being in Israel, which it is.

..and Christians will be persecuted heavily in the coming decades. Is Israel prepared to welcome Christians into the Holy Land? Obvious the leftist will NOT go to Israel, they would be assimilated into the islamic cult and breed and be treated as other islamics...

Where in the Middle East besides the State of Israel can Christians worship openly and without fear? The answer, sadly, is "no other place." But you'll never get mainstream Christianity to acknowledge this fact. They're having way too much fun castigating Israel and praising the ersatz "Palestinians," having quite forgotten what the ersatz "Palestinians" did to the Christians in Lebanon and what is happening to Christians throughout the Middle East at the hands of the rabid Moslem hordes.

it's not even debated. it's within the green lines.

If you compare the Christian arab population to the population of ZIONIST Jews (without the Haredim) you get that the percentage of young people is higher in the Arab christian population and the age of both grooms and brides much lower than in the Jewish population.

Stay away from Baraks apartment or you might be mistaken for an American spy. If your in Jerusalem stay away from Mea Shearim, because that red suit isn't in keeping with Mea Shearim fashion even if the beard is so they will throw stones at you. If you do meet a haredi tell them your the North Pole Rebbe. Dont overfly Gaza or they will shoot you down. If you do run into any palestinians tell them Jesus was a palestinian messenger and you will be ok. Two things you can do for all people in the holy land which would be better than any gift in your sack and they are fly the illegal infiltraitors home and last but not least when your in England please would you consider dropping a bomb down Cathrine Ashons chimney

Brothers" will not and cannot bring themselves to acknowledge us in any meaningful way, except for the usual, tired bromides of "coexistence, bla-bla" . I suspect that deep inside they suffer from some form of inferiority complex in comparison with Judaism. I'm not a scholar and I'm against religion with every fiber of my being, but there must be a deeper explanation for the unchanging dislike of "the Jew" by Christian tradition, everywhere, all the time.Even when they're being slaughtered and persecuted by the ungodly, Islamic hordes all over ME.

The article state: "The data show that 79.8% of them are Christian Arabs and the rest are either Christians that immigrated with their families from the former Soviet Union, or citizens from foreign countries." There are Armenians living in Jerusalem. They are neither Arabs or Citizens from 'Foreign countries". They were in Palestine way before there was an Israel.

Unfortunately, you are right, and this is something which has infuriated me for years. I'm a Christian Israeli with firsthand knowledge about the situation in Israel. Not ever have I been treated as less than a Jewish citizen: full rights, permitted by employers to work Fridays rather than Sundays, granted time off for major Christian holidays, never anything from any individual to imply that I'm an undesirable minority. No one could ask for greater tolerance - and yet my fellow Christians, both in Israel and abroad, largely and ignorantly champion the Palestinians. I've never understood it. I have been in innumerable pissing matches with priests and nuns on the topic, as well as my contemporaries. Though it seems willful stupidity always remains, I argue and will continue to argue in favor of Israel at every chance. I love the country. No minority was ever better treated than Christians in Israel.

Good humour: the North Pole Rebbe! About Catherine Ashton: I understand you! But I hope your PC is good protected and your email address is not detectable by the FSB or the Russian NSA! Why? Look, read about the early political life of Catherine and her denials....!

To all Christians living in Israel. You are welcomed here, brothers and sisters. May you live in peace and security and share the values of a sophisticated, tolerant and vibrant society. And thanks for helping us build Israel. Stay here, make your communities prosper and multiply yourselves...

Lebanon and Cyprus.

Are you permitted to bring a XMAS tree into the Knesset?

Thank you Sarah... Unlike the other rude, ignorant Sarah B of the U.S.A/Israel, you are a breath of fresh air. You are a good example of what Israelis should be like... Thank you for standing up to racism and bigotry as expressed by many on this site...

There is. All religions are composed of two aspects: the spiritual, or what you believe, and the ritual, or what you practice. Judaism is spiritually uniform. All Jews believe the same thing. The differences are all ritual, i.e., some Jews keep kosher; others do not. Some Jews observe Shabbat; others do not. Christianity is very, very different. There are several hundred Christian sects, with major dogmatic differences. That means that there is no spiritual uniformity, such as exists in Judaism. Roman Catholicism believe that the wafer and the wine become the body and blood of Christ (transubstantiation); Protestant sects believe that it only represents the body and blood of Christ. That, of course, is a major hurdle. There are several hundred Protestant sects alone; some are branches of one faith (e.g., Lutheran Church of America; Lutheran Church in America; Missouri Synod). Then, you also have the Pentecostal faiths (Biblical literalists, some handle venomous snakes, drink strychnine and profess an ability to speak in tongues -- glossolalia -- when in the rapture). Then, you have the Latter Day Saints, who invented a whole new third testament. There are issues of priestly celibacy and divorce. Basically, whereas Judaism is a consonant and beautifully harmonic symphony, Christianity is a raucous cacophony. Islam, too, embodies major dogmatic differences, chief among them Sunni Islam and Shi'a Islam. But there are other rifts, as well.

Judaism frowns upon prosetylization. Basically, Judaism is a small exclusive club -- one into which, with comparatively few exceptions, one must be born. For several hundred years in Europe, people could be Catholic under one monarch, Protestant under the monarch that followed, and Catholic again. People converted back and forth with no difficulty. Jews, on the other hand, have always preferred death to apostasy. Just another difference that non-Jews find unsettling. Finally, there is no escaping the fact that, although few in number, Jews have shaped the world in remarkable ways. Moses, Jesus, Spinoza, Marx, Freud, Einstein ... no single religion can claim the distinction of having produced such movers and shakers. It confuses non-Jews, it makes them resentful and resentful around Jews. But Christianity rejected monotheism a long time ago. Why would G-d need a son? Doesn't that reject the very concept of monotheism and the very concept of the divine? I can tell you where Christianity came up with that one -- popular Christian myth to the contrary notwithstanding, Christianity was remarkably unpopular in Israel, both during the time of Christ and long after his death. The historic Christ was really a hedge preacher, claiming to be the Messiah -- nothing new there; the Jews have seen messiahs come, and we have seen them go -- Christ, Bar Kochba, Shabbetai Zvi, Shlomo Molko, Jacob Frank -- we continue to wait. But Christianity needed to spread in order to survive, it was going nowhere in Israel so it branched out -- north Africa (Gnostics), and chiefly to Greece and the Roman Empire, where is when it took hold. Now, if you really want to sell the product, you make it relevant to existing beliefs. The pantheon of Greek and Roman gods were forever descending to earth and coupling with mortals in order to produce offspring which were both divine and mortal. A divine father and a mortal mother -- sound familiar? Virgin birth, divine child -- say goodbye to mythology and hello to Christianity. You have the unbearded and bearded Dionysus (Bacchus) -- say hello to the unbearded and the bearded Christ. There has always been anti-Semitism, there will always be anti-Semitism, and I have arrived at the conclusion that in its present and most popular form, it makes itself known as anti-Zionism -- hatred of that most concrete and enduring symbol of the Jewish people: the State of Israel. It is, after all, so much easier to reach out and hate that which you cannot fathom rather than spending time figuring out why you are the way you are and why the Christian faith has shattered into so many radically different pieces. One might achieve some insight into oneself -- and no self-respecting Christian would want to engage in that when it is so much easier just to hate Jews. Judaism, in sum, is a way of life. That is something to which Christianity has long aspired, but failed to achieve. Too bad for them.

Wrong. Lebanon's delicate balance was completely eradicated in the 1980s. Don't you remember the plight of the Maronite Christians in South Lebanon? Were it not for Israel, the Maronites would have been massacred in their entirety. Cyprus is not in the Middle East, dear. It is in Europe. Evidently history and geography are not your strengths. Do you have any?

Congratulations! You win the booby prize for today. You've been sucked in by the troll. Not the brightest bulb on the tree, are you? As to racism and bigotry -- the Jews, unfortunately, are experts on the subject -- we've been on the receiving end of so much of it, mostly coming from you and your antecedents. So shut up. You have absolutely nothing to say of any value.

Why the hell would I want to do that - or feel entitled to? And there is nothing dubious about my stated nationality and religion, plonker.

The highest birthrates in the country are those of the religious Jewish communities whether Haredi or National Religious why are they not figured in here ???

Yes I do actually. But I'm generally very bad at insulting people. Maybe you could give me some lessons in that.

Further to the previous comment Sarah, I do realize that Cyprus is in Europe, indeed Greek Cyprus is also in the EU. But it is sometimes thought of as being of the Levant which for the purposes of analysis makes it relevant to your question as to whether or not Christians are safe in this region. Maybe you are right about Lebanon. Also, I believe in giving credit where it is due - so despite the terse and rather biased nature of your comments at no 15 and no 16, your analysis is very concise and illuminating. Kol haKavod.

is in the small villages the Muslim kick them out, at least living next to jews gives them some sense of security.

she wanted too and keep her faith. so eat your heart out. I learned at school with chritian arabs, and we became friends.

Hey the truth is out! Israel is a haven for Christianity. Israel is a state that respects and protects people of all faiths!! Can our Muslim Cousins in other countries and "Palestine" make the same statement. I have many Coptic Egyptian friends, go ask them how "safe" they felt in Egypt, especially when Morsi and the Brotherhood was in power. I believe, if given a choice, every Arab Christian would prefer to live under Israeli rule. It's so much better than being treated as Dhimmi.