This is the place where Christianity began; the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem honors the birth of Jesus, while the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is allegedly the place where he was laid to rest after the crucifixion. It gave us centuries of war, as Christians and Moslems fought for control of its sacred places. As such, it is not surprising that the Jewish State also has a substantial Christian population, which may not be as large as the Moslem community but which is every bit as diverse.

Many Christians have come here to be in the Holy Land … or to escape persecution in their own lands. There is a small community of Armenians here, many descended from refugees of the Turkish genocide. There are also a growing number of Christians from the former Soviet states. Some have Jewish ancestry but have little acquaintance with Jewish culture, despite qualifying for citizenship under Israel's Law of Return. By some accounts, as many as 400,000 recent Soviet immigrants are culturally more Christian than Jewish; some fast on Yom Kippur and attend Orthodox services on Sunday. Their growing presence has caused some tension in Israel, where many Jews still associate Christianity with anti-Semitism.

There is also a large Christian Arab population in Israel and on the West Bank. As early as the 4th century Arab tribes had converted to Christianity. The caravans which did business in silk, spices and frankincense also brought exposure to the new religions sweeping the region. Arab soldiers fought in the Byzantine military, and came back professing various flavors of Christianity ranging from Orthodox to heretical. Before Muhammed's Islamic Empire the Christian Ghassanid and Montherit kingdoms ruled over a region comprising much of modern-day Syria, Jordan and Iraq. Even after Islam swept the region Jerusalem, Nazareth, Bethlehem and other cities remained largely Christian. Today some 12% of Israeli Arabs, and between 2 and 5% of the Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, are Christians. (Some of Christianity's most holy sites, most notably Bethlehem and Nazareth, are in the Occupied Territories). Torn between their identity as Arabs, as Palestinians, and as Christians, they struggle to come to terms both with the ongoing Israeli conflict and with the rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism among their countrymen. Many have emigrated in the face of anti-Christian harassment and intimidation. Today 20% of Bethlehem's population is Christian; in 1994, when Arafat took control of the town, it was 60% Christian. Many Moslems consider Christian Arabs to be "collaborators" and "traitors," and there have been widespread reports of rape, robbery, and arson against Christian-owned businesses.

Alongside Israel's Christian population is a substantial expatriate Christian community. Some are monks and priests affiliated with the various Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Nestorian, Monophysite and other apostolic churches that are found throughout the region. They have generally attracted little attention from the Israelis; historically tourism, including Christian pilgrimages, has been a large part of Israel's budget (although of late this has suffered in the wake of the intefada). Others are Protestants, many of whom have come to "bring God's Chosen People to Jesus." Their presence has led to some tension, particularly among Israel's religious Jews, despite the fact they have generally had little success in establishing an Evangelical or Fundamentalist community of native-born Israelis. Still others are members of divergent Christian sects: this region has always attracted those who follow innovative religions. Some are waiting for Christ to touch down and begin the apocalypse, while a few hope to hasten his coming. In 1969 an Australian named Dennis Michael Rohan set fire to the Al-Aqsa Mosque so that he could "become the next King David," while in 1999 fourteen members of the "Concerned Christians," an American cult, were deported after police reported they were planning collective suicide.

While the State of Israel remains important to Christianity, many of its native Christians feel betrayed by their co-religionists. In America, many Fundamentalist Christians have jumped on the Hal Lindsey/Tim LaHaye "end times" bandwagon. They believe that the establishment of the Jewish state, and its continued existence, is a sign of the end times: as a result, they are passionately and uncritically supportive of the State of Israel and its policies. Even Lebanese Christians have generally been muted in their criticism of Israel, although recently they have become more vocal, now that the Palestinians are no longer seen as a major threat to governmental stability.