Fire breaks out at ONE FOR ISRAEL campus, causes significant damage

A fire caused significant damage on the campus of ONE FOR ISRAEL’S Bible college campus on June 24, just two days after a violent protest in Jerusalem erupted when ultra-Orthodox anti-Christian activists tried to stop a Messianic worship concert from taking place at a popular venue.

While the campus fire was reportedly not directly related to vandalism caused by anti-Messianic groups, the timing brought the reality of persecution of Messianic organizations to the forefront.

During the same weekend that dozens of far-right, ultra-Orthodox Jews formed at the entrance to Jerusalem’s popular venue, the Pavilion, to stop the ‘One Voice’ Messianic Worship Concert, a fire was started at Israel College of the Bible in the central Israeli city of Netanya.

It began in the early morning hours on Saturday, the Shabbat when a suspect started a fire in a trash bin outside of the campus building. The fire became significantly bigger and because of heavy winds, the fire spread, causing significant damage to the southern side of the campus building.

Dr. Erez Soref, President of ONE FOR ISRAEL, said that the organization is waiting for the formal police report, but according to the initial investigation, the fire was started by a person who is mentally challenged, with a past history of arson in several places and was not specifically geared against the college itself.

Soref explained that, at this time, there is no indication from the authorities that the fire was started by anyone connected to an anti-Messianic organization.

Established in 1990, ONE FOR ISRAEL has expanded beyond a college campus to become a multi-faceted ministry that trains and equips the Body of Messiah in Israel to reach Israelis with the gospel of Yeshua.

The fire caused significant structural damage to the building, some of which can be seen during an interview last week, where Soref is speaking with one of the staff members about the recent protest, the political climate in Israel and the extent of the fire damage.

“The fire broke through parts of the first floor where we have our auditorium, damage to … our crew was here at like two in the morning trying to sweep hundreds of gallons of water poured out upon a lot of our Phone booth equipment, a lot of our film equipment was damaged in the fire…audio, video,” the staff member explained.

“Thankfully, we have the testimony that God protected life, that no one was hurt, no one was supported, no one injured, no loss of life,” he added.

They discussed the divine protection that saved their library which contained precious documents.

“We had the Torah scrolls here. Some of these scrolls – they're ancient, ancient scrolls. We have the prophet scrolls of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah – all scribed in Poland in the 1920s. Some of our other tour scrolls are even from the 1800s or 1700s.”

According to Soref, the integrity of the building is continuing to be assessed, as some concrete slabs were damaged, but they are truly thankful for God’s protection.

“We had several of the fire investigators from the fire department and they looked around and said, ‘You know we go to a lot of commercial buildings but we've never seen a building that is so up to code like yours. And the fact that you are so much up to code saved your building because if you were not – they were saying the first floor with the sprinkler burst  – they said that prevented the complete burnout on the first floor.”

“And we had the fire doors that, you know, blocked the smoke,” he added.

Soref is hoping to begin renovations on the building as soon as the police investigation and reports are completed and the engineers have assured them they are approved to begin soon.

“We're definitely looking at a summer – at least the summer – maybe part of the fall of renovation on our campus. But the big thing is the structural damage to the concrete slabs that will need to replace; completely do a new painting and covering on the exterior over the building."

Amid this latest challenge, Soref explained, he continues to remember “these verses that God is with us in the fire, in the sea that is roaring and in the midst of all that.”

The night before the fire, the Bible college had a graduation ceremony for several dozen graduates who are being sent off “to wherever God has called them to serve Him in this country,” Soref explained. “And so again, God's work is not stopped in any way. And even when those things happen, God is keeping us and we're pressing on full-blown.”