Josh Reinstein from the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus talks about his work building relationships between Jews and Christians direct from Parliament; and the effects the BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions) is having on the people of Israel.

Josh: I think it damages the Palestinians a lot more than it damages Israel. I mean our economy is booming, we are one of the fastest economies in the western world, we do incredible business and I think one out of every six medications in the UK comes from Israel today. We are the start-up nation but where it really damages is co-existence. Because what happens is, you have these factories in Judea and Samaria where the majority of the workers are from the Palestinian authority. If they get boycotted then it's the Palestinian authority, the Palestinian workers that lose their jobs, they'll just move to some other place and hire Israelis. So it doesn't really have an effect on our economy but it affects co-existence and it affects people who believe in peace.

Paul: A prime example of that is Soda Stream isn't it?

Israeli MK Orit Hacohen

Josh: Yes, I think Soda Stream lost 300 Palestinian jobs. They just moved down to the Negev and hired Israelis. It's a shame as those were 300 Palestinians that were making a good living and because they were being internationally boycotted they felt that they couldn't have their business model work in Judea and Samaria and so they moved to the Negev. Now, as you know the end of the story is they were sold for I think 3.6 billion dollars to Pepsi, so it didn't hurt Soda stream, they actually did pretty well but those Palestinians never got their jobs back. Really the goal is to destabilise peaceful efforts of co-existence between Palestinians and Jews because the end goal is the destruction of the Jewish people and the state of Israel. So they say, "we are not against the Jewish people we are just against Israel" but who do you think lives in Israel? Half the Jewish population of the world lives in Israel, it's the only Jewish state. So you can't be against Israel and not be against the Jewish people.

Paul: How are Jews and Christians fighting the BDS movement?

Josh: I think they are fighting it extremely effectively. I think the best example would be the state legislation in America. It started in South Carolina as Christians got involved in the political process and spoke to their state legislators to make a law that made it illegal for the state to contract with anyone who is involved in BDS or invest any funds that are involved in BDS and this spread like wildfire, to Texas, to Florida, to Ohio. It's now in 27 states as I have said and I think this could be a great example of how Christians got involved in the process and put out a political win. But I think it's not just at BDS you see the embassies moving to Jerusalem. There is a very big effect of faith based diplomacy in Christians and Jews working together as well as other things where it comes to recognition of the Golan or the fighting of the horrible Iran deal. There are some big, big things happening in Judea Christian relations and thank God we are seeing Christians wake up and take a stand on the state of Israel.

Paul: Can someone truly boycott Israel? Israel is doing so much good around the world and being a light to the nations. Could you really actually boycott Israel? Wouldn't you have to go and live in a cave?

Josh: Yeah at this point you would have to live in a cave. But they are not boycotting the cellophane or the laptop or the Pentium chip that was developed in Israel or text messaging or the answering machine or CAT scans that are all developed in Israel. They are boycotting people selling wine and people selling oranges and really it is a destabilisation process. What they are trying to do, is trying to stop Israelis from hiring Palestinians, what they call normalisation or a normal relation between Jews and Palestinians in the land of Israel. They are against that and I think this is really the crux of the whole thing. They are anti-peace, they are not pro-peace, they are anti-Semitic, and they are not pro co-existence.

Paul: Now you were also talking about Anti-Semitism in Parliament, are you worried about the rise of anti-Semitism across Europe?

Josh: Absolutely. I think it is becoming very scary, you have one party in England right now that is run by an unabashed anti-Semite. Just yesterday you had people leave the labour party because he just couldn't be involved in such anti-Semitism. There is a mass exodus of Jewish people from the labour party in London because of it and this is the same in parties all across Europe. As I mentioned before there are movements that try to ban circumcision, well that means that no Jewish person could have children in that country, what does that mean? They have to leave, or Kosher meal so they can't have a meal. They are attacking the roots of Judaism and the culture of Judaism in a way that it makes it impossibly Jewish in Europe today. Then you take a case of the Irish parliament, they are passing laws, crazy laws. They have gone to a third reading now that if you buy anything in East Jerusalem of Judea Samaria you can be punished with 5 years of jail and a huge fine. That means if you go to the old city and buy a souvenir you can go to jail for 5 years in Ireland if that passes. That is just blatant Anti-Semitism and it's a horrible, horrible trend but I think this time around because we have the Jewish state of Israel the real victims are going to be Europe. I think that Europe at least Western Europe is in big trouble. Their near collapse is taking a real foothold and they think that appeasing radical Islam and feeding Israel to the crocodiles that they'll be last. But it's not the case they're going to be first and I think we are going to see a real erosion of democracy and freedom in those countries because of their embracement of anti-Semitism and pro-Islamist behaviour.

Paul: Should Jews start returning home to Israel?

Israeli MK Sherren Haskel

Josh: Look, I don't know if it is the time Jews should be running for their lives. I think we are not far from that, but at this point I believe that all Jews should live in Israel. I believe it is a commandment by God that during these times when he is doing the ingathering of the exiles, the Jews need to return from the South, the North, the East and the West and we are seeing that. Within 3 years there will be more Jews in Israel than the rest of the world combined, so I think that is something very positive. Do people need to take haste and run now? I don't think we are at that point yet but I can certainly see it up ahead. Winston Churchill says, 'The further we look back the further ahead we can see' and you don't need to look too far back to see what happened the last time there were boycotts against Jewish businesses in Europe.

Paul: As a Jew, is anti-Semitism a demonic root?

Josh: I think Anti-Semitism is just like Israel, it's the tip of the sword. What they're against is God, they are against God's commandments, they are against God's bible and they are against God's prophecy. So the Jewish people, who as a nation is supposed to stand alone, to be a light unto the nations are always the first to be attacked with the virus of anti-Semitism but they never are the last. It starts with the Jews but it goes then closely to the Christians and other groups as well. Radical Islam says first the Saturday people then the Sunday people and I think that if you look around today the real persecution in the Middle East isn't the Jewish population, it's the Christian populations. So we are starting to see that take hold already. Anti-Semitism is just a rejection of God and the bible and I think that people who believe in the bible and the God of Israel have to be just as worried about it as the Jewish people.

Paul: Were you encouraged to see Jewish and Christian leaders coming together in unity in the meeting?