Benjamin Netanyahu Calls for End to Bigotry in Christmas Message

Image by getty images

By JTA December 25, 2014

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wished Christians in Israel and throughout the world a Merry Christmas.

In a videotaped message, Netanyahu noted that Christians throughout the Middle East are subject to persecution, except in Israel.

“Christian communities across the Middle East are experiencing a particularly difficult time. They’re experiencing violence, persecution and fear,” Netanyahu said.

“Here in Israel religious freedom is a sacred principle. Israel’s Christian citizens enjoy the full blessing of freedom and democracy.

Their equal rights are enshrined in Israeli law,” he added.

Netanyahu called on Christians to focus on what unites them with the Jewish state. “Let us remember the common heritage and values that unite us in the face of extremism and hatred, which we will never accept,” he said.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO