Jewish Israel does not believe that Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon intends to offer Christians “practical ways to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus…” However, that’s what the promotional site for Joel Rosenberg’s Epicenter 2010 Conference seems to say:

“On June 25th and 26th, 2010, at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center, speakers Tony Perkins, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon, Joel Rosenberg, Kay Arthur, Greg Laurie, Janet Parshall, and Lt.-General (ret.) William Boykin will help you understand today’s global crises in the light of Bible prophecy and give you practical ways to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, come what may.”

All Israeli public servants, government ministers and community and business leaders should take care to review the promotional materials and publicity before, during, and after events that are sponsored by evangelical sources in order to ensure that they don’t inadvertently become a tool in spreading the Christian gospel.

With regards to Epicenter 2010, there are other additional problems …

Joel Rosenberg is “an evangelical Christian with an Orthodox Jewish background" He is the founder of the Joshua Fund ( a non-profit organization whose mission is "to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus) and he is fond of boasting about the numbers of new Jewish believers (in Jesus):

“Jews are turning to Jesus in record numbers, and they are getting excited about His Second Coming.”

[note: if it’s hard to read Joel’s story on that flashy Jews for Jesus background page, try reading the account on Joel’s own site]

Joel claims he has served as a senior advisor to several U.S. and Israeli leaders, including Steve Forbes, Rush Limbaugh, former Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky, and former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Janet Parshall, who is big on proselytizing and resigned as co-chair of a Jerusalem Judeo-Christian conference sponsored by the Knesset Christian Allies caucus over the restrictions on her “spreading the word”, is a featured speaker at the Epicenter 2010 Conference.

And then there is Kay Arthur who is on record for stating, on 60 minutes that,“the Jews need conversion.”… They need to know that the Messiah is coming. And the Bible tells us what’s going to happen.”

More recently she penned that, “When you pray for the peace of Jerusalem, you’re praying for the return of the Messiah. You’re returning—you’re praying for His return, for His coming, His second coming because that’s when they[Israel] are going to repent.”

I think we can stop here.

If you find Vice Prime Minister Yaalon’s appearance in this conference disturbing, then please write to him at myaalon@knesset.gov.il