The recent violent and unprovoked attack on a French nun in Jerusalem has put a spotlight on the growing hostility towards Christian communities in Israel.
In the virus video from April 28, a man runs up to a monk and pushes him violently on the road, causing him to narrowly miss hitting his head on a stone. The man then kicks the monk as he lies on the ground, stopping only after a passerby intervenes.
The attacker, wearing a Jewish kippah and ritual tassels, was later identified as a 36-year-old Israeli settler living in the occupied West Bank. According to the Israeli government attorney’s office, the police detained the suspect and charged and for an attack motivated by hatred against a religious group.
The attack drew widespread condemnation from Israeli government officials, as well as criticism from France, Spainand Italy. Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be called it is a despicable and shameful act that “directly contradicts the values of respect, coexistence, and religious freedom on which Israel was founded.”
This has brought much attention to the recent growing trend of hostility towards Christians in Israel. Such violence tends to go away without being punishedand critics have accused the authorities of treating these incidents as isolated acts rather than symptoms of a larger problem of religious extremism and intolerance.
Beyond the direct danger to Christian communities, these attacks risk eroding Israel’s international standing and straining important ties in Europe and the wider Christian world, where concerns about religious freedom in Israel—and Jerusalem, in particular—carry great diplomatic weight. In response, religious leaders, civil society organizations, and some Israeli politicians are calling for stronger law enforcement, education programs to combat religious hatred, and expanded interfaith cooperation to stem the growing hostility.
Verbal and physical abuse against Christians, as well as the desecration of church symbols and sites, puts great stress on equality between religious communities in Israel. That balance has long been fueled by the unique importance of the Holy Land to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—and is now threatened by the recent rise of Jewish nationalist and extremist movements, especially in Jerusalem’s Old City, where clergy and worshipers from many faiths live and practice in close proximity.
Christians represent approx 2 percent of Israel’s 10.2 million inhabitants, and 79 percent of Christians are Arabs. About 2,700 Christian priests currently live in Israel, most of whom are not Israeli citizens. according to to the Rossing Center, a religious organization based in Jerusalem.
Incidents of violence against Christians have increased since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. The Religious Freedom Data Center (RFDC), an Israeli Jewish volunteer organization that runs phone number for Christians, recorded 181 incidents of hostility—including spitting, verbal abuse, vandalism, physical abuse, and cyberbullying—in 2025, compared to 107 incidents in 2024.
Yiscah Harani, the founder and director of the RFDC, said that many cases of violence against Christians go unreported, which means that his statistics are likely to underestimate all incidents. He also said that although the organization presents complaints to the Israeli authorities, most of them will be answered.
“If there’s no enforcement, then it’s a green light to do it again, just kind of encouraging,” he said. “If this spit is not caught and prosecuted, the next time will be worse. … What are we waiting for? Murder?”
Analysts, including religious and secular organizations, blame growing hostility against Israel’s ruling coalition government, which they say fosters religious nationalism and apathy among radical Jews. They also point to the broader climate of hatred, fear, and division that has permeated the country since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Joseph Sievers, professor emeritus at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, said messianic views within certain Israeli circles can fuel aggressive attitudes toward those perceived as “others.” “Even if Christians have nothing to do with Hamas or Hezbollah, some people may feel empowered to take action against all those who are not seen as ‘their people,'” he said.
A 2025 investigation and the Rossing Center on Israeli Jewish attitudes toward Christians found that “as the level of religiosity among respondents increases, levels of discomfort toward Christianity also decrease … with a lower willingness to engage in learning, openness, or tolerance.”
Hana Bendcowsky, program director of the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations at the Rossing Center, said that the Israeli government and citizens have felt increasingly isolated in the past few years. Consumed by wartime priorities and constant tensions between settlers and Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank, security authorities have little interest in enforcing minority protection, he said, causing those with nationalist tendencies to “allow themselves to be aggressive.”
The swift arrest by Israeli authorities of the perpetrator of the recent attack has been taken by some Christians as a sign that the situation may be improving. Still, more constructive efforts are needed to promote peaceful coexistence, especially in the Holy Land, said Ibrahim Faltas, a Franciscan priest and head of the Holy Land Conservation schools.
Faltas noted that the Israeli authorities tend to listen to the prayers of Christians and often intervene. “However, there is still a lack of strong and genuine political will to resolve the conflict (over the Holy Land) that is fueling this difficult existence,” he said. “Above all, there is a lack of participation of authorities from the international community to deal with the situation that is getting worse day by day in the Middle East.”
Although Christians have little direct political influence over Israel, the religion wields considerable diplomatic influence and moral authority around the world through its extensive networks. Christian pilgrimage and tourism are economically important to Israel, and anti-Christian violence can alienate potential travelers.
Moreover, the growing awareness of these events is raising concerns among Israel’s key allies in Europe, which is home to large Christian communities. In March, for example, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni be damned The Israeli police prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the head of the Catholic Church, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to celebrate Palm Sunday, the Christian holiday that marks the beginning of Holy Week. (Jerusalem’s holy sites have been closed to worshipers since the start of the US-Israel war against Iran.) Washington too. expressed his concern to Israel about the incident, according to White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.
Israel’s relationship with Europe has already deteriorated significantly due to the country’s war in Gaza. Some members of the European Union have pushed the Union terminate the contract to govern its relations with Israel, although the movement has not yet gained sufficient support.
On May 13 to hear in the Knesset, Israeli lawmaker Gilad Kariv said that while incentives to address the rise in anti-Christian violence are often framed in terms of Israel’s diplomatic position, the greater concern is that hostility toward Christians undermines Israel’s commitment to its core values. He called the recent events an “educational failure” and urged action beyond Knesset discussions.
“These events put a moral stain on the nation of Israel and Israeli society,” Kariv said. “As a rabbi in the Reform community, I feel ashamed for them.”
Education and increased communication between groups can be useful tools to address these issues. Researchers have known that for a long time continuous people communication can reduce prejudice by increasing familiarity with marginalized communities. Post-conflict communities from Northern Ireland to the Balkans have demonstrated the success of dialogue programs and joint community initiatives in temporarily reducing tensions, even if they do not eliminate further political conflict.
These trends seem to hold in the Israeli context, as well. The Rossing Center found that nearly half of its survey respondents had inaccurate views of Christian traditions and beliefs, and that higher levels of education were associated with more positive attitudes toward Christians—suggesting that knowledge and exposure can reduce hostility toward “other” groups. The Rossing Center runs workshops and school programs designed to reduce misconceptions about Christianity, while other plans in Jerusalem brings together rabbis, priests, imams, students, and residents for joint conversations and community activities.
It will take time for those efforts to have a wider impact. For now, growing awareness—enhanced by Knesset hearings—can improve the situation. Archbishop Giorgio Lingua, the Vatican’s ambassador to Israel, said “there is always a gap between idea and reality,” but he believes efforts are being made to find a solution to the tensions.
Aghan Gogchyan, Chancellor of the Patriarchate of Armenia, said the case showed that “someone is pursuing hate crimes against Christians in Jerusalem” and urged the Israeli government to “call these actions by their names: hate crimes.”
The April attack has heightened scrutiny of the worsening situation, and Israeli leaders seem to recognize the need to take Christian concerns, and those of the international community, more seriously. But the exercise of power is only part of the job. Bold educational measures and deep social reflection will be necessary in a divided society already ravaged by years of war and terror. Otherwise, divisions between communities will increase and the cycle of violence will continue, leading to greater division and mistrust.
