What is it like to be a Christian in Israel—and why do many Israeli Christians insist, “We are not Arabs”?

In this eye-opening episode of Shoulder to Shoulder, Rabbi Pesach Wolicki and Pastor Doug Reed speak with Lieutenant Colonel (Reserves) Ihab Shlayan, the IDF’s most senior Christian officer and founder of Christian Voice in Israel. Shlayan shares a frank, ground-level account of how Christian communities in places like Nazareth and Cana have steadily become minorities in their own historic towns—and why he says the greatest threat to Christians in the region is not the State of Israel, but Islamist intimidation and Arab political control. 

He also lays out five concrete demands he’s pressing with the Israeli government: recognition of Christians as a distinct community (not “Arab”), equal access to scholarships and employment benefits for those who serve, a separate Christian education framework, visible Israeli civic presence (including flags) in Christian towns, and proper representation and memorial recognition for Christian IDF soldiers. 

Whether you’ve heard claims that Christians are “second-class citizens” in Israel—or you’ve never considered the internal pressures facing Christians in the Holy Land—this conversation delivers rare clarity from someone who has lived it in uniform, in public advocacy, and on the front lines.