Israeli Lawmaker Destroys New Testament
Michael Ben-Ari Image by Wikimedia Commons
He’s not exactly known for his sensitivity, but Israeli lawmaker Michael Ben-Ari has rarely made a statement that has the potential to offend quite so many people.
Many lawmakers were peeved to receive a complimentary New Testament in their Knesset mailbox, courtesy of a Christian publisher. Anything perceived as missionary activity touches a very raw nerve in the Jewish state. But while most lawmakers quietly decided what to do with the book, Ben-Ari decided to tear it in to pieces with his parliamentary aide photographing him, and then release a picture to Ma’ariv’s news site.
Ben-Ari, the only self-declared follower of the extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane in the Knesset and a representative of the far-right National Union party, commented that the New Testament “motivated murder of millions of Jews in the Inquisition and the centers of the auto-da-fé.” There are many mainstream historians that would agree with that. But his insistence that “there is no doubt that the place of the book and its messengers is in the trash of history,” accompanied by his self-publicized destruction and disposal, just might be unnecessarily combative.
Does one dare imagine what the reaction would be from Jews if a non-Jewish Knesset member, or perhaps a politician in another country, publicly destroyed and disposed of a volume of Talmud?
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.
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. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
