International Middle East Media Center IMEMC Editorial Remark: Netanyahu’s statement that “Jesus was a Jew, and Christianity is part of our heritage” was framed as an outreach message to Western Christian audiences, yet it was received by Palestinian Christians as deeply provocative.
The concern was not the historical accuracy of the phrase itself, but the context in which it was delivered—during a devastating war in Gaza and amid ongoing Israeli policies that continue to harm Palestinian Christian and Muslim communities.
Church leaders argue that invoking Christian identity while directing military actions that have killed thousands amounted to a political use of the faith, reducing Christianity to a public‑relations tool rather than a moral framework.
It is this stark contrast between rhetoric and lived reality that fueled widespread anger among Christian leaders in Jerusalem and beyond.
Jerusalem Archbishop Rebukes Netanyahu’s Statements on Christianity
Archbishop Atallah Hanna, Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia, Jerusalem; March 21, 2026:
They want a Jesus shaped by their own agendas and desires, while Jesus Christ came into this world to spread love, compassion, and fraternity among human beings.
Netanyahu’s offensive remarks about Christianity have angered Christians everywhere, as well as every reasonable and wise person in this region and across the world.
His statements are insulting and wholly unacceptable, yet they are not surprising. They stem from a Zionist ideology that excludes and marginalizes anyone who is not Jewish, viewing followers of other faiths as lesser beings.
Netanyahu is a product of this racist school of thought. But what concerns us most is not only what he says, but what his government continues to do to our Palestinian people, who are targeted in every aspect of their lives.
At the very moment he insults Christianity and Christians everywhere, he persists in his aggressive policies against our people.
The genocidal war in Gaza stands as the clearest testimony to the crimes committed against a people who seek nothing more than to live freely and with dignity in their homeland and on their sacred soil.
This Zionist current to which Netanyahu belongs seeks a Jesus of a different kind—one molded to their whims and political needs.
They want a Jesus who tells the killer to remain a killer, the criminal to remain a criminal, and the butcher to continue his brutality.
Jesus Christ came into this world to correct false concepts, including some recorded in the Old Testament. He came to straighten what had gone crooked, and to call every human being to live with integrity, mercy, and humanity.... READ MORE https://imemc.org/article/jerusalem-archbishop-rebukes-netanyahus-statements-on-christianity/