Key Takeaways:
- The Wall Street Journal published an article that warped the reality of Christian life in Israel by focusing on a handful of anti-Christian incidents from extremists, ignoring that the vast majority of Israelis, including the government, don’t agree with those actions and Christians live with equal protection under the law.
- While Christianity is declining dramatically across the Middle East due to persecution, Israel’s Christian population is growing, making the country a notable regional exception.
- By selectively reporting on anti-Christian incidents, while ignoring the broader reality both in Israel and the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reinforces a false narrative.
Throughout the past decade, the Christian community across the Middle East has been targeted by hatred, terrorism, and overall persecution. This has resulted in a massive decrease in the Christian population throughout the Middle East, which today constitutes 3% of the region’s population, compared to constituting around 14% in 1900.
In Israel, the opposite trend is seen. In 2025, Christians in Israel accounted for 1.9% of the country’s population, and the population had increased by 0.7% from 2023 to 2024.
Yet when it comes to the international media, stories of Christian hatred in Israel are more frequently the aspects of the Christian experience that makes it to the front page.
The Wall Street Journal’s “Spitting Attacks Show Rise of Anti-Christian Hate in Israel” exemplifies exactly this obsessive attempt to portray Israel as purposefully targeting the Christian population.
Margherita Stancati’s piece portrays a dark version of Israel, where incidents of anti-Christian hate “are becoming routine in Jerusalem.” Specifically, these acts are perpetrated by young Jewish Israelis spitting on Christians. When these incidents occur, as they unfortunately do, they are outright condemned by the vast majority of Israelis as well as the government. When caught, the perpetrators are arrested, and the offenses are prosecuted.
Portraying small extreme fringes of any society as being representative of the society at large is misleading and not an accidental oversight when writing an article on the Christian experience in Israel. More than 200,000 Christians from all walks of life live in Israel with full rights and access to the same services, institutions, and protections as any other group in Israel. It is for this very reason that the Christian population trend in Israel is the exact opposite of the trend seen in the rest of the Middle East.
Among the Christians living in Israel is U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee. If The Wall Street Journal was looking for a story that would resonate with American Christians, why selectively exclude one of the country’s most vocal and influential Christian supporters of Israel, if not to reinforce a predetermined and false conclusion about Christian life in Israel?
It is abundantly apparent that Israel continues to invest in protecting minorities, both within the country and, more broadly, throughout the Middle East. With the intention to further strengthen ties between Israel and the global Christian community, the Israeli government appointed its first-ever special envoy to the Christian world in April 2026.
This is in direct contrast to the treatment of Christians throughout the rest of the region. Even in the West Bank in areas under Palestinian Authority control, the same trends of Christian persecution are seen. In Bethlehem, for instance, the Christian population has declined from 86% in 1950 to 10% today, as a result of Islamic extremism and persecution.
This trend has also been seen outside of Israel’s borders. During the height of ISIS’ reign, Christians were either forcefully converted to Islam, forced to pay taxes, or executed. In Egypt, blasphemy laws are used overwhelmingly against Christians. In Iran, Christians are regularly jailed in an attempt to repress minorities. And in numerous Muslim-majority countries, Christians are regularly harassed, detained, or otherwise unable to legally practice their faith in public.
This dark reality of Christian life in the Middle East is not reflected in Israel. In a region where Christian communities have been decimated by persecution, Israel stands out as a country where the Christian population is growing, Christians enjoy the same rights and protections as other citizens, and the government is actively working to strengthen ties with the Christian community.
The Wall Street Journal had an opportunity to examine the Christian experience in Israel in its full complexity as a major global religion being practiced openly in a country where it is the minority. Instead, it chose to elevate a false narrative that does a greater injustice to the Christians living in full freedom in Israel.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
