Yechiel Eckstein

Yechiel Eckstein (born 1951) is a rabbi and president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) an Israel advocacy organisation Eckstein founded in 1983. Due to the scale and ambition of the IFCJ's operations Eckstein has been described as the 'shadow welfare minister' in the Israeli media. Eckstein was ordained at the Yeshiva University of New York and holds master's degrees from Yeshiva University and Columbia University. He serves on the executive committees of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. Prior to the founding of the IFCJ Eckstein served as the national co-director of interreligious affairs for the Anti-Defamation League.In 1995, Rabbi Eckstein founded the Center for Jewish and Christian Values in Washington, D.C.:

[the Center] aimed at bringing Christians and Jews together to build a more civil, moral society. The Center, which closed in 1999, included among its leadership such prominent political figures as Senators Joseph Lieberman, Dan Coates, and Sam Brownback.

Eckstein formerly served as an advisor to Ariel Sharon and, in 2005, was appointed Goodwill Ambassador of the State of Israel. According to the website of the IFCJ this appointment was with particular emphasis on improving Israel's ties with evangelical christian organisations in Latin America.

He has authored a number of books: What You Should Know About Jews and Judaism, Understanding Evangelicals: A Guide for the Jewish Community, Ask the Rabbi, Five Questions Most Frequently Asked About Jews and Judaism, How Firm a Foundation: A Gift of Jewish Wisdom For Christians and Jews, and The Journey Home. He has also been published in a wide range of print media, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, U.S. News and World Report, The Jerusalem Post, The Forward, and People magazine. He has also appeared on American television programmes such as CNBC’s 'Hardball' and PBS’ 'Now with Bill Moyers.'

In 2010, The IFCJ launched a radio show named Holy Land Moments:

a daily radio broadcast featuring Rabbi Eckstein’s insights into Jewish belief and faith, Israel, and the Jewish roots of Christianity. The show airs in more than 150 stations in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., New Zealand, Guam, and Africa, and in 2011 was picked up by the largest Christian radio network in Australia. A Spanish-language radio program, Preguntele al Rabino (Ask the Rabbi), continues to air in nearly every Spanish-speaking country in Latin America, as well as in other Spanish-speaking countries throughout the world.

In 2010 Eckstein was the recipient of the first Award for Special Contribution to the Welfare of the People of Israel. The award was presented to Eckstein by Israeli Minister of Welfare and Social Services Isaac Herzog. In 2011 Eckstein was appointed as chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Committee on Aliyah and Rescue.

Eckstein was the recipient of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee's Raoul Wallenberg award in May 2014 for his 'profound contribution to the Jewish people'.

Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum

Eckstein is the founder of the Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum an organisation that encourages Israeli Christians to join the IDF. In September 2014 it was reported that the Forum's distribution of food vouchers in Arab-Israeli neighbourhoods had angered those communities.

Views

Eckstein views the promotion of evangelical Christianity worldwide as a means to promote international support for Israel:

It's growing and it's becoming normative and more acceptable and the same phenomenon is going on in the Far East - Indonesia, Singapore, China... where you have a rise in Evangelicalism, you have the potential for steering them to become supporters of Israel and the Jewish people... we have barely touched the tip of the iceberg in rallying Christian support for Israel and in building friendships and relationships.

He also commented that Israel and the Jewish diaspora 'have not realized the potential of having a strategic alliance with Evangelical Pentecostal Christians around the world, and that should be the goal that [we] should grasp and make a reality.'

Eckstein has described poverty within Israel as 'a significant threat to society' and has commented that Israel 'must act quickly to rehabilitate the weaker classes'.