Foreign Ministry begins preparing for 2,000-year anniversary of Jesus’s baptism

By Lazar Berman

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16 July 2026, 2:42 pm

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Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III, center, stands in a boat as part of a ceremony in the waters of the Jordan River during a baptism ceremony as part of the Orthodox Feast of the Epiphany at the Qasr al-Yahud baptismal site, near the West Bank town of Jericho, Israel, January 18, 2024. (AP/Leo Correa)

The Foreign Ministry has begun its preparations for the year 2030, to mark 2,000 years since the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, according to the ministry.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar appointed Ambassador George Deek, Israel’s special envoy to the Christian world, to head the working group for what the ministry is calling “an event of profound spiritual significance for more than two billion Christians worldwide.”

The working group will open dialogue with churches, Christian communities, and clergy around the world, says the Foreign Ministry. It will also coordinate with other ministries and government agencies to prepare for the expected arrival of millions of Christian pilgrims.

Sa’ar says that “strengthening our relationship with the Christian world and ensuring that the Holy Land remains accessible to the millions of believers who wish to visit are among Israel’s highest priorities.”

He also stresses that Israel will “continue to safeguard freedom of worship and access to holy sites for members of all faiths.”

The initiative comes after a series of high-profile Israeli missteps and controversies involving Christians in Israel and the country’s relationship with the Christian world.

Though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu often steps in to defuse such crises and is well-received in the Evangelical Christian world, he has not appointed an adviser on Christian affairs.

Sa’ar appointed Deek — an Arab Christian from Jaffa — as envoy to the Christian world after a string of scandals earlier this year. On Palm Sunday, while the war with Iran was raging, Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Catholic official in the Holy Land, and other senior clergy were barred by police from worship at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre due to wartime restrictions.

Soon afterward, an Israel Defense Forces soldier was photographed smashing a statue of Jesus with a sledgehammer in the southern Lebanon village of Debel, an act that drew widespread condemnation in Israel and abroad.

Recent months have also seen attacks against Christian communities in the West Bank by extremist settlers and more frequent assaults against Christians in Jerusalem’s Old City, including incidents of spitting.