EXCLUSIVE: Meet the man Israel chose to be its first-ever ambassador to the Christian world

JERUSALEM, Israel: In a determination being praised by galore Christian leaders, the authorities of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu precocious announced the assignment of a caller presumption of envoy to the Christian satellite — with the extremity of amended and smoother relations with the Christian world.

In an exclusive interrogation successful Jerusalem, Ambassador George Deek, told Fox News Digital the value the Netanyahu authorities has enactment connected his position.

"We spot the taste cleansing of the portion from its Christians, who person been diminished from 20% of the colonisation of the Middle East to little than 2% of the colonisation today," Deek said. "All those places that utilized to person thriving Christian communities contiguous person been reduced to nothing."

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Ambassador George Deek is Israel's archetypal envoy to the religion world. (Yoav Dudkevich/TPS-IL)

Israel counts 300 churches, treble the fig successful 1948, portion its Christian colonisation has grown from 34,000 successful 1948 to much than 180,000 today.

Deek said of his role. "My anticipation is to besides beryllium capable to physique beardown bridges betwixt the State of Israel and Christian leaders… by telling a fuller communicative of the State of Israel, which I deliberation is missed successful astir of the narratives we perceive contiguous successful the world," helium said.

According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, arsenic of December 2025, Israel’s Christian colonisation stood astatine astir 184,200, representing 1.9% of the country’s full population. The assemblage grew by 0.7% implicit the erstwhile year.

Deek, who served for six years arsenic Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan earlier assuming his existent role, said astir radical cognize Israel lone done its Jewish individuality and are unaware of the complexity and diverseness of Israeli society.

Deek said the determination announced by the Foreign Ministry successful April to name him to the relation stems from 3 factors: first, the peculiar transportation betwixt Christians and the onshore of Israel arsenic the birthplace of Christianity.

Christian pilgrims carrying woody crosses locomotion done Jerusalem's Old metropolis towards the Holy Sepulcre religion during the Orthodox Good Friday procession connected May 3, 2024.  (Photo by Ahamd Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)

Second is the heavy humanities enslaved reflected successful the churches of the Holy Land and successful Christians and Jews surviving nether shared biblical values, from which they deduce societal principles including democracy, individualism, and state of conscience and thought.

Third is the value Israel places connected relations with radical of each denominations and religions.

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It has a peculiar narration with the Christian radical overseas and the Christian assemblage successful Israel, which is the lone Christian assemblage successful the full Middle East that is really increasing successful numbers and fundamentally thriving arsenic portion of Israeli society," Deek said.

"As the lone federation to name a peculiar envoy to the Christian world, Israel has indicated its heavy appreciation for Christian enactment and its semipermanent involvement successful guarding Christian-Jewish relations. This is particularly captious successful this clip of resurgent antisemitism spreading similar wildfire successful the poorly regulated integer sphere," International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) ‘s President Dr. Jürgen Bühler told Fox News Digital. 

Dec. 18, 2021 shows a wide presumption of Israel's bluish metropolis of Nazareth and its Catholic Basilica of the Annunciation.  (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty images)

The enactment has operated from Jerusalem for 46 years and maintains subdivision offices and representatives successful 95 countries, with a beingness spanning astir 185 nations worldwide.

It precocious organized an exigency acme connected antisemitism that brought unneurotic much than 200 theologians, pastors and ministry leaders from implicit 30 countries successful person, alongside astir 3,000 participants attending online.

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He says Israel has the imaginable to service arsenic some an inspiration and a spouse crossed the portion and beyond, helping guarantee that radical tin signifier their religion freely and stay successful the lands of their forefathers.

The yearly Christmas parade successful Nazareth, Israel connected Dec. 24, 2025. (Eitan Elhadez-Barak/TPS-IL)

Still, Deek noted that successful caller months determination person been respective isolated incidents involving attacks connected Christian symbols and, successful 1 case, an battle connected a Christian nun.

"More than anything, this was an onslaught connected the values connected which this state is established—values of tolerance and acceptance — wherever nary 1 has the close to onslaught anyone oregon usage unit against anyone for immoderate crushed whatsoever particularly not onslaught a awesome of Christianity, Islam oregon Judaism," helium said.

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"That is perfectly unacceptable and that is wherefore the enactment of the State of Israel from the premier curate to the overseas curate and others person each condemned it unequivocally and unanimously," helium added.

The pastor of the Home of Jesus the King religion successful Nazareth says 1 of the biggest challenges facing Israel's Christian assemblage is simply a debased commencement rate. (Photo: Pastor Saleem Shalash)

The Israeli worker who desecrated a transverse successful confederate Lebanon is successful prison, arsenic is the idiosyncratic who pushed a nun to the crushed and attacked her successful Jerusalem. These cases, Deek said, show that the State of Israel takes specified incidents precise earnestly and afloat enforces the law.

Amid a surge successful antisemitic incidents successful Europe and elsewhere pursuing the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre Deek said hatred that begins with Jews ne'er ends with Jews, and that the aforesaid hatred that drove retired Jews from Arab countries successful the 20th period has implicit the past 2 decades been directed against different minorities successful the region.

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"We spot it adjacent with Hamas pushing retired the Christian colonisation there, which has wholly disappeared from Gaza," helium added.

Within this environment, Israel is the lone spot wherever specified minorities person been capable to unrecorded safely and signifier their religion without fear. In fact, they bash not simply past successful the State of Israel, they thrive, Deek said.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, leads a ceremonial arsenic portion of the Orthodox Feast of the Epiphany astatine the Qasr al-Yahud baptismal tract adjacent Jericho connected Jan. 18, 2025. (Hazem Bader/AFP Via Getty Images)

He nevertheless pointed to a well-oiled run by forces connected the woke near and right, on with extremist Islamist groups, that are manipulating the Christian religion and promoting claims of what helium says is the alleged mistreatment of Christians successful Israel.

"I spot it arsenic a idiosyncratic ngo to bring arsenic galore Christians arsenic imaginable to sojourn the onshore of Israel, not arsenic a governmental campaign. ...  I privation them to travel present to link to their Bible. I privation them to link to their scripture, I privation them to link to the roots of their values by simply going to those places," Deek said.

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"And, nether the extortion of Israel arsenic the guardian of the beatified sites of Christianity… to reconnect to these values and to retrieve that these are the biblical values that link Jews, Christians and each the radical of the publication successful this world," helium added.