List of Israeli Arab Christians explained

This is a list of notable Arab-Israeli Christians (also known as Palestinian-Israeli Christians).

The list is ordered by category of human endeavor. Persons with significant contributions in two fields are listed in both of the pertinent categories, to facilitate easy lookup.

Religious figures

Father Gabriel Naddaf - Greek Orthodox Church – priest and judge in religious courts. Spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
Munib Younan – elected president of the Lutheran World Federation since 2010 and the Evangelical Lutheran Church Bishop of Palestine and Jordan since 1998.
Archbishop Theodosios (Hanna) of Sebastia — Bishop of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
Elias Chacour – Archbishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and Galilee of the Melkite Eastern Catholic Church.
Riah Hanna Abu El-Assal – former Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem.

Activists

Father Gabriel Naddaf - Greek Orthodox priest dedicated to integrating the Christian Arab community within Israel into Israeli society via service in military and national social service.
Ameer Makhoul – a writer and public figure, the executive director of Palestinian network of non-governmental organizations Ittijah and the head of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel.
Sabri Jiryis – writer and lawyer, a graduate of the Hebrew University law faculty, and prominent Palestinian activist.

Cultural figures

Film, TV, and stage

Makram Khoury – the youngest artist and the first Arab to win the Israel Prize, the highest civic honor in Israel. He is one of the most accomplished and well-known Israeli Arab actors.
Amal Murkus – actress and singer.
Nasri - singer.
Elia Suleiman – film maker and actor.
Hisham Zreiq – award-winning Independent film maker, poet and visual artist.
Clara Khoury – actress.
Yousef (Joe) Sweid – actor, dancer and puppeteer.
Lina Makoul – singer
Talleen Abu Hanna – beauty pageant winner and television personality

Popular musicians

Rim Banna – singer, composer, and arranger who is well known for her modern interpretations of traditional Palestinian Arab folk songs.

Writers

Emile Habibi – writer of Arabic expression, leader of the Israel Communist Party and Member of the Israeli Knesset.
Anton Shammas – writer, poet, translator and editor.
Daud Turki – poet, was the leader of the Israeli Jewish-Arab left-wing organization Revolutionary Communist alliance.
Anton Shammas – essayist, writer of fiction and poetry and translator.
Hisham Zreiq – award-winning Independent film maker, poet and visual artist.
Sabri Jiryis – writer and lawyer, graduate of the Hebrew University law faculty, and prominent Palestinian activist.

Military

Elinor Joseph – soldier who has served with the Caracal Battalion of the Israel Defense Forces since 2010. She is the first Arab woman ever to serve in a combat role in the Israeli army.^[1]

Politicians and government officials

Tawfik Toubi - was an Israeli Arab communist politician.^[2]
Emile Habibi – writer of Arabic expression, leader of the Israel Communist Party and Member of the Israeli Knesset.
Azmi Bishara – former member of the Knesset who left Israel after being suspected of spying for Hezbollah during the Second Lebanon War.
Nadia Hilou – politician, who served as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party between 2006 and 2009. She was the second female Israeli Arab MK after Hussniya Jabara, and also the first female Christian MK.^[3]
Daud Turki – poet and the leader of the Israeli Jewish-Arab left-wing organization Revolutionary Communist alliance.
Salim Joubran – Justice on the Supreme Court.^[4]
George Karra - Justice on the Supreme Court.^[5]
Hana Sweid – Member of the Knesset for Hadash.

Criminals

Elias Abuelazam – suspect of racial.^[6] serial killing and multiple stabbings.

Miscellaneous

Elias Khoury – lawyer specializing in real property law who gained fame in the 1970s when he led a legal battle against the Israeli settlers of Sebastia and Elon Moreh.

Medicine

Amal Bishara - an Israeli Arab doctor, and the director of Bone Marrow Registry Outreach, Hadassah Medical Center, which is associated with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel.
Hossam Haick - a senior lecturer in chemical engineering and nanotechnology at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology already has several patents in his pocket. Last year he was included as one of the world's 35 "most-promising young scientists" in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's.^[7]
Yaqub Hanna - an Israeli Arab who is a postdoctoral fellow at MIT, earned his Ph.D. and M.D. from Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He specializes in the study of embryonic stem cells.^[8]

High tech

Johny Srouji a Senior Vice President of Hardware Technologies at Apple Inc.^[9] ^[10] ^[11] ^[12]

Sports

Azmi Nassar – football manager and served as manager of the Palestinian national football team.
Joel Abu Hanna - German-born Israeli professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Legia Warsaw^[13] and the Israel national team.^[14]
Karam Mashour - professional basketball player for Hapoel Galil Elyon of the Israeli Premier League.^[15]
Marc Hinawi – swimmer.
Maroun Gantous - association football player.
Salim Tuama – soccer player playing for Hapoel Tel Aviv who has in the past played for Standard Liège, Maccabi Petah Tikva, Kayserispor, Larissa and the youth club Gadna Tel Aviv Yehuda.

Notes and References

News: Caro Weizman . Rotem . First Female Arab Combat Soldier in IDF is Proud to Serve Israel . 13 August 2011 . . 26 July 2010 . The difficult dilemma she felt in serving at a border crossing was not easy for her but she said during moments of difficulty and misgiving she would remember, 'there was a Katyusha [rocket] that fell near my house and also hurt Arabs. If someone would tell me that serving in the IDF means killing Arabs, I remind them that Arabs also kill Arabs.' . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110810180550/http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/Up_Close/10/07/2601.htm . 10 August 2011 .
Web site: Knesset Members – Tawfik Toubi . 26 September 2012.
http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1145961242026 Meet the New MK: Nadia Hilou
Web site: And justices all four . . 7 May 2004 . 22 December 2013.
Web site: Judge in Katsav trial known to be independent, fearless. 3 January 2011. The Jerusalem Post.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/aug/13/israeli-elias-abuelazam-accused-us-racist-murders Israeli Elias Abuelazam appears in US court accused of racist murders
Web site: Young Israelis of the year: Dr. Hossam Haick, 34: Sniffing out cancer. 18 September 2009. The Jerusalem Post. Dr. Hossam Haick, the Nazareth-born Christian Arab..
Web site: WEIZMANN INSTITUTE: Israeli Scientists Return After Studying In America. 18 September 2009. Weizmann Institute of Science. Born into a Christian family in Rama, a small village near Carmiel in the Galilee, Hanna earned his Ph.D. and M.D. from Hebrew University of Jerusalem..
Web site: The Most Important Apple Executive You’ve Never Heard Of. 18 February 2016. Bloomberg. He was the third child of four. His family was Christian Arab, a minority within a minority in the Jewish state..
Web site: The Israeli In Apple Johny Srouji Receives $24 Million This Year. 28 December 2017. Bloomberg. Johny Srouji, who grew up in Haifa for a Christian Arab family and studied at the Technion..
Web site: Interesting facts about Johny Srouji, the man behind Apple’s custom processors. 25 June 2020. Indian Express. Born in a Christian Arab family, Srouji belongs to the city of Haifa in Israel..
Web site: הכירו את הישראלי הכי בכיר באפל. 25 June 2020. Ynet. סרוג'י הוא ישראלי שנולד לפני 56 שנה למשפחה ערבית-נוצרית מחיפה..
Web site: Joel Abu Hanna . worldfootball.net . HEIM:SPIEL . 29 September 2017.
Web site: ג'ואל אבו חנא: מעדיף את נבחרת ישראל על פלסטין - ספורט 5. Sport5.co.il - אתר ערוץ הספורט.
Web site: Israel's most successful basketball team signs its first Arab-Israeli player. 10 July 2017. i24NEWS. Karam Mashour was born in Nazareth to an Arab Christian family..