---
title: "5 facts about Israeli Christians"
description: "A Pew Research Center survey of Israel provides a rare window into the religious beliefs and practices of this close-knit group."
date: "2016-05-10"
authors:
  - name: "Becka A. Alper"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/05/10/5-facts-about-israeli-christians/"
categories:
  - "Beliefs & Practices"
  - "Christianity"
  - "Religion & Politics"
---

# 5 facts about Israeli Christians

[![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/07/FT_16.7.6.NATO4_.png?w=242)](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/07/FT_16.7.6.NATO4_.png)

[![Christian Arab worshippers](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2016/05/FT_16.05.09_israelChristians.jpg)](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/05/10/5-facts-about-israeli-christians/ft_16-05-09_israelchristians/)
*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)*

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’s tiny Christian community is of special interest. Four of the five most recent popes have visited Israel; Pope Francis traveled there in 2014.

Christians currently make up just 2% of Israel’s adult population. Indeed, [as of 2010](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/04/02/christians/), Christians made up a small share (4%) of the population in the Middle East-North Africa region as a whole.

A [Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2016/03/08/israels-religiously-divided-society/) of Israel provides a rare window into the religious beliefs and practices of this close-knit group. Here are five key takeaways from our survey:

**The vast majority of Israelis who say they are Christian also say they are ethnically Arab. **In this regard, they share an ethnicity with the larger Muslim population, which makes up an estimated 14% of Israel’s adult population and is almost entirely Arab. Most of [Israel’s Druze population](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/03/21/5-facts-about-israeli-druze-a-unique-religious-and-ethnic-group/) also identifies as ethnically Arab, although Druze are often considered a unique ethnoreligious group.

**Politically, Christians agree with Muslims in saying Israel *cannot* be a democracy and a Jewish state at the same time**. 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* 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’s security. And Israeli Christians (86%) and Muslims (75%) both overwhelmingly say the U.S. is *too supportive* of Israel.

**Israeli Christians tend to be less religious than Israeli Muslims but more religious than Israeli Jews** 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.

**Israeli Christians have limited social and family connections with Jews as well as with Arabs from other religious groups. **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 “not too” comfortable (9%) or “not at all” 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.

****Certain religious practices are very common among Israeli Christians. For example,** an** **overwhelming majority (94%) of Christians in Israel say they have been baptized**. 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%) – a ritual performed annually or in case of illness. A majority (60%) say they fast during Lent. Tithing – that is, giving a percentage of one’s income to the church – is less common among Christians in Israel; 39% say they tithe.