Meet the man Israel chose to be its first-ever ambassador to the Christian world
JERUSALEM, Israel: In a move praised by many Christian leaders, the Prime Minister’s government Benjamin Netanyahu Recently, he announced the appointment of a new ambassador to the Christian world in order to establish better and smoother relations with the Christian world.
In an exclusive interview in Jerusalem, Ambassador George Deek told Fox News Digital about the importance the Netanyahu government attaches to its stance.
“We are seeing ethnic cleansing in the region from Christians, who today have fallen from 20 percent of the Middle East population to less than 2 percent,” Deek said. he said. “All these places that used to have thriving Christian communities have been reduced to nothing today.”
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Israel It counts 300 churches, twice the number in 1948; The Christian population increased from 34,000 in 1948 to over 180,000 today.
Deek talked about his role. “My hope is to build strong bridges between the State of Israel and Christian leaders by telling a more comprehensive story of the State of Israel, which I think is overlooked in much of the narrative we hear in the world today,” he said.
According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, as of December 2025, Israel’s Christian population was approximately 184,200, representing 1.9% of the country’s total population. The community grew by 0.7% compared to the previous year.
Deek, who served as Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan for six years before taking on his current role, said most people only know Israel through him. Jewish identity They are unaware of the complexity and diversity of Israeli society.
Deek said the decision, announced by the State Department in April, to appoint him to the post was motivated by three factors: First, the special connection between Christians and the land of Israel, the birthplace of Christianity.
Christian pilgrims carrying wooden crosses walk through the Old City of Jerusalem towards the Church of the Holy Sepulcher during the Orthodox Good Friday procession on May 3, 2024.
(Getty Images)
The second is the deep historical bond reflected in history. Churches in the Holy Land and in Christians and Jews who live under common Biblical values from which they derive social principles such as democracy, individualism, freedom of conscience and thought.
Third is the importance Israel attaches to relations with people of all sects and religions.
“It has a special relationship with Christian people abroad and with the Christian community in Israel, which is the only Christian community in the entire Middle East that is growing in number and is essentially developing as part of Israeli society,” Deek said. he said.
“As the only country to appoint a special envoy to the Christian world, Israel has demonstrated its deep appreciation for the support of Christians and its long-term interest in preserving Christian-Jewish relations, which is especially vital at this time. Resurgent antisemitism spreads like wildfire International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) President Dr. “In the poorly regulated digital space,” Jürgen Bühler told Fox News Digital.
The city of Nazareth in northern Israel and the Catholic Basilica of the Annunciation on December 18, 2021.
The organization has been operating in Jerusalem for 46 years and has branches and representatives in 95 countries, with a presence spanning approximately 185 countries worldwide.
He recently organized an event Emergency summit on antisemitism It brought together more than 200 theologians, pastors, and ministry leaders from more than 30 countries in person, as well as nearly 3,000 participants who joined online.
Israel, he says, has the potential to serve as both an inspiration and a partner in the region and beyond, helping to ensure that people can freely practice their faith and remain in the land of their ancestors.
However, Deek noted that there have been a few isolated incidents in recent months involving attacks on Christian symbols and, in one case, an attack on a Christian nun.
“This was, first and foremost, an attack on the values on which this country was founded – the values of tolerance and acceptance – where no one has the right to attack anyone or use violence against anyone for any reason, especially to attack a symbol of Christianity. Islam or Judaism,” he said.
“This is absolutely unacceptable, and that is why all the leaders of the State of Israel, from the prime minister to the foreign minister and others, have unequivocally and unanimously condemned it.”
Israeli soldier desecrating a cross in the south Lebanon The person who pushed a nun to the ground and attacked her in Jerusalem is also in prison. Deek said these cases show that the State of Israel takes such incidents very seriously and fully enforces the law.
In the middle of a wave anti-semitic incidents Speaking in the wake of the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre in Europe and elsewhere, Deek said that the hatred that begins with Jews never ends with them, and that the same hatred that drove Jews away from Arab countries in the 20th century has been directed against other minorities in the region for the past two decades.
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“We even see this in Hamas’s expulsion of the Christian population from Gaza, which has completely disappeared from the area,” he added.
In this environment, the only place where these minorities can live safely and practice their beliefs without fear is Israel. In fact, Deek said, they not only survived but thrived in the State of Israel.
Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem III. Theophilos holds a ceremony at the baptismal site of Qasr al-Yahud near Jericho on January 18, 2025, as part of the Orthodox Feast of the Nativity.
Still, he noted a well-prepared campaign being waged by forces on the left and right, as well as Islamic extremist groups. manipulating the Christian faith and promotes what he says is the alleged mistreatment of Christians in Israel.
“I see this as a personal mission” bring as many Christians as possible Not as a political campaign, but to visit the land of Israel as much as possible… I want them to come here and connect to their Bibles. I want them to connect to the Scriptures, I want them to connect to the roots of their values by just going to these places,” Deek said.
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“And under the protection of Israel, the guardian of the holy places of Christianity… to reconnect to these values and remember that they are sacred… Biblical values that bind Jews together“Christians and all the people of the book in this world,” he added.
Original article source: EXCLUSIVE: Meet the man Israel chose as its first ambassador to the Christian world
