Although seeking good relations with Israel, the Vatican has been unwilling to publicly contradict the views of its bishops in the Mideast. In 2010, a synod of Christian Arab bishops issued a report claiming that Israel’s presence in the West Bank worsened conditions for Christians there. Their premise was that Israel’s occupation fueled Islamic radicalism, which in turn makes it hard for Christians to live among Muslims.
This view is strongly held by the Arab Christian establishment but does not go undisputed. A generational shift seems to be underway among Christians in Israel at least.
For example, an Arab Greek Orthodox priest, Gavriel Nadaf, openly advocates that Christians in Israel should support the state and serve in the military because "Our future as a Christian minority is intertwined with that of the State of Israel. . . . We feel secure in Israel. We see ourselves as citizens with equal rights as well as equal responsibilities and obligations. Most of the young Christians here view Israel as their country. This is the decisive period. If your youths see that Israel is fostering the Christians' engagement with Israeli society, then the world will spread forth. But if the state turns its back on us, the inciters will win."
As the last sentence suggests, Israel has been conspicuously cool toward fostering better relations with its Christian community and Christian sympathy and support for Israel is not always reciprocated. Many Jews in Israel are deeply hostile toward Christians, and not entirely as an extension of the Palestinian conflict.
A blond haired, pink faced Irish priest in western clerical garb who walks through an Orthodox Jewish district in Jerusalem risks insult and abuse from Yeshiva students and adult Jews. That abuse can include being spat upon, hit with stones or rubbish, punched, and even deliberately hit by road traffic -- and with police doing nothing against it.
On the whole, despite such incidents, Christians in Israel appreciate the safety and quality of life there, but Christians elsewhere in the Mideast are vulnerable to maltreatment by the aggressive Muslim majorities they live among. It is too much to expect Christians from such communities to adopt an attitude of support for Israel that would risk provoking greater oppression.
This is exactly what my Jewish colleague said today, as explanation for the Arab Christian behavior. In essence, it is a defense mechanism to try to alleviate persecution. He says the "self-hating Jew" is the flip side of the same coin, which often happens as they try to assimilate in foreign societies. He said it is often below the conscious level, so that the people aren't merely saying these things, but actually believe them.