the concentration of the chess players; taking photos of 
club members and others who visit the premises, publishing newspaper 
articles about the missionary activities, and picketing the 
clubhouse and community members' homes.  The strategy seems to be 
focused on Eddie Beckford, who is not yet an Israeli citizen and 
could be subject to deportation for a criminal offense. 
 
¶5.  Yad L'Achim harassment of the Beckfords has resulted in four 
significant events.  First, police prevented Yad L'Achim members 
from picketing the homes of congregants, resulting in a case now 
before the Supreme Court alleging that by so doing the police are 
violating Yad L'Achim member's right to demonstrate.  Second, their 
chess club was burned down on August 4, 2005.  Then, a mentally ill 
man not associated with Yad L'Achim entered the clubhouse and again 
attempted to burn it down, this time with people inside.  And 
finally, Eddie Beckford violently attacked a Yad L'Achim member and 
is being processed criminally for the assault and battery. 
 
Yad L'Achim 
---------------- 
 
¶6.  Yad L'Achim was established in 1950 in order to assist new 
immigrants settle in Israel, integrate into Jewish religious 
organizations, and to find jobs. Yad L'Achim also provides food, 
clothing and apartments free of charge to poor Jews "recovered" from 
missionary groups.  The group is funded by donations, including some 
from the GOI to support their women's shelter activities (last year 
the organization rescued 58 children and 34 women from "bad" 
marriages to Arabs).  Its primary objective, according to co-founder 
Rabbi Shalom Lifschitz, is, given the Holocaust, "let not Jews 
disappear from the earth." 
 
¶7.  Over the years Yad L'Achim has "assumed other responsibilities" 
such as fighting missionaries and helping families "bring home" 
daughters who married outside the faith.  Lifschitz told us that 
there are some 60 full-time employees and perhaps as many as 600 
volunteers in the organization.  Yad L'Achim claims that there are 
at least 100 congregations and cults in Israel that are actively 
seeking to convert Jews to various religions, including Jehovah's 
Witnesses, Messianic Jews, Scientology, Hare Krishna, Falun Gong, 
and Landmark Forum.  [N.B., Public sources estimate that there may 
be as many as 10,000 Messianic Jews in Israel.] 
 
¶8.  On the other hand, the targets of Yad L'Achim are vociferous in 
their denunciation of the group.  Messianic Jews and members of 
other "targeted" religious groups accuse the Yad L'Achim of verbally 
harassing congregation members after services, videotaping them and 
writing down their license plate numbers, reporting them to the 
security services, spray painting graffiti on houses and other 
"Messianic" facilities, slashing their tires, slapping and spitting 
at them, getting them fired from their jobs or deported, etc.  One 
lawyer we spoke with has a case list of 93 clients from all over 
Israel who believe they have suffered "discrimination" in various 
pursuits from gaining residency to keeping teaching jobs.  The 
lawyer believes that Yad L'Achim has had a hand in most of these 
cases. 
 
Issue of Security 
-------------------- 
 
¶9.  The primary concern of the Embassy is that the Beckfords and the 
other American citizen-members of their community is that the 
ideological harassment does not turn violent or inspire violence 
from third parties to the conflict.  Deputy Consul General 
interviewed Rosi Shapira, a respected rabbi who is knowledgeable 
about Yad L'Achim.  Shapira described the organization as a 
humanitarian group -- but one that is very shrewd and creative in 
dreaming up "dirty tricks."  Shapira explained that Yad L'Achim will 
go to great lengths to achieve their anti-missionary objectives, but 
will not violate the law.  Shapira knows of no instance in the 
group's 56-year history where they have used violence to gain their 
ends. 
 
¶10.  Additionally, we have been assured by the regional police 
authorities that Yad L'Achim is not a violent group and that police 
intelligence indicates the Americans are not in danger.  Moreover, 
the local police have promised to increase their presence in the 
Arad marketplace where the Beckfords' clubhouse is located.  Most 
importantly for the Beckfords, the police have counseled them to 
remain passive in the face of Yad L'Achim provocations.  Eddie 
Beckford, however, said he is not a passive man and probably would 
not be able to restrain himself if further provoked (an evitable 
event). 
 
¶11.  The threat of violence has, however, spread beyond Yad L'Achim. 
 Supporters in the movement against the Beckfords include many 
people outside the Haredi community (orthodox Jews who reject modern 
secular culture).  Several months ago, leading citizens, including 
the former mayor, met in Arad with Yad L'Achim members to denounce 
the conversion activities of the Beckfords.  Although the meeting 
also denounced any use of violence, three days later a secular 
Israeli Jew tried to set fire to the chess club. 
 
¶12.  At least twice before the Beckford fires, fires were set in 
unoccupied missionary warehouses in other parts of Israel.  Luckily, 
there were no injuries in any of these attacks and, unfortunately, 
police made no arrests.  Also, in December 2005, a crowd of several 
hundred Haredim attacked a congregation in nearby Beer Sheva after a 
Yad L'Achim warning that "ten busloads" of Jews were to be baptized 
(see reftel).  Clearly, Yad L'Achim activity incites violent 
behavior against Messianic Jews, and other missionary religeous 
groups and their property, despite the official non-violent 
character of the group and it is disingenuous to deny the link. 
 
The Religious Conflict 
---------------------------- 
 
¶13.  As most people know, Israel is a land of perpetual religious 
conflict.  What many do not know is that the scale of those 
conflicts ranges from world and regional contests to spats between 
individuals.  Rabbi Shapira put clash into a broader context by 
noting Judaism considers the conversion of a Jew to another faith as 
one of the gravest moral acts possible, on a par with murder.  In 
the eyes of Yad L'Achim, the Beckfords and other missionaries have 
come to Israel to engage in a legal, but morally obscene activity, 
that demands members be dedicated eradicating it. 
 
¶14.  Despite the religious questions involved, proselytizing in 
Israel (specifically, trying to convert Jews to another religion) is 
legal.  But it is illegal to offer money or other "material 
inducements" to Jews to convert, or to proselytize anyone under the 
age of 18.  Yad L'Achim argues that the clothing and other 
charity/assistance given to poor Jews by the missionaries amount to 
material inducements and that preaching to the children of 
congregants is on its face illegal.  The police and courts however, 
so far do not agree. 
 
¶15.  Abusing the Israeli Law of Return, however, is another matter. 
A foundation of the modern state of Israel, the law permits any Jew 
to immigrate to the Israel as a citizen by right, but does not apply 
to Jews who convert to another religion.  Several high-profile 
missionaries have publicly admitted that they immigrated to Israel 
under false pretenses.  In one case, a prominent American Messianic 
Jew had withheld this key information and was turned down by the 
Ministry of the Interior based on information supplied by Yad 
L'Achim.  For their part, many missionaries make no secret about 
their belief that their ultimate "prize" is the conversion of a Jew 
to Christianity and that there is no better place to accomplish that 
than in the Holy Land itself -- where Jews have resisted conversion 
for 2000 years. 
 
Conclusion 
-------------- 
 
¶16.  The Beckfords are locked into a millennial battle in which 
neither side will back down.  The Beckfords will undoubtedly 
continue to proselytize Jews and Yad L'Achim will continue their 
harassment.  Despite assurances from police, violence from some 
quarter will remain a possibility.  In the end, Eddie Beckford might 
prove accommodating and again bash a Haredi, providing the grounds 
necessary for the Ministry of Interior to revoke his residence 
permit and deport him.  As for USG interests, it appears that the 
Beckfords are enjoying the protection of Israeli law and that they 
are not being targeted for their nationality.  They are in fact, 
being allowed to practice their religion and are even being 
protected in their missionary activities -- albeit, in balance with 
Yad L'Achim's exercise of their rights to demonstrate against those 
activities. 
JONES