I want to begin this story by thanking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
At 4:43 p.m. Israel time, he issued the following tweet in Hebrew and English to his 2.2 million followers.
"We will not advance any law against the Christian community."
The statement comes after All Israel News broke the story on Sunday that two ultra-Orthodox Members of Knesset introduced a bill to outlaw anyone from sharing the Gospel of Jesus the Messiah in Israel, and that violators would be punished with prison sentences.
The story was quickly picked up by a wide range of Evangelical Christian and Israeli Jewish news outlets.
Also, Knesset Member Moshe Gafni, one of the authors of the bill, put out a statement saying his proposal was going nowhere.
I am deeply grateful to the prime minister for his strong, clear unequivocal statement in defense of the Israeli Christian community and that he will not allow the bill by Gafni to move forward.
As I have written, Netanyahu is a longtime proven friend to the global Christian community and this statement is further proof.
Evangelicals all over the world will be very grateful for this move. It is what we expected, and Netanyahu delivered.
This article originally appeared on All Israel News and is reposted with permission.