GOD-TV Image by GOD-TV

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A messianic television channel has launched in Israel, a country that bans some forms of proselytizing.

GOD-TV, an international Christian media network that broadcasts in some 200 countries, began airing the Hebrew-language Shelanu channel last week on the HOT cable network.

“Today we made history! For the first time ever, a Messianic television channel is broadcasting the Gospel across Israel in the Hebrew language,” a statement on GOD-TV’s website says. “Shelanu translates to ‘Ours’ in Hebrew. We want every person in Israel to know, not a foreign Messiah, but a Jewish one! His name is Yeshua and He has not forgotten His people.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

HOT received a seven-year license to air the new channel from the Communications Ministry.

Asher Biton, chairman of the ministry’s Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council, told Haaretz that he did not know that the new channel would engage in missionary activities and said that while religious programming is permitted, missionary programming is prohibited under the terms of its license.

More than 700,000 Israeli households subscribe to HOT, nearly 50 percent of the Israeli market for cable, satellite and online services.

The Christian channels Daystar and Middle East Television both broadcast on Israel’s YES satellite television and do not tout any proselytizing.

Shelanu is being operated in partnership with the Israel-based Tikkun International, which describes itself as “a global family of ministries, congregations and leaders, dedicated to the dual restoration of Israel and the Church.”

“We want Jewish viewers to grasp the fact that Jesus is theirs. “That He is not a foreigner, intruder or imposter,” Tikkun said in an announcement of the new channel on its website. “He is their Jewish Messiah, born in Israel, raised as a Jew.”

The post GOD-TV, a messianic network, launches Hebrew channel in Israel appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount