Lebanon-born Christian joins Israel's Foreign Ministry cadet course in a first

A Lebanese-born Christian has joined Israel's Foreign Ministry cadet training program for the first time, taking part in a six-month course that prepares participants for careers as Israeli diplomats.

Jonathan Elkhoury is one of 36 cadets selected from among nearly 2,000 applicants. The course began on Sunday and will train participants for civil service roles at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem and at Israeli diplomatic missions abroad.

Elkhoury fled Lebanon in 2001 at the age of 9 with his family, which included members of the South Lebanon Army, or SLA. The SLA was a Christian-led force that fought against Hezbollah alongside the Israel Defense Forces during Israel's military presence in southern Lebanon from 1985 to 2000. Thousands of SLA members found refuge in Israel after the IDF withdrew from the area in 2000.

In recent years Elkhoury has been a prominent pro-Israel advocate. Writing on X, he described his entry into the diplomatic program as a continuation of his family's ties to Israel. "For me, this was the most natural step in my life story, a direct continuation of the covenant that my parents signed with Israel in the 70s and 80s with the establishment of the SLA in South Lebanon," he wrote. He also described Israel as his home and said his "fate and the fate of Israel are one."

At the opening ceremony, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar told the cadets that Israel was fighting a war "not only on the battlefield, but also in the battle for public opinion, against powerful forces."

Separately on Sunday evening, a prayer hall serving Lebanese Maronite Christians, including former SLA members and their families, was found vandalized in the city of Nahariya, community leader Father Rudy Noura told The Times of Israel. Religious icons, including one depicting Jesus on the cross, were slashed and statues were shattered at the Saints Peter and Paul prayer hall.

"We consider this a grave and unacceptable attack, not only on Church property, but above all on the sanctity of a place dedicated to worship and on the right of the faithful to practice their religion freely, safely, and with dignity," the Maronite Archeparchy of Haifa said in a statement.

An apology note was left on the altar. "To a deeply valued community," it said in English. "I am so sorry. I don't know what came over me to make me do that." The note concluded, "Please forgive me," followed by a heart and cross.

Noura said he arrived at 6:10 p.m. after the vandalism was discovered, and he expressed compassion for the perpetrator. "I said, this person, I am to forgive him, to love him, to hug him even," he said. He added that the Nahariya municipality, the police and the Foreign Ministry were in touch immediately and offered assistance.

Ambassador George Deek, the Foreign Ministry's special envoy to the Christian world, called the vandalism "disgraceful." "All the more painful because it belongs to a community of Lebanese Christians who stood alongside Israel and found a home here," he told The Times of Israel. "Any attack on a place of worship, of any faith, is an attack on the freedom and dignity we must protect."