Conservative News Network Goes Full Anti-Zionist

Newsmax is one of the last remaining television networks that is unapologetic in its positive coverage of Israel and in its rejection of the progressive, anti-Israel media narrative. So it was a surprise to discover a misleading and sensationalized segment broadcast on “Wake Up America” that would make anti-Zionists salivate. During host Alison Maloni’s introduction to the segment, the news banner read, “Proposed legislation would outlaw talk about Jesus in Israel.”

Jerusalem Correspondent Daniel Cohen then reported on a recent bill proposed by Netanyahu’s coalition in the Knesset. Cohen prefaced his 40-second news-hit as a “big story” occurring at a “sacred time for Christians,” days before “Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter.” He went on. “Two ultra-orthodox” MKs have introduced legislation that would “punish believers for sharing the gospel of Jesus with prison time” by “making it illegal to share in conversation or produce content online, in print, or by mail.” Cohen finished by emphasizing this deliberate assault on Christianity in the holy land.

The term “fake news” should not be thrown around casually. Here, it’s right on the money. What makes this story fake, as is so often the case with coverage of Israel, is not what was reported, but what was left out. The bill was entirely decontextualized and stripped of its circumstances, allowing Israel to be framed as a repressive, police state, intolerant of free discussion and hostile to other religions.

Here’s what Daniel Cohen didn’t say. There has been an alarming rise of evangelical missionaries who move to the tiny nation with the explicit goal of converting Jewish-Israelis to Christianity. They pretend to be Jewish by dressing in rabbinic and orthodox garb and target the most vulnerable groups in Israel, including the youth, Holocaust survivors and new immigrants from Russia. These are not messianic Jews or Jews who previously converted. Nor is this a case of a few passionate Christians sermonizing about Jesus at the dinner table. This is a heavily funded and targeted industry consisting of full-fledged, end-of-times missionizing Christians disguised as Haredim who actively seek to subvert the citizenry of the only Jewish country in the world.

These proselytizing predators have so undermined Jewish life in Israel that whole organizations have been created to raise awareness about the problem and counter it. One non-profit, Beyneynu, was founded by a former Christian missionary whose personal journey led her to recognize the existential danger that her agenda had posed to global Jewry. She is now dedicated to educating Jewish communities in Israel and the Diaspora about such threatening activities.

There are roughly 14 million Jews in the world, and virtually all of them reside in Israel or the United States. Compare that to 2.2 billion Christians and 1.9 billion Muslims, and the matter of conversion becomes a matter of survival. Yet you would know none of this from Cohen’s callous and selective reporting. Devoid of nuance and reflection, there is no mention in his piece of these stealth imposters who have been subliminally influencing Israelis. As one Twitter user noted, “2,000+yrs of persecution torture & death for those refusing 2convert makes me think Jews deserve a break in their homeland from proselytizing.”

Cohen also failed to inform his viewers that this bill has been proposed every single year in the recent past and that it never has the parliamentary votes to pass.

Cohen also failed to inform his viewers that this bill has been proposed every single year in the recent past and that it never has the parliamentary votes to pass. Whether or not you support the proposal, it is generally considered in Israel to be symbolic, so Cohen’s characterization of it as designed to strike a Christian nerve before the Easter holiday is nothing short of inflammatory and viciously divisive.

Contrary to what Cohen and Maloni would have the viewer believe, there is nothing in this bill that outlaws free conversation about Jesus, Christianity or religion. It is not an effort to shut down the right to speech, because it is not about speech, but rather, the motivation to convert that is rooted in religious ideology. What would be prohibited is solely the proselytizing propaganda of those who seek to alter the character of Israel’s Jewish identity. That Cohen could not grasp such a critical distinction reflects either ignorant laziness or purposeful bias. Neither are acceptable for a major news outlet like Newsmax.

Commentator Liz Wheeler shared the segment with her nearly one-million followers, with the caption, “Wow this is crazy. New bill in Israel would ban people from sharing the Gospel of Jesus. If you talk about Jesus in Israel, you’d face prison time.” This set off an online Twitter war between Christians and Jews, with the predictable anti-Zionists and antisemites chiming in: “See! We told you Israel isn’t a democracy! We told you Netanyahu is an evil tyrant!”

Such sinister gossip could have easily been avoided if Cohen had done his due diligence, carefully read the entire bill, and most importantly, placed it into its specifically designed social context. Instead, he entirely distorted its purpose and application, taking a protective measure meant to preserve the purity of Jewish heritage and obfuscating it, indirectly accusing Israel of state-sanctioned discrimination.

An apology and correction are in order.

Karys Rhea is currently an associate producer of American Thought Leaders and Kash’s Corner for Epoch Times and a fellow with the Jewish Leadership Project.