{"id":12801,"date":"2016-05-10T14:00:53","date_gmt":"2016-05-10T19:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/5-facts-about-israeli-christians\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:18:04","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:18:04","slug":"5-facts-about-israeli-christians","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2016\/05\/10\/5-facts-about-israeli-christians\/","title":{"rendered":"5 facts about Israeli Christians"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Christian<\/a>
Christian Arab worshipers carry a large wooden cross as they enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre during the Good Friday procession in Jerusalem’s Old City on April 6, 2012. (Photo credit: Ahmad Gharabli\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n\n

Religion plays a significant role in Israeli society, and because so many Christians around the world look to the country where Jesus lived and died as a source of inspiration, Israel\u2019s tiny Christian community is of special interest. Four of the five most recent popes have visited Israel; Pope Francis traveled there in 2014.<\/p>\n\n

Christians currently make up just 2% of Israel\u2019s adult population. Indeed, as of 2010<\/a>, Christians made up a small share (4%) of the population in the Middle East-North Africa region as a whole.<\/p>\n\n

A Pew Research Center survey<\/a> of Israel provides a rare window into the religious beliefs and practices of this close-knit group. Here are five\u00a0key takeaways from our survey:<\/p>\n\n

The vast majority of Israelis who say they are Christian also say they are ethnically Arab. <\/strong>In this regard, they share an ethnicity with the larger Muslim population, which makes up an estimated 14% of Israel\u2019s adult population and is almost entirely Arab. Most of Israel\u2019s Druze population<\/a> also identifies as ethnically Arab, although Druze are often considered a unique ethnoreligious group.<\/p>\n\n

Politically, Christians agree with Muslims in saying Israel cannot<\/em> be a democracy and a Jewish state at the same time<\/strong>. About seven-in-ten Christians (72%) and 63% of Muslims take this view. Israeli Christians have political views similar to those of their fellow Arabs on several other issues as well. For example, majorities of Christians (80%) and Muslims (72%) say the Israeli government is not<\/em> making a sincere effort to achieve a peace agreement with the Palestinians, and most Christians (79%) and Muslims (61%) in Israel also say the continued building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank hurts Israel\u2019s security. And Israeli Christians (86%) and Muslims (75%) both overwhelmingly say the U.S. is too supportive<\/em> of Israel.<\/p>\n\n

Israeli Christians tend to be less religious than Israeli Muslims but more religious than Israeli Jews<\/strong> on key measures of religious commitment. For example, in Israel, 57% of Christians say religion is very important to them personally, compared with roughly two-thirds (68%) of Muslims and three-in-ten Jews. Israeli Christians also tend to fall between Muslims and Jews on other measures of religious commitment. About one-third of Israeli Christians pray daily (34%) and 38% say they attend religious services at least weekly. By comparison, 61% of Muslims and 21% of Jews pray every day, and about half of Muslims (49%) and a quarter of Jews (27%) report attending religious services at least weekly.<\/p>\n\n

Israeli Christians have limited social and family connections with Jews as well as with Arabs from other religious groups. <\/strong>A large majority of Christians say all (21%) or most (65%) of their close friends are Christian. Christians also are almost universally married to other Christians, and they are uncomfortable with the idea of their child marrying a Muslim or Jew. Roughly nine-in-ten Christians say they would be \u201cnot too\u201d comfortable (9%) or \u201cnot at all\u201d comfortable (79%) with their child marrying a Jew, and eight-in-ten (80%) say they would be uncomfortable if a Muslim married into the family.<\/p>\n\n

<\/strong>Certain religious practices are very common among Israeli Christians. For example, an<\/strong> overwhelming majority (94%) of Christians in Israel say they have been baptized<\/strong>. Majorities also say they have icons of saints or other holy figures in their homes (81%) and that they have been anointed with holy oil (83%) \u2013 a ritual performed annually or in case of illness. A majority (60%) say they fast during Lent. Tithing \u2013 that is, giving a percentage of one\u2019s income to the church \u2013 is less common among Christians in Israel; 39% say they tithe.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Pew Research Center survey of Israel provides a rare window into the religious beliefs and practices of this close-knit group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":358,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_crdt_document":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"bylines":null,"acknowledgements":[],"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[161,179,172],"bylines":[975],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[517],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-12801","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-beliefs-practices","category-christianity","category-religion-politics-1","bylines-becka-alper","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-religion"],"label":"Short 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