Religion
Church of Nazareth
(the Basilica of the Annunciation)
The religious affiliation of Israeli
Jews varies widely: A Social Survey for those over the age
of 20 indicates that 55% say they are
"traditional," while 20% consider themselves
"secular Jews," 17% define themselves as
"Religious Zionists"; 8% define themselves as
"Haredi Jews."Only 5% of Israel's population in
1990 the ultra-Orthodox, or Haredim, are expected to
represent more than one-fifth of Israel's Jewish
population in 2028
Making up 16% of the population,
Muslims constitute Israel's largest religious minority.
About 2% of the population are Christian and 1.5% are
Druze.
Muslim Women
The Christian population includes
both Arab Christians, Post-Soviet immigrants and the
Foreign Labourers of multi-national origins and Messianic
Jews.Members of many other religious groups, including
Buddhists and Hindus, maintain a presence in Israel,
albeit in small numbers.
The city of Jerusalem is of special
importance to Jews, Muslims and Christians as it is the
home of sites that are pivotal to their religious beliefs,
such as the Israeli-controlled Old City that incorporates
the Western Wall and the Temple Mount, the Al-Aqsa Mosque
and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Other landmarks of
religious importance are located in the West Bank, among
them Joseph's tomb in Shechem, the birthplace of Jesus and
Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem, and the Cave of the Patriarchs
in Hebron.
the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre
The administrative center of the Bahá'í
Faith and the Shrine
of the Báb are located at the Bahá'í
World Centre in Haifa
and the leader of the faith is buried in Acre.
Apart from maintenance staff, there is no Bahá'í
community in Israel, although it is a destination for pilgrimages.
Bahá'í staff in Israel do not teach their faith to
Israelis following strict policy.
Temple Priest
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