Rev. Malcolm Hedding, executive director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, released a statement following Tuesday’s death
of Knesset Member Yuri Shtern (Israel Our Home) saying, “We are deeply saddened by the passing of our beloved friend Dr. Yuri Shtern, Member of Knesset and chairman of the Knesset Christian Allies' Caucus.
“In our hearts, he will always be remembered as a gentle, selfless champion of the historic deepening of Christian-Jewish relations in our time,” the statement said.
Shtern has been battling cancer for the past year while continuing to serve as an MK. He was first elected to Knesset in 1996 as part of the Yisrael Be'aliyah party. In 1999, he joined Avigdor Lieberman’s Israel Our Home party. When the party joined the coalition he served as chairman of the State Control Committee.
Shtern also served in the past as deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Office and a member of the Committee for Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs.
“The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem has been closely acquainted with Dr. Shtern for over two decades, and thus came to appreciate his genuine openness to Christians long before he realized his vision of creating a forum in the Israeli parliament to engage with the Christian world,” Rev. Hedding added.
“Yuri possessed a rare combination of graciousness, honesty, intellect and foresight that uniquely qualified him to be a leading pioneer of this new era of warmer relations between Israel and her Christian admirers worldwide,” he said.
"Despite his protracted battle with cancer, Yuri continued to tirelessly work on Israel's behalf to strengthen ties with Christians without any thought for himself. His persistence and sacrifice were truly inspiring, as was his ability to identify and address the most daunting challenges of our day.”
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