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Christian Zionism - New Life Tabernacle of Chattanooga

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In 1993, the ICEJ had an international staff <strong>of</strong> 50 representing 12 different<br />

nationalities, together with a further 250 volunteers who assisted with annual<br />

events such as the Feast <strong>of</strong> <strong>Tabernacle</strong>s Celebration. ICEJ ‘ambassadors’<br />

also serve in over 100 countries world-wide through a network <strong>of</strong> branches,<br />

national directors and regional boards working under the authority <strong>of</strong> its<br />

Jerusalem Executive. 589 The ICEJ is strongest in the USA, Canada and South<br />

Africa and also operates in Sweden, Germany and Singapore with <strong>of</strong>fices in<br />

other European, Asian and Central American countries, which they claim are<br />

experiencing ‘a tremendous move <strong>of</strong> the Holy Spirit.’ 590 The ICEJ draws its<br />

support almost exclusively from charismatic and evangelical fundamentalist<br />

<strong>Christian</strong>s. Based on their literal interpretation <strong>of</strong> the Bible, they ‘have very<br />

warm feelings toward Israel.’ 591 Their main priority is to ‘bring comfort’ to<br />

Israel. They achieve this by encouraging Soviet and Eastern European Jews<br />

to emigrate to Israel; facilitating a social assistance programme integrating<br />

Jewish immigrants into Israeli life; sponsoring an annual <strong>Christian</strong> Zionist<br />

Feast <strong>of</strong> <strong>Tabernacle</strong>s celebration in Jerusalem; and Diplomatic Banquets and<br />

Receptions through which church leaders and government <strong>of</strong>ficials around<br />

the world are lobbied on behalf <strong>of</strong> the State <strong>of</strong> Israel. By 1998, for example, <strong>of</strong><br />

the 700,000 immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union, ICEJ claim to<br />

have funded the travel <strong>of</strong> 40,000 Jews, sponsoring over 50 flights as well as<br />

coaches via Finland. 592<br />

The ICEJ has also developed a sophisticated news service which<br />

produces weekly radio and video programmes broadcast on four continents,<br />

together with newsletters, e-news and periodicals such as the Middle East<br />

Intelligence Digest, a pro-Israeli summary <strong>of</strong> Israeli and Arab newspapers and<br />

journals. These are aimed, according to Jan Willem van der Hoeven, at<br />

countering ‘increasingly warped and twisted’ coverage, which has a ‘marked<br />

http://www.icej.org.il/pages/home/aboutus.html<br />

589 International <strong>Christian</strong> Embassy Jerusalem, (Jerusalem, ICEJ, 1993), p4.<br />

590 Ibid.<br />

591 Ibid., p25.<br />

592 Merkley, op.cit., p173.<br />

128

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