The head of a Germany-based evangelical organization told JNS on Wednesday that the reason some European leaders aren’t standing with Israel in its war against Hamas is Christian antisemitism.
“Antisemitism was not invented by Adolf Hitler,” said Pastor Jobst Bittner, founder of the March of Life movement, in an interview from Jerusalem. “It has passed on in many different ways; in the Western world, above all through 2,000-year-old Christian antisemitism, which is still in our system today, and shows itself in indifference and refusal to take a clear position for Israel.”
The remarks come at a time of heightened antisemitism around the world following the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, coupled with ongoing criticism of Israel by European leaders over its prosecution of the ensuing war with the terrorist group.
Bittner’s father was an officer in the Wehrmacht, the armed forces of Nazi Germany, serving in its Afrika Corps during the Second World War.
The German theologian, who is leading a delegation of 300 Christian supporters of Israel from 15 nations to Jerusalem this week, inaugurated an exhibition titled “From Foes to Friends” at the city’s Gerard Behar Center. The exhibition highlights the church’s role in the roots of antisemitism and stresses the importance of confronting one’s own family’s past.
“We will not be able to defeat antisemitism through education, commemorative events or political statements,” he said. “There is only one sustainable way, and that is to personally work through our own family’s history of guilt.”
The Jerusalem exhibition, which runs through May 26 and is open to the public free of charge, is being held at the same building formerly known as Beit Ha’am, where the 1961 trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann took place.
Israeli Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli told the group at a parliamentary gathering organized by the Knesset’s Christian Allies Caucus this week, citing late Israeli professor Shalom Rosenberg, that absolute good has never appeared on earth, but absolute evil has—in the Nazi death camps of Auschwitz Treblinka and Majdanek.
“Anyone who believes in God—Jew or Christian—must be an enemy of that evil,” said Chikli. “You are exactly that: a beacon of hope in a world still filled with darkness.”
“This gathering is a powerful reminder that Israel is not alone,” said Israeli legislator Moshe Tur-Paz, who co-chairs the Knesset’s Christian Allies Caucus, during the special symposium. “We see how faith-based diplomacy and shared moral values can unite people from across the world in standing against antisemitism and supporting the Jewish state,” he added.
“This event highlights the enduring commitment of Christians around the world to stand with Israel not just in words but in action,” said caucus director Josh Reinstein.