Israel appoints special envoy to Christian world after scandals strain ties

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar appoints veteran diplomat George Deek to a newly created role as special envoy to the Christian world, in a move “intended to deepen Israel’s ties with Christian communities around the world,” the ministry announces.

Deek, who most recently served as Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan, was the country’s first Christian ambassador and is a member of the Arab Christian community in Jaffa.

“The State of Israel attaches great importance to its relations with the Christian world and with its Christian friends around the world,” Sa’ar says, expressing confidence that Deek will help bolster those ties.

The appointment follows a string of incidents that have strained Israel’s relations with the Christian community, including controversy last month when Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Catholic official in the Holy Land, and other senior clergy were barred from Palm Sunday worship at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre due to wartime restrictions.

More recently, an IDF soldier was photographed smashing a statue of Jesus with a sledgehammer in southern Lebanon, an act that drew widespread condemnation in Israel and abroad. The soldier involved, along with another who documented the incident, was removed from combat duty and sentenced to jail following an investigation.