Beth-El – German Christians in Zichron Ja´akov

© Goethe-Institut

There are many labels for this little group of Germans who have settled near Zichron Ja´akov: sects, fundamentalists, friends of Israel, Zionist Christians, missionaries, life-savers.

In 1963 the two Protestant sisters Emma and Else Berger from Swabia moved to Zichron Ja`akov and founded the local Beth-El community. Today there are several hundred members who have been persevering with their deep-rooted Zionist conviction right into the third generation. They believe that the Jews are the chosen people, they want to protect that and interpret the Bible at face value – including the Old Testament.

They take the protection of the Israelis literally. In a factory of their own that was set up as a non-profit-making organisation, they started off producing gas masks. Next they moved onto filter systems to protect against weapons of mass destruction that can be installed in houses, apartments and bunkers. Even NATO has long since ranked amongst their customers. Their little factory’s logo can be spotted from far away: a semicircular rainbow above Noah’s ark, with the inscription “Beth-El Industries”.