Avi Lipkin founds joint Jewish-Christian party to contest next Israeli Knesset election

Can two walk together, except they be agreed? Amos 3:3

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. II Corinthians 6:14-17

As reported by Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz of Breaking Israel News, May 23, 2018:

Avi Lipkin, a well-known lecturer who has spoken in over 1,000 churches, announced that he has formed the first joint Jewish-Christian party and intends to lead it in the next Knesset elections. A closer look at his motives reveals that this may be the wave of the future.

The acceptance of Lipkin’s Gush Hatanachi (Biblical Bloc) party application was announced on Wednesday. The party’s founding document reads:

“The Biblical bloc protects everyone who believes in the Bible and opposes the ethnic cleansing of Jews and Christians from the Land of Israel. The Biblical bloc represents parties all over the world who espouse Judeo-Christian, democratic Western culture.”

“The party will also work to strengthen Israel by formulating a program to improve public relations around the world by recruiting Jewish and Christian speakers and training them to improve Israel’s image in the world and protect Western democracy.”

The essence of his party is much more simple.

“Christianity has its share of hatred for Jews but we have our share of hatred for Christians,” Lipkin told Breaking Israel News. “We have to stop hating the Christians. We have to become like Ruth and Naomi. In my lecture tours, I have seen that many Christians are ready for this.”

In a candid interview with Breaking Israel News, Lipkin explained how this vision of a renewed relationship between Jews and Christians makes sense in Israeli politics. He sees the Christian demographic rapidly becoming a major factor which, shockingly, currently has no representation in the Knesset.

“For hundreds of years, the only Christians in Israel were Arab,” Lipkin explained. “This changed twenty years ago when one million people made Aliyah to Israel, mostly from the former Soviet Union. Fully one third were not Jewish.”

“Eight percent of the population in Israel today is Christian but they have no representation in the Knesset,” he said. “Until recently, the Arab Christians who used to be anti-Semitic aligned with the Muslims. In the face of growing Islamic extremism, these Christian Arabs are slowly realizing they need to change and slowly, they are turning to Israel and the Jews.”

Indeed, just as many see Israel as a refuge and sanctuary for oppressed Jews from around the world, Lipkin envisions Israel as serving the same purpose for Arab Christians as well as Western Christians.

“Jews are sovereign in Israel. We have to embrace and protect our Christians from any threat coming from the Islamic side. We need to give Bible-believing Christians representation in the Knesset.”

“The Islamic Jihad already had plans twenty years ago to annihilate every Jew in the West. Because of assimilation and intermarriage, we will see a tsunami of six million Jews from America and other Western countries coming to Israel accompanied by four million Christian spouses and relatives. This is imminent and we need to be ready for it.”

His party list will be half Jewish and half Christian taken from a broad spectrum of both religions.

Lipkin made aliyah over 50 years ago from New York and lives in Kedar, Gush Etzion. He served in the IDF as a spokesman for seventeen years. A prolific author, he has written extensively on the threat Islam poses to Western culture and, more specifically, Christianity.

He worked for the Likud’s Knesset campaign in 1988, editing and translating the party platform into Hebrew, English and Spanish. After the Likud victory under Yitzhak Shamir, he was a senior editor and translator in the news department of the Government Press Office.

Lipkin earned his Master’s Degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and is considered one of the pioneers in Jewish-Christian relations.

I suspect that the percentage of Israeli population cited by Mr. Lipkin as "Christian" consists mainly of "cultural Christians" rather than actual born-again believers in Jesus Christ. Avi Lipkin is very popular with Christians, and is a frequent guest on Christian radio programs such as those of Southwest Radio Church, but he publicly denies Jesus as Messiah. Real Christians should think twice about joining or supporting any party claiming even in part to be "Christian," especially one founded by someone who clearly denies that Jesus is the Christ.