International Fellowship of Christians and Jews - Timeline

Timeline

Below is a timeline of The Fellowship's key events, as listed on the "About The Fellowship" webpage:

1983 Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein founds the Holyland Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

1984 Dr. Pat Robertson and Dr. Jerry Falwell join Rabbi Eckstein at the First Day of Christian and Jewish Solidarity with Israel.

1985 6,000 Ethiopian Jews are airlifted to Israel in Operation Moses, prompting The Fellowship to help fund resettlement programs for new Ethiopian immigrants.

1986 Seminar tour to Israel kicks off major effort to increase tourism to Israel and help the Israeli economy by marketing Israeli products.

1987 Rabbi Eckstein makes regular TV and radio appearances to discuss Israel, Jews, Judaism, and Jewish-Christian relations.

1988 “Ask the Rabbi,” The Fellowship's nationally syndicated radio program, begins airing predominantly on Christian stations.

1989 Rabbi Eckstein addresses 2,500 Christians at nationwide Feast of Tabernacles event in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

1990 The Fellowship launches the On Wings of Eagles program to bring Soviet Jews to Israel following the collapse of the USSR.

1991 The Holyland Fellowship becomes the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

1992 The first group of Russian Jews is airlifted to Israel through The Fellowship's On Wings of Eagles program.

1993 Through the Operation Exodus program, The Fellowship presents an additional $100,000 to bring Ethiopian Jews home to Israel.

1994 The 1,000th Russian Jew from The Fellowship's On Wings of Eagles program arrives in Israel.

1995 The Fellowship opens The Center for Jewish and Christian Values in Washington, D.C.

1996 Operation Alert is launched to fight religious persecution around the world.

1997 The Fellowship creates the Isaiah 58 program to provide food, clothing, medical help, and lifesaving aid for orphans and elderly Jews in the former Soviet Union.

1998 $2 million is donated by evangelical Christians to rescue the Jews of Kwara, Ethiopia, and bring them to Israel through the On Wings of Eagles program.

2000 The Fellowship's Jerusalem office opens, and the Guardians of Israel program is launched to help families suffering from poverty and terrorism in Jerusalem and throughout Israel.

2001 As the second uprising among Palestinian Arabs in protest of the continued Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank begins in Israel, the devastation wrought by suicide bombers motivates The Fellowship to establish the Israeli Victims of Terror Fund.

2002 The Fellowship initiates Stand for Israel to mobilize U.S. churches, Christian leadership, and individuals to express their solidarity with the Jewish state through prayer and advocacy. The first International Day of Prayer and Solidarity with Israel mobilizes millions of Christians to pray for Israel.

2003 Rabbi Eckstein founds the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews of Canada, a sister organization to The Fellowship.

2004 The Fellowship launches Operation Safe Bus to safeguard public buses that transport as many as 1.7 million Israelis each day.

2005 The Fellowship sponsors its first tour for Israel for Fellowship supporters.

2006 The Fellowship, through the Guardians of Israel program, is the first organization to deliver emergency food and supplies for people living in bomb shelters during the Second Lebanon War, while the On Wings of Eagles program helps 200 of the Bnei Menashe, descendants of the biblical tribe of Manasseh living in India, and 200 Iranian Jews make aliyah to Israel.

2007 The Fellowship's Guardians of Israel program donates $10 million to help refurbish bomb shelters in northern Israel and the community of Sderot bordering Gaza.

2008 The Fellowship's Guardians of Israel program renovates 32 public bomb shelters in Sderot, which for years has suffered daily rocket attacks.

2009 The Fellowship distributes more than $10.5 million to assist 27,785 Holocaust survivors in desperate need in Israel, the former Soviet Union, Latin America, and Europe.

2011 The Fellowship is voted one of the "Top 50 Best Nonprofits to Work For" by The Non-Profit Times.

2011 The Fellowship launches 4Zion.