BREAKING NEWS: Israeli Supreme Court Allows Messianics In!

I had this posted for about four hours Wednesday morning and then got a call that it was premature and the final word had not come down. Now, the agreements have been made and this is news . . .

I just received word from Jamie Cowen, the president of the UMJC (umjc.net) that the Israeli Supreme Court has reversed its decision from the late 1980’s which gives Messianic Jews no right of return to Israel.

In other words, the Israeli Supreme Court, for the first time, is recognizing that Messianic Jews have a right to make aliyah (citizenship in Israel), which is tantamount to recognizing Messianic Jews as Jews.

Furthermore, they ordered the Ministry of Interior (which has a lot of Orthodox Jewish staff who regularly make life difficult for Messianic Jews) to halt all discrimination against Messianic Jews in Israel.

Of course there are and have been for a while a decent number of Messianic Jews in Israel. Many were born there and others found there way over. But if it became known during application for citizenship that someone was Messianic, their application was rejected.

Prior to now, Messianics were denied entry based on a Supreme Court case from 1989. In December 1989, Israel’s Supreme Court set a legal precedent when it denied the right of return to Gary and Shirley Beresford, messianic Jews from South Africa (now living in Florida).

I looked at several Israel news sites online and have not yet found any news about this new ruling of the Supreme Court.

But we have good inside information since Jamie Cowen’s daughter, Amy, was among the seven parties of the lawsuit in Israel asking for citizenship. She and the other six were granted immediate citizenship.

Some Orthodox Jews are doubtless going to decry this decision. But in most thinking people’s mind we will have to say justice was done at last.

Messianic Jews are Jews. Hitler thought so and killed an estimated 100,000 Jews who believed in Jesus. For decades Messianic Jews who were Israeli citizens have been serving in the military. A few weeks ago, there was even a terrorist incident against Messianic Jews in Ariel, Israel, in which Ami Ortiz, a 15 year old boy, was nearly killed when he held a bomb in his hand disguised as a holiday basket for Purim. There is strong suspicion that an Orthodox Jewish extremist group may be responsible (though Arab terrorism has not been ruled out).

Today is a day for rejoicing. Messianic Jews are now free to return home to the land of our Messiah.

May he come soon, speedily in our days, bringing with him redemption, joy, and gladness.