Christians for Israel in the Netherlands hired four planes to stage a flyover across the Netherlands with banners, congratulating Israel on its 75th birthday. The project was conceived by Roger Van Oordt, former head of the organization and Israel’s honorary consul in the Dutch city of Nijkerk, after he witnessed an anti-Israel demonstration in the Netherlands.
“We want to show Israel that it has widespread support in the Netherlands and we also want to encourage the Jewish community of the Netherlands through the flyover, to show it’s not alone,” he said.
The planes took off from Nijmegen in the country’s east and flew for five hours. One of the planes flew over Nijkerk, where Christians for Israel has its international headquarters. A website was set up to record the event and a Dutch-language YouTube video was released. Another website encourages visitors to write a greeting or donate a tree to be planted in Israel by the Jewish National Fund.
A group of 10 businessmen who support the work of CFI for Israel subsidized the $10,000 bill for the flyover as a gift to Israel.
Karel van Oordt founded the International Christians for Israel (CFI) organization and its import agency, the Israel Products Center (IPC), in 1979 to support Israel economically. Motivated by his Biblical beliefs, van Oordt wanted to help practically to return the Jews back to Israel in order to bring the Messiah. His message was specifically for his fellow Christians but had a universal element as well.
In CFI’s announcement of his death in 2013, Karel was quoted as frequently saying, “Our task is to comfort Israel. The promises that were given to Israel are being fulfilled for Israel. The promises that were given to the church will be fulfilled for the church.”
In a previous interview, Pieter van Oordt, Karel’s son, who headed CFI with his brother Roger, told Israel365 News that his family has been praying for Israel to come into existence since 1835. “Israel is God’s friend and all of the promises God made to Israel are coming true. That is how Israel came to be,” he said.
