Evangelical pastor told to leave Israel
Etgar Lefkovits
THE JERUSALEM POST
Aug. 16, 2007
An American evangelical pastor who has been living in Israel with his family for nearly two decades has been ordered to leave the country with his wife within two weeks after their request for permanent residency was turned down, officials said Thursday.
Ron Cantrell, 59, and his wife Carol, 54, ran a small Jerusalem-based ministry 'Shalom Shalom Jerusalem' for the past four years, while Cantrell previously worked for Bridges for Peace, an evangelical organization, for 14 years.
Two of the couple's children have married Israelis and have Israeli ID cards.
Interior Ministry officials said that the decision was made after there were suspicions that Cantrell was involved in missionary work.
Cantrell categorically denied the allegations of missionary work as baseless.
Cantrell, who has been active in raising money for Israel as well as working on behalf of Soviet Jews, had resided in Israel on a special clergy visa during his work for Bridges for Peace, but then went back to a regular tourist visa that needed to be renewed every three or six months, he said.
The highly coveted but sparsely distributed clergy visa is primarily given out to officials with mainstream Christian organizations.
Cantrell, who travels extensively on lecture tours, could have continued living in Israel if he left the country at least once every three months, but said that was an "unworkable solution" for his wife.
This week his appeal for permanent residency in Israel was turned down by the Ministry of the Interior, and he and his wife were instructed to leave the country within two weeks.
Cantrell said that no reason was cited in the application denial.
Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Haddad said that the couple's request to receive residency status, after residing in Israel for years on various temporary permits, was brought before all the levels in the ministry up to the acting head of the population authority, who also served as the director general of the office.
The request was turned down last month, she said.
Interior Ministry officials said that according to information that reached the ministry there were suspicions that Cantrell was involved in missionary activity.
The organization's web site says that the couple "encourages Christians and Messianic Jewish believers in their understanding of the prophetic Scriptures" and "encourages believers to participate in God's end-time plans by being involved in positive support for the nation of Israel and Jewish communities worldwide... in the regathering of the Jewish people to their homeland."
The issue underscored the delicate balancing act Evangelical Christian supporters of Israel face when dealing with the Jewish State, which bans proselytizing and their fundamental belief that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land was foretold in the Scriptures and heralds the return of the messiah.
Evangelical pastor told to leave Israel
