Jerusalem, Mar 29, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).
On March 27 in Jerusalem, the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue presented findings from its annual report, “Attacks on Christians in Israel and East Jerusalem,” and from a survey conducted in December 2024 with 300 Palestinian/Arab Christians in Israel and East Jerusalem providing insight into their perceptions of various aspects of life.
The briefing was held at the Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center. A panel of experts who shed light on the challenges and anxieties facing the local Christian population included Hana Bendcowsky, director of the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations at the Rossing Center; Hussam Elias, executive director of the project; Jesuit Father David Neuhaus; and Bernard Sabella, a retired professor of sociology.
The report documents a rise in incidents of intimidation and aggression targeting Christian communities throughout 2024. Currently, there are approximately 180,000 Christians living in Israel (about 1.8% of the Israeli population), and 78.8 % of them are Arab.
Physical attacks emerged as the most prevalent category among the 111 documented cases, with the majority targeting clergy, easily identifiable by their religious attire. Spitting was identified as a common form of physical harassment. Vandalism and desecration targeting Christian churches, including graffiti, stone-throwing, and arson, were also documented.
According to the report, the perpetrators in all known cases were identified as Jewish individuals, primarily young men from ultra-Orthodox and national-religious circles, driven by a mixture of nationalist fervor and religious extremism.
These events cause Christians to feel threatened and unwelcome in their own homeland. That’s even more clear in the survey, which revealed mixed feelings regarding acceptance by Israeli Jewish society. While 30.8% of Christians feel accepted as part of Israeli society, 34% do not, with a higher feeling of nonacceptance (56%) among the 18-29 age group.
After the approval of the basic law “Israel the Nation State of the Jewish People” in 2018, 64.8% of the respondents believe it confirms Christians as second-class citizens. A significant portion (36%) are considering emigration, with a higher percentage in Haifa (48%). Security reasons (44%) and the socio-political situation (33%) were identified as key motivational factors.
Regarding religious freedom, a majority (58.5%) feel comfortable wearing visible religious symbols in mixed or predominantly Israeli-Jewish areas, though discomfort is higher in East Jerusalem (42%).
Very significant is the theme of identity: 34% of the respondents identified themselves as Arab Christian, 23% as Israeli Christian, and 13% as Palestinian Christian, indicating a complex interplay of religious and national affiliations.
Interviewed by CNA after the briefing, Sabella noted the feeling among Christians as being “in the middle.”
“After the Iranian revolution in 1979 there was a transformation across the region,” he explained. “Palestinians and Arabs started identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims. As a reaction, Palestinian Christians and Israeli Arab Christians started identifying themselves as Christians.”
Sabella cautioned against an overemphasis on religious identity at the expense of a broader, inclusive identity tied to the place.
“The risk is of making society not an inclusive society but a society divided along religious and ethnic creeds or differences. Therefore you lose that inclusive and comprehensive identity that ties you to the place irrespective of the nation or irrespective of the religion,” he said.
“If you become more entrenched in your religious identity,” Sabella continued, “there is a danger of losing the larger identity to which you belong. As Christians, we need to find a shared space with all others.”
Bendcowsky highlighted a worsening political and social climate, especially after Oct. 7, 2023 — the report devotes considerable space to analyzing the context — characterized by increased extremism, polarization, and a lack of tolerance toward minorities.
She emphasized a growing willingness of churches and Christians to report and denounce attacks as well as an increased presence of law enforcement — although there is often a lack of real dialogue and involvement of authorities in understanding and responding to the needs of the Christian communities.
The situation on Mount Zion, where Jewish and Christian religious traditions converge in a compact space, was presented as a case study of a complicated place facing neglect and negative elements leading to attacks on visitors. In recent years the number of incidents increased, resulting in vandalism to Christian religious buildings and cemeteries, in addition to physical harassment of Christian clergy and tourists.
The Rossing Center report points out that “the targeting of Christianity is not part of the political agenda” but is more linked to “a socio-political climate” and “a growing sense of nationalism, and the emphasis on Israel primarily as a state for the Jewish population.”
Challenges that churches face in dealing with authorities include visas for clergy, permits for religious holidays, the tax status of churches, and attempts to expropriate some land. “Christians are simply not a priority and they do not care,” Bendcowsky told CNA at the end of the meeting. “They are not purposely attacking Christians, but it is on purpose to not care about them.”
The briefing highlighted a complex and concerning situation for Christian communities in Israel and East Jerusalem. While there are positive developments in reporting and public awareness, significant efforts are needed to ensure the security, religious freedom, and continued presence of Christian communities in the Holy Land.
That’s also why the report includes “recommendations” for all the stakeholders. The focal point is to work on mutual understanding and dialogue. The Rossing Center encourages the development of greater awareness of these issues at the political and diplomatic levels as well as actions by those affected to condemn them on the part of the authorities.
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More anti-Israel spin by CNA?
As one philosophically inclined I tend to look at ‘the big picture’ [remember that hackneyed term?]. What might that be if not the universal persecution of Christianity.
Now what’s occurring in Israel [a strange throwback to the early Jerusalem Church] and Africa is easily identifiable. What’s occurring in our Nation is not so evident. Nonetheless evident, seen by the Left as redneck Christian populism, Catholic bigotry, or a kind of Nazi ideology. Under the previous administration Catholic parishes were investigated by FBI as potential hotbeds of terrorism, ironically ordered by a self proclaimed Catholic president with apparent good relations with the Roman pontiff.
Who is the devil in all this? Is it the modern half hearted Catholic parishioner, or the morally deranged Marxist perceiving dragons everywhere [recall Stalin’s paranoia and the frequent deadly purges of the perceived reactionary]. Or is the devil the spirit of the day, the Zeitgeist gone devilish. Why Catholics? The threat? Now weak kneed remnants of what they once were. Nonetheless, who else is there?
I keep repeating myself but the folks who behave this way to Christians behave in a like manner to non observant and Reform Jews as well. Most Israelis consider it obnoxious behavior no matter who it’s directed at.