In the early 2000s, prior to his work with CJCUC, Nekrutman served initially as Director of Political Affairs, and later on as Director of Christian Affairs, for the
Consulate General of
Israel in New York, a position he acquired after attending a Christian "Night to Celebrate Israel" event at a local community church in Brooklyn. Initially, it was Nekrutman's boss at the consulate,
Alon Pinkas, who was intended to take part in the event, but an emergency situation in Israel at the time prevented him from going, and he asked Nekrutman to take his place. After attending the event, Nekrutman was later approached by Pinkas and his director of media affairs,
Ido Aharoni, and informed that they are changing his portfolio from Director of Political Affairs to Director of Christian Affairs. After hesitation in regards to whether or not he wanted to accept the position, Nekrutman turned once again to Rabbi Meister, who told him that he had been entrusted with a sacred responsibility, and that he could go by way of two paths: "
Covenant Theology", in which both Jewish and Christian communities believe they are covenanted; or by way of a "Kodak Moment", and get his picture taken in the paper. Meister told Nekrutman that he preferred he go by way of the first option. In 2023, Nekrutman was appointed as an adviser for the television series "
The Chosen" about the life and ministry of
Jesus of Nazareth.
CJCUC event at "HaZvi Israel" synagogue in
Jerusalem, 23 April 2015. volunteers, 2019 , and CJCUC Executive Director, David Nekrutman, meet with
Pope Francis in
Rome, Italy, 26 October 2016 , with evacuees from
Moshav Mash'en during the
Gaza war, 16 October 2023 Between 2008 and 2021, Nekrutman, under the auspice of Rabbi
Shlomo Riskin, headed The
Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation, or CJCUC, an educational institution at which Christians who tour Israel can study the
Hebrew Bible with
Orthodox rabbis and learn about the Hebraic roots of Christianity. The center was established in
Efrat in 2008 by Riskin, who has developed a reputation as "the most prominent rabbinic spokesperson to Christian Zionists". CJCUC partners with major Christian interfaith organizations such as
Christians United for Israel and the
International Christian Embassy Jerusalem. Nekrutman was the first Orthodox Jew to speak at the
Church of God in Christ (COGIC) conference and discuss the importance of visiting Israel. In April 2012, he was the main speaker at
CUFI's first international event in Nairobi, where over 1,500 Africans attended to support Israel. In 2013, Nekrutman, was accepted into the
Oral Roberts University online Graduate Theology program. In October 2013, Nekrutman published a controversial appeal for funds from Jews to support the purchase of a permanent site for the Christian-Arab church of
Pastor Steven Khoury. In a September 2015 piece for
The Times of Israel, Nekrutman appealed to the Israeli
Ministry of Education in regards to budget cuts and equal funding for Christian schools in Israel, citing these budget cuts as "collateral damage" of internal political issues and stating that these issues "should never oppress minority populations". Later, together with The
Pave the Way Foundation (PTWF) and the
Galilee Center for Studies in Jewish-Christian Relations (CSJCR), CJCUC initiated an international campaign urging the Israeli Prime Minister and Education Ministry to Save Christian Education. Since
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin's retirement as president of
Ohr Torah Stone in 2018, Nekrutman has taken over as head of all CJCUC activities. On June 13, 2021, Nekrutman was recognized as a Goodwill Ambassador for Jewish-Christian Relations by the
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of World Religions. In September 2021, Nekrutman ended his fourteen-year tenure as Executive Director of CJCUC and later continued his life-long calling in the field of Jewish-Christian relations.
Day to Praise In April 2015, Nekrutman along with
CJCUC Chancellor and Founder,
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, launched the
Day to Praise global initiative. The initiative takes to form in an annual event on
Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israel's Independence Day) in which Christians world-wide are called on and invited by Rabbi Riskin to recite
Hallel (
Psalms 113–118) with the
Jewish People in a celebration to praise God for the State of
Israel.
Blessing Bethlehem In the autumn of 2016, Nekrutman along with CJCUC associate director,
Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, founded
Blessing Bethlehem, an initiative with the purpose of providing humanitarian aid to the persecuted and impoverished Christian Arabs of Bethlehem and the surrounding communities.
The Isaiah Projects In 2022, Nekrutman, along with Janet Cain, Pastor Donna Taylor, and Marsha Conrad founded
The Isaiah Projects, a ministry dedicated to helping Christians discover the Hebraic roots of their faith. The organization focuses on three main topics; The first is
Shabbat (The Sabbath) as a movement, its fulfillment of Messianic Prophecy and how it can be adopted and incorporated into one's life. ==Books==