In Haifa, Jews and Christians Build Bridges of Trust Amidst Israel-Vatican Tensions

While governments trade barbs, citizens are trading blessings. Despite a deep chill in relations between the Vatican and Israel's government following the Gaza war, a different story is unfolding in the diverse port city of Haifa. Here, some Jews and Christians are quietly working to build trust between their communities, as reported by NPR on December 23, 2025.

A Festival of Light in a Time of Conflict

At a Maronite Catholic church in Haifa, the countdown to light a giant Christmas tree began in Arabic. In a powerful symbol of unity, a rabbi was invited to light a braided candle for peace alongside the priest. Father Yousef Yacoub said he invited the rabbi to show that "we are praying - both of us - for light and for peace." This grassroots gesture stands in stark contrast to the high-level diplomatic tensions, which escalated after the late Pope Francis sharply criticized Israel's response to the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, and top Israeli leaders did not attend his funeral earlier this year.

Confronting Divergent Histories

The path to trust isn't without obstacles, rooted in centuries of painful history. Father Yacoub noted that Jewish visitors sometimes bring up the expulsion of their ancestors from Catholic Spain in 1492. He explained that for Christians in the region, European history like the Inquisition feels distant. However, Reform Rabbi Na'ama Dafni, who lit the candle with him, offered a different perspective. "The lived experience of my family is the Holocaust, is the anti-Jewish sentiment of the Christian population in Europe," she said. Their dialogue highlights the challenge and necessity of acknowledging each other's historical trauma.

Education as a Pathway to Understanding

These conversations are being formalized at Haifa University's interfaith forum, which runs a graduate program in religious dialogue. Students include imams, Druze women, Jews, and priests. Father Munier Mazzawi of the Greek Catholic Church said the program taught him about antisemitism and the plight of Jews in the Arab world. Karen Levisohn, a Jewish lecturer in the program, said her perspective shifted from what she learned in school about the crusades and the Holocaust to seeing "the beauty... in Christianity." She emphasized how delicate relations are, especially when papal statements on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict enter the picture, reinforcing the importance of these local connections.