Christianity in Israel#Eastern Orthodox

{{See also|Jerusalem in Christianity|Jewish Christianity|Judeo-Christian|Spread of Christianity}}

{{Main|Early Christianity|History of Christianity}}

{{Further|Christianization of the Roman Empire|Historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles}}Early Christianity is generally reckoned by Church historians to begin with the ministry of Jesus ({{circa}} 27–30) and end with the First Council of Nicaea (325). It is typically divided into two periods: the Apostolic Age ({{circa}} 30–100, when the first apostles were still alive) and the Ante-Nicene Period ({{circa}} 100–325).{{cite book | last1 = Schaff | first1 = Philip | author-link1 = Philip Schaff | orig-year = 1858–1890 | title = History of the Christian Church | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6fBpjjN64sC | volume = 2: Ante-Nicene Christianity. A.D. 100–325 | publisher = Christian Classics Ethereal Library | date = 1998 |isbn=978-1-61025-041-2 | access-date = 13 October 2019 | quote = The ante-Nicene age ... is the natural transition from the Apostolic age to the Nicene age.}} Driven by a universalist logic, Christianity has been, from its beginnings, a missionary faith with global aspirations.{{sfn|Casiday|Norris|2007|p=4}}{{sfn|Robert|2009|p=1}} It first spread through the Jewish diaspora{{sfn|Humfress|2013|pp=3, 76, 83–88, 91}}{{sfn|Bokenkotter|2007|p=18}} along the trade and travel routes followed by merchants, soldiers, and migrating tribes.{{sfn|Bundy|2007|p=118}}{{sfn|Harnett|2017|pp=200, 217}}{{sfn|Hopkins|1998|pp=192-193}} It achieved critical mass in the years between 150 and 250 when it moved from fewer than 50,000 adherents to over a million. This provided enough adopters for its growth rate to be self-sustaining.{{sfn|Harnett|2017|pp=200; 217}}{{sfn|Hopkins|1998|pp=192-193}}

{{Main|Historical background of the New Testament|Historicity of Jesus}}

{{Further|Hellenistic Judaism|Second Temple Judaism|Second Temple Period}}

Christianity originated in 1st-century Judea from a sect of apocalyptic Jewish Christians within the realm of Second Temple Judaism.{{sfn|Wilken|2013|pp=6-16}}{{cite book |last=Ehrman |first=Bart D. |author-link=Bart D. Ehrman |year=2005 |orig-year=2003 |title=Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew |chapter=At Polar Ends of the Spectrum: Early Christian Ebionites and Marcionites |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=URdACxKubDIC&pg=PA95 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=95–112 |doi=10.1017/s0009640700110273 |isbn=978-0-19-518249-1 |lccn=2003053097 |s2cid=152458823 |access-date=20 January 2021}}{{cite book |last=Hurtado |first=Larry W. |author-link=Larry Hurtado |year=2005 |chapter=How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? Approaches to Jesus-Devotion in Earliest Christianity |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xi5xIxgnNgcC&pg=PA13 |title=How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? Historical Questions about Earliest Devotion to Jesus |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan and Cambridge, UK |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans |pages=13–55 |isbn=978-0-8028-2861-3 |access-date=20 July 2021}}{{cite book |last=Freeman |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Freeman (historian) |year=2010 |title=A New History of Early Christianity |chapter=Breaking Away: The First Christianities |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5_in-6VLgRoC&pg=PA31 |location=New Haven and London |publisher=Yale University Press |pages=31–46 |doi=10.12987/9780300166583 |isbn=978-0-300-12581-8 |jstor=j.ctt1nq44w |lccn=2009012009 |s2cid=170124789 |access-date=20 January 2021}}{{cite book |author-last=Lietaert Peerbolte |author-first=Bert Jan |year=2013 |chapter=How Antichrist Defeated Death: The Development of Christian Apocalyptic Eschatology in the Early Church |editor1-last=Krans |editor1-first=Jan |editor2-last=Lietaert Peerbolte |editor2-first=L. J. |editor3-last=Smit |editor3-first=Peter-Ben |editor4-last=Zwiep |editor4-first=Arie W. |title=Paul, John, and Apocalyptic Eschatology: Studies in Honour of Martinus C. de Boer |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill Publishers |series=Novum Testamentum: Supplements |volume=149 |pages=238–255 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MoKxIeOTkqYC&pg=PA238 |doi=10.1163/9789004250369_016 |isbn=978-90-04-25026-0 |issn=0167-9732 |s2cid=191738355 |access-date=13 February 2021}} The basic tenets of the Jewish religion during this era were ethical monotheism and the Torah, or the Mosaic Law.{{Sfn|González|1987|p=37}} In this period, the Second Temple of Jerusalem was still central to Judaism, but synagogues were also established as institutions for prayer and the reading of Jewish sacred texts.{{Sfn|MacCulloch|2010|p=66–69}} The Hebrew Bible developed during the Second Temple Period, as the Jews decided which religious texts were of divine origin; the Masoretic Text, compiled by the Jewish scribes and scholars of the Early Middle Ages, comprises the Hebrew and Aramaic 24 books that they considered authoritative.{{cite book |author-last=Tov |author-first=Emanuel |author-link=Emanuel Tov |year=2014 |chapter=The Myth of the Stabilization of the Text of Hebrew Scripture |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YPgxBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 |editor1-last=Martín-Contreras |editor1-first=Elvira |editor2-last=Miralles Maciá |editor2-first=Lorena |title=The Text of the Hebrew Bible: From the Rabbis to the Masoretes |location=Göttingen |publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht |series=Journal of Ancient Judaism: Supplements |volume=103 |pages=37–46 |doi=10.13109/9783666550645.37 |isbn=978-3-525-55064-9}}

The Hellenized Greek-speaking Jews of Alexandria produced a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible called "the Septuagint", that included books later identified as the Apocrypha, while the Samaritans produced their own edition of the Torah, the Samaritan Pentateuch; according to the Dutch–Israeli biblical scholar and linguist Emanuel Tov, professor of Bible Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, both of these ancient editions of the Hebrew Bible differ significantly from the medieval Masoretic Text. Currently, all the main non-Protestant (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox) Christian denominations accept as canonical the Deuterocanonical books, which were excluded from the modern Hebrew Bible and the Protestant Bible.{{cite journal |last=Andersen |first=Alex |date=Spring 2019 |title=Reconsidering the Roman Catholic Apocrypha |url=https://firescholars.seu.edu/ccplus/3 |journal=Classical Conversations |location=Lakeland, Florida |publisher=Southeastern University |volume=3 |pages=1–47 |access-date=15 February 2023}} The Septuagint was influential on early Christianity as it was the Hellenistic Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible primarily used by the 1st-century Christian authors.{{Sfn|MacCulloch|2010|p=66–69}}

File:First century Iudaea province.gif of Judea in the 1st century AD]]

The religious, social, and political climate of 1st-century Roman Judea and its neighbouring provinces was extremely diverse and constantly characterized by socio-political turmoil,{{sfn|Wilken|2013|pp=6-16}}{{cite book |editor1-last=Davies |editor1-first=W. D. |editor1-link=W. D. Davies |editor2-last=Horbury |editor2-first=William |editor2-link=William Horbury |editor3-last=Sturdy |editor3-first=John|editor-link3=John V. M. Sturdy |year=2001 |origyear=1999 |chapter=The social, economic, and political history of Palestine 63 BCE–70 CE |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AW2BuWcalXIC&pg=PA94 |title=The Cambridge History of Judaism, Volume 3: The Early Roman Period |location=Cambridge and New York |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=94–167 |isbn=978-0-521-24377-3}}{{harvnb|Schwartz|2009|p=49|ps=Though we know of more radical Jewish organizations in the first century—the Christians are the best-known example—the three main sects are evidence not simply of Judaism’s diversity but also of the power of its ideological mainstream.}} with numerous Judaic movements that were both religious and political.{{harvnb|Schwartz|2009|p=91|ps=Though Josephus speaks of three (and in one polemical passage of four) sects, it seems certain that there were many more sectarian groups in first-century Palestine.}} The ancient Roman–Jewish historian Flavius Josephus described the four most prominent sects within Second Temple Judaism: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and an unnamed "fourth philosophy",{{sfn|Schwartz|2009|p=91-2}} which modern historians recognize to be the Zealots and Sicarii.{{cite book |author-last=Rappaport |author-first=Uriel |year=2011 |chapter=Who Were the Sicarii? |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tmCWlYQDrOoC&pg=PA323 |editor-last=Popović |editor-first=Mladen |title=The Jewish Revolt Against Rome: Interdisciplinary Perspectives |location=Leiden and Boston |publisher=Brill Publishers |series=Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism |volume=154 |pages=323–342 |doi=10.1163/9789004216693_013 |isbn=978-90-04-21669-3 |issn=1384-2161 |lccn=2011035131 |s2cid=191907812}} The 1st century BC and 1st century AD had numerous charismatic religious leaders contributing to what would become the Mishnah of Rabbinic Judaism, including the Jewish sages Yohanan ben Zakkai and Hanina ben Dosa. Jewish messianism, and the Jewish Messiah concept, has its roots in the apocalyptic literature produced between the 2nd century BC and the 1st century BC,{{cite book |editor1-last=Davies |editor1-first=W. D. |editor1-link=W. D. Davies |editor2-last=Finkelstein |editor2-first=Louis |editor2-link=Louis Finkelstein |year=2003 |origyear=1989 |chapter=The Matrix of Apocalyptic |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pa75TjBSRkwC&pg=PA524 |title=The Cambridge History of Judaism, Volume 2: The Hellenistic Age |location=Cambridge and New York |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=524–533 |isbn=978-0-521-21929-7 |oclc=872998103}} promising a future "anointed" leader (messiah or king) from the Davidic line to resurrect the Israelite Kingdom of God, in place of the foreign rulers of the time.{{sfn|Wilken|2013|pp=6-16}}

{{Main|Chronology of Jesus|Historical Jesus|Historicity of Jesus}}

{{Further|Life of Jesus in the New Testament|Ministry of Jesus|Quest for the historical Jesus}}

The main sources of information regarding Jesus' life and teachings are the four canonical gospels, and to a lesser extent the Acts of the Apostles and the Pauline epistles. According to the Gospels, Jesus is the Son of God, who was crucified {{circa|AD 30–33}} in Jerusalem.{{sfn|Wilken|2013|pp=6-16}} His followers believed that he was raised from the dead and exalted by God, heralding the coming Kingdom of God.{{sfn|Wilken|2013|pp=6-16}}

{{Main|Christianity in the 1st century}}

File:Broad overview of geography relevant to paul of tarsus.png region in the time of Paul the Apostle (1st century AD)]]

The Apostolic Age is named after the Apostles and their missionary activities. It holds special significance in Christian tradition as the age of the direct apostles of Jesus. A primary source for the Apostolic Age is the Acts of the Apostles, but its historical accuracy has been debated and its coverage is partial, focusing especially from Acts 15{{Bibleverse||Acts|15:36|NRSV}} onwards on the ministry of Paul, and ending around 62 AD with Paul preaching in Rome under house arrest.

The earliest followers of Jesus were a sect of apocalyptic Jewish Christians within the realm of Second Temple Judaism.{{sfn|Wilken|2013|pp=6-16}}{{cite book |last=Ehrman |first=Bart D. |author-link=Bart D. Ehrman |year=2005 |orig-date=2003 |title=Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew |chapter=At Polar Ends of the Spectrum: Early Christian Ebionites and Marcionites |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=URdACxKubDIC&pg=PA95 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=95–112 |doi=10.1017/s0009640700110273 |isbn=978-0-19-518249-1 |lccn=2003053097 |s2cid=152458823 |access-date=20 July 2021}}{{cite book |last=Hurtado |first=Larry W. |author-link=Larry Hurtado |year=2005 |chapter=How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? Approaches to Jesus-Devotion in Earliest Christianity |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xi5xIxgnNgcC&pg=PA13 |title=How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? Historical Questions about Earliest Devotion to Jesus |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan and Cambridge, U.K. |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans |pages=13–55 |isbn=978-0-8028-2861-3 |access-date=20 July 2021}}{{cite book |last=Freeman |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Freeman (historian) |year=2010 |title=A New History of Early Christianity |chapter=Breaking Away: The First Christianities |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5_in-6VLgRoC&pg=PA31 |location=New Haven and London |publisher=Yale University Press |pages=31–46 |doi=10.12987/9780300166583 |isbn=978-0-300-12581-8 |jstor=j.ctt1nq44w |lccn=2009012009 |s2cid=170124789 |access-date=20 July 2021}}{{cite book |author-last=Lietaert Peerbolte |author-first=Bert Jan |year=2013 |chapter=How Antichrist Defeated Death: The Development of Christian Apocalyptic Eschatology in the Early Church |editor1-last=Krans |editor1-first=Jan |editor2-last=Lietaert Peerbolte |editor2-first=L. J. |editor3-last=Smit |editor3-first=Peter-Ben |editor4-last=Zwiep |editor4-first=Arie W. |title=Paul, John, and Apocalyptic Eschatology: Studies in Honour of Martinus C. de Boer |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill Publishers |series=Novum Testamentum: Supplements |volume=149 |pages=238–255 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MoKxIeOTkqYC&pg=PA238 |doi=10.1163/9789004250369_016 |isbn=978-90-04-25026-0 |issn=0167-9732 |s2cid=191738355 |access-date=20 July 2021}} The early Christian groups were strictly Jewish, such as the Ebionites, and the early Christian community in Jerusalem, led by James the Just, brother of Jesus.{{sfn|Wilken|2013|p=18}} According to Acts 9,{{Bibleverse||Acts|9:1–2|NRSV}} they described themselves as "disciples of the Lord" and [followers] "of the Way", and according to Acts 11,{{Bibleverse||Acts|11:26|NRSV}} a settled community of disciples at Antioch were the first to be called "Christians". Some of the early Christian communities attracted God-fearers, i.e. Greco-Roman sympathizers which made an allegiance to Judaism but refused to convert and therefore retained their Gentile (non-Jewish) status, who already visited Jewish synagogues.{{cite book |author-last=Klutz |author-first=Todd |year=2002 |origyear=2000 |chapter=Part II: Christian Origins and Development – Paul and the Development of Gentile Christianity |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6fyCAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA178 |editor-last=Esler |editor-first=Philip F. |title=The Early Christian World |location=New York and London |publisher=Routledge |edition=1st |series=Routledge Worlds |pages=178–190 |isbn=978-1-032-19934-4}}{{cite book |last=Goodman |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Goodman (historian) |chapter=Identity and Authority in Ancient Judaism |year=2007 |title=Judaism in the Roman World: Collected Essays |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YVI2a9jc4pMC&pg=PA30 |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill Publishers |series=Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity |volume=66 |pages=30–32 |doi=10.1163/ej.9789004153097.i-275.7 |isbn=978-90-04-15309-7 |issn=1871-6636 |lccn=2006049637 |s2cid=161369763}} The inclusion of Gentiles posed a problem, as they could not fully observe the Halakha. Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle, persecuted the early Jewish Christians, then converted and started his mission among the Gentiles. The main concern of Paul's letters is the inclusion of Gentiles into God's New Covenant, sending the message that faith in Christ is sufficient for salvation.{{cite journal |last=Thiessen |first=Matthew |editor1-last=Breytenbach |editor1-first=Cilliers |editor2-last=Thom |editor2-first=Johan |date=September 2014 |title=Paul's Argument against Gentile Circumcision in Romans 2:17-29 |journal=Novum Testamentum |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill Publishers |volume=56 |issue=4 |pages=373–391 |doi=10.1163/15685365-12341488 |eissn=1568-5365 |issn=0048-1009 |jstor=24735868}}{{cite book |last=Seifrid |first=Mark A. |author-link=Mark A. Seifrid |year=1992 |chapter='Justification by Faith' and The Disposition of Paul's Argument |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KdUkuOtOw68C&pg=PA210 |title=Justification by Faith: The Origin and Development of a Central Pauline Theme |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill Publishers |series=Novum Testamentum, Supplements |pages=210–211, 246–247 |isbn=90-04-09521-7 |issn=0167-9732}} Because of this inclusion of Gentiles, early Christianity changed its character and gradually grew apart from Judaism during the first two centuries of the Christian Era. The fourth-century church fathers Eusebius and Epiphanius of Salamis cite a tradition that before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 the Jerusalem Christians had been warned to flee to Pella in the region of the Decapolis across the Jordan River.See: van Houwelingen, P. H. R. (2003). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20150403123403/http://oud.tukampen.nl/uploads/documents/124.pdf Fleeing forward: The departure of Christians from Jerusalem to Pella]" Westminster Theological Journal. 65; Bourgel, Jonathan, "[https://www.academia.edu/4909339/THE_JEWISH_CHRISTIANS_MOVE_FROM_JERUSALEM_AS_A_PRAGMATIC_CHOICE The Jewish Christians’ Move from Jerusalem as a pragmatic choice]", in: Dan JAFFÉ (ed), Studies in Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity, (Leyden: Brill, 2010), p. 107-138

{{Main|Christianity in late antiquity|Constantine the Great and Christianity}}

{{Further|Helena, mother of Constantine I|Proto-orthodox Christianity|State church of the Roman Empire}}

File:Distribution of the documented presence of Christian congregations in the first three centuries.tif during each of the first three centuries AD{{sfn|Fousek et al|2018}}]]

In contrast to other groups of Christians in the Near East such as the largely Assyrian Nestorians, the vast majority of Christians in Judea (later renamed Syria Palaestina) were under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the emperors of the Roman Empire and later Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the Ecumenical Patriarchate after the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD (which would be part of the Eastern Orthodox Church after the Great Schism), and were known by other Syrian Christians as Melkites (followers of the king).{{cite book |last=Thomas |first=David Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E51_-Js-bZwC |title=Syrian Christians under Islam: The First Thousand Years |publisher=BRILL |year=2001 |isbn=978-90-04-12055-6 |pages=16–18 |language=en}} Helena, mother of Constantine I was responsible for the beautification or construction of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and the Church of Eleona on the Mount of Olives; sites of Christ's birth and ascension, respectively.{{Cite book |last=Socrates |first=Scholasticus |url=http://archive.org/details/ecclesiasticalh00valogoog |title=The ecclesiastical history of Socrates, surnamed Scholasticus, or the Advocate : comprising a history of the church, in seven books, from the accession of Constantine, A.D. 305, to the 38th year of Theodosius II., including a period of 140 years |publisher=Harvard Divinity School |isbn=978-0-524-00652-8 |location=London |publication-date=1853 |language=en}} The Melkites, during the late Roman period and under the Byzantine Empire were Hellenized, and abandoned Western Aramaic languages in favor of Greek. By the 7th century, Jerusalem and the Byzantine province of Syria Palaestina had become major centers of Greek and Christian culture in the Orient.

{{Main|Christianity in the Middle Ages|East–West Schism}}

{{Further|Arab–Byzantine wars|Rise of the Ottoman Empire|Timeline of the Kingdom of Jerusalem}}

File:Map Crusader states 1135-en.svg and the Crusader states with their strongholds in the Holy Land at their height, between the First and the Second Crusade (1135)|alt=image of Map Crusader states 1135]]

Due to the Arab Muslim invasions of the Middle East (7th–11th centuries), Christians living in the region underwent a gradual process of Arabization in which they abandoned Aramaic and Greek in favor of Arabic.{{Cite journal |last=Masalha |first=Nur |date=2016 |title=The Concept of Palestine: The Conception Of Palestine from the Late Bronze Age to the Modern Period |url=https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/hlps.2016.0140 |journal=Journal of Holy Land and Palestine Studies |language=en |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=143–202 |doi=10.3366/hlps.2016.0140 |issn=2054-1988 |quote=In the mid-7th century the population of Palestine was predominantly Christian, mostly Palestinian Aramaic-speaking Christian peasants who continued to speak the language of Jesus under Islam.|url-access=subscription }} The Melkites began abandoning Greek for Arabic, a process which made them the most Arabicized Christians in the Levant. Most Arab Ghassanids remained Christian and joined Melkite and Syriac communities within what is now Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon.{{cite book |last1=Bowersock |first1=G. W. |url=https://archive.org/details/lateantiquity00brow |title=Late Antiquity: A guide to the Postclassical World |last2=Brown |first2=Peter |last3=Grabar |first3=Oleg |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1998 |isbn=9780674511705 |quote=Late Antiquity - Bowersock/Brown/Grabar. |url-access=registration}}

The 11th-century Melkite bishop of Gaza Sulayman al-Ghazzi holds a unique place in the history of Arab Christian literature as author of the first diwan of Christian religious poetry in Arabic. His poems give insights into the life of Palestinian Christians and the religious persecution they suffered under the rule of Fatimid caliph al-Hakim ({{reign|996|1021}}).{{cite book |last1=Noble |first1=Samuel |last2=Treiger |first2=Alexander |title=The Orthodox Church in the Arab World, 700–1700: An Anthology of Sources |date=15 March 2014 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-1-5017-5130-1 |pages=160–162 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q6rMDwAAQBAJ |access-date=15 January 2024 |language=en}}

During the Early Middle Ages, the Holy Land was the scene of several military conflicts between Christians and Muslims. In 1081, following the Byzantines' confrontation with the Seljuk Turks and the fear of Turkish expansion in Asia Minor, the Byzantine Emperor sought aid from Western Christendom. The emperor Alexios I Komnenos asked Pope Urban II for help; the latter proposed a holy war, the First Crusade in 1096. The call for a crusade gained momentum, promising indulgences for sins. Despite conflicts with the Byzantine leadership, they captured Antioch (1098) and eventually Jerusalem (1099). The conquests were marked by brutality and savagery against Muslims and Jews.

The Second Crusade (1147–1148) followed a generation later and aimed to recover lost territories. It faced internal strife and external betrayals, and resulted in failure. The Third Crusade (1189–1193) was in response to Saladin's recapture of Jerusalem. Notable European leaders like Richard the Lion-heart fought in the Crusader, however they failed to recapture Jerusalem.{{Cite web |last=Damen |first=Mark |author-link=Mark.damen@usu.edu |date=2019 |title=1320: Section 15: The Crusades and Medieval Christianity |url=https://www.usu.edu/markdamen/1320hist&civ/chapters/15crusad.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207184503/http://mfa.gov.il/MFA_Graphics/MFA%20Gallery/Israel60/ch6.pdf |archive-date=7 February 2016 |access-date=10 December 2023 |website=www.usu.edu}} The Fourth Crusade (1201–1204), initiated by Pope Innocent III, it faced financial and organizational challenges. Deviating from their intended path, the Crusaders sacked Zara and Constantinople, causing lasting damage to the Byzantine Empire. The Crusaders' actions accelerated the decline of the Byzantine Christians in the Eastern Mediterranean.

{{Main|Christianity in the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Palestine}}

{{Further|Byzantine–Ottoman wars|Christianity in Turkey|Syriac Christians under Ottoman rule}}

Since they are considered "People of the Book" in the Islamic religion, Christians under Muslim rule were subjected to the status of dhimmi (along with Jews, Samaritans, Gnostics, Mandeans, and Zoroastrians), which was inferior to the status of Muslims.{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Aviv |author-first=Efrat |date=28 November 2016 |title=Millet System in the Ottoman Empire |url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780195390155/obo-9780195390155-0231.xml |encyclopedia=Oxford Bibliographies Online |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford and New York |doi=10.1093/OBO/9780195390155-0231 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241206174943/https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/abstract/document/obo-9780195390155/obo-9780195390155-0231.xml |archive-date=6 December 2024 |access-date=15 January 2025|url-access=subscription }}{{cite book |last=Stillman |first=Norman A. |author-link=Norman Stillman |year=1998 |origyear=1979 |title=The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book |chapter=Under the New Order |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bFN2ismyhEYC&pg=PA22 |location=Philadelphia |publisher=Jewish Publication Society |pages=22–28 |isbn=978-0-8276-0198-7}}{{cite book |last=Runciman |first=Steven |author-link=Steven Runciman |year=1987 |orig-year=1951 |chapter=The Reign of Antichrist |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uDj9sNezWzEC&pg=PA20 |title=A History of the Crusades, Volume 1: The First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=20–37 |isbn=978-0-521-34770-9}} Christians and other religious minorities thus faced religious discrimination and persecution in that they were banned from proselytising (for Christians, it was forbidden to evangelize or spread Christianity) in the lands invaded by the Arab Muslims on pain of death, they were banned from bearing arms, undertaking certain professions, and were obligated to dress differently in order to distinguish themselves from Arabs. Under the Islamic law (sharīʿa), Non-Muslims were obligated to pay the jizya and kharaj taxes, together with periodic heavy ransom levied upon Christian communities by Muslim rulers in order to fund military campaigns, all of which contributed a significant proportion of income to the Islamic states while conversely reducing many Christians to poverty, and these financial and social hardships forced many Christians to convert to Islam. Christians unable to pay these taxes were forced to surrender their children to the Muslim rulers as payment who would sell them as slaves to Muslim households where they were forced to convert to Islam.

Under the Ottoman Empire, Christians and Jews were treated as dhimmi, i.e. Non-Muslim subjects. They were granted the freedom to practice their religion under certain conditions, and were given a level of communal autonomy as outlined in the Millet system. Religious communities falling under the dhimmi category were required to pay the jizya and kharaj taxes, exclusive to them.{{cite book |author-last=Sharkey |author-first=Heather J. |year=2017 |title=A History of Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the Middle East |location=Cambridge and New York |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-02845-5 |pages=40–41, 65–66 |oclc=987671521}} Furthermore, dhimmi were bound by specific rules that didn't apply to Muslim citizens, including the prohibition from attempting to convert Muslims to their religious faith.

The territory of present-day Israel came under control of the United Kingdom following the defeat and collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War. The British established an administration in the region called Mandatory Palestine. Following the Balfour Declaration (1917) and the visit of the Zionist Commission to Mandatory Palestine (1918), local Christians participated in forming groups which opposed Zionism, called "Muslim-Christian Associations".{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

During the 1948 Palestine war,{{cite journal |author1-last=Ben-Natan |author1-first=Smadar |author2-last=Boulus |author2-first=Dana |author3-last=Le Penne |author3-first=Shirley |date=January 2025 |title=The “One Carceral State”: Mass Incarceration and Carceral Citizenship in Palestine/Israel |editor-last=Gordon |editor-first=Joel |journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America |volume=56 |issue=3 |pages=379–406 |doi=10.1017/S0020743824000953 |doi-access=free |issn=1471-6380 |lccn=79015777 |s2cid=275550425 |quote=Internationally, according to the 1947 United Nations (UN) General Assembly Resolution 181, the UN accepted a plan for the partition of Palestine into two states: one Jewish, one Palestinian, each with its own designated territory. Despite the eventual outcomes of the 1948 war and the establishment of a single State of Israel, separation into two states remained the internationally agreed-upon vision in the well-known two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, which requires separation to maintain a viable Palestinian state. Internally, Israel identifies itself as a sovereign state within the 1949 green line in which the WB and the GS were not included. Following the 1967 occupation, Israel chose to refrain from annexation of the OPT and to control the area and its population as a nonsovereign territory that is referred to as "administered" (according to the mainstream official Israeli position) or "occupied" (according to other official positions and Israeli and international legal institutions). The international law of occupation requires the OPT to remain a separate political and legal unit and views annexation as unlawful, regardless of the envisioned political solution to the conflict, which is why we call this the separation paradigm (and not the two-state paradigm). The formal separation is not only territorial but also legal and organizational, and it has been maintained by the military government of the OPT, including the military management of courts and prisons, enabling Israel to argue that it is abstaining from annexation and is therefore abiding by international law.}} Palestinian Christians they were directly affected by the war and the creation of the state of Israel with what is called the "nakba" or disaster for the Palestinians. Generally, most Christians were expelled like Muslims from the territory that is now Israel, especially in the main cities and West Jerusalem, but some were allowed to remain in their homes, especially in the lower, central and Upper Galilee, because the Galilee region was conquered at the end of the war, the area was less strategic, Israel needed Arab human resources in the Galilee, and the international pressure that was visible at that time there. Four Christian villages were depopulated, razed, and had their residents expelled, such as Al-Bassa, Iqrit, Al-Mansura and Kafr Bir'im.{{Cite web |last=Manna |first=Adel |title=Resistance and Survival in Central Galilee, July 1948–July 1951 |url=https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1643032 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210620000037/https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1643032 |archive-date=20 June 2021 |access-date=8 January 2024 |website=Institute for Palestine Studies |language=en |quote=... most of those living in Christian localities in the Galilee were able to stay put in this part of the homeland – although there are exceptional cases, such as Iqrit and Kafr Bir‘im, whose inhabitants were forced to evacuate their villages and were not allowed to return home.}} Massacres of Christians were conducted at the villages of Eilabun and Al-Bassa. Nazareth, at that time a town with a Christian majority,{{Cite web |last=Srouji |first=Elias |title=The Last Days of "Free Galilee": Memories of 1948 |url=https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/41376 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108064837/https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/41376 |archive-date=8 January 2024 |access-date=8 January 2024 |website=Institute for Palestine Studies |language=en}} was spared devastation after agreeing to halt resistance and surrender, and because Israel did not want to visibly provoke an outcry in the Christian world.{{Cite journal |last=Judd |first=Robin |date=1 December 2014 |title=Derek J. Penslar. Jews and the Military: A History. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2013. 376 pp. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0364009414000488 |url-status=live |journal=AJS Review |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=477–479 |doi=10.1017/s0364009414000488 |issn=0364-0094 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711021420/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ajs-review/article/abs/derek-j-penslar-jews-and-the-military-a-history-princeton-and-oxford-princeton-university-press-2013-376-pp/AA4CD0FE80A71695A0A4EC15ED581614 |archive-date=11 July 2024 |via=Cambridge University Press|url-access=subscription }}

According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, since the reunification of Jerusalem after the Six-Day War (1967), the Christian as well as Jewish and Islamic holy sites were opened for multinational pilgrims by the Israeli authorities for the first time since 1948, when the Kingdom of Jordan took over the eastern half of the city.{{cite web |title=The Holy Land : Jews, Christians and Muslims |url=http://mfa.gov.il/MFA_Graphics/MFA%20Gallery/Israel60/ch6.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207184503/http://mfa.gov.il/MFA_Graphics/MFA%20Gallery/Israel60/ch6.pdf |archive-date=7 February 2016 |access-date=18 September 2016 |website=Mfa.gov.il}}

The Christian population in Israel has increased with the immigration of many mixed families from the former Soviet Union (1989 to late 1990s), and through the influx of approximately 7,000 Christian Maronites from Lebanon in 2000. Recently, a further increase in Christianity came with arrival of many foreign workers and asylum seekers, some of Christian background (for instance from the Philippines, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and South Sudan). As a result, numerous churches have opened in Tel Aviv.Adriana Kemp & Rebeca Raijman, "Christian Zionists in the Holy Land: Evangelical Churches, Labor Migrants, and the Jewish State", Identities: Global Studies in Power and Culture, 10:3, 295-318 {{As of|2013}}, the Government - Christians Forum was formed in Jerusalem by Mordechai Zaken, head of the Minorities Affairs Desk at the Ministry of Public Security, to address the concerns of Christians as a minority group.

A 2021 survey by CBS found that 84% of Christians were satisfied with life in Israel. The survey also found Arab Christian women were the most educated demographic in Israel.{{Cite news |last= |date=22 December 2023 |title=Israel's Christian community is growing, 84% satisfied with life here – report |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-christian-community-is-growing-84-satisfied-with-life-here-report/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222184206/https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-christian-community-is-growing-84-satisfied-with-life-here-report/ |archive-date=22 December 2021 |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=Times of Israel}} Concern was expressed by the patriarchs, however, over extremist groups in Israeli society. In 2023, the Latin Patriarch—the head of the Latin Church in the Holy Land—alleged that a shift toward far-right politics under the premiership of Benjamin Netanyahu led to greater attacks on Christians.{{Cite web |last=Debre |first=Isabel |date=13 April 2023 |title=Holy Land Christians say attacks rising in far-right Israel |url=https://apnews.com/article/christians-easter-attacks-netanyahu-jerusalem-e287dd6bad32573d1656eaea07223782 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230413065454/https://apnews.com/article/christians-easter-attacks-netanyahu-jerusalem-e287dd6bad32573d1656eaea07223782 |archive-date=13 April 2023 |accessdate=17 April 2023 |work=Associated Press |language=en-US}} The President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, and the Israeli chief of police condemned the violence against Christians.{{Cite news |last=Berman |first=Lazar |date=9 August 2023 |title=Herzog, police chief meet Christian leaders to condemn attacks on community |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/herzog-police-chief-meet-christian-leaders-to-condemn-attacks-on-community/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230809171901/https://www.timesofisrael.com/herzog-police-chief-meet-christian-leaders-to-condemn-attacks-on-community/ |archive-date=9 August 2023 |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=Times of Israel}} The Israeli police chief stated the police conducted operations to "eradicate" the phenomena. However, Christians have said they do not necessarily feel protected by authorities.{{Cite web |last=Jansezian |first=Nicole |date=4 August 2023 |title=Concerns grow over rising attacks against Christian sites in Israel |url=https://www.jpost.com/christianworld/article-753659 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230804002348/https://www.jpost.com/christianworld/article-753659 |archive-date=4 August 2023 |access-date=8 January 2024 |website=The Jerusalem Post - Christian World |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |author=Al Jazeera Staff |date=9 April 2023 |title='Death to Christians': Violence steps up under new Israeli gov't |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/4/9/under-netanyahu-violence-against-christians-is-being-normalised |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409113510/https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/4/9/under-netanyahu-violence-against-christians-is-being-normalised |archive-date=9 April 2023 |access-date=8 January 2024 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}

In March 2023, Knesset legislators Moshe Gafni and Yaakov Asher submitted a bill that would have banned the proselytizing of Christianity in Israel.{{cite web |last=Rosenberg |first=Joel C. |date=19 March 2023 |title=EXCLUSIVE: Two Knesset members propose legislation to outlaw sharing the Gospel in Israel and send violators to prison – could it become law? |url=https://allisrael.com/exclusive-two-knesset-members-propose-legislation-to-outlaw-sharing-the-gospel-in-israel-and-send-violators-to-prison-could-it-become-law |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321183412/https://allisrael.com/exclusive-two-knesset-members-propose-legislation-to-outlaw-sharing-the-gospel-in-israel-and-send-violators-to-prison-could-it-become-law |archive-date=21 March 2023 |access-date=26 November 2024 |website=allisraelnews}}{{cite web |date=22 March 2023 |title=Two Knesset members propose law banning spread of Christianity in Israel - Jordan News | Latest News from Jordan, MENA |url=https://www.jordannews.jo/Section-20/Middle-East/Two-Knesset-members-propose-law-banning-spread-of-Christianity-in-Israel-27672 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323211627/https://www.jordannews.jo/Section-20/Middle-East/Two-Knesset-members-propose-law-banning-spread-of-Christianity-in-Israel-27672 |archive-date=23 March 2023 |access-date=26 November 2024 |website=Jordan News}}{{Cite web |date=22 March 2023 |title=Christians will face jail in Israel for proselytising under proposed bill |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230322-christians-will-face-jail-in-israel-for-proselytising-under-proposed-bill/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322171904/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230322-christians-will-face-jail-in-israel-for-proselytising-under-proposed-bill/ |archive-date=22 March 2023 |access-date=26 November 2024 |website=Middle East Monitor}} Due to an uproar from Evangelical Christians in America, who generally support Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that the bill would not move forward.{{cite web |date=22 March 2023 |title=Israeli leader halts bill against Christian proselytizing |url=https://apnews.com/article/israel-netanyahu-christians-evangelicals-proselytizing-217563437f499aec3d865e2f009ddac9 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322233424/https://apnews.com/article/israel-netanyahu-christians-evangelicals-proselytizing-217563437f499aec3d865e2f009ddac9 |archive-date=22 March 2023 |access-date=26 November 2024 |website=Associated Press News}}

{{Main|Catholic Church in Israel}}

File:St. Elias Cathedral, front view (Haifa, 2012).jpg of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, in Haifa.]]

Six of the particular churches of the Catholic Church have jurisdiction within Israel: the Melkite Greek Catholic Church (by far the largest Catholic church in Israel),{{cite book|last1= Rioli |first1=Maria Chiara |title=A liminal church : refugees, conversions and the Latin diocese of Jerusalem, 1946–1956 |year=2020 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9789004423718 |pages=136}} the Latin Church (by far the dominant Catholic church worldwide), the Armenian Catholic Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Syriac Catholic Church and the Maronite Church. According to 2020 estimates, Catholics make up more than half of all Christians in Israel.{{Cite web |title=National Profiles {{!}} World Religion |url=https://www.thearda.com/world-religion/national-profiles?REGION=0&u=113c&u=23r |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230831152411/https://www.thearda.com/world-religion/national-profiles?REGION=0&u=113c&u=23r |archive-date=31 August 2023 |access-date=26 November 2024 |website=www.thearda.com |publisher=The Association of Religion Data Archives}} The majority are of Arab descent, while there is a small community of Hebrew Catholics.{{cite news |last=Chabin |first=Michele |date=2013 |title=Hebrew Spoken Here: Inside Israel's Hebrew-speaking Catholic community |url=https://cnewa.org/magazine/hebrew-spoken-here-33670/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626011057/https://cnewa.org/magazine/hebrew-spoken-here-33670/ |archive-date=26 June 2022 |access-date=19 October 2023 |work=Catholic Near East Welfare Association |location=New York City}}

{{Main|Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem}}

File:Holy Trinity Cathedral, Russian Compound, Jerusalem.JPG of the Russian Orthodox Church, in Jerusalem.]]

Around 30% of Christians in Israel are adherents of the Eastern Orthodox Church, mostly to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which has jurisdiction over all Israel and Palestine. Eastern Orthodox Christians in Israel and Palestine have many churches, monasteries, seminaries, and other religious institutions all over the land, particularly in Jerusalem. Israel also has many followers of the Russian Orthodox Church, mainly through interfaith marriages and immigration from the former Soviet Union (1989–1990s).

{{Main|Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem|Monastery of Saint Mark}}

Oriental Orthodoxy in Israel is represented mainly by adherents of the Armenian Apostolic Church, represented by the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and adherents of the Syriac Orthodox Church.{{Cite web |date=10 April 2016 |title=Statement – Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate |url=https://syriacpatriarchate.org/2016/04/statement-syriac-orthodox-patriarchate/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411011705/https://syriacpatriarchate.org/2016/04/statement-syriac-orthodox-patriarchate/ |archive-date=11 April 2016 |access-date=26 November 2024 |website=Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch |language=en-US}}

{{Further|Protestantism and Judaism}}

Since the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948, there has been a small Protestant community, composed of both Arab Christians, who changed their religious affiliation to Protestant teachings, and European and American residents moving to the area, and divided in several denominations. According to 2020 estimates, Protestants make up less than one in ten of Christians in Israel.

{{Main|Anglicanism}}

File:St. George's Cathedral cloisters, 2019 (03).jpg of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, in Jerusalem.]]

The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East is a province of the Anglican Communion,{{Cite web |title=Member Churches{{!}}The Middle East{{!}}The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem & The Middle East |url=https://www.anglicancommunion.org/structures/member-churches/member-church.aspx?church=middle-east |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315124740/https://www.anglicancommunion.org/structures/member-churches/member-church.aspx?church=middle-east |archive-date=15 March 2015}} whose Bishop of Jerusalem has its seat in the St. George's Cathedral of Jerusalem. Other prominent Episcopal churches in the Holy Land include the Christ Church in Jerusalem (built in 1849, it is inside the Jaffa Gate of the contested Old City of Jerusalem) and the Christ Church in Nazareth (built in 1871); they were both built during the Ottoman rule of the Holy Land.{{cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Duane Alexander |date=June 2012 |title=The First Church of the Diocese of Jerusalem: A Work in Progress--or Maybe Not? |url=https://www.academia.edu/4334341 |url-status=live |journal=Anglican and Episcopal History |volume=81 |issue=2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401181212/https://www.academia.edu/4334341 |archive-date=1 April 2022 |access-date=20 February 2015}} The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East counts 35,000 members, scattered all over the region while the Diocese of Jerusalem counts 7,000 members and 29 congregations.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=13 June 2005 |title=Come And See - Suheil Dawani: The new Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem |url=http://www.comeandsee.com/view.php?sid=659 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708180912/https://www.comeandsee.com/view.php?sid=659 |archive-date=8 July 2011 |access-date=19 June 2024 |website=www.comeandsee.com |language=en}}

{{Main|Baptists}}

The Association of Baptist Churches in Israel, established in 1965,Azar Ajaj, Duane Alexander Miller, Philip Sumpter, Arab Evangelicals in Israel, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2016, p. 56 is part of the Baptist World Alliance, the home mission for Baptist churches in Israel and the "largest network of evangelical churches in the country", counting 18 churches, 1000 baptized members and a community of 3000 people.{{cite web | url=https://www.baptist.org.il/about-us | title=Association of Baptist Churches in Israel }} The Baptist Village (Kfar HaBaptistim), north of Petah Tikva, was established in 1955 as a farming community with "a boarding school for orphans ... now used mainly for conferences and camps."{{cite book|title=Facts and Myths. About the Messianic Congregations in Israel| first1=Kai |last1=Kjaer-Hansen|first2=Bodil F. |last2=Skjott| year= 1999| issn=0792-0474| page =276 (chapter: Baptist Church) |publisher=Caspari Center, Jerusalem|quote=}}, Website: [https://www.thebaptistvillage.com/ The Baptist Village]

{{Main|Lutheranism}}

{{Further|Martin Luther and the Jews}}

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land is a Lutheran denomination, part of the Lutheran World Federation, that has congregations also in Jordan and State of Palestine. First recognized as an autonomous religious community by King Hussein of Jordan in 1959,Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land: [http://www.elcjhl.org/mission.asp History and Mission] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215202718/http://www.elcjhl.org/mission.asp |date=2012-02-15}} the church currently has 2,500 members[https://www.lutheranworld.org/country/israel LWF Statistics - Israel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203065035/https://www.lutheranworld.org/country/israel |date=2018-02-03 }} The Lutheran World Federation and six congregations.{{cite web |title=Overview |url=https://elcjhl.org/overview |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926134208/https://elcjhl.org/overview |archive-date=26 September 2023 |website=elcjhl.org}} The cathedral church is the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem, where the Bishop has its seat and that is the only congregation in Israel.

{{Main|Messianic Judaism}}

{{Further|Proselytization and counter-proselytization of Jews}}

The Messianic Jewish movement, usually considered a syncretist form of Christianity, emerged in the United States in the 1960s. The number of Messianic Jews in Israel is estimated at around 20,000.{{cite web |date=8 April 2011 |title=2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Israel and the occupied territories |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/nea/154463.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200320141025/https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/nea/154463.htm |archive-date=20 March 2020 |access-date=3 July 2017 |publisher=US Department of State}}{{cite web |last1=Harpaz |first1=Miriam |title=Statistics |url=https://jewishisrael.com/page/statistics-1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118203528/https://jewishisrael.com/page/statistics-1 |archive-date=18 November 2018 |website=jewishisrael.com |language=en}} In 2006, there were at least twelve Messianic congregations in Jerusalem.{{Cite web |title=Messianic perspectives for Today |url=http://www.lmf.org.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060803080123/http://lmf.org.uk/ |archive-date=3 August 2006 |access-date=28 January 2008 |publisher=Leeds Messianic Fellowship}} On 23 February 2007, Israeli Channel 2 released a news documentary about the growing number of Messianic Jews in Israel.{{Cite web |date=23 February 2007 |title=Israel Channel 2 News - 23 February 2007 יהודים משיחיים |url=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6244392868781886952&q=messianic+jews |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628181216/http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6244392868781886952&q=messianic+jews |archive-date=28 June 2011}}

Messianic Jews are not considered bona-fide Jews under Israel's Law of Return.{{Cite web |url=http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=21820&sec=59&con=35 |title=Aliyah with a cat, a dog and Jesus |author=Daphna Berman |publisher=WorldWide Religious News citing & quoting "Haaretz," 10 June 2006 |access-date=2008-01-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117214825/http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=21820&sec=59&con=35 |archive-date=17 January 2008}} (See also: Rufeisen v. Minister of the Interior). The Law of Return stipulates that a Jew is someone with a Jewish mother or someone who has converted to Judaism and is not a member of another religion.{{cite journal|title=Genetic citizenship: DNA testing and the Israeli Law of Return|first1=Ian V.|last1=McGonigle|first2=Lauren W.|last2=Herman|date=June 17, 2015|journal=Journal of Law and the Biosciences|volume=2|issue=2|pages=469–478|doi=10.1093/jlb/lsv027|pmid=27774208|pmc=5034383}} The Israeli Chief Rabbinate requires documents proving the Jewishness of one’s mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother when applying for marriage.{{cite thesis|url=https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/public/halakhah/teshuvot/2011-2020/JewishIdentity6.2011.pdf |title=On Proving Jewish Identity |date=May 24, 2011 |first=Reuven |last=Hammer |website=The Rabbinical Assembly}} The British Office of the Chief Rabbi (OCR) has underlined the basic principle that a child is not recognised by the OCR and other bodies as Jewish unless their mother is Jewish, or they underwent a conversion recognized by the body.{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/youre-still-jewish-ndash-even-if-your-mother-isnt-1720003.html|title=You're still Jewish – even if your mother isn't|date=June 26, 2009|website=The Independent|access-date=September 5, 2019}}

{{Main|Restorationism}}

{{Further|Jehovah's Witnesses by country}}

File:Edeyha3668.JPG, Israel]]

Jehovah's Witnesses have been present for decades in Israel. By 1999 it was estimated there were about 850 Jehovah's Witnesses in Israel. In 2020, there were 1,957 active members, organised in 31 congregations, while 3,653 people attended the annual celebration of Lord's Evening Meal.{{cite web |date= |title=Jehovah's Witnesses—2020 Country and Territory Reports |url=https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/2020-service-year-report/2020-country-territory/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201222100158/https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/2020-service-year-report/2020-country-territory/ |archive-date=22 December 2020 |accessdate=7 April 2022 |publisher=Jw.org}} Israeli JW congregants have faced some religious persecution in the past century: for instance, in March 1997, a mob of over 250 ultra-orthodox Jews attacked one of their meeting halls.{{cite web |title=Refworld | Israel: Treatment of Jehovah's Witnesses, particularly by Orthodox Jews |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac860.html#:~:text=According%20to%20Miller%2C%20there%20are,them%22%20(ibid.). |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20230531022000/https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac860.html#:~:text=According%20to%20Miller%2C%20there%20are,them%22%20(ibid.). |archive-date=30 May 2023 |website=UNHCR Web Archive |publisher=Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada}}

{{Further|Judaism and Mormonism}}

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is present in Israel with 338 members and three congregations.{{Cite web |date=13 April 2021 |title=Statistics and Church Facts {{!}} Total Church Membership |url=http://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/country/israel |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190628001917/https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/country/israel |archive-date=28 June 2019 |access-date=19 June 2024 |website=newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Edwards |first=David A. |title=12 Facts about the Gathering of Israel |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/eng/new-era/2019/07/12-facts-about-the-gathering-of-israel |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712153117/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/2019/07/12-facts-about-the-gathering-of-israel?lang=eng |archive-date=12 July 2019 |access-date=19 June 2024 |website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints |language=en}} Israeli LDS congregants hold their Sabbath services on Saturday.{{Cite web |date=10 October 2016 |title=LDS Sabbath In Israel {{!}} Israel Revealed |url=https://www.israelrevealed.com/lds-sabbath-in-israel/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226105123/https://www.israelrevealed.com/lds-sabbath-in-israel/ |archive-date=26 December 2018 |access-date=19 June 2024 |website=Israel Revealed |language=en-US}} In 1989 the Brigham Young University, sponsored by the LDS Church, established the satellite campus BYU Jerusalem Center on Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem.{{cite web|url=http://www.ldsliving.com/How-the-BYU-Jerusalem-Center-Nearly-Caused-the-Collapse-of-the-Israeli-Government/s/4399|title=How the BYU Jerusalem Center Nearly Caused the Collapse of the Israeli Government|date=8 May 2017|work=ldsliving.com}}

Hebrew-speakers call Christians Notzri (also romanized Notsri), which means Nazarene (originated from Nazareth).Bromiley, Geoffrey W., "Nazarene," The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: K-P, pp. 499–500. The word is cognate to the Arabic Nasrani.

The Israeli Declaration of Independence, issued in 1948, describes the country as a Jewish state but extends religious freedoms to its inhabitants by stating that the State of Israel will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions.{{Cite web |title=Declaration of Israel's Independence, 1948 {{!}} American Experience |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/truman-israel/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191120165903/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/truman-israel/ |archive-date=20 November 2019 |access-date=10 December 2023 |website=www.pbs.org |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last=Rubinstein |first=Elyakim |date=1998 |title=The Declaration of Independence as a Basic Document of the State of Israel |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30246801 |url-status=live |journal=Israel Studies |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=195–210 |doi=10.2979/ISR.1998.3.1.195 |issn=1084-9513 |jstor=30246801 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190521225651/https://www.jstor.org/stable/30246801 |archive-date=21 May 2019 |url-access=subscription }}

{{Further|Price tag policy}}

Some ultra-Orthodox Jews have been reported to have a decades-old practice of cursing and spitting on Christian clergymen in Jerusalem,{{cite web|url=http://www.adl.org/press-center/press-releases/israel-middle-east/adl-urges-israeli-chief.html |title=ADL Urges Israeli Chief Rabbinate to Denounce Ultra-Orthodox Practice of Spitting at Christians |website=Adl.org |date=2011-12-07 |access-date=2016-09-18}}{{Cite web |last1=Izso |first1=Lauren |last2=Dahman |first2=brahim |last3=Hazboun |first3=Ibrahim |date=2024-02-04 |title=Ultra-Orthodox man seen spitting at Christian priest in Jerusalem |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/04/middleeast/ultraorthodox-spitting-jerusalem-intl/index.html |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=CNN |language=en}} and there have been cases where churches and cemeteries were defaced by price taggers.{{cite web |last=Barkat |first=Amiram |date=12 October 2004 |title=Christians in Jerusalem Want Jews to Stop Spitting on Them |url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/christians-in-jerusalem-want-jews-to-stop-spitting-on-them-1.137099 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207170231/https://www.haaretz.com/2004-10-12/ty-article/christians-in-jerusalem-want-jews-to-stop-spitting-on-them/0000017f-e8fe-df2c-a1ff-fefff36f0000 |archive-date=7 February 2023 |access-date=18 September 2016 |website=Haaretz.com}}{{cite web |last=Derfner |first=Larry |date=26 November 2009 |title=Mouths filled with hatred |url=http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Mouths-filled-with-hatred |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603110131/https://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Mouths-filled-with-hatred |archive-date=3 June 2023 |access-date=18 September 2016 |website=Jpost.com}}{{cite news |author=Crowcroft |first=Orlando |date=9 May 2014 |title=Christians in Israel and Palestine fear rise in violence ahead of pope's visit | World news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/09/christians-israel-palestine-rise-violence-pope-visit |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603110129/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/09/christians-israel-palestine-rise-violence-pope-visit |archive-date=3 June 2023 |access-date=18 September 2016 |newspaper=The Guardian}}{{cite news |last=Ari |first=Judah |date=10 October 2013 |title=Attack on Jerusalem graves unnerves Christians |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/attack-on-jerusalem-graves-unnerves-christians/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013024213/http://www.timesofisrael.com/attack-on-jerusalem-graves-unnerves-christians/ |archive-date=13 October 2013 |access-date=18 September 2016 |newspaper=The Times of Israel}} When the doors of the Latrun Trappist monastery were set aflame and the phrase "Jesus was a monkey" was painted on its walls in September 2012, the Vatican reacted with a rare official complaint against the Israeli government's inaction.{{cite web |author=Fortin |first=Jacey |date=7 September 2012 |title=Vatican Official Condemns Israeli Discrimination Against Christians |url=http://www.ibtimes.com/vatican-official-condemns-israeli-discrimination-against-christians-780879 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627135536/https://www.ibtimes.com/vatican-official-condemns-israeli-discrimination-against-christians-780879 |archive-date=27 June 2013 |access-date=18 September 2016 |website=Ibtimes.com}} In June 2015, an auxiliary building{{Cite web |last=Shpigel |first=Noa |date=29 July 2015 |title=Two Men Indicted for Church of the Loaves and Fishes Arson Attack |url=https://www.haaretz.com/2015-07-29/ty-article/.premium/2-charged-in-church-of-loaves-and-fishes-arson/0000017f-f6c1-ddde-abff-fee530440000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220901061045/https://www.haaretz.com/2015-07-29/ty-article/.premium/2-charged-in-church-of-loaves-and-fishes-arson/0000017f-f6c1-ddde-abff-fee530440000 |archive-date=1 September 2022 |access-date=19 June 2024 |website=Haaretz}} of the Church of the Multiplication was significantly damaged by an arson attack and its walls defaced by Hebrew graffiti, bearing the words "the false gods will be eliminated" (quoted from the Aleinu prayer).{{cite news |author1=Lynfield |first=Ben |date=18 June 2015 |title=Jewish extremists suspected of torching Sea of Galilee 'loaves and fishes' church in Tabgha |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/jewish-extremists-suspected-of-torching-sea-of-galilee-loaves-and-fishes-church-in-tabgha-10329998.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150618194512/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/jewish-extremists-suspected-of-torching-sea-of-galilee-loaves-and-fishes-church-in-tabgha-10329998.html |archive-date=18 June 2015 |access-date=19 June 2015 |work=The Independent}}{{cite news |date=18 June 2015 |title=Sea of Galilee church where 'Jesus fed 5,000,' torched in suspected hate attack |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/arson-suspected-in-fire-at-church-on-sea-of-galilee/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150618155228/http://www.timesofisrael.com/arson-suspected-in-fire-at-church-on-sea-of-galilee/ |archive-date=18 June 2015 |access-date=19 June 2015 |work=The Times of Israel}} This attack was labelled as "terrorism" by Israeli officials. In June and July 2023, Jewish extremists repeatedly stormed a Catholic church and monastery in Haifa, leading to protests by the local Christians and clashes at the site between them and the extremists.{{Cite web |date=19 June 2023 |title=Hundreds protest against targeting of Mar Elias church in Haifa |url=https://www.newarab.com/news/hundreds-protest-targeting-mar-elias-church-haifa |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230619231515/https://www.newarab.com/news/hundreds-protest-targeting-mar-elias-church-haifa |archive-date=19 June 2023 |access-date=26 September 2024 |website=The New Arab}}{{Cite web |date=20 July 2023 |title=Jewish Israelis storm Catholic monastery, perform prayers |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230720-jewish-israelis-storm-catholic-monastery-perform-prayers/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720122227/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230720-jewish-israelis-storm-catholic-monastery-perform-prayers/ |archive-date=20 July 2023 |access-date=26 November 2024 |website=Middle East Monitor}}{{Cite web |last=Kattar |first=Elias |date=31 July 2023 |title=Israeli extremists attempt to storm Catholic church and monastery |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254952/israeli-extremists-attempt-to-storm-catholic-church-in-northern-israel |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801065608/https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254952/israeli-extremists-attempt-to-storm-catholic-church-in-northern-israel |archive-date=1 August 2023 |access-date=21 September 2024 |website=Catholic News Agency |language=en}} From 2018 to 2023, a total of 157 attacks on Christian sanctities in Israel by extremist Jews were documented.{{Cite web |date=15 June 2023 |title=Israeli attacks on Christian sanctities increasing |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230615-israeli-attacks-on-christian-sanctities-increasing/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240423015722/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230615-israeli-attacks-on-christian-sanctities-increasing/ |archive-date=23 April 2024 |website=Middle East Monitor}}

Gabriel Naddaf argues that Israel is the only country in which Christian communities have been able to thrive in the Middle East.{{cite web |last=Cohen |first=Ben |date=21 November 2014 |title=Israeli Priest Gabriel Nadaf Confident of Greater Christian Recruitment Into IDF (Interview) | Jewish & Israel News |url=http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/11/21/israeli-priest-gabriel-nadaf-confident-of-greater-christian-recruitment-into-idf-interview/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906093259/http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/11/21/israeli-priest-gabriel-nadaf-confident-of-greater-christian-recruitment-into-idf-interview/ |archive-date=6 September 2023 |access-date=18 September 2016 |website=Algemeiner.com}} However, there has also been criticism by Palestinian Christians of this claim, with such statements being called a "manipulation" of the facts.{{cite web |last=Hass |first=Amira |date=26 March 2012 |title=Christian Palestinians: Israel 'Manipulating Facts' by Claiming We Are Welcome |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/christian-palestinians-israel-manipulating-facts-by-claiming-we-are-welcome-1.420718 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224000418/https://www.haaretz.com/2012-03-26/ty-article/christian-palestinians-israel-manipulating-facts-by-claiming-we-are-welcome/0000017f-e4d4-dc7e-adff-f4fd7f380000 |archive-date=24 December 2023 |access-date=18 September 2016 |publisher=Haaretz.com}} Members of the Palestinian Christian community claim that such statements attempt to hide the discrimination that Arab Christians face within Israel due to alleged discrimination against Arabs as well as the effect of the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza on the Christian population in these areas.{{cite web |date=24 December 2015 |title=Discrimination & Hate Crimes Against Christian Palestinians in the Holy Land |url=http://imeu.org/article/discrimination-hate-crimes-against-christian-palestinians-in-the-holy-land |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626133101/https://imeu.org/article/discrimination-hate-crimes-against-christian-palestinians-in-the-holy-land |archive-date=26 June 2019 |access-date=18 September 2016 |publisher=IMEU}}

{{Main|Ihud Bnei HaBrit}}

Recently, there has been a steady undercurrent of Arab Christians who seek deeper integration into Israeli society. Under the leadership of Greek Orthodox priest Gabriel Naddaf, United Allies is a political party that advocates Christian enlistment in the Israel Defense Forces and a more distinct societal separation of Christians from Muslims.{{cite news |date=26 June 2013 |title=Father Nadaf | JPost | Israel News |url=http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Editorials/Father-Nadaf-317867 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001105227/https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Editorials/Father-Nadaf-317867 |archive-date=1 October 2020 |access-date=2014-02-01 |newspaper=jpost.com}} This separation is partly based on the purported fact that Christians in Israel are not technically Arabs, seeing as they were present in the holy land long before the Arab conquest, hallmarked by the Siege of Jerusalem. This distinction is in the process of being formalized into law, as the Likud government is currently drafting legislation to grant this request.{{cite web |last=Pilkington |first=David |date=10 January 2014 |title=Historic new law gives boost to Christians in Israel | The Way, Christianity without walls |url=http://www.theway.co.uk/news-9441-historic-new-law-gives-boost-to-christians-in-israel |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403134151/http://www.theway.co.uk/news/historic-new-law-gives-boost-to-christians-in-israel |archive-date=3 April 2019 |access-date=2014-02-01 |website=theway.co.uk}}

This new attitude is founded largely by the perception by some that only in Israel the Christian population is growing due to natural increase and no state persecution, seeing the entire Middle East, except Lebanon, as where Christianity is and has been rapidly on the decline. In addition, increasing numbers of Christian leaders and community members are pointing to Muslim violence as a threat to their way of life in Arab majority cities and towns.{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303849604579278722657163880|title=Israel's Christian Awakening - WSJ.com|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=28 December 2013|publisher=online.wsj.com|access-date=2014-02-01|last1=Schwartz|first1=Adi}} Sons of the New Testament as a party and a national movement has been met with wide admiration from the Jews of Israel, harshly negative scorn from the Muslim Arabs, and mixed reactions from the Christians themselves. Because of Israel's parliamentary system where each party must attain at least 2% of the popular vote, Sons of the New Testament must be supported by non-Christians to enter the Knesset. In its strongest performance since it began contesting elections in 2019, the party's received a total of 677 votes, or 0.01% of the vote, in the 2020 Israeli legislative election. In the 2022 Israeli legislative election, the party received 234 votes.

File:Arab Christian tomb in Haifa.jpg, Israel]]

In 2008, Shlomo Riskin, the chief rabbi of Efrat, established the Center for Jewish–Christian Understanding and Cooperation (CJCUC), the first Orthodox Jewish institution to dialogue with the Christian world on a religious and theological basis. The center, currently located in Jerusalem, engages in Hebraic Bible Study for Christians, from both the local community and from abroad, has organized numerous interfaith praise initiatives, such as Day to Praise, and has established many fund-raising initiatives such as Blessing Bethlehem which aim to aid the persecuted Christian community of Bethlehem, in part, and the larger persecuted Christian population of the Middle East region and throughout the world.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

A 2012 survey indicated that Christians in Israel were prosperous and well-educated, but some feared that Muslim intimidation would provoke an exodus to the West.{{cite web |date=24 December 2012 |title=Christians in Israel Well-Off, Statistics Show |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/163468#.VYHE2fmqqko |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240921010627/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/163468#.VYHE2fmqqko |archive-date=21 September 2024 |access-date=5 September 2016 |website=Israelnationalnews.com}} The Christian communities in Nazareth tend to be wealthier and better educated compared to other Arabs elsewhere in Israel, and Christians in Nazareth occupy the majority of the top positions in the town: three hospitals and bank managers, judges and school principals and faculties.{{cite book|title=Narrow Gate Churches: The Christian Presence in the Holy Land Under Muslim and Jewish Rule| first=Raphael |last=Israeli|year= 2014| isbn=9781135315146| page =21|publisher=Routledge|quote=}} The socio-economic gap between the Christians' wealth and Muslims' poverty led sometimes to sectarian crises.{{cite book|title=Narrow Gate Churches: The Christian Presence in the Holy Land Under Muslim and Jewish Rule| first=Atallah |last=Mansour|year= 2004| isbn=9781932717020| page =280|publisher=Hope Publishing House|quote=}}

Recently there has been an increase of anti-Christian incidents in the Nazareth area, inspired by the rise of jihadist forces in the Middle East. Many Christians have complained of being targeted by Muslims, whom they believe are trying to either drive them out of cities that have traditionally had large Christian populations, or to "persuade" them to convert. In 1999, for example, radical Muslims in Nazareth rioted as they attempted to wrest land from a major Christian shrine to build a mosque. In one incident during 2014, a flag of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was installed in front of a church in Nazareth.{{cite web |date=26 August 2014 |title=Photos of ISIS flag at key sites send chill through Israel - Fox News |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/photos-of-isis-flag-at-key-sites-send-chill-through-israel/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603110129/https://www.foxnews.com/world/photos-of-isis-flag-at-key-sites-send-chill-through-israel/ |archive-date=3 June 2023 |access-date=5 September 2016 |website=Foxnews.com}}

There has also been increasing incitement and violence by the Muslims against Christians who voice their support for the Israel Defense Forces. In a recent case, the son of Gabriel Naddaf, a prominent Eastern Orthodox priest who is regarded as being pro-Israel, was severely beaten. Naddaf has experienced considerable hostility from Muslims in recent years.{{cite web |date=9 December 2013 |title=Father Nadaf: Arab leaders must stop incitement campaign against me |url=http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Father-Nadaf-Arab-leaders-must-stop-incitement-campaign-against-me-334377/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906091756/https://www.jpost.com/National-News/Father-Nadaf-Arab-leaders-must-stop-incitement-campaign-against-me-334377 |archive-date=6 September 2023 |access-date=5 September 2016 |website=Jpost.com}}{{cite web |date=23 September 2014 |title=Arab-Israeli Priest to UN: 'Israel Only Safe Haven For Christians in Middle East' (VIDEO) |url=http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/09/23/arab-israeli-priest-to-un-israel-only-safe-haven-for-christians-in-middle-east-video/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114203449/http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/09/23/arab-israeli-priest-to-un-israel-only-safe-haven-for-christians-in-middle-east-video/ |archive-date=14 January 2024 |access-date=5 September 2016 |website=Algemeiner.com}}

A 2015 study estimated that some 300 Christians were from a Muslim background in Israel.{{cite journal|last1=Johnstone|first1=Patrick|last2=Miller|first2=Duane Alexander|title=Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census|journal=IJRR|date=2015|volume=11|issue=10|pages=1–19|url=https://www.academia.edu/16338087|access-date=30 October 2015}}

A 2016 study{{cite news |date=2016-05-10 |title=5 facts about Israeli Christians |url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/05/10/5-facts-about-israeli-christians/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241119141807/https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/05/10/5-facts-about-israeli-christians/ |archive-date=19 November 2024 |access-date=2017-02-16 |newspaper=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}} by Pew research points to the convergence of political views of both Muslims and Christians over issues like– Israel cannot be a Jewish state and a democracy at the same time (Christians: 72%; Muslims: 63%), US being too supportive of Israel (Christians: 86%; Muslims: 75%), Israeli government not making enough efforts to make peace with Palestine (Christians: 80%; Muslims: 72%).

Israel has a population of 182,000 Christians. As of 2021, it was the only growing Christian community in the Middle East.{{Cite web |last=Chabin |first=Michele |date=2023-07-25 |title=Telling the Story of Christians in Israel |url=https://cnewa.org/telling-the-story-of-christians-in-israel/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240411075051/https://cnewa.org/telling-the-story-of-christians-in-israel/ |archive-date=11 April 2024 |access-date=2023-12-10 |website=CNEWA |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last= |date=22 December 2023 |title=Israel's Christian community is growing, 84% satisfied with life here – report |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-christian-community-is-growing-84-satisfied-with-life-here-report/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240425041224/https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-christian-community-is-growing-84-satisfied-with-life-here-report/ |archive-date=25 April 2024 |work=The Times of Israel}} In 2019, 77.5% of Christians in Israel were Arab Christians, representing 7.2% of the total Arab population in the country.{{cite web|url= https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/mediarelease/DocLib/2019/400/11_19_400b.pdf|title=Christmas 2019 - Christians in Israel |date =24 December 2019|publisher=Israel Central Bureau of Statistics}}

File:Christians in Israel population pyramid in 2021.svg

File:Saint Joseph's Latin Parish.JPG in Haifa: High level Christian schools are among Israel's best performing educational institutions.[http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.676300 Why Angry Christians in Israel Are Crying Discrimination], Haaretz.]]

Christian schools in Israel are among the best schools in the country, and while those schools represent only 4% of the Arab schooling sector, about 34% of Arab university students come from Christian schools,{{cite web |date=10 September 2015 |title=Demonstration of Christian Schools in Jerusalem - Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation |url=http://hcef.org/790796657-demonstration-of-christian-schools-in-jerusalem/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240914220619/http://hcef.org/790796657-demonstration-of-christian-schools-in-jerusalem/ |archive-date=14 September 2024 |access-date=5 September 2016 |website=Hcef.org}} and about 87% of the Israeli Arabs in the high tech sector have been educated in Christian schools.{{cite web |last=Cook |first=Jonathan |date=7 September 2015 |title=With schools starved of funds, Christians question their future in Israel |url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/schools-starved-funds-christians-question-their-future-israel-1522645081 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240421205338/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/schools-starved-funds-christians-question-their-future-israel |archive-date=21 April 2024 |access-date=5 September 2016 |website=Middleeasteye.net}}{{cite news |last=Ferber |first=Alona |date=17 September 2015 |title=Why Angry Christians in Israel Are Crying Discrimination - Features |url=http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.676300 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230805201544/https://www.haaretz.com/2015-09-17/ty-article/.premium/why-angry-christian-schools-in-israel-cry-foul/0000017f-e074-d568-ad7f-f37fab1d0000 |archive-date=5 August 2023 |access-date=5 September 2016 |newspaper=Haaretz}}

In 2012, the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics noted that when taking into account the data recorded over the years, Arab Christians fared the best in terms of education in comparison to any other group receiving an education in Israel.{{cite news |last1=Druckman |first1=Yaron |date=23 December 2012 |title=Christians in Israel: Strong in education |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4323529,00.html |access-date=5 September 2016 |newspaper=Ynetnews}} In 2016 Arab Christians had the highest rates of success at matriculation examinations, namely 73.9%, both in comparison to Muslim and Druze Israelis (41% and 51.9% respectively), and to the students from the different branches of the Hebrew (majority Jewish) education system considered as one group (55.1%).{{cite web |title=An inside look at Israel's Christian minority |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/239745 |website=Israel National News |date=24 December 2017 |language=en}}{{cite web |url= http://www.timesofisrael.com/christian-arabs-top-countrys-matriculation-charts/ |title= Christian Arabs top country's matriculation charts |website=The Times of Israel|access-date=24 December 2013}}

According to various reports, Arab Christians are one of the most educated groups in Israel.{{cite web |url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303849604579278722657163880 |title= Christians in Israel: A minority within a minority |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |access-date=4 May 2009}}{{cite web |url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303849604579278722657163880 |title= Israel's Christian Awakening |website=Wall Street Journal |access-date=27 December 2013}}{{cite web|url= https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/mediarelease/DocLib/2019/400/11_19_400b.pdf|title=Christmas 2019 - Christians in Israel |date =24 December 2019|publisher=Israel Central Bureau of Statistics}} According to data from the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (2023), Arab Christians in Israel have one of the highest levels of educational attainment among all religious communities. Specifically, 55% of Arab Christians have completed college degree or postgraduate education.{{cite web|url= https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/mediarelease/DocLib/2023/411/11_23_411b.pdf|title=Christmas 2023 - Christians in Israel |date =24 July 2018 |publisher=Israel Central Bureau of Statistics}} According to data from the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (2019), Arab Christian students were less likely than their Arab Muslim counterparts to pursue fields such as teacher training, business, or paramedical studies. However, a higher proportion of Arab Christian students chose to study fields such as law, medicine, computer sciences, mathematics, engineering and architecture.{{cite web|url= https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/mediarelease/DocLib/2019/400/11_19_400b.pdf|title=Christmas 2019 - Christians in Israel |date =24 December 2019|publisher=Israel Central Bureau of Statistics}} In 2023, the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics revealed that Arab Christian women were the most highly educated demographic in Israel.

According to a 2016 study by the Pew Research Center, 33% of Jews (based on a sample of 3,020) have a college degree (ranging from 13% for Haredi to 45% for Hiloni), compared to 18% for Christians (based on a sample of 375).{{Cite web |last=Mitchell |first=Travis |date=2016-03-08 |title=7. Education, values and science |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2016/03/08/education-values-and-science/ |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Mitchell |first=Travis |date=2016-03-08 |title=Israel's Religiously Divided Society|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/03/Israel-Survey-Full-Report.pdf|access-date=2024-10-28 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US|page=233}}

The percentage of Arab Christian women who attend institutions of higher education is also higher than that of other groups.{{cite web |title=המגזר הערבי נוצרי הכי מצליח במערכת החינוך |url=http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/319/566.html |access-date=2016-09-18 |website=Nrg.co.il}} The rate of students studying in the field of medicine was higher among Christian Arab students than that of all other sectors.{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/National-News/CBS-report-Christian-population-in-Israel-growing|title= CBS report: Christian population in Israel growing |website=The Jerusalem Post|date= 25 December 2012 |access-date=27 December 2013}} In 2013, Arab Christian students were also the vanguard in terms of eligibility for higher education, as the Christian Arab students had the highest rates of receiving Psychometric Entrance Test scores which make them eligible for acceptance into universities, data from the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics show that 61% of Arab Christians were eligible for university studies, compared to 50% of Jewish, 45% of Druze, and 35% of Muslim students.{{cite web |url= https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/8421/christian-arabs-likely-graduate-high-school-israel/#Yw4jp6yTtgoxsjcA.97 |title= Christian Arabs Most Likely to Graduate High-School in Israel |website= Breaking Israel News |date= 25 December 2013 |access-date=25 December 2013}}

In terms of their socio-economic situation, Arab Christians are more similar to the Jewish population than to the Muslim Arab population.{{cite web|url=http://www.terrasanta.net/tsx/articolo.jsp?wi_number=3483&wi_codseq=&language=en|title=Israeli Christians Flourishing in Education but Falling in Number|website=Terrasanta.net|access-date=5 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107232958/http://www.terrasanta.net/tsx/articolo.jsp?wi_number=3483&wi_codseq=&language=en|archive-date=7 January 2016|url-status=dead}} They have the lowest incidence of poverty and the lowest percentage of unemployment which is 4.9% compared to 6.5% among Jewish men and women.{{cite web|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/163468|title=Christians in Israel Well-Off, Statistics Show: Christians in Israel are prosperous and well-educated - but some fear that Muslim intimidation will cause a mass escape to the West|website=Arutz Sheva|date=24 December 2012 |access-date=5 September 2016}} They have also the highest median household income among Arab citizens of Israel and second highest median household income among the Israeli ethno-religious groups.{{cite web |url=http://www.abrahamfund.org/webfiles/fck/%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%A7%204%20-%20%D7%A4%D7%A2%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D%20%D7%97%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%99%D7%9D%20%D7%9B%D7%9C%D7%9B%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%99%D7%9D.pdf |title=פרק 4 פערים חברתיים-כלכליים בין ערבים לבין יהודים |website=Abrahamfund.org |access-date=2016-09-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019125243/http://www.abrahamfund.org/webfiles/fck/%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%A7%204%20-%20%D7%A4%D7%A2%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D%20%D7%97%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%99%D7%9D%20%D7%9B%D7%9C%D7%9B%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%99%D7%9D.pdf |archive-date=2015-10-19 |url-status=dead }} Arab Christians also have a high presentation in science and in the white collar professions.{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/7603271|title=David, H. (2014). Are Christian Arabs the New Israeli Jews? Reflections on the Educational Level of Arab Christians in Israel|journal=International Letters of Social and Humanistic Studies, 21(3) 175-187|access-date=5 September 2016|last1=David|first1=Hanna}} In Israel, Arab Christians are portrayed as a hard-working and upper-middle-class educated ethno-religious minority. According to study the majority of Christians in Israel (68.2 per cent) are employed in the service sector, i.e. banks, insurance companies, schools, tourism, hospitals etc.

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In 2019, approximately 70.2% of Arab Christians resided in the Northern District, 13.3% in the Haifa District, 9.5% in the Jerusalem District, 3.4% in the Central District, 2.7% in the Tel Aviv District and 0.5% in the Southern District.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/mediarelease/DocLib/2019/400/11_19_400e.pdf|title=Christmas 2019 - Christians in Israel|date=29 December 2019|publisher=Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel)}} Approximately 23.5% of Non-Arab Christians resided in the Tel Aviv District, 19.4% in the Haifa District, 17.5% in the Central District, 14.4% in the Northern District, 14.3% in the Southern District and 9.8% in the Jerusalem District.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/mediarelease/DocLib/2020/419/11_20_419e.pdf|title=Christmas 2020 - Christians in Israel|date=29 December 2019|publisher=Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel)}}

Nazareth has the largest Christian Arab population, followed by Haifa. The majority of Haifa's Arab minority is Christian.{{cite news |last=Hadid |first=Diaa |title=In Israeli City of Haifa, a Liberal Palestinian Culture Blossoms |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/04/world/middleeast/in-israeli-city-of-haifa-a-liberal-palestinian-culture-blossoms.html |access-date=4 January 2016 |work=The New York Times |date=4 January 2016 |archive-date=2 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502175750/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/04/world/middleeast/in-israeli-city-of-haifa-a-liberal-palestinian-culture-blossoms.html |url-status=live }} The Christian Arab communities in Nazareth and Haifa tend to be wealthier and better educated compared to Arabs elsewhere in Israel.{{cite book|title=The Israeli Palestinians: An Arab Minority in the Jewish State| first=Alexander |last=Bligh|year= 2004| isbn= 9781135760779| page =132|publisher=Routledge|quote=}} Arab Christians also live in a number of other localities in the Galilee; such as Abu Snan, Arraba, Bi'ina, Deir Hanna, I'billin, Jadeidi-Makr, Kafr Kanna, Muqeible, Ras al-Ein, Reineh, Sakhnin, Shefa-Amr, Tur'an and Yafa an-Naseriyye.{{cite book|title=Arab-Palestinian Society in the Israeli Political System: Integration versus Segregation in the Twenty-First Century| first=Rami |last=Zeedan|year= 2019| isbn= 9781498553155| page =52|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|quote=}}

Localities such as Eilabun, Jish, Kafr Yasif and Rameh are predominantly Christian, and nearly all residents of Fassuta and Mi'ilya are Melkite Christians.{{cite news |date=23 December 2018 |title=Celebrating Christmas in Israel's ancient Greek Catholic villages |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5431903,00.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181223201026/https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5431903,00.html |archive-date=23 December 2018 |newspaper=Ynetnews |publisher=Ynet}} Some Druze villages, such as Daliyat al-Karmel,[https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/doclib/2018/local_authorities16_1722/460_0494.pdf Daliyat al-Karmel] {{in lang|he}} Ein Qiniyye, Hurfeish, Isfiya, Kisra-Sumei, Maghar, Majdal Shams and Peki'in, have small Christian Arab populations. Mixed cities such as Acre, Jerusalem, Lod, Ma'alot-Tarshiha, Nof HaGalil, Ramla and Tel Aviv-Jaffa have significant Christian Arab populations."The Arab Population of Israel 2003," Nurit Yaffe, Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, [http://www.cbs.gov.il/statistical/arab_pop03e.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201024709/http://www.cbs.gov.il/statistical/arab_pop03e.pdf|date=1 December 2007}}

• Note: The overwhelming majority of the Christians in the Northern District are Arab Christians.

File:Wikimania 2011-08-07 by-RaBoe-078.jpg in the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth.]]

Christians in Israel are generally more religious than Israeli Jews and Druze. Over half (57%) say religion is very important in their lives.{{cite web |date=8 March 2016 |title=Israel's Religiously Divided Society: Religious commitment |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2016/03/08/religious-commitment/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515212702/https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2016/03/08/religious-commitment/ |archive-date=15 May 2022 |access-date=23 February 2017 |publisher=Pew Research Center}} About one third (34%) pray daily and 38% report that they attend church at least once a week. Israeli Christians also are more likely than Jews and Druze to participate in weekly worship services. Nearly all (94%) Israeli Christians believe in God, of whom 79% say they are absolutely certain.

According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2015, 60% of Christians in Israel fast during Lent,{{cite web |date=8 March 2016 |title=Israel's Religiously Divided Society: Muslim and Christian beliefs and practices |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2016/03/08/muslim-and-christian-beliefs-and-practices/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515203747/https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2016/03/08/muslim-and-christian-beliefs-and-practices/ |archive-date=15 May 2022 |access-date=23 February 2017 |publisher=Pew Research Center}} Most (81%) also said that they have icons of saints or other holy figures in their home. Of them, 83% claimed that their icons were anointed with holy oil. The survey also found that the majority of Israeli Christians (89%) say the Bible is the word of God, of whom 65% believe that the Bible should be taken literally. 33% of Christians believe that Jesus will return during their lifetime, which was similar to the number of Muslims who held that belief (33%).

The majority of Christians are not comfortable with their child marrying outside of the faith.

Christians in Israel are more likely than Jews, Muslims, and Druze to say they are proud of their identity.{{cite web |date=8 March 2016 |title=Israel's Religiously Divided Society: Identity |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2016/03/08/identity/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309230628/https://www.pewforum.org/2016/03/08/identity/ |archive-date=9 March 2016 |access-date=23 February 2017 |publisher=Pew Research Center}} About 89% say they have a strong sense of belonging to the Christian community. Two thirds believe that they have a special responsibility to help fellow members of their religious group who are in need around the world.

The nature of Christian identity varies among Christians as well. Christians in Israel are about evenly divided among those who say their identity is mainly a matter of religion (31%), those who say being Christian is mainly about ancestry and/or culture (34%) and those who say their identity is characterized by a combination of religion and ancestry/culture (34%).

In September 2014, Minister of the Interior Gideon Sa'ar instructed the {{Abbr|PIBA|Population Immigration and Border Authority}} to recognize Arameans as an ethnicity separate from Israeli Arabs.{{cite news |last1=Yalon |first1=Yori |date=17 September 2014 |title='Aramean' officially recognized as nationality in Israel |url=http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=20169 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000728/http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=20169 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=14 December 2014 |work=Israel Hayom}}{{Cite news |last=Aderet |first=Ofer |date=9 September 2018 |title=Neither Arab nor Jew: Israel's Unheard Minorities Speak Up After the Nation-state Law |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-neither-arab-nor-jew-israel-s-unheard-minorities-speak-up-1.6464684 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629042955/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2018-09-09/ty-article-magazine/.premium/neither-arab-nor-jew-israels-unheard-minorities-speak-up/0000017f-e383-df7c-a5ff-e3fb8b790000 |archive-date=29 June 2022 |newspaper=Haaretz}} Under the Ministry of the Interior's guidance, people born into Christian families or clans who have either Aramaic or Maronite cultural heritage within their family are eligible to register as Arameans. About 200 Christian families were thought to be eligible prior to this decision.{{cite news |last1=Lis |first1=Jonathan |date=17 September 2014 |title=Israel recognizes Aramean minority in Israel as separate nationality |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.616299 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818190021/https://www.haaretz.com/2014-09-17/ty-article/israel-recognizes-arameans-as-official-group/0000017f-e5df-df5f-a17f-ffdfe07b0000 |archive-date=18 August 2022 |access-date=17 December 2014 |work=Haaretz}} According to an August 9, 2013 Israel Hayom article, at that time an estimated 10,500 persons were eligible to receive Aramean ethnic status according to the new regulation, including 10,000 Maronites (which included 2,000 former SLA members) and 500 Syriac Catholics.{{cite web |language=he |url=http://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/107811 |title=אנחנו לא ערבים - אנחנו ארמים |date=August 9, 2013 |website=ישראל היום |access-date=November 13, 2022 |first1=אמילי |last1=עמרוסי}}

The first person to receive the "Aramean" ethnic status in Israel was 2 year old Yaakov Halul in Jish on October 20, 2014.{{cite news |last1=Newman |first1=Marissa |date=21 October 2014 |title=In first, Israeli Christian child registers as Aramean |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-first-israeli-christian-child-registers-as-aramean/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206081316/https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-first-israeli-christian-child-registers-as-aramean/ |archive-date=6 December 2022 |access-date=14 December 2014 |work=The Times of Israel}}

Another milestone in recognizing Aramean minority as a distinct culture in Israel was made by Israeli court in 2019, which ruled that the Aramean minority could choose Jewish or Arab education, rather than making children with Aramean identity to be automatically designated to Arabic-language schools.{{Cite news |last=Kadari-Ovadia |first=Shira |date=17 October 2019 |title=Israeli court rules that Aramean minority can choose Jewish or Arab education |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israel-rules-that-aramean-minority-can-choose-jewish-or-arab-education-1.7995961 |access-date=26 November 2024 |newspaper=Haaretz}}

The recognition of the Aramean ethnicity led to mixed reactions among Israeli minorities, the Christian community, and among the general Arab Israeli population. While some celebrated the success of their long legal struggle to be recognized as a non-Arab ethnic minority, other members of the Arab community in Israel denounced it as an attempt to divide Arab Christians.{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Ariel |date=28 September 2014 |title=Israeli Greek Orthodox Church denounces Aramaic Christian nationality |url=http://www.jpost.com/Christian-News/Israeli-Greek-Orthodox-Denounce-Move-to-Differentiate-Christians-from-Arabs-376493 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018121020/https://www.jpost.com/Christian-News/Israeli-Greek-Orthodox-Denounce-Move-to-Differentiate-Christians-from-Arabs-376493 |archive-date=18 October 2023 |access-date=14 December 2014 |work=Jerusalem Post}} Representatives of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem officially denounced the move.

Many in Israeli academia advocate the recognition of the Aramean identity and have called on the government of Israel to promote the awareness regarding this issue on the basis of the international principle of ethnic self-determination as espoused by Wilson's 14 points.{{cite web |last=Kedar |first=Mordechai |date=27 September 2014 |title=Is There Really an Aramean Nation? |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/15717 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324070023/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/344305 |archive-date=24 March 2023 |access-date=26 November 2024 |website=Israel National News}} One of the staunchest supporters of the recognition of the Aramean identity is Gabriel Naddaf, who is one of the leaders of the Christians in Israel. He advocated on behalf of his Aramean followers and thanked the Interior Ministry's decision as a "historic move".{{cite web|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/185214|title=New Nationality for Christians: Aramaean|website=Israel National News|date=17 September 2014 }}

File:Israeli Arab-speaking Christians.jpg|Geographical distribution of the Arabic-speaking Christian population of Israel by statistical area.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/doclib/2017/population_madaf/population_madaf_2019_8.xls|title="8. אוכלוסייה ביישובים ובאזורים סטטיסטיים, לפי דת, סוף 2019"|publisher=Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel)}}

File:Israeli Non-Arab Christians.jpg|Geographical distribution of the Non-Arabic-speaking Christian population of Israel by statistical area.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/doclib/2017/population_madaf/population_madaf_2019_8.xls|title="8. אוכלוסייה ביישובים ובאזורים סטטיסטיים, לפי דת, סוף 2019"|publisher=Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel)}}

File:Geographycal distribution of the main ethno-cultural communities Haifa and Northern districts.jpg|Geographical distribution of the main ethno-cultural communities Haifa and Northern districts{{cite web|url=https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/doclib/2017/population_madaf/population_madaf_2019_8.xls|title="8. אוכלוסייה ביישובים ובאזורים סטטיסטיים, לפי דת, סוף 2019"|publisher=Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel)}}

{{portal|Christianity|Israel}}

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

• Arameans in Israel
• Assyrians in Israel
• Christian Zionism
• Blackstone Memorial (1891)
• Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem (2004)
• Jerusalem Declaration on Christian Zionism (2006)
• Christianity and Judaism
• Christianity in the Middle East
• Palestinian Christians
• Persecution of Christians in the Middle East
• Ethical monotheism
• Ger toshav
• Groups claiming affiliation with Israelites
• Israeli citizenship law
• Jewish Christianity
• Judaizers
• Judeo-Christian
• Messianic Jews
• Subbotniks
• Relations between Judaism and Christianity
• British Israelism
• Catholic Church and Judaism
• Christian Zionism
• Eastern Orthodoxy and Judaism
• Jewish views on Jesus
• Jesus in the Talmud
• Rejection of Jesus
• Protestantism and Judaism
• Righteous among the Nations
• {{section link|Religion in Israel|Christianity}}
• {{section link|Religion in the Middle East|Christianity}}
• Sons of Noah

{{div col end}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{refbegin}}

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721221302/http://www.avrumehrlich.net/pdfarticles/arabchristianity.pdf M. Avrum Ehrlich, Past, Present and Future Developments of Arab Christianity in the Holy Land]
• Amnon Ramon, [https://jerusaleminstitute.org.il/en/publications/christianity-christians-in-the-jewish-state/ Christianity & Christians in the Jewish State: Israeli Policy toward the Churches and Christian Communities], Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research.

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