Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. Photo: wiki commons.

JNS.org – During a conference that took place on Monday in Jerusalem, officials from the Christian community in the north of Israel made it clear that they intend to considerably increase the support for the integration of their community into Israeli society.

The coordination committee, comprising representatives from the B’nai Brith World Center and the Ecumenical Association for Theological Research in Israel, held a discussion on the topic.

During the discussion, Father Gabriel Nadaf, priest of the Greek Orthodox church in Nazareth and the spiritual leader of the “Forum for the Enlistment of the Christian Community in Israel,” said, “The country that protects us deserves that we do our part to help it prosper and to defend it.”

Dr. Dror Eydar, a columnist for Israel Hayom who participated in the discussion, commented, “A lot of courage is needed to say the things we heard here. There is a deep importance in the fact that Christians are declaring that Israel belongs to the Jewish people, that it was not stolen from anyone. This pulls the rug from under the detractors of the state.”