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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel is the only place where Christians can thrive in the Middle East, after bombing countless churches and Christian sites across the region and amid outrage over a picture of an Israeli soldier taking a sledgehammer to the face of a statue of Jesus Christ in Lebanon.
In a statement posted to X, Netanyahu said that he condemns the actions taken in the photo — but claimed that Muslims are primarily responsible for violence against Christians in the Middle East.
“While Christians are being slaughtered in Syria and Lebanon by Muslims, the Christian population in Israel thrives unlike elsewhere in the Middle East,” said Netanyahu, ignoring reports finding increasing harassment and aggression against Christians within Israel. Just earlier this year, Israeli forces barred top Catholic leaders from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in Jerusalem, for Palm Sunday mass.
“Israel is the only country in the region that the Christian population and standard of living is growing. Israel is the only place in the Middle East that adheres to freedom of worship for all,” he went on.
Netanyahu’s statements brush over the myriad counts of violence and destruction against Christians and Muslims across the Middle East, particularly in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and Lebanon in recent years.
In July of last year, Israel struck the only Catholic church in Gaza, killing three people. The church received nightly phone calls from Pope Francis during the worst days of the genocide. Early in the genocide, Israel also struck the compound of a Greek Orthodox church, the Church of St. Porphyrius, in Gaza City, killing a dozen people and destroying the facility where hundreds of Christians were sheltering.
That church is one of numerous religious sites Israel has destroyed or damaged as part of its genocide, with over half of all religious and cultural sites in Gaza destroyed by the assault, most of them Muslim.
Israeli settlers are also making life unbearable for Palestinian Christians in the occupied West Bank. Recent reports say that settlers, who receive the backing of the Israeli government, have surrounded the ancient Christian community of Taybeh with illegal settlements and are harassing Palestinians who live there.
Further, the Israeli military has also attacked and occupied Christian villages in Lebanon, on top of attacks on Shiite Muslims. Residents of Christian towns of Rmeish and Ain Ibl said that Israeli forces recently withdrew from their towns, having occupied them seemingly as part of Israel’s ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
The Israeli prime minister’s statement came after a picture reportedly posted on social media by an Israeli soldier sparked outrage this weekend. The picture shows an Israeli soldier in military fatigues taking a sledgehammer to the face of a statue of Jesus Christ, seemingly ripped down from the crucifix.
The Israeli military confirmed the authenticity of the picture and said that the “incident is being investigated.” The military referred to the statue as a “Christian symbol,” and Netanyahu called it a “Catholic religious icon,” avoiding reference to Jesus Christ.
“The outrage shouldn’t be about a destroyed statue of Jesus — abhorrent as that is,” said Munther Isaac, a Palestinian pastor and theologian based in the West Bank. “The real outrage is the targeting of civilians, the assault on human dignity, the devastation in Gaza and Lebanon. War is evil. We need Accountability.”
“For years, our government has ignored and enabled persistent Israeli attacks on churches and Christians in Lebanon, Gaza, and elsewhere,” said top Muslim advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in a statement on the photo. “Our message to American public officials is simple: If you continue sending more weapons and provide political cover for Israel’s rogue actions, you own what you see in this picture.”
The prime minister’s statement also comes amid a feud between Pope Leo XIV and the Trump administration. Leo has called for an end to imperial aggression and has appealed to peace, while Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has called for a new U.S.-led Christian crusade.
Israel has attacked other Christian sites in Lebanon. In October 2024, Israel attacked a Christian village in northern Lebanon known as Aitou. The strikes killed 23 people, including at least two children, their body parts strewn across the ground, leaving authorities to gather body parts in plastic bags.
Israel prompted the intervention of Pope Leo last month, when it prevented the country’s top Catholic clergy from conducting Easter mass. This action and others like it prompted even staunchly Zionist U.S. ambassador Mike Huckabee to condemn Israel’s “hostility” toward Christians.
Israel’s attacks on Christians come on top of its widespread persecution and attacks against Muslims, including decades of attacks on mosques and sites like Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites, and on Muslim worshipers and the concept of Islam itself.
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