MOUNT TABOR, Israel (AP) 鈥� Sister Mayela wears her black veil and habit as she walks to work near where another Catholic in 鈥� but she鈥檚 now accompanied by a Jewish volunteer for protection.
Many Christians in Israel, who make up less than 2% of the country鈥檚 population, are worried visible signs of their faith will draw harassment, which has increased as grip the region.
鈥淚鈥檓 scared after the sister was beat up,鈥� said Sister Mayela, a Mexican nun who鈥檚 lived in Jerusalem on and off for more than two decades. 鈥淏efore, one could live with more confidence. Some people spat, some said hi. Now we have to live trusting in God.鈥�
She finds resilience in her faith 鈥� and in support from Israelis like the volunteers. Even that, though, didn鈥檛 prevent a teen from spitting right behind her as they passed a group of recently. The teen said she was only clearing her throat, but the volunteer reported it to police.
Incidents like that are among the challenges for Christians in Israel, particularly since the Hamas-led , plunged the country back and polarization. But interfaith leaders and researchers are encouraged by better policing and prosecution as well as the recent appointment of a government envoy to the Christian world, who is Greek Orthodox.
In northern Israel, many Christians say they feel the state isn鈥檛 doing enough to protect them from crime because they鈥檙e not Jewish. But those concerns didn鈥檛 stop groups of Catholics from joining a recent joyous pilgrimage on Mount Tabor, where the Gospels say Jesus appeared transfigured alongside the Jewish prophets Moses and Elijah.
鈥淚n a world where darkness is filling the hearts of people, we need to diffuse God鈥檚 light to other people,鈥� said Sister Muna, the nun who led one youth group.
For many Christians and Jews, protecting coexistence in the Holy Land is a moral imperative after their own long histories of religious persecution.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want Christians to go out of their house in Jerusalem 鈥� and have fear,鈥� said Yisca Harani, the Jewish Israeli educator and activist who escorted Sister Mayela. 鈥淚鈥檝e gone through this 2,000 years in my Jewish history. I鈥檓 not going to let that happen.鈥�
Occasional flare-ups occur in multifaith Old City
In the Old City, Jewish men in black hats and tzitzit tassels, Muslim women in hijabs and Christian priests in flowing robes walk past each other daily in the maze of stone alleyways. Many are headed to pray at the , the or the . These are some of the most sacred sites respectively for Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and they are close to each other.
鈥淚f you stroll around in your habit, sooner or later you鈥檒l get some spitting next to you,鈥� said the Rev. Alberto Pari, who leads interfaith dialogue and Christian-Jewish relations as secretary to the Custody of the Holy Land, the Catholic order ministering to holy sites across the region. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 important not to generalize, because that unleashes antisemitism.鈥�
Religious Freedom Data Center, the organization that Harani founded to track harassment of Christians, has recorded a near-tripling of incidents in Jerusalem from four years ago to the last three months recorded 鈥� about one a day now 鈥� virtually all by Jewish religious nationalists.
A Jewish man from a settlement in the was indicted in the violent attack on the nun in April. The French Biblical and Archeological School of Jerusalem where the nun is a researcher expects 鈥渆ffective prosecution at the criminal and civil levels,鈥� said the school鈥檚 director, Friar Olivier Poquillon.
Israel’s government tackles anti-Christian incidents
Among those reaching out to Catholic leaders to denounce the attack and offer support was Ambassador George Deek, Israel’s new envoy tasked with building what he calls the 鈥渟pecial relationship鈥� between Christians and the country, to both keep Christians safe and partner on issues like fighting antisemitism.
鈥淲e believe that every incident against Christians is immoral, illegal and should be prosecuted. That鈥檚 exactly what we are going to do,鈥� Deek told The Associated Press. 鈥淲e want to make sure that Israel continues to prosper and grow as a place where Christians can not only survive, but they can thrive.鈥�
Around the time that the nun was attacked, two other incidents drew global condemnation. An Israeli soldier in a family garden and another in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon, where the military is . The soldiers involved received military prison sentences.
Most Israelis find harassment unacceptable. But Jewish religious nationalists, particularly uneducated young men, remain a threat, said John Munayer of the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue, an interreligious organization in Jerusalem.
Their hostility to Christians is grounded in the history of persecution of Jews in Christian-majority European countries, in faith practices they see as idol-worshipping, and in a 鈥済eneral intolerance鈥� for anyone who鈥檚 not Jewish near sacred areas like the Western Wall, Munayer said.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict spills over in Christian-Jewish tensions
Then there鈥檚 the overhanging trauma of the , since most local Christians in Israel and the occupied West Bank are Palestinian.
In Taybeh, in the West Bank, Jewish settlers recently cut through house fences and destroyed fruit and vegetable gardens, said the Rev. Bashar Fawadleh, parish priest of Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church.
鈥淎ll the people here are afraid,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ettlers come and go every day.鈥�
Israel鈥檚 army declared the village a closed military zone earlier this week to curb the attacks. But concerns about Israel鈥檚 ability and willingness to rein in the settlers remain even among evangelicals, who are among the .
鈥淲hat happens in Taybeh is really troubling,鈥� said David Parsons, spokesperson for International Christian Embassy Jerusalem. 鈥淚sraeli leaders have realized for some time that Christian support for their nation is not only vital, it鈥檚 a strategic interest.鈥�
And yet since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, 鈥済eneralized fear and skepticism鈥� pervaded all interreligious work, Pari said. The interfaith music institute he directs, Magnificat, was invited to play at a peace march in Jerusalem. But when the Palestinian members saw that the stage had been set up by an Old City gate flanked by Israeli flags, they refused to play.
鈥淚 felt a real failure,鈥� Pari said. 鈥淲e think that as Christians, we have a very important role to patch things back together. … It will be difficult, but we can do it.鈥�
Israeli Christians hold tight to faith and identity
That faith-grounded resilience prevailed among the Mount Tabor pilgrims, who gathered on the mountain to celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration last week. Rising interfaith tensions and crime have driven many of the area鈥檚 Christians to emigrate, several said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very difficult that we keep our identity as Christians in the Middle East, but it鈥檚 the most important,鈥� said John Akleh, 20, who came with Sister Muna鈥檚 group.
Ten pilgrims from nearby Nazareth 鈥� where Jesus grew up 鈥� started the climb at 4:15 a.m. led by the Rev. Fadi Shallufi in a yearly tradition they鈥檝e maintained even in wartime.
鈥淲e will have a lot of sacrifice, but you will be sure in this land something will change,鈥� Shallufi told them as he celebrated Mass in the mountaintop basilica.
___
Associated Press journalists Ibrahim Hazboun and Moshe Edri contributed from Jerusalem.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP鈥檚 with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
