An individual known as Timothy Buckles, Tim Layne, and Ami Ron Buckles, living in Jerusalem and posing as an Orthodox Jew, has been accused of being a covert Messianic Christian missionary.
The allegations have been made by the Beyneynu anti-missionary organization on the back of research it conducted into Buckle’s identity.
Beyneynu recently exposed another covert missionary, Michael Elk, who posed as an ultra-Orthodox rabbi, scribe and mohel, but who has been shown to be non-Jewish and an activist in Messianic congregations and organizations.
Buckles did not respond to several requests for comment.
Buckles, who was closely associated with Elk, is originally from the US but made aliyah in 2017, and has been involved in Messianic Christian groups since at least 2010.
He was the head of the Messianic organization Tzemach David, based in Everett, Washington, a 501c nonprofit which is registered as a “Foundation Type Church 170(b)” and was appointed to the position by Elk.
Buckles was known to Jewish communities in the Seattle area, which he and others attempted to infiltrate, beginning in 2012.
According to Rabbi Ron-Ami Meyers, the former rabbi of the Orthodox Ezra Bessaroth Synagogue in Seattle, Washington, in 2014 Buckles came to his synagogue and told him that his wife had just given birth and asked to be called to the Torah to name his daughter, a request that was granted.
Meyers became suspicious of Buckles, however, and after discovering his true identity issued a warning to the Seattle Jewish community about him.
This was not the only attempt by Messianic Christian missionaries to infiltrate Ezra Bessaroth Synagogue, Meyers said.
Buckles is also the author of a children’s book for Messianic children called Avram and the Idol Shop, which is sold on the website of the Messianic organization First Fruits of Zion and described as “A Storybook for Messianic Children.”
A banner at the top of the book reads “Growing Disciples of Yeshua,” and a description of the book on the First Fruits of Zion website states: “Our Messiah Yeshua said that the greatest of all commandments was to be found in the Shma.”
On a YouTube channel called “Timothy Layne,” Buckles delivers a monologue discussing whether Jews who do not believe in Jesus go to hell, although he concluded that this was not the case, based on the incident in the New Testament where Jesus absolved Jews of his death since they did not know what they were doing.
According to Beyneynu, Buckles “converted to Judaism” through a fake rabbinical court set up by Elk, and the organization says it believes Buckles used his conversion certificate to obtain Israeli citizenship when he immigrated in 2017.
It is also possible, however, that Buckles obtained citizenship by dint of his marriage to Anna Michelle Buckles, whose family appears to have converted legitimately when she was young, although this is not yet clear.
Beyneynu says that in July 2019, Buckles and his wife were working for a restaurant in the Jerusalem neighborhood of French Hill, where Elk lived, although they left after the owners were informed that Buckles was an alleged Messianic Jew and a missionary.
According to Meyers, who was involved in informing the owners, when he confronted Buckles on Facebook he did not specifically deny that he was a Messianic.
Meyers also noted that Buckles’s Facebook page included a lot of content with the Tzemach David Messianic congregation, and said it was explicit that he was part of such a congregation.
Buckles took down his social media profiles after Elk was exposed.
Buckles authored an article on the First Fruits of Zion website on June 2, 2019, titled “Messiah the Bird,” under the name Tim Buckles, where he writes of “Yeshua” and his desire to gather in the exiles, using sources in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament.
The original description of Buckles in the “About the author” note states that “Tim Buckles resides with his family in Israel,” and that he “looks forward to the continued work of inspiring a love for the Torah among the Jewish people.”
The Buckles now live in Jerusalem’s Rassco neighborhood, and according to Beyneynu one of their children attends a religious-Zionist school close by.
According to Beyneynu, Buckles published several articles in the Messiah Journal for First Fruits of Zion in 2019 and 2020 under the name Tim Layne, although the author’s name online has now been changed to “Ami.”
Buckles’s Hebrew name is Ami Ron Ben Avraham.
Shannon Nuszen, a former missionary and head of Beyneynu, asserts that Buckles has posed and continues to pose as a Jew, but in reality is committed to his Messianic Christian faith.
“Missionary activity is legal in Israel. Immigration fraud is not,” said Nuszen, in reference to the possibly fraudulent manner Buckles obtained citizenship, if he did indeed use his false conversion through Elk’s rabbinical court for the purposes of aliyah.
“There are over 300 messianic organizations in Israel that operate with a stated goal of bringing Jews to Jesus. This is about honesty and mutual respect. The deceptive tactics of masquerading like Orthodox Jews is simply offensive.”
Several attempts to contact Buckles and his wife were unanswered.