Political and religious figures in Israel have reacted strongly against a member of Parliament who publicly tore up the New Testament and threw it in a rubbish bin.
Michael Ben-Ari, along with the other 119 members of the Israeli Knesset, had been sent a New Testament by the Bible Society of Israel.
In a covering letter, the society said: “We are happy to grant you this book of the testaments that casts light on holy writing and helps you understand … to see the link between Biblical writings and the New Testament.”
Many members of the Knesset were annoyed to find the Christian book in their mail boxes and decided to ignore it or return it to the Bible Society. But Ben-Ari tore up the New Testament and chose to be photographed doing so.
“There is no doubt that this book and all it represents belongs in the garbage can of history,” he declared.
It was not the first inflammatory act by Ben-Ari, a member of a right-wing Jewish party who lives in an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. On Pope Benedict’s 2009 visit to Israel, he said: “Giving the Pope a state welcome would mean turning one’s back on the millions of Jews who were killed throughout the history of Christianity.”
Ben-Ari’s action was condemned by the Speaker of the Knesset, Reuven Rivlin, and by government spokesman Mark Regev, who said it “stands in complete contrast to our values and our traditions”.
The Knesset’s sole Christian member, Hanna Sweid, described Ben-Ari’s action as “an apocalyptic act of hatred”. He complained to the Knesset ethics committee, but doubted it would censure Ben-Ari effectively.
Latin Patriarchal Vicar Bishop Boulos Marcuzzo said “all Christian communities are scandalised by this action”. He called it “a provocation to all Christian communities in Israel, the Middle East, and around the world”.
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Image: Five Towns Jewish Times