The hypocrisy in Israel’s new Christian outreach |
The recent appointment of George Deek as Israel’s special envoy to the Christian world has been framed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a bridge-building masterstroke. Deek — an Arab Christian, seasoned diplomat, and descendant of refugees from the 1948 war — appears, on paper, to be an innocuous choice. However, beneath the layers of diversity and inclusion lies a profound hypocrisy that ignores both Deek’s questionable track record and the lived reality of the very community he is now tasked to serve.
The core of this hypocrisy lies in how the Israeli government instrumentalizes Deek’s identity. By appointing an Arab Christian to court the global Christian community, Israel is attempting to project an image of pluralistic harmony — a harmony that is increasingly absent, both within its own borders and foreign policy.
While Deek is paraded on the world stage as a success story, the indigenous Palestinian Christian community in the Holy Land is facing an existential crisis. Squeezed between the pressures of military occupation in the West Bank and a rising tide of religious intolerance within Israel and East Jerusalem, the community is dwindling. To appoint a “special envoy”........