Just heard that Or Yehuda police have turned this hot potato over to the national police HQ for investigation. I’ll be keeping an eye on this, because if there is a real inquiry and arrests are made, then this will turn into a massive issue with the ultra-Orthodox likely to get really offended. And if there isn’t a real inquiry and no arrests are made then it turns into a huge issue with the messianic Jews getting highly offended.

Anyway, on to the story:

The burning of hundreds of New Testaments by yeshiva students in Or Yehuda last week was regrettable and unplanned, the city’s deputy mayor, the man who spurred the students to act, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

Deputy Mayor Uzi Aharon of Shas used the opportunity of speaking to the Post, which publishes a monthly Christian Edition, to apologize to Christians worldwide, saying he hoped the incident would not inflame tensions between Jews and Christians.

Following the publication of the story on Tuesday, however, many messianic Jewish and other Christian groups expressed grave concern over the increasingly violent nature of anti-missionary activity in Israel. Continue reading →