Religious freedom in Israel: Christianity doing well - WATCH LIVE
The discussion is termed "Holy to Many: Views on Religious Freedom."
By ILANIT CHERNICKDruze-Israelis protest the Nation-State Law(photo credit: REUTERS)
In a joint event with the Israel Democracy Institute, the US State Department will be discussing the Israel chapter of its recently released 2018 International Religious Freedom Report on Monday in Jerusalem.The report analyzed whether and how the country’s laws and Supreme Court rulings are protecting "the freedoms of conscience, faith, religion and worship, regardless of an individual’s religious affiliation," and how the 1992 Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty protects additional individual rights.It also looked at how the recently implemented Nation-State Law was received by the country's minority populations, including Druze and other non-Jewish groups, and the concerns these groups have about the law."Druze leaders, other non-Jewish minorities and nongovernmental organizations... criticized the new law for not mentioning the principle of equality to prevent harm to the rights of minorities," the report explained.Moreover, the report also addressed the splits and conflicts between different streams of Judaism in the country, and clashes between the ultra-Orthodox and the IDF over army service, as well as how missionary and Christian activities directed at Jews are perceived.On this matter, it stated that "some Jews continued to oppose missionary activity directed at Jews, saying it amounted to religious harassment, and reacted with hostility toward Jewish converts to Christianity."
