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| Total population | |
|---|---|
| ~185,000 (1.9% of the Israeli population) (2022 estimate) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Israel | |
| Languages | |
| Arabic, Hebrew |
Christianity (Hebrew: נצרות, romanized: Natsrút; Arabic: المسيحية, romanized: al-Masīḥiyya) is the third largest religion in Israel, after Judaism and Islam. At the end of 2022, Christians made up 1.9% of the Israeli population, numbering approximately 185,000. 75.8% of the Christians in Israel are Arab Christians. Christians make up 6.9% of the Arab-Israelis.[1]
| Christianity by country |
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 Christianity portal |
Ten Christian churches are formally recognized under Israel's confessional system, for the self-regulation and state recognition of status issues, such as marriage and divorce: the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Armenian Catholic Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, the Greek Orthodox Church, the Latin Catholic Church, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, the Syriac Catholic Church, the Syriac Maronite Church, and the Syriac Orthodox Church.[2] However, the practice of religion is free, with no restrictions on the practice of other denominations. Approximately 300 Christians have converted from Islam according to one 2014 estimate, and most of them are part of the Catholic Church.[3] About 20,000 Israelis also practice Messianic Judaism, usually considered a syncretist form of Christianity. They are mostly classified as being "without a religious affiliation" rather than being classified as either Jewish or Christian.
Arab Christians are mostly adherents of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church (60% of Arab Christians in Israel).[4] Some 40% of all Israeli Christians are affiliated with the Melkite Greek Church, and some 30% with the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.[4] Smaller numbers are split between the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, with 13% of Christians, as well as an unknown number of Russian Orthodox Christians, about 13,000 Maronites and other Syriac Christians, 3,000 to 5,000 adherents of Armenian churches, a community of around 1,000 Coptic Christians, and small branches of Protestants. The number of Christians in Israel is higher than in the Palestinian territories.
Israeli Christians are historically bound with neighbouring Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian Christians. The cities and communities where most Christians in Israel reside are Haifa, Nazareth, Shefa-Amr, Jish, Mi'ilya, Fassuta and Kafr Yasif.[5] The Christian communities in Israel run numerous schools, colleges, hospitals, clinics, orphanages, homes for the elderly, dormitories, family and youth centers, hotels, and guesthouses.[6] The Christian community in Israel is the one of the few growing Christian populations in the Middle East.[7][8] Israeli Arab Christians generally have higher educational achievements and enjoy higher incomes.[6][9][10][11]
- ^ "Christmas 2022 - Christians in Israel". www.cbs.gov.il. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
- ^ "Israel 2022 International Religious Freedom Report" (PDF). US Department of State. 2022. page 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-10-10. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
- ^ Miller, Duane Alexander (April 2014). "FREEDOM OF RELIGION IN ISRAEL-PALESTINE: MAY MUSLIMS BECOME CHRISTIANS, AND DO CHRISTIANS HAVE THE FREEDOM TO WELCOME SUCH CONVERTS?". St Francis Magazine. 10 (1): 17–24.
- ^ a b "The Christian communities in Israel". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 1 May 2014. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
- ^ "The Christian communities in Israel". mfa.gov.il.
- ^ a b McGahern, Una (2011). Palestinian Christians in Israel: State Attitudes Towards Non-Muslims in a Jewish State. Routledge. p. 51. ISBN 9780415605717.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
:1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Stier, Haya; Khattab, Nabil; Miaari, Sami (15 August 2023). Socioeconomic Inequality in Israel: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis. USA: Palgrave Macmillan~quote=Christians have, on average, higher educational achievements, marry at an older age, have fewer children, and enjoy larger income... Druze and Muslims share many cultural patterns, and they have a similar socioeconomic standing, but while Druze males have to serve in the military, Muslim men (as well as Christian) do not. p. 88. ISBN 9781503636132.
- ^ Al-Haj, Majid (2024). Education Among Indigenous Palestinians in Israel: Inequality, Cultural Hegemony, and Social Change. State University of New York Press. p. 92. ISBN 9781438498560.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:2was invoked but never defined (see the help page).