Introduction
Orthodox Churches
Non-Chalcedonian Churches
Latin & Uniate Churches
Protestant Churches
Other Denominations
Demographics
Freedom of Religion
Holy Places
Communal Autonomy
"Recognized" Communities
Crime
The IDF

Introduction

The history of the Christian communities in the Land of Israel begins with the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. After his death, the early Apostolic Church, at least in and around Jerusalem, remained Judeo-Christian until the rebuilding of Jerusalem (c. 130 CE) by Hadrian as the Roman city of Aelia Capitolina. Since this date, the local church has been entirely gentile in composition. It was also one and undivided, until the early Ecumenical Councils. By the time of the Muslim conquest, the church in the East was already subdivided into various sects, although they seem to have continued to share in the use of the Holy Places. It was only with the Crusader Kingdoms, and the paramountcy (praedominium) enjoyed by the Latin Church of the West, that contention arose regarding the Holy Places and continued unabated through the Mamluk and Ottoman periods until the declaration of the Status Quo in 1852.

The communities may be divided into four basic categories – Orthodox, Non-Chalcedonian (Monophysite), Catholic (Latin and Uniate), and Protestant - consisting of some 20 ancient and indigenous churches, and another 30, primarily Protestant, denominational groups. Except for national churches, such as the Armenian, the indigenous communities are predominantly Arabic-speaking; most likely descendants of the early Christian communities of the Byzantine period.

The Orthodox Churches

The Orthodox Church (also termed Eastern or Greek-Orthodox Church) consists of a family of Churches, all of which acknowledge the honorary primacy of the Patriarch of Constantinople. Historically, this Church developed from the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire Churches.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate considers itself the Mother Church of Jerusalem, whose bishop patriarchal dignity was granted by the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Since 1054, it has been in schism with Rome. However, in 1964, a historic meeting between Pope Paul VI and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Athenagoras, was held in Jerusalem.

After 1099 and the Crusader conquest, the (Orthodox) patriarchate of Jerusalem, already in exile, was removed to Constantinople. Permanent residence in Jerusalem was not reestablished until 1845.

Since 1662, the direction of Orthodox interests in the Holy Land has rested with the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher, which has sought to safeguard the status of the Orthodox Church in the Holy Places and preserve the Patriarchate’s Hellenistic character.

The parishes are predominantly Arabic-speaking and are served by Arab-married priests as well as by members of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher. The community numbers about 120,000 in Jerusalem, the Galilee, Judea, Samaria, and Gaza.

Two other historic Orthodox national churches are represented in the country: the Russian and the Romanian. Being in communion with the Greek Orthodox Church, they are under the local jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.

The Russian Orthodox mission was established in Jerusalem in 1858, but Russian Christians had begun visiting the Holy Land in the 11th century, only a few years after the Conversion of Kyiv. Such visits continued over the next 900 years, eventually growing into the great annual pilgrimages of the late 19th century, which continued until World War I and ended with the Russian Revolution.

Since 1949, title to Russian church properties in what was by then the territory of Israel has been held by the Russian Orthodox Mission (Patriarchate of Moscow); title to properties in areas then under Jordanian control remains with the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission representing the Russian Orthodox Church in Exile. The two missions are each led by an archimandrite, who is assisted by several monks and nuns.

A mission representing the Romanian Orthodox Church was established in 1935. An archimandrite leads it and comprises a small community of monks and nuns in Jerusalem.

The Non-Chalcedonian Churches

The Non-Chalcedonian churches are churches of the East - Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, and Syrian - that rejected the Council of Chalcedon (451) teaching on Christ’s double (divine and human) nature. The non-Chalcedonian churches hold the Monophysite doctrine that in Christ there was but a single, divine nature.

The Armenian Orthodox Church dates from the year 301 and the conversion of Armenia, the first nation to embrace Christianity. An Armenian religious community has been present in Jerusalem since the 5th century. Armenian sources date the first Patriarchate to a charter the Caliph Omar gave to Patriarch Abraham in the year 638. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem was established in 1311.

Throughout the 19th century and during and immediately after World War I, the local Armenian community grew with the absorption of survivors of the Anatolian massacres, particularly those of 1915. Before 1939, the community numbered more than 15,000 and was the third-largest Christian group. Today, the community numbers about 4,000 in Jerusalem, Haifa, Jaffa, and Bethlehem.

The Coptic Orthodox Church has its roots in Egypt, where most of the population became Christian during the first centuries. They claim to have arrived in Jerusalem with St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine. This church early influenced the development of desert monasticism in the wilderness of Judea. The community flourished during the Mamluk period (1250-1517), and again with Mohammed Ali in 1830. Since the 13th century, a resident archbishop has represented the (Coptic) Patriarch of Alexandria in Jerusalem. The community has over 1,000 members in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Nazareth.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has had a community in Jerusalem since at least the Middle Ages. Early Church historians mention Ethiopian pilgrims in the Holy Land as early as the 4th century. What is certain is that during the centuries that followed, the Ethiopian Church enjoyed important rights in the Holy Places, but lost most of them during the Turkish period, before the declaration of the Status Quo.

Today, the Ethiopian Church in Israel is a small community led by an archbishop, mainly consisting of a few dozen monks and nuns (although the lay community is growing), living in the Old City and around the Ethiopian Church in West Jerusalem. Since the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and Ethiopia, pilgrimage has increased, with almost 1,000 Ethiopian pilgrims participating in Holy Week observances in 1995.

The Syrian Orthodox Church is a successor to the ancient Church of Antioch, one of the oldest Christian communities in the Middle East. Among its traditions is the continued use of the Syriac language (Western Aramaic) in the liturgy and prayers. They are also known as Jacobites (after Jacob Baradaeus, who organized the Church in the 6th century). Their patriarch is resident in Damascus. Syrian Orthodox bishops have been in Jerusalem since 793, permanently, since 1471. Today, the local Church is headed by a bishop, who resides in Jerusalem at the 7th-century monastery of St. Mark. The community numbers about 2,000, most of whom live in Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

The Apostolic Church of the East (sometimes erroneously called Nestorians), originating from the border area between Turkey, Iran, and Iraq, follows the liturgy and prayers in the Syriac language (East Aramaic). Since 1917, its patriarch has resided in Chicago and Kerala (India). The church’s presence in Jerusalem was established in the 5th century. Today, it is represented by an archbishop.

The Latin and Uniate Churches

Whatever the relations between Rome and Constantinople, there was no attempt to establish a Western Church in the Holy Land independent of the Orthodox Patriarchate until the Crusader period, during which a Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem existed from 1099 till 1291. The office was again constituted in 1847. Until then, responsibility for the local church rested with the Franciscan Order, which served as Custodian of Latin holy places since the 14th century.

Today, the Latin Church of Jerusalem is headed by a patriarch, assisted by three vicars (resident in Nazareth, Amman, and Cyprus). The community in Israel numbers about 20,000 (with another 10,000 in the West Bank and Gaza).

The Maronite Church is a Christian community of Syrian origin, most of whose members live in Lebanon. The Maronite Church has been in formal communion with the Roman Catholic Church since 1182 and is the only Eastern church that is entirely Catholic. As a Uniate body (an Eastern Church in communion with Rome, which yet retains its respective language, rites, and canon law), they possess their own liturgy, which is, in essence, an Antiochene rite in the Syriac language.

The Maronite community in Israel numbers about 6,700, most of whom live in the Galilee. The Maronite Patriarchal Vicariate in Jerusalem dates from 1895.

The Greek Melkite Catholic Church came into being in 1724, the result of a schism in the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch. (Melkite dates from the 4th century and refers to local Christians who accepted the Definition of Faith of the Council of Chalcedon and remained in communion with Constantinople’s “Imperial” see.)

A Greek Catholic archdiocese was established in the Galilee in 1752. Twenty years later, Greek Catholics of Jerusalem were placed under the jurisdiction of the Melkite patriarch of Antioch, who is represented in Jerusalem by a patriarchal vicar. The present population of the Greek Catholic diocese of Galilee is about 50,000; the diocese of Jerusalem, about 3,000.

The Syrian Catholic Church, a uniate breakaway from the monophysite Syrian Orthodox church, has been in communion with Rome since 1663. The Syrian Catholics have their own patriarch (resident in Beirut), and since 1890, a patriarchal vicar in Jerusalem has served as spiritual leader of the small local community there and in Bethlehem, totaling about 350. In July 1985, the community consecrated the new patriarchal church in Jerusalem dedicated to St. Thomas, apostle to the peoples of Syria and India.

The Armenian Catholic Church separated from the Armenian Orthodox Church in 1741, though previously, an Armenian community in Cilicia (in southern Anatolia) had been in contact with Rome since the Crusader period.

The Armenian Catholic patriarch resides in Beirut because, at the time, Ottoman authorities forbade residency in Constantinople. A patriarchal vicariate was established in Jerusalem in 1842. The Armenian Catholic community in the Holy Land numbers about 900 members, living in Jerusalem, Bethany, Ramallah, Haifa, and Gaza. Though in union with Rome, the church has good relations with the Armenian Orthodox Church, and both cooperate to benefit the community.

The Coptic Catholic Church has been in union with Rome since 1741, but only in 1955 did the uniate Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria appoint a patriarchal vicar to Jerusalem, where the community today numbers about 35.

The Chaldean Catholic Church is a uniate descendant of the ancient Nestorian (Assyrian) church. Its members still preserve the use of Syriac as their liturgical language. It was established in 1551, and its patriarch is a resident of Baghdad. The community in the Holy Land numbers no more than a few families; even so, the Chaldean Catholic Church retains the status of a recognized religious community. Since 1903, a non-resident patriarchal vicar has represented the Chaldeans in Jerusalem. Of major significance for the Catholic Churches in the Holy Land was the signing, on December 30, 1993, of a Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Israel, which led to the establishment of full diplomatic relations between them a few months later.

The Protestant Churches

The Protestant communities in the Middle East only date from the early 19th century and the Western missionary rediscovery of the Holy Land. These missions aimed to evangelize the majority Muslim and Jewish communities, but their only success was attracting Arabic-speaking Orthodox faithful.

The Jerusalem Bishopric of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East (Anglican) was founded in 1841 and became an Archbishopric in 1957. In January 1976, significant changes were made to mark the end of the Archbishopric and the creation of a new Diocese and Province in Jerusalem and the Middle East, with the election and consecration of the first Arab bishop. There are some 4,500 Anglicans in the Diocese (2,500-3,000 in Israel), making it the largest Protestant community in the Holy Land. The Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem sits in the Cathedral Church of St. George the Martyr in Jerusalem.

The roots of the Lutheran Church in the Holy Land date back to 1841 when the Queen of the United Kingdom and the Prussian king decided to establish a joint Protestant Bishopric in Jerusalem. In 1886, the English and the German parts separated. The German congregation attracted increasingly Arabic-speaking people. Since 1979, the Arabic-speaking congregations have had their own bishop, and both churches exist independently of each other on the premises of the Propstei on Muristan Road in the Old City. The Arabic community has about 500 members, and the German community has about 200.

German Lutheran property, which had been confiscated by the British in 1939, was purchased by the government of Israel in 1951 as part of the reparations agreement with the Federal Republic of Germany.

In 1982, the Norwegian Mission to Israel transferred the authority and administration of its two mission churches in Haifa and Jaffa to the responsibility of the local congregations.

The Baptist Church in the Holy Land began with the formation of a congregation in Nazareth in 1911. Today, the Association of Baptist Churches has a total of ten churches and centers in the following places: Acre, Cana, Haifa, Jaffa, Jerusalem, Kefar Yassif, Nazareth, Petah-Tikvah, Rama, and Tur’an. The community numbers about 900, the majority of whom are Arabic-speaking.

The Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) sent out its first mission to the Galilee in 1840, and for the next 100 years, it was actively engaged in education and medicine. Today, a small, mostly expatriate community, serving pilgrims and visitors, the Church of Scotland maintains a church and a hospice in Jerusalem and Tiberias. The independent Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society maintains a teaching hospital for nurses in Nazareth.

The Church of God (Pentecostal) has a small community in Jerusalem, Nazareth, and the West Bank (about 200 in all), with an International Center on the Mount of Olives.

Three Protestant communal agricultural settlements have recently been established in different parts of Israel. Kfar Habaptistim, north of Petah Tikvah, was founded in 1955, and besides farming, provides conference and summer camp facilities for the Baptist and other Protestant communities in the country. Nes Amim, near Nahariya, was founded by a group of Dutch and German Protestants in 1963 as an international center for promoting Christian understanding of Israel. Just west of Jerusalem, Yad Hashmonah, founded in 1971, operates a guest house for Christian visitors and pilgrims from Finland.

In addition to those already mentioned, several other small Protestant denominational groups are present in Israel. The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem was founded in 1980 to demonstrate worldwide Christian support for Israel and for Jerusalem as its eternal capital. It is a center where Christians worldwide can gain a biblical understanding of the country and of Israel as a modern nation. The ICEJ international network includes offices and representatives in 50 countries worldwide.

Other Denominations

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) established a small community in Haifa in 1886 and Jerusalem in 1972. Today, the church’s membership numbers almost 200, with an additional 170 students from the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, a branch of Brigham Young University of Provo, Utah (USA).

Demographics

Historically, on the eve of World War I, the Christian population was about 70,000 – 10% of the population. During the 20th century, absolute numbers increased, but the relative number of Christians declined. By 1947, on the eve of Israeli independence, the Christian population in Mandatory Palestine was 143,000, or 7% of the total population. By the end of the war, 34,000 Christians remained within the borders of the State of Israel, less than 3% of the population.

Of the 10 million people living in Israel as of December 2024, 180,300 (2%) were Christians.

While Christians have fled from Palestinian-controlled areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip because of violence and persecution, the Christian population in Israel has increased over the past few decades. Since 2000, the population has grown by 34%. Still, based on a 2024 survey by the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue, one in three Christians said they did not feel accepted by Jewish Israelis and considered leaving the country — a number that rises to 48% for people under 30.

Most Christians (79%) are Arabs, but Christians comprise only 7% of the Israeli Arab community. Most non-Arab Christians living in Israel are citizens who immigrated to Israel since 1990, together with Jewish family members under the Law of Return.

Most of the Arab Christians reside in the Northern District (68%) and in the Haifa District (15%). The largest Arab Christian cities are Nazareth (19,800), Haifa (18,700), Jerusalem (13,100), and Nof HaGalil (10,500). Of the non-Arab Christians, 41% reside in the Tel Aviv and Central Districts, compared to 35% in the Northern and Haifa Districts.

In 2023, the total fertility rate of a Christian woman was an average of 1.64 children per woman. The number of children per Arab Christian woman was lower still, at 1.52 children per woman.

The average number of children up to age 17 in Christian families with children up to this age is 1.86. Of these Christian families, the average number of children up to age 17 in Arab Christian families is 1.94, smaller than in Jewish families (2.42) and Muslim families (2.62).

In the 2021/22 school year, 26,752 Christian students – 1.4% of the total students – attended primary and secondary schools. Nearly 84% of Christian 12th-grade students were eligible for a matriculation certificate. Just under 53% of the Arab Christians continued their studies toward a first degree within eight years of graduating high school, compared to only 31.2% of the total number of high-school graduates in the Arab school system and 48.2% in the Hebrew education.

The proportion of Hebrew students was higher than that of women among the total number of students in the advanced degrees: 65% and 53%, respectively, of those studying for a third degree, and 74% and 64%, respectively, of those studying for a second degree.

Compared with Muslim students, the percentage of Christian-Arab students studying for a first degree (bachelor’s degree) was lower in the following fields of study: education and teacher training, business and management sciences, and paramedical studies. In contrast, the percentage of those who studied social sciences (excl. business and management sciences), law, mathematics, statistics, and computer sciences was higher.

Of all students who were studying for a first degree, representation among the Christian students was highest in the following subjects of study: musicology (16%), management information systems (11%), and food engineering and technology (10%).

The average age at the first marriage of Christian grooms was 31, and that of Christian brides was 28 in 2024. These ages are higher than the average marriage ages among the other religions for grooms and brides.

The percentage of participation in the labor force in 2021 among Christians aged 15 and over was 66% (69% of men and 64% of women). This figure was 56% among Christian Arabs (64% of men and 49% of women).

In 2021, the average monthly salary was about $11,773.

Approximately 16,300 Christians – a rate of 90 per 1,000 persons – were registered at the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs in 2021.

In 2021, about 4,400 Christians – a rate of about 24.4 per 1,000 persons – were placed in social service frameworks.

In the year of judgment 2020, the rate of persons judged in criminal trials among the Christian population in Israel was about 208 per 100,000 persons; out of those judged, the rate among non-Arab Christians was substantially higher than the rate among Arab Christians (about 289 and 181 per 100,000 persons, respectively).

The rate of convicted Christians was about 185 per 100,000 persons. The rate of non-Arab Christian persons convicted was substantially higher than the rate of Arab Christians (about 252 and about 164 per 100,000 persons, respectively).

The most common offenses among persons convicted from the Christian population in Israel are as follows: offenses against public order (23%), bodily harm (22%), property offenses (16%), and morality offenses (15%).

Freedom of Religion

The essential attitude of the state toward religious pluralism found expression in the 1948 Declaration of Independence:

The State of Israel . . . will be based on freedom, justice, and peace as envisaged by the Prophets of Israel; it 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 . . . .

The document "expresses the nation’s vision and its credo," and adherence to these principles has been assured by law. Each religious community is free to exercise its faith, observe its holy days and weekly day of rest, and administer its own internal affairs.

Holy Places

Israel has many sites that are considered holy by the three Monotheistic Faiths (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). Freedom of access and worship is ensured at all of them.

"The Holy Places shall be protected from desecration and any other violation and from anything likely to violate the freedom of access of members of the various religions to the places sacred to them, or their feelings with regard to those places." (Protection of Holy Places Law, 1967).

Among the holy sites which are of significance to Christianity are the Via Dolorosa, the Room of the Last Supper, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem; the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth; and the Mount of Beatitudes, Tabgha, and Capernaum near Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee).

Communal Autonomy

By their own volition, the Christian communities have remained the most autonomous of the various religious communities in the country. In recent years, however, the Christian communities have increasingly tended to integrate their social welfare, medical, and educational institutions into state structures, without compromising their traditional independence.

Though responsible for meeting the ritual needs of all communities, the Ministry of Religious Affairs deliberately refrains from interfering in the religious life of the Christian communities. The Ministry’s Department for Christian Communities serves as a liaison office with the governmental system to which the Christian communities can turn with problems and requests that may arise from their situation as minorities in the Land. The Ministry also serves as a neutral arbitrator in preserving the established status quo in those holy places where more than one Christian community has rights and privileges.

“Recognized” Communities

Certain Christian denominations have the status of being a ‘recognized’ religious community. For historical reasons dating from Ottoman times, the ecclesiastical courts of such communities are granted jurisdiction in matters of personal status, such as marriage and divorce.

Currently, the recognized Christian communities are the Greek Orthodox, the (Melkite) Greek Catholic, the Latin, the Armenian Orthodox, the Syrian Catholic, the Chaldean Catholic, the Maronite, the Syrian Orthodox, the Armenian Catholic, and - since 1970 - the (Anglican) Evangelical Episcopal.

Crime

The 2024 Annual Report by the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue reported a total of 111 anti-Christian incidents including 46 physical attacks, 35 attacks against church properties, and 13 cases of harassment. Perpetrators usually belong to the ultra-Orthodox and national-religious communities. The majority of the victims are clergy or people wearing visible Christian symbols.

The IDF

The obligation to serve in the Israeli army applies only to Jews, Druze, and Circassians. Christians are not required to serve in the IDF. Nevertheless, some Christians do volunteer. In 2019, one soldier was appointed a lieutenant colonel, making him the first soldier of his faith to achieve that rank.

Sources: Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz, “Onward Christian Soldier: Life as a Non-Jew in the IDF,” Breaking Israel News, (January 8, 2019).
Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Eytan Halon, “Israel’s Christian population grows to 177,000 citizens,” Jerusalem Post, (December 23, 2019).
“Israel’s Christian community is growing, 84% satisfied with life here – report,” Times of Israel, (December 22, 2021).
Ash Obel, “Annual Christmas report says Israel’s Christian population has grown to 185,000,” Times of Israel, (December 26, 2022).
“Christmas 2022 - Christians in Israel,” Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, (December 21, 2022).
Rossella Tercatin, “Report shows rise in attacks on Christians in Israel, but a willingness to tackle issue,” Times of Israel, (March 27, 2025).

Photo of Holy Sepulcher courtesy of Israeli Government Press Office and Ministry of Tourism, all rights reserved to Albatross/Itamar Greenberg and to the Israeli Ministry of Tourism.

Minority Communities in Israel: The Christian Communities of Israel