In Touch - 1st Quarter 2022

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Special Report Christians in Israel and the surrounding regions “Many Christian families living in Iraq and Syria are in poverty, and cannot afford proper celebrations,” said Shadi Khalloul, head of the Israeli Christian Aramaic NGO. Most Israeli Christians are ‘thriving’ while Middle Eastern brethren face persecution! While Christians throughout the Middle East are facing persecution and shrinking numbers, Israeli Christians are growing in numbers and enjoying a high quality of life. The number of Christians in Israel grew by 1.4 percent in 2020 reaching 182,000 people with 84 percent saying they are satisfied with life in Israel, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Israeli Christians make up about 1.9% of the state’s population, 76.7% of them are Arab, representing 7% of Israeli Arabs. The majority of Christians live in Nazareth (21,400), Haifa (16,500), Jerusalem (12,900) and Shefar’am (10,400), according to the CBS. Recent troubles that swept through the region, such as the Syrian war, Iraq upheaval and the spread of Islamist terror, have left the Christian community in Israel unscathed. According to Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Christian communities in Israel can be broken into four main categories: Chalcedonian-Orthodox (Eastern Orthodox such as the Greek and Russian denominations); Non-Chalcedonian Orthodox (Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian and Syrian); Roman Catholic and Protestant. As their holiday season approached, Christians in Israel were in a festive mood, according to Shadi Khalloul, head of the Israeli Christian Aramaic NGO. He notes that the Jewish-run municipality of Haifa allowed a large Christmas tree and decorations on the main roads. “This proves the beautiful co-existence, safety, prosperity and freedom people enjoy in the Jewish democratic State of Israel,” 10 IN TOUCH • 1 st Quarter 2022 Khalloul, who made news back in 2015 when he successfully led a campaign to have his child’s state registry changed from Arab to Christian Aramean by the Interior Ministry. “Under the Palestinian Authority and other Arab countries, Christians fear to show their holiday symbols in public and are not protected by the state,” said Khalloul, who is also a former candidate for the Knesset. “For example, many Christian families living in Iraq and Syria are in poverty, and cannot afford proper celebrations,” he continued. He says the Maronite Christian community has shrunk and become a weak minority even in Lebanon. And many have suffered as the economic crisis in the country has grown, especially in the course of the last year following the massive explosion at the Beirut Port in August 2020 and the onset of the coronavirus. Most Maronites live in Lebanon. Their numbers decreased from around 29% of the population in 1932 to around 22% in 2008. According to a journal article by Eyal Zisser, an Israeli expert on Syria and Lebanon, Maronite ties to the Jewish community in Israel began as early as the 1930s and continued through independence in 1948. The alliance was built on the belief that Israel was to serve as the national home for Jews and Lebanon for Maronites. ISRAEL DEFENDS CHRISTIANS Before Christmas, Israel announced that it would allow 500 Christian community members from the Gaza Strip to enter Israel and the West Bank to celebrate the holidays. Gaza’s community maintains around 1,000 Christians, while in the West Bank numbers are dwindling as many have emigrated. According to the CIA Facebook, Christians and other small non-Muslim and non- Jewish religions make up 8 percent of the West Bank population. According to a 2018 NBC news report, the Christian population of Bethlehem had dropped from 80 percent in 1950 to around 12 percent; and Christian leaders sought to blame Israel for the decline in Shadi Khalloul, head of the Israeli Christian Aramaic NGO Christians in the disputed territories. An article in the Sunday Times on 19 th December, written jointly by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Archbishop of Jerusalem, Hosam Naoum, warned about a crisis of Christian survival “in the Holy Land.” The church leaders blamed the shrinking numbers in the disputed territories on the “growth of settler communities” and “travel restrictions brought about by the West Bank separation wall.” But Bishara Shlayan, an Israeli Christian Arab from Nazareth, told JNS that Israel defends Christians and provides security. The Palestinian Authority is very weak and cannot provide adequate security to Christians living in the West Bank, he said. “The difference between Christians in Israel and the Arab world is obvious. We are citizens and have equal political rights, while the situation in Arab countries is not good,” he continued. Shlayan, who led a political party that failed to pass the electoral threshold in past elections, points out that “at least we have the right to run.” His political movement seeks to promote co-existence and local issues instead of fomenting conflict. He criticised the Arab parties in the Knesset which focus on identifying with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, saying: “Israeli Arab politicians should represent us and not serve as Palestinian representatives.” Adapted with permission from an article by Ariel Ben Solomon (December 24, 2021 / JNS).
News Report Lapid seeks to establish coalition of nations to oppose Iran’s nuclear ambitions Against the backdrop of the revived nuclear talks in Vienna, Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Yair Lapid engaged in a round of high-profile meetings with British officials on Monday 29 th November 2021, followed by a meeting in Paris on Tuesday 30 th with French President Emmanuel Macron. Israel is concerned that in their eagerness to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed between Iran and world powers in 2015, negotiators will yield to Iranian demands. David Menashri, founding director of the Alliance Centre for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University, says: “The issue is to establish a coalition of countries who understand the threat to the free world, to the Middle East, to Israel and to the Iranian people, of Iran turning nuclear.” “When the foreign minister goes and visits countries and publicises it, that’s good. I think it’s very important to explain the Israeli point of view, to explain the Iranian threat to the world – above all, the nuclear threat,” he continued. “But, you know, the world doesn’t want to listen. You have to speak with them again and again, and to open their minds.” During his visit, Lapid signed a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on strategic co-operation with his UK counterpart, Elizabeth Truss. The two also wrote an op-ed in The Telegraph, stating: “We will work night and day to prevent the Iranian regime from ever becoming a nuclear power.” Lapid stressed the Iran threat in two speeches. He told Britain’s Foreign Office: “A nuclear Iran will thrust the entire Middle East into a nuclear arms race. We will find ourselves in a new Cold War, but this time the bomb will be in the hands of religious fanatics.” Later, at lunch with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, he said: “Our friendship will be reflected in the coming months in our shared determination to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, at all costs.” Similarly, following what was reported as a ‘long and warm meeting with the president of France’, Lapid said that “after many years, Israel’s position is being heard and Israel’s position is firm. Sanctions on Iran must not be lifted. Sanctions need to be tightened; there needs to be a credible military threat on Iran because only this will prevent it from continuing its race towards a nuclear weapon.” Nobody talks strategically about the state itself Mordechai Kedar, senior research associate at the Begin- Sadat Centre for Strategic Studies, is more critical of Israel’s diplomatic efforts, describing the nuclear issue as a “byproduct” of the real issue. Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Yair Lapid with his UK counterpart, Elizabeth Truss He says, “Everybody is talking about tactics – how to stop the nuclear program. Nobody talks strategically about the state itself. From here, the problem starts. What I’m talking about is the structure of Iran. I’m not talking about the nuclear issue.” He argued that Iran isn’t made up of a single “Iranian people” but a collection of ethnicities that are oppressed by the country’s largest ethnic group, the Persians. Those separate groups, among them the Azeris, Kurds, Baluchs and Arabs, don’t share a common Iranian identity and resent Persian control. So far, it appears that Iran has taken a maximalist approach to negotiations in Vienna, suggesting that everything that had been discussed in previous rounds would be subject to renegotiation. Iran has also accused Israel of “hindering the Vienna talks. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh posted on Twitter the claim that the “Israeli regime whose existence relies on tension is at it again, trumpeting lies to poison Vienna talks.” He didn’t specify which Israeli comments he had in mind but added: “All parties in the room now face a test of their independence and political will to carry out the job – irrespective of the fake news designed to destroy prospects for success.” Late in November Axios reported that Israel had shared intelligence with the US and European allies suggesting that Iran was taking technical steps to prepare to enrich uranium to 90% purity, the amount needed for a nuclear weapon. David Menashri says Israel needs support because as a small country it can’t do it alone. “Israel will not be able to do anything against the nuclear program without the prior knowledge of and, probably, also the blessing of the United States.” Adapted with permission from an article by David Isaac (Dec 2, 2021 / JNS) 1 st Quarter 2022 • IN TOUCH 11
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In Touch - 1st Quarter 2022

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