Amid tense and turbulent times, a coordinated, foreign-funded missionary campaign has been spreading across central Israeli cities, deliberately targeting a population worn down by war, loss, and uncertainty.

Massive billboards have appeared across major cities carrying the message “Do you struggle with guilt and shame?” alongside a QR code, with no identifying markers. The ads are designed to look like mental health outreach. Scanning the code leads directly to missionary content.

The billboards are the latest move in a months-long, multi-front operation. Earlier this year, residents across Gush Dan – including Tel Aviv, Cholon, Bat Yam, and Ohr Yehuda – found missionary booklets stuffed into their mailboxes, distributed primarily in Russian and traced to an American-based missionary with a history of activity in Eretz Yisroel.

Local delivery companies claimed they were unaware of the content. The campaign deliberately focused on new immigrants, residents of distressed neighborhoods, and those who might be socially isolated.

Yad L’Achim contacted the advertising companies behind the billboards, which have since agreed to take them down. They also previously exposed missionary groups attempting to enter IDF bases to distribute gifts and materials to soldiers, leading the IDF to issue a directive barring them.

The timing is deliberate. With Israelis across the country grieving losses, anxious about loved ones in the field, and searching for meaning amid ongoing conflict, missionary organizations have seen an opening – and moved aggressively to fill it.

“They’re using this period, when attention is elsewhere, to expand activity with less resistance,” said Binyamin Wolkan of Yad L’Achim. “Missionary organizations have received massive funding – billions – since the beginning of the war. They’re exploiting the wartime situation.”

“People are looking for something to hold onto,” Wolkan added. “Either they turn to authentic Jewish outreach – or they fall into these groups.”

Yad L’Achim reported calls coming in from religious, traditional, and secular Israelis alike. “There’s broad consensus on this issue,” said Wolkan. “People don’t want missionary activity in public spaces.”

Reports of active missionary stands and flyers have continued from Petach Tikva and communities in northern Israel. Yad L’Achim has issued an urgent public warning not to scan the codes, calling it “a systematic and brazen attempt to harm the Jewish people.”