Gabriel Naddaf
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Gabriel Naddaf (, ; born August 18, 1973) is an Israeli
Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...
priest. He serves as a judge in Israel's religious court system and as a spokesman for the
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem,, ''Patriarcheîon Hierosolýmōn;'' , also known as the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, is an autocephalous church within the wider communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Established in th ...
. He is one of the founders of the Forum for recruiting Christians in the
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
. Naddaf supports the integration of Christian Arabs in all state institutions, including military and national service. He has been threatened by
Israeli Arabs The Arab citizens of Israel form the country's largest ethnic minority. Their community mainly consists of former Mandatory Palestine citizens (and their descendants) who continued to inhabit the territory that was acknowledged as Israeli by ...
, including politicians. His oldest son, Jubran, was physically attacked in December 2013 for supporting his father's activities. Naddaf has received the support of Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
, the
Israeli Ministry of Defense The Ministry of Defense (, acronym: ) of the government of Israel, is the governmental department responsible for defending the State of Israel from internal and external military threats. Its political head is the defense minister of Israel, ...
, members of the
Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...
, and other officials. In 2016, Naddaf was selected to light a torch at the
Israel Independence Day Yom Ha'atzmaut (, , ) is Israel's national day, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948. It is marked by a variety of official and unofficial ceremonies and observances. Because Israel declared independence on 14 ...
ceremony on
Mount Herzl Mount Herzl ( ''Har Hertsl''), also ''Har ha-Zikaron'' ( lit. "Mount of Remembrance"), is the site of Israel's national cemetery and other memorial and educational facilities, found on the west side of Jerusalem beside the Jerusalem Forest. I ...
.


Biography

Gabriel Naddaf was born in
Yafa an-Naseriyye Yafa an-Naseriyye (, also Jaffa of Nazareth, or simply Yafa, Kfar Yafia or Yafi , ) is an Arab town in Israel. It forms part of the metropolitan area of Nazareth, also an Arab locality. Declared a local council in 1960, it had a population of in ...
(Yafia), an Arab Muslim village with a large Christian minority in the
Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...
metropolitan area. Since 1995, Naddaf has served as a priest in the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, and as a priest of the Greek Orthodox monastery in Nazareth, which belongs to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and is the Christian denomination with the largest affiliation in Israel. He served as a spokesman for the Patriarchate and as a judge in the religious courts of the church. In 2005, he became known to the general public for the first time, when he and another priest, Fr. Romanos Radwan, petitioned an Israeli court to prevent the overthrow of Patriarch Irenaios I. The attempts failed and
Theophilus III Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem (; ; born 4 April 1952) is the current Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem since 2005. He is styled Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine, Syria, Arabia, beyond the Jordan Rive ...
, regarded as hostile towards Israel, was elected. Naddaf is married. He and his wife have two children.The unorthodox priest who stands with the Jews
The Times of Israel ''The Times of Israel'' (ToI) is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012 and has since become the largest English-language Jewish and Israeli news source by audience size. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist Dav ...


Public activism


Christian Arab military service

Naddaf believes that the Christian community should integrate more into mainstream Israeli society. He is in favor of recruiting Arabic-speaking Christians in the army, police and for ''sherut leumi'' (national service): "Why do the Druze serve? Why do the Bedouin serve? But not the Christians?" Naddaf asked during a ''Times of Israel'' interview. "Because they are scared." And that, he suggested, had to change. "It is time to say in a loud and clear voice: enough." On 16 October 2012, a conference was held in
Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...
, designed to encourage recruitment of young Christians into the army and for national service. The conference was organized by the Ministry of Defense and the Municipality of Nazareth, at the request of the Christian Community mobilization Forum and its spiritual leader, Father Naddaf. The conference was attended by 121 young Arab Christians and some Muslims, Bedouins, and Druze, who expressed a desire to join the
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
IDF. The second conference was held and organized by Naddaf and the Christian IDF Forum in June 2013. It was reported that the rate of recruitment of young Christians in the IDF tripled between 2010 and 2013, although it is still a very small in absolute numbers. On August 5, 2013, the office of the Prime Minister reported that: "Last year there was an increase in the number of Christian IDF recruits, from 35 recruits a year ago to 100 this year, and 500 other young people from the community are doing national service." On 1 May 2014, at a conference in Nazareth, attended by Deputy Defense Minister
Danny Danon Danny Danon (; born 8 May 1971) is an Israeli politician and diplomat. A member of the Likud party, he served in the Knesset from 2009 to 2015 and from 2022 to 2024. From 2015 to 2020, Danon served as Israel's 17th Permanent Representative to ...
, it was reported that in 2013 the numbers of Arabic-speaking Christians IDF recruits continued to increase further, and was about 150 people, in addition to national service. It was reported that the number of IDF recruits in only the first quarter of 2014, up to and including March 2014 was around 100 people. In September 2014, Naddaf addressed the
United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a United Nations Regional Gro ...
under the auspices of the "Face of Israel" advocacy group, where he called on the world to unite against Islamic extremism and to stop harassing Israel, since: "Israel is the only place in the Middle East where Christians are safe".


Recognition of the Arameans

Father Naddaf has pushed, along with
Shadi Khalloul Risho Shadi may refer to: People *Shadi (name) Places * Juy-ye Shadi, village in Bamyan Province, Afghanistan * Shadi Township (沙堤乡), Yongding District, Zhangjiajie, Hunan, China * Shadi, Jiangxi (沙地镇), town in Gan County, Jiangxi, China ...
, a major in the reserves, and a spokesman for the Christian IDF Forum and Chairman of the Association of Christian Arameans, for the recognition of the Arabic-speaking Christians of Israel as a separate people, ''
Aramean The Arameans, or Aramaeans (; ; , ), were a tribal Semitic people in the ancient Near East, first documented in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. Their homeland, often referred to as the land of Aram, originally covered ce ...
'', as opposed to Arab or Palestinian. He said: "My two-year old son made history and
Gideon Sa'ar Gideon Moshe Sa'ar (; born 9 December 1966) is an Israeli politician currently serving as Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel), Foreign Minister and member of the Knesset for the party New Hope (Israel), New Hope. Sa'ar was first electe ...
made history and the Jewish people finally did justice with other nations in this region. We have been waiting for justice for thousands of years" upon registering his son at the Population Registry as "Aramean"


Criticism

The mayor of the city of
Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...
and Chairman of the Association of Arab mayors, Ramiz Jaraisy, Greek-Orthodox as well as Naddaf, and MKs
Mohammed Barakeh Mohammad Barakeh (, ; born 29 July 1955) is an Israeli Arab politician. A former leader of Hadash, he served as a member of the Knesset for the party between 1999 and 2015. He is currently the head of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citize ...
, Dov Khenin and
Hana Sweid Hana Sweid (, ; also spelt Hanna Swaid, born 27 March 1955) is an Israeli Arab politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Hadash from 2006 to 2015. Early life Born to a Christian Arab family in Eilabun, Sweid studied Civil Engineerin ...
, a Greek-Catholic, all members of
Hadash Hadash is a left-wing to far-left political coalition in Israel formed by the Israeli Communist Party and other leftist groups. History The party was formed on 15 March 1977 when the Rakah and Non-Partisans parliamentary group changed its ...
, have condemned the Christian IDF Forum and claim that Naddaf's actions are going "to cause a sectarian rift in Arab society." The Orthodox Christian Community Council have in the past attempted to boycott Naddaf and prevent his entry into the church compound in Nazareth on the grounds that the Christian Arabs should not divide Arab society in Israel. Naddaf could then enter his church with guards, Christian soldiers in the IDF and Border Police. According to people around Naddaf, the leftist-Islamic coalition went on an aggressive slander against him in the Arab press, local and international, on social networks and YouTube. He was called: "Zionist agent, traitor, crazy, man running after money and recruiting young people into the army of occupation" on Arab sites and posted links to a Facebook page that displays a "black list" of priests, soldiers and security personnel from the Christian community who support and encourage young people to join the IDF. As a result, young recruits and soldiers from Nazareth had to ask their commanders to leave home in civilian clothes, for fear of bullying and harassment. MK
Haneen Zoabi Haneen Zoabi (, ; born 23 May 1969), is a Palestinian-Israeli politician. The first Arab woman to be elected to the legislature on an Arab party's list, she served as a member of the Knesset for the Balad party between 2009 and 2019. In 202 ...
( Balad) and MK Ahmed Tibi (
United Arab List The United Arab List (, ''HaReshima HaAravit HaMe'uhedet''; , ''al-Qā'ima al-'Arabiyya al-Muwaḥḥada''), commonly known by its Hebrew acronym Ra'am (, ), is an Islamist and conservative political party in Israel and the political wing of ...
) have written open letters and talked and rallied against Naddaf. Representatives from the Palestinian Authority paid a visit to the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in June 2013, following the second conference of recruits Christians IDF and national service and ordered him to fire Naddaf immediately, providing letters from a number of Arab MKs, including Haneen Zoabi, Muhammad Barakeh, and Basel Ghattas. According to MK Ghattas: "Patriarch should explain Naddaf that it's not his job. Please take off his cape and join the Likud or Yisrael Beiteinu. He wants to bring the Christian community to the status of the Druze community, and take it out of its national affiliation". In addition patriarch was sent letters on the matter from leaders of the Arab sector councils. In mid-June 2013, the Patriarch Theophilus III published in the Israeli Arab media a severe condemnation of activities organized by Naddaf. A week later, he summoned him to have a personal conversation. It has been speculated that its original purpose was probably to fire him from his position. The meeting itself was held on June 25, 2013, and lasted for hours, but the counter-pressure exerted by the heads of the Israeli establishment, including Justice Minister
Tzipi Livni Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni (, ; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat and lawyer. A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel), foreign mini ...
, and Interior Minister
Gideon Sa'ar Gideon Moshe Sa'ar (; born 9 December 1966) is an Israeli politician currently serving as Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel), Foreign Minister and member of the Knesset for the party New Hope (Israel), New Hope. Sa'ar was first electe ...
, apparently persuaded the Patriarch not to fire Naddaf during that meeting . On 6 May 2014, a spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, Father Issa Mesleh, published a statement that: "the Patriarch
Theophilus III Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem (; ; born 4 April 1952) is the current Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem since 2005. He is styled Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine, Syria, Arabia, beyond the Jordan Rive ...
decided to revoke all the powers of the Father Naddaf at his church and oust him from his position as head of the Orthodox Church in Yafia"; within two weeks the spokesman turned out to be a speaker from the Palestinian Authority who published things on his own and that the Patriarchate did not reject the authority of Father Naddaf.


Sexual abuse allegations

In May 2016, Israeli television station Channel 2 reported accusations that Naddaf had sought sexual favours from male youth he had come into contact with through his IDF recruitment work. Channel 2 also claimed that Naddaf used his governmental contacts to arrange Israeli entry visas for Palestinians for illicit business purposes. Naddaf denied the claims. Following the airing, the
Israel Police The Israel Police (; ) is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism. It is under the jurisdiction o ...
opened a criminal investigation against Naddaf for
sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...
and illicit favors. Following evidence of more purported victims of improper conduct and sexual harassment, the investigators turned the case to the
State Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...
for possible
prosecution A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...
. In 2018, the Haifa district prosecutor's office closed the case due to lack of evidence and absence of criminal liability.


Verbal and physical assault

At the beginning of December 2013, Naddaf filed a complaint, along with the movement '' Im Tirtzu'' with the Knesset Ethics Committee against MK
Basel Ghattas Dr Basel Ghattas (, ; born 23 March 1956) is an Israeli Arab politician. A member of Balad, he served as a member of the Knesset for Balad and the Joint List from 2015 until 2017. In December 2016, he was stripped of his diplomatic immunity and ...
( Balad), claiming that the MK: "exploits his immunity to incite against me and threaten me very intensely to make it easier for someone lacking all come and physically hurt me". Naddaf noted that in parallel, he filed another complaint on the same subject at the Nazareth police against MK Ghattas. On December 6, 2013, just days later, Naddaf's eldest son was attacked by a young Arab from Nazareth, who beat his head and body with an iron rod. According to Naddaf, "as I call to integrate our children in Israeli society, the extremists are trying to divide and tear and inciting against me. Incitement passed yesterday from verbal threats to physical violence, as their purpose is to intimidate me and my family. My wife is afraid to go out, and my second 15-year-old son refuses to go out, fearful that radical activists will also hurt him."


Support

In November 2012, a month after the first conference of the Christian IDF Forum, the director of the National Civic Service, Sar-Shalom Gerbi, came to Nazareth: "to express his support to Naddaf for his steadfastness and unwavering support for encouraging young Christians to integrate into the community in Israel". Gerbi said at that meeting, that: "this is a courageous act, a man of letters, undeterred by threats and pressures and insists on serving the country... I hope that law enforcement authorities will act decisively to stop the campaign of incitement and de-legitimization of Naddaf and against the young men and women doing national service". About two weeks later, Gerbi met with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilus III, who promised him that Naddaf will not be boycotted by the Church. In February 2013, MK
Ayelet Shaked Ayelet Shaked ( ; born 7 May 1976) is an Israeli former politician, activist, and Software engineering, software engineer. She served as Ministry of Interior (Israel), Minister of Interior from 2021 to 2022 and as Ministry of Justice (Israel), ...
met with Naddaf; in June 2013, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar met with him as did Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon on July 2. On August 5, 2013, Naddaf met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who directed the establishment of a joint forum with participation of the government and the Christian community which will promote the recruitment of members of the community to the IDF and national service, and their integration into national life. This forum should work to integrate the Christian community according to the Law of Equal Burden and oversee administrative and legal aspects necessary for this purpose, such as protecting the supporters of recruitment and recruits from violence and threats and increased enforcement of the law against rioters and those inciting violence. He added that: "we should allow for the Christian community to join the IDF. You are loyal citizens who want to defend the country and I salute you and support you. We will not tolerate threats to you and we will enforce the law firm hand against persecute you. I will not accept attempts to undermine the country from within. The State of Israel and the Israeli Prime Minister stand by your side." On December 14, 2014, at a ceremony organized by the Christian IDF forum in
Nazareth Illit Nof HaGalil is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel with a population of . Nof HaGalil was founded in 1957 as Nazareth Illit (; ), it was planned as a Jewish town overlooking the city of Nazareth and the Jezreel V ...
, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his support of the Christian community of Israel, in the face of rising Islamic extremism in the Middle East, especially against Christians.Netanyahu commiserates with persecuted Christians
Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Je ...


See also

*
Arameans in Israel Arameans in Israel (; ; ) also known as Syriacs in Israel are a Christian minority residing in Israel. They claim to descend from the Arameans, an ancient Semitic-speaking people in the Middle East in the 1st millennium BC. Some Syriac Christi ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naddaf, Gabriel 1973 births Living people Israeli Arab Christians Arameans in Israel Eastern Orthodox Christians from Israel 21st-century Eastern Orthodox priests