From 2013 to 2017, I served as a White House appointee to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. Annually we issued reports identifying countries that violated their citizens’ and residents’ ability to freely practice their faiths, and recommendations for the US government to bring them into compliance.

Early on I noted deep resistance to examining Israel by some commissioners. The Commission wanted to publish an op-ed expressing concern that “in the land where Jesus was born, Christians feared celebrating Christmas,” citing a few Arab countries (weirdly including Lebanon and Syria). When I asked about Palestinian Christians, the response was a near-hysterical rejection. A year later, the Roman Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem sought the Commission’s support for a few requests of Israeli authorities (e.g., visas for priests and unimpeded passage for Christians between Israel and the West Bank at Christmas and Easter). Two of my colleagues rejected his appeal and insisted his priority be demanding Hamas disarm.

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Sensing an uphill battle, before proposing that the Commission investigate Israel, I asked a team of attorneys to prepare an brief on Israel’s repressive actions impacting Palestinian Christians and Muslims and Israeli non-Orthodox........

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