They are really out of their minds. But I'm wodering about the leasing of land to the Christian groups. How does this tie in to restrictions on leasing land only for Jews?
Plans for Holy Land theme park on Galilee shore where Jesus fed the 5,000
By Conal Urquhart in Tel Aviv
The Guardian 4 January 2006
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1677556, 00.html
The Israeli government is planning to give up a large slice of land to American Christian evangelicals to build a biblical theme park by the Sea of Galilee where Jesus is said to have walked on water and fed 5,000 with five loaves and two fish. A consortium of Christian groups, led by the television evangelist Pat Robertson, is in negotiation with the Israeli ministry of tourism and a deal is expected in the coming months. The project is expected to bring up to 1 million extra tourists a year but an undeclared benefit will be the cementing of a political alliance between the Israeli rightwing and the American Christian right.
However, the alliance has not been welcomed by all Israelis, including some who fear the ultimate aim of the evangelicals is the conversion of the Jews to Christianity rather than support for Israel.
Jonathan Pulik, a spokesman for the Israeli ministry of tourism, said the Christian market was very important for Israel's tourism industry. "We would like to give them more of a reason to come here. We would be willing to lease the land to them free of charge and they would finance the construction."
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