Ahead of Christmas, Israel counts 182,000 Christians in Holy Land

Issa Anis Kassissieh, the official Ambassador of the Holy Land Santa, kayaks in the Jordan River in the Golan Heights as part of his Christmas 2021 greeting. (Courtesy: Omri Masika and Roi Peretz)
Issa Anis Kassissieh, the official Ambassador of the Holy Land Santa, kayaks in the Jordan River in the Golan Heights as part of his Christmas 2021 greeting. (Courtesy: Omri Masika and Roi Peretz)

Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) reveals that approximately 182,000 Christians live in Israel today.

In stats revealed ahead of Christmas, CBS says that Christians make up about 1.9 percent of Israel’s population, and grew by 1.4% in 2020.

Christians make up 7% of Israel’s Arab population, and 76.7% of Christians in Israel are Arab. The largest Arab Christian population centers in Israel can be found in Nazareth (21,400), Haifa (16,500) and Jerusalem (12,900).

Christian leaders in the Holy Land have warned that their communities are under threat of being driven from the region by extremist Israeli radical groups, and called for dialogue on preserving their presence.

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