Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says attacks on Christians in Nigeria has to come to an end.
Netanyahu’s stance formed part of his Christmas message late Wednesday night to Christians around the world.
Judaism, Israel’s main religion, and Christianity are deeply linked Abrahamic faiths sharing roots in ancient Israel.
However, while Christians view Jesus as the Messiah, Jews await his arrival. Christmas is the Christian celebration of Jesus’ birth.
Felicitating Christians, Netanyahu criticised global persecution of the sister faith, citing Middle Eastern countries of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey.
Outside the region, Nigeria was named. Like US President Donald Trump, his closest ally, Netanyahu blamed Islamists for the attacks.
“The persecution of Christians or members of any religion cannot and must not be tolerated, and Muslim militant displacement and attacks against Christians in Nigeria, that too must end, and it must end now,” the Israeli PM said.
This makes Israel the only country to publicly side with the US on its claim of a “Christian persecution” in Nigeria.
Other international bodies like the European Union (EU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have condemned violence in Nigeria and framed the situation as a broader security challenge rather than targeted religious persecution.
However, Trump re-designated Nigeria a ‘country of particular concern’ in response to allegations of a Christian genocide in the country.
The US president also threatened military intervention if the Nigerian government, whom he labelled as complicit, failed to act swiftly.
Concluding his Christmas message, Netanyahu said Israel would always stand with Christians around the world.
In 2023, when the Israel-Hamas war commenced, Christmas day in Bethlehem began with an attack on the Jenin refugee camp where at least 52 Palestinians were killed following Israel’s retaliatory attacks.