Khaberni - After an incident where a soldier in its army smashed a statue of Jesus Christ in southern Lebanon, Israel announced the appointment of former Ambassador George Deek as a special envoy to the Christian world, in an attempt to improve its image.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry, in a statement, said that Minister Gideon Sa'ar appointed Deek as a special envoy with the goal of "strengthening Israel's relations with Christian communities around the world".
The ministry explained that Deek, a diplomat with 18 years of experience, possesses extensive experience, having recently served as Israel's ambassador to Azerbaijan, and was the first Christian ambassador in Israel's history, and won the Director General's Award for Excellence from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It went on to say that he belongs to the Arab Christian community in Jaffa, and has been active in it since his youth, where his father, Yosef Deek, held the position of head of the Orthodox Christian community in Jaffa and Israel for many years.
In this regard, Sa'ar claimed - according to the same statement - that Israel "places great importance on its relations with the Christian world and its Christian friends all around the globe", and said, "I am confident that George, the well-respected diplomat with experience, will make a significant contribution to enhancing the friendship and strengthening relations between Israel and the Christian world".
Numerous incidents have led to criticism of Israel by the Christian world, the latest of which was a soldier smashing a statue of Jesus Christ in the town of Deir Syriac in southern Lebanon.
In the first reaction, the Israeli army announced the removal of the soldier who broke the statue and his colleague who filmed the incident from combat duties, and detained them for 30 days, but kept them in military service.
Before that, the Israeli police prevented the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in East Jerusalem, coinciding with the Christian holidays in April, and later imposed restrictions on Christian participation in Easter at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Many instances of spitting at churches and Christian clergymen by Israeli extremists in Jerusalem have been documented, as well as attacks on churches in Gaza, and settler attacks on holy sites in Jerusalem and the West Bank in recent years.
Churches around the world have criticized the recent Israeli wars on Gaza and Iran, in addition to its latest aggression on Lebanon since March 2, which left more than 2475 dead and 7696 injured, and more than 1.6 million displaced, about one-fifth of the population, in addition to widespread destruction, according to official data.
