Jan Willem van der Hoeven
ICZC Director
Jan Willem van der Hoeven, the founder of a number of ministries in Israel and Holland, was born in The Netherlands where his father was private secretary to Queen Juliana. Jan Willem studied in London, obtaining his Bachelor of Divinity Degree from London University.
A Middle East resident for more than 40 years, he lives in Anathot in Samaria – home of the biblical prophet Jeremiah.
Jan Willem has two adult children, both of who served in the Israeli Army. After initially traveling widely through the Arab world, Jan Willem became Custodian of the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem, a position he held from 1968 to 1975. During those years he spoke to many thousands of people in front of the Empty Tomb.
Jan Willem was principal founder of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), and today he is director of the Samaria-based International Christian Zionist Center (ICZC), which was established to stimulate and activate world wide Christian interest in, and support for, the state and people of Israel. Jan Willem was the initiator of the ‘International Christian Zionist Congress’, the ‘Mordechai Outcry’ for the homecoming of the Soviet Jews to Israel, and, together with others, the annual Christian celebration of the ‘Feast of Tabernacles’ in Jerusalem. He has personally met and known the last five Prime Minister’s of Israel, and is acquainted with many leaders, Knesset members and influential institutions in the land.
As a genuine Middle East specialist, Jan Willem has been a much-requested speaker in churches, synagogues and public meetings all across the world. Jan Willem van der Hoeven has addressed audiences of the AIPAC conferences, the International Congress of the Bnei Brit, the Zionist Organization of America and others. He has also appeared on numerous television and radio talk shows and interviews.
Jan Willem is a recipient of the prestigious Louis Brandeis Award from the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA). The International Forum for a United Jerusalem has honored him, by the hands of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the Guardian of Jerusalem Award, for his ceaseless efforts for a united and undivided Jerusalem. Click here to see the short video.
Other recipients of the Guardian of Jerusalem Award include the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Mr. Meir Lau, the former mayor of Jerusalem, Mr. Teddy Kollek and United States Senator Patrick Moynihan.
Jan Willem is the author of “Babylon or Jerusalem” (Deeper Revelation Books; 2009). This prophetic book has been translated into several languages.[/person][/one_half]