http://kehilanews.com/2018/04/10/israeli-law-allows-refusal-of-entry-to-israel-due-to-missionary-activity/Israeli border control officers have been known to deny entry to Christian and Messianic Jewish leaders who they suspect of missionary activity. According to a legal procedure published by the Ministry of Interior on July 20, 2017, potential visitors to Israel may be denied entry on the âsuspicion of missionary activity.â This procedure is a slippery slope, as immigration officers at border control will likely have a broad interpretation of the term âmissionary activity.â
Israeli law forbids an adult to coerce a minor to convert to another religion and to give money (or the equivalent of money) to a person to change their religion. As a Jewish and democratic state, freedom of speech and religion are fundamental rights defended by the law and the courts, and Israel should view favorably people who share religious ideas. However, border control officers may not take this into consideration when making a decision to deny entry to a person based on suspicion of âmissionary activity.â
Visitors who tell border control officers that they are on a âmissionâs tripâ or who are found carrying evangelistic material in their belongings may be questioned and subsequently denied entry. Also various Orthodox Jewish anti-missionary organizations sometimes inform the Ministry of Interior about individuals they request be denied entry to Israel. In the past foreign citizens already in Israel participating in an evangelistic campaign were detained by immigration police and deported from Israel. The legal reason for the deportation is the alleged âunlawful useâ of a tourist visa.Updated Apr 16, 2018, 6:12 AM