CHRISTMAS GREETINGS FROM NETHANYAHU: and the lived reality of occupation
A CHRISTMAS GREETING FROM JERUSALEM
On Christmas Eve 2025, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video message to Christians worldwide. He opened the message with, “From Jerusalem, I send warm greetings to our Christian friends around the world. I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.” Netanyahu then highlighted the fact that “Israel is the only country in the Middle East where Christians can practice their faith with full rights and in total freedom.” He contrasted this with declining Christian populations in neighbouring countries and pledged solidarity with Christians globally, presenting Israel as a beacon of religious freedom. He continued by condemning the persecution of Christians in places like Nigeria. The quote that reached the headlines was his declaration that Israel is “the only country in the Middle East where Christians are thriving.” He noted that Christian pilgrims are welcomed “openly and without fear” in Israel. His words were designed to reassure believers that Israel stands as a safe haven for Christian faith and practice.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1NKcqCwpE8)
Even though Mr. Netanyahu’s words may have struck a comforting chord with Christian audiences, it should be weighed with thoughtful discernment. Simply taking this message at face value could create a perceived reality that is far removed from daily life. His comments should therefore be measured against the lived reality of Christians and also the factual reality for Christians
THE LIVED REALITY OF CHRISTIANS
The truth is that the lived reality of Christians in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza is very different from the picture Mr. Netanyahu painted
Greek-American Orthodox nun Mother Agapia Stephanopoulos spent years living in Occupied Palestine, and shared the harsh realities of life for Palestinian Christians in the West Bank — blocked from holy sites, separated from family, and denied medical access under Israeli occupation.
She responded as follows:
“Benjamin Netanyahu can sit in front of a camera, smile, and wish “Merry Christmas” to Christians around the world, but this is pure deception. On the ground, the Israeli state has methodically dismantled Christian life in the Holy Land through occupation, segregation, land confiscation, demographic engineering, and forced displacement. Public relations speeches do not erase material reality.”
Mother Agapia then provided the following context:
- 76% of the total Christian population of Israel are Arab/Palestinian Christians. And Palestinian Christians live under the same military occupation as all other Palestinians.
- 3 out of 4 Christians in Israel are subjected to checkpoints, separation walls, permit regimes, racially segregated roads, and color-coded license plates.
- They cannot freely access Jerusalem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, or even their own farmland, cemeteries, and family homes.
- Christian towns like Bethlehem are economically strangled while illegal Jewish settlements expand around them with full state protection, infrastructure, water access, and armed security.
“This is apartheid by definition: separate legal systems, separate mobility rights, separate infrastructure, separate outcomes — enforced by race and identity. This system would be illegal under U.S. civil rights law, yet American taxpayers send billions of dollars every year to sustain it.”
Now comes the central lie that must be exposed. Instead of a land where Christianity is thriving, Israel is doing the opposite:
- Christian communities are shrinking, not growing – even at the point of extinction in Gaza and the West Bank.
- Christian culture is being erased, not preserved.
- Christian neighborhoods are being emptied, not protected.
- Christian life is being made unbearable through deliberate policy, not accident.
- Christianity is growing faster in Egypt, UAE, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq than in Israel
The numbers expose the fraud:
In 1948, Christians made up roughly 10–12% of Palestine. Today, they are less than 2%.
And, key in understanding the road to extinction, is that this collapse is not a demographic coincidence. It is the result of systematic pressure: land theft, movement denial, economic suffocation, settler violence, and forced emigration. Israel did not merely “fail” to protect Christians — it helped engineer their disappearance.
Mother Agapia then destroyed the adding narrative that the decline in Christian numbers is because Muslims are the primary threat to Christians in the Holy Land. She states plainly that Muslim and Christian Palestinians have lived together for generations, sharing neighbourhoods, schools, businesses, and daily life.
“And the most grotesque part of all of this, says Mother Agapia, is that this destruction is justified in the name of Christianity.”
THE FACTUAL REALITY FOR CHRISTIANS
Just three days before the video was released, Israel’s government approved the establishment of 19 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. For the small but historic Christian communities in towns like Bethlehem, Beit Jala, and Taybeh—the expansion represents not freedom, but the lived daily reality of further dispossession and persecution. Far removed from Jerusalem’s promises
Further questions arose a few days later when Israel suspended 37 humanitarian organizations doing life-saving work is Gaza, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Christian organizations like Save the Children, Oxfam, Caritas, Action Aid, the International Rescue Committee and World Vision. These actions seem to represent an authoritarian government with a pursuit for power and control more than one promising freedom and human rights.
In the mean time in Gaza, under the occupation of Israel and the control of Mr. Netanyahu, the church suffers beyond measure – not because of Hamas, but because of Israeli bombardments, aid blockades and daily attacks. One Christian leader working with the aid organisation Caritas, responded as follows:
Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, many families from the Christian community have fled Gaza, taking any opportunity they could to secure safety for their family. But a few hundred still remain; most are still living in the compounds of the two churches inside Gaza city, where they took shelter at the outbreak of war. The churches are near to the so-called ‘yellow line’ – the border behind which IDF troops withdrew to as part of the ceasefire agreement – but bombings in the neighbourhood are still a nightly occurrence. They do not sound like explosions anymore. They are so powerful and so close that what we hear is— the sound of obliteration — as entire blocks are levelled. The shockwaves are so strong that our doors and windows burst open, even when the strikes are a distance away.
TWO NARRATIVES IN TENSION
Netanyahu’s Christmas message highlights Israel’s protection of non-Palestinian Christian worship within its recognized borders (less than 25% and mostly immigrants from Europe and Asia), but in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Christian communities face existential threats and persecution.
In contrast to the wonderful promises of religious liberty, the fragile Christian community is facing extinction and suffering like few other places on earth.
For Christians worldwide the occupation of the West Bank and suffering of fellow believers should be concerning. The Holy Land is more than a symbol; it is the living cradle of our faith. The survival of its communities depends not only on festive greetings but on concrete policies that safeguard their future. Until the contradiction between promises of freedom and factual realities of occupation is resolved, the Christian presence in the land of its origin will remain precarious.
What we are witnessing is a clear case of Christian persecution, felt at the very heart of community life.
FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
In short: The expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank intensifies persecution on Christian communities and churches. It leads to land loss, rising settler violence, and restrictions on worship and daily life, threatening the survival of ancient Christian enclaves like Taybeh and undermining the broader Christian presence in the Holy Land.
IMPACT ON CHURCHES AND CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES
- Direct attacks on churches and property: Reports show that Israeli settlers have vandalized churches, cemeteries, and Christian institutions, reflecting a rise in hostility toward Christian symbols and communities.
- Pressure on Taybeh (last fully Christian town): Taybeh, a historic Christian village in the West Bank, is facing encroachment and repeated violence from Jewish settlers. Residents describe this as a “campaign of attrition” aimed at pushing Christians out.
- Priests’ warnings: Leaders of the Latin, Greek Orthodox, and Melkite churches have publicly denounced the violence, calling for international and ecclesial missions to document the worsening situation.
- Restricted freedom of worship: Settlement expansion often comes with roadblocks, checkpoints, and land seizures, making it harder for Christians to access holy sites, attend services, or maintain community life.
BROADER CONSEQUENCES FOR CHRISTIANS
- Demographic decline: The Christian population in the West Bank has been shrinking for decades. Settlement growth accelerates this by eroding security and economic opportunities, prompting emigration.
- Loss of heritage sites: Ancient churches and monasteries—some dating back to the early centuries of Christianity—are increasingly vulnerable to damage, isolation, or confiscation of surrounding land.
- Undermining coexistence: Christian communities, who often act as bridges between Muslims and Jews, find their role weakened as violence and mistrust rise.
WHY THIS MATTERS
For Christians worldwide, the West Bank is not just a political territory—it is the birthplace of Christianity. The erosion of Christian communities there means the faith risks losing its living witness in the land where it began. Churches in the region are sounding the alarm: without protection and international attention, the Christian presence in the Holy Land could become largely symbolic rather than lived.
SOURCES:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/21/israel-approves-new-jewish-settlements-occupied-west-bank
https://www.arise.tv/netanyahu-to-nigerian-government-persecution-of-christians-cannot-continue-attacks-must-end-now/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/in-xmas-greeting-netanyahu-says-israel-is-only-mideast-country-where-christians-are-thriving/
NBC News on settler attacks against Christians,
Zenit on Taybeh’s pressures,
Vatican News on priests denouncing violence.