Christian Population in Israel Grows Over Last Year and Most Are Satisfied With Life There

Just days after Christian leaders warned that their communities were under threat in Israel and that they were being driven out by extreme elements in the country, a report issued ahead of Christmas by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) found that the Christian community in Israel had grown by 1.4% over the past year and that 84% of Christians living in the country said they were satisfied with life there.  Christians comprise about 1.9% of Israel’s current population. Some 76.7% of Christians in Israel are Arab and Christians are 7% of Israel’s Arab population. When surveyed by the CBS, 24% of Christians said they were “very satisfied” with their lives in Israel and 60% said they were “satisfied.” In 2020, 2,497 babies were born to Christian women, according to the report. Most Arab Christians in the country live in Nazareth, Haifa and Jerusalem, with most non-Arab Christians living in Tel Aviv and its environs. Last week, Fr. Francesco Patton, the Catholic Church’s Custos of the Holy Land and guardian of the Christian holy places in the Holy Land, wrote in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph that “our presence is precarious and our future is at risk.”