NEUTRALITY ISSUE

Within 10 days of the departure of the last group of visitors back in 1973, the ‘Atonement Day War’ broke out between Israel and its neighbors. As in 1967, the congregations’ activities and meetings continued without a break. But trouble resulted when the Israeli government stepped up military conscription, and canceled all exemptions previously granted to our young brothers. Some, including two elders, fathers with young children, as well as some ministerial servants, were arrested and sentenced to incarceration in a military prison. For one of the families, the father’s absence continued into a second year. The local brothers rallied around the families, supplying food and other practical aid.

It was not until the group of imprisoned brothers decided on a firmer stand in line with the dictates of their consciences, refusing to don the army fatigues issued as prison garb or to perform any work assignments in the camp, that things began to change. They had to endure a few weeks of inhuman conditions in the punishment block dressed only in underclothes during wintry weather, but the publicity that resulted, and the evident futility of the efforts to break their integrity, led to their eventual release. The press reports were, in the main, favorable as personal stories about the families involved, and explanations of our principles and beliefs, appeared in a number of national papers, as well as on radio newscasts and a phone-in program.

RELIGIOUS EXTREMISTS OPPOSE

Whereas there is freedom of religion in Israel, there are individuals and some antimissionary movements who oppose all proselytizing. Such ones have often mistakenly associated us with Christendom’s missionaries. During 1977 opposition to our work reached a peak with a campaign directed against the Tel Aviv Congregation and its Kingdom Hall.

Orthodox Jewish fanatics created problems for some Witness families by distributing insulting pamphlets to their neighbors. As the brothers went to and returned from meetings, insults, vile language and threats were shouted at them. Then came a series of three attacks on the Kingdom Hall, during which the perpetrators destroyed furnishings, sound-amplifying equipment, airconditioners, electrical installations and literature​—even tearing apart every copy of God’s Word, the Holy Bible!

At first, protests to the authorities and appeals for help went unheeded. However, as both local and foreign press, as well as local television, took up the story, the police authorities acted. They cooperated in setting an ambush that resulted in the arrest of three rabbinical students when they returned a fourth time, this time intent on burning the building. Although these vandals were let off with a nominal fine and a suspended sentence, the action taken stopped the attacks.