Evangelical leader calls on Netanyahu to take down GOD TV

“Any attempts to convert Jews or downgrade their religion will only sow undue hatred,” said Laurie Cardoza-Moore.

By Aaron Sull, World Israel News

An Evangelical leader urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday to take down the recently aired GOD TV channel from broadcasting programs due to their focus on proselytizing Jews.

“At a time when global anti-Semitism is engulfing the world, GOD TV should be using its platform to teach Christians about their biblical responsibility to stand with our Jewish brethren and the State of Israel,” Laurie Cardoza-Moore, an Evangelical figure in the U.S. and host of the TV program Focus On Israel, wrote in a letter to Netanyahu.

“Instead, they have chosen to stand on the wrong side of history, empowering the anti-Semites,” she wrote.

GOD TV aired its first episode in Israel on April 27, after signing a seven-year contract with HOT Cable, the largest cable network in Israel. Its missionary programming primarily caters to youth in over 200 countries around the world.

Under Israeli law, proselytizing to people under 18 years of age is forbidden unless consent is given by a parent.

“Our only mandate to the Jewish people is to love and support them because they are God’s chosen people. Any attempts to convert Jews or downgrade their religion will only sow undue hatred at a time when we should unite in the face of darkness,” Cardoza-Moore wrote.

On Friday, CEO of GOD TV Ward Simpson put out a video statement to his supporters indicating that the channel only wants to widen the community of Messianic Jews in Israel.

“We just preach and teach and share Christian content and let the Lord do the rest,” Simpson said.

Referring to the segment that features testimonies from Jews who have seen the “light,” he said, “They don’t convert, they continue to live life as Jews, continue to practice Judaism for the most part, they just believe that Yeshua (Jesus) is the messiah and they follow him.”