Tipping Point Quick Hits (4.6.23)

As Easter Approaches, Israeli Christians Under Attack

For decades, Israel has been the one place in the Middle East where Christians feel safe. But in recent weeks, that has begun to change, as attacks on Christian believers by far-right Israeli activists have exploded. Along with the chaos and controversy about Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial reforms, the deteriorating safety of Christians and Christian church leaders in Israel has become another major story.

The Times of Israel puts it this way:

While they readily acknowledge that there is no organized or governmental effort against them, Christian clergy in the Old City tell of a deteriorating atmosphere of harassment, apathy from authorities, and a growing fear that incidents of spitting and vandalism could turn into something far darker.

In November, Israel Defense Forces soldiers were detained on suspicion of spitting at a Christian leader and other pilgrims during a procession in the Old City.

During Christmas, vandals defaced a Christian community center in the city of Ma’alot-Tarshiha.

In January, two Jewish teenagers were arrested for damaging graves in Mount Zion’s Protestant Christian section. Another incident saw a gang of “religious Jewish teenagers” who threw chairs inside an Armenian restaurant in Jerusalem. (Most Armenians in Israel are Christian.)