JNS: Son of British immigrants chosen to lead Christian Allies Caucus

Faith-based diplomacy is a “first rate” tool to unite Jews and Christians in support of Israel, MK Moshe Tur-Paz, who has been selected to lead the Knesset’s Christian Allies Caucus, said on Sunday.

The remarks by the religiously observant parliamentarian who was born in Philadelphia in 1972, come as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration will soon include prominent evangelical figures, such as Ambassador-designate to Israel Mike Huckabee, underlining the role Bible-believing Christians will play in the new US administration.

“The ability of Christians to talk of their love of Israel from the language of faith and the language of the Bible—the book that we as Jews and Christians both share—is truly inspiring,” Knesset Christian Allies Caucus co-chair Tur-Paz told JNS in an interview on Sunday. “Sometimes I find that Christians love Israel even more than some Israelis do.”

The lawmaker from the opposition Yesh Atid Party added that the unwavering support of Bible-believing Christians for Israel over the last year of war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon was especially important at a time when the Jewish state faced opprobrium in the international community while many others, including prominent American Jews, maintained a public position of neutrality during the fighting.

The lawmaker’s British-born parents, who immigrated to Israel in the 1950s, were emissaries of the quasi-governmental Jewish Agency to the United States until they returned to Israel when he was a 1-year-old; he also spent some of his childhood in the U.K. when they were stationed there.

The father of five resides in Kibbutz Kfar Etzion, in the Gush Etzion bloc just south of Jerusalem. Tur-Paz is a lieutenant colonel in the reserves and served as the commander of the 646th Paratroopers Brigade’s Reconnaissance Battalion.

Tur-Paz said his top goals in his new position will be working with the new “supportive” U.S. administration, pushing to get embassies to relocate their embassies to Jerusalem, and the swift return of the 101 Israeli hostages being held in Gaza.

Over 50 parliaments

Founded two decades ago, the Knesset’s Christian Allies Caucus has become a powerhouse in faith-based diplomacy, forming partnerships with more than 50 parliaments around the globe with a network of over 1,500 legislators working to promote Israel based on shared Judeo-Christian values.

Tur-Paz, who succeeds MK Sharren Haskel after she became deputy foreign minister last month, will now co-chair the cross-party caucus along with one-time Prisoner of Zion Yuli Edelstein from the ruling Likud Party.

“Faith-based diplomacy has been a cornerstone of my worldview, rooted in the belief that safeguarding our shared Western, Judeo-Christian values is essential, especially in an era where radical Islamist ideology seeks to challenge and erode these foundations,” said Haskel, who spearheaded a push during her tenure as caucus co-chair to get European parliaments to dismantle and stop funding UNRWA due to its terror ties.

Read the entire article on JNS here.