About four months into the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, it is difficult to describe the current state of affairs beyond pure exhaustion. Families coping with the mounting deaths of their loved ones, growing frustration with a polarizing political landscape and the seemingly unending backdrop of war have been the hallmarks of the new year, with seemingly no end in sight. In January of this year, I visited Israel and Palestine to continue an interrupted project: an inquiry into the often-silenced voices affected by the Israel-Palestine conflict, which turned into a story on Palestinian Christians, now accessible on the Catalyst’s official website.
This time, I came with new questions to ask after the Jews, Muslims, Christians and other religious minorities that have endured the oppressive permanency of the war. I was able to reconnect with two peace organizations featured in my previous story, Musalaha and the Arab Educational Institute – Pax Christi, and I was joined by another contact, Professor Uriel Simonsohn, the director of the Haifa Laboratory for Religious Studies (HLRS). Through this new set of conversations, I hoped to continue this conversation, to reflect on the state of the ceasefire and its impacts on various communities in Israel and Palestine, and to more deeply question the religious aspects of this conflict.
Musalaha and the AEI are based at a generous stone’s throw away from one another: the former in Israeli-controlled Jerusalem and the latter in Bethlehem, a city administered by the Palestinian Authority but controlled by the Israeli military. Musalaha focuses on cross-border reconciliation work to foster mutual understanding and healing between Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Muslims, Muslims and Christians, as well as hosting various interfaith and international dialogues. The AEI, located within the West Bank, cannot host such cross-border dialogues and instead focuses on local education and emotional support, notably through regular women’s discussion groups that often address international and geopolitical matters.
Each organization spoke to the community consensus surrounding the current ceasefire, with Musalaha stating that the consensus among the communities they work with is that there is a “facade” of “perceived peace and justice, in the face of continued Israeli attacks and bombings in the Gaza Strip.” This is in concert with what they termed as a “de facto annexation” of the West Bank in light of actions the Israeli government has taken to expand its control of the West Bank, including regions administered by the Palestinian Authority, the provisional Palestinian government established under the 1993–1995 Oslo Accords.
The AEI echoed Musalaha’s sentiment, and expressed a hope for a “just settlement” after the war, rather than another brief period of peace before the resumption of “displacement, hate and revenges.” They asserted that a lasting solution must be “based on the legitimate rights of the Palestinians, according to the resolutions of the United Nations,” which they cite as being recognized by the majority of its member states.
The AEI spoke more directly about the local community’s sense of the ceasefire and the current state of the conflict, emphasizing the economic impact. Bethlehem is one of Palestine’s tourist centers, noted for its biblical significance as the birthplace of Jesus Christ; yet tourism has dropped dramatically since Oct. 7. The AEI explained that the education sector has suffered disproportionately, with reduced or missing teacher salaries and interruptions in normal school operations. They further reported that Israeli violence, both military and from Israeli settlers in the West Bank, has caused continued displacement of vulnerable communities, including the destruction of vital housing in West Bank refugee camps, which have been made uninhabitable. Given these pressures, the AEI stated that a ceasefire is “not enough to quell these concerns,” and that the persistence of fear among Palestinian communities has contributed to the rise of reactionary extremism in the region.
Professor Uriel Simonsohn weighed in on the ceasefire, noting that amidst various predictions, uncertainty looms. “Everyone is waiting to see what direction both sides are going to take,” he said, in reference to Israel and Hamas.
Musalaha has been working with both Palestinian and Israeli groups over the course of the war, and commented on the early stages of this process. Musalaha has noted that for both Palestinians and Israelis, there is “less willingness” to participate in reconciliation work as a result of polarization and recent trauma. However, Musalaha reported that their cross-border reconciliation groups have “only increased” since Oct. 7, and have now expanded to include members of some religious minority groups. Despite this, Musalaha cited particular challenges for Israelis seeking to begin the reconciliation process with Palestinians, including social stigma and pressure from their communities, arrests and even lynchings.
Division exists not solely among Israeli Jews, but also within Palestinian communities, where a divide has formed between Muslims and Christians, the latter of whom make up a small, though notable minority. Musalaha recognized tensions and disparities between these groups, stemming in part from the apparent “privileges and benefits” enjoyed by Palestinian Christians, including easier access to Israeli travel permits for the observance of Christian holidays and church attendance, though Musalaha clarified that this was not a universal experience, and that discrimination and travel restrictions affect all Palestinians in the region. Musalaha clarified that socioeconomic disparities exist between Muslims and Christians, fueling discriminatory acts, such as Christian property owners charging higher rents for Muslim tenants or even outright refusing Muslim business.
Additionally, Musalaha noted that some members of the Christian Palestinian community have connections to family and church communities in the global West, including Europe and the U.S., in some cases enabling individuals and families to leave the country. Such instances have contributed to community tensions, as many Palestinians view departure from Palestine to be an act of “giving up,” though Musalaha sympathized, stating that they “can’t blame anyone for leaving.” The AEI expressed concern about such acts. “This is the birthplace of our identity, culture, Christianity and other religions,” the organization said. “Leaving your country means leaving your identity, forgetting your history and then your faith. That is one of our fears.”
These tensions have created spaces for interfaith reconciliation work between Palestinian communities; according to Musalaha, the city of Ramallah has introduced a mixed-faith summer camp for Palestinian youth to “alleviate these issues for younger generations.” Musalaha themselves have recently rolled out a cross-border reconciliation group for Palestinian Muslims and Christians in the city of Lidd, noting “sizable problems” between the two groups.
While Jews, Muslims and (to a lesser degree) Christians come to the forefront of discussions surrounding Israel-Palestine, the region is home to several religious minorities, including the Druze and Baha’i, who are generally sidelined in discussions about the conflict. Professor Simonsohn explained that the Baha’i, a small religion with ties to Islam, “are not allowed to have a community” in Israel, meaning “they cannot proselytize, settle, or represent anything that’s going on” in Israel. Simonsohn stated that the Druze—an esoteric ethnoreligious group native to the territories of Israel, Lebanon and Syria—are in a “very ambivalent situation.” The Druze generally profess loyalty to the governing body of the land on which they live, with Simonsohn continuing, “they don’t have national aspirations…which is very convenient for the Jews.” Druze have joined the Israeli military and have been perceived as “collaborators” by some Palestinians, though even within Druze communities, there are divisions. The Druze position is complicated by their cultural alignment with the Palestinians, despite national alignment with Israel. This intersection has led the HLRS to rely on Druze community members as “useful mediators,” and as Simonsohn explains, “the more diverse the group is, the more receptivity [sic] there is towards a sincere attempt to respect the other, and to understand, and to listen.”
Musalaha has corroborated this, as they have recently included Druze participants in their reconciliation projects. Musalaha noted that the Druze they have worked with “feel betrayed,” noting how Druze servicemembers of the Israeli military have experienced racism, discrimination and unfulfilled promises of better and more accessible employment, housing and other opportunities afforded to their Jewish peers post-service. This had led to the perception that, despite promises of equality, the Druze in Israel are still only second-class citizens.
With these concerns, Musalaha, the AEI and Simonsohn each commented on Israel’s unique position as a self-proclaimed “Jewish democracy,” as well as that of the Islamic Palestinian Authority. “The mere fact that Israel is defined as a Jewish state poses a problem to people who are affiliated with other religious communities,” Simonsohn explained. “This in itself is a problem—I’m not saying whether Israel should be a Jewish state or not, I’m just saying it it complicates the local context,” Simonsohn noted Judaism’s unique role as both a religion and an ethnic and national category. This conflation complicates the problem of land claims on the grounds of “God’s promise” and/or “national self-determination,” claims which have been used together and at times cite one another.
The dichotomy of Jewish religious identity and Jewish national identity has featured prominently in Israeli political discourse, most recently through a controversial bill proposed by Israeli lawmakers, which would eliminate the longstanding exemption of Ultra-Orthodox Jews from mandatory military service. Simonsohn noted that in cases such as this, a difference in values appears, where “Israeli society becomes confused.”
“Are we violating any kind of sacred value here, or is this purely a political matter?” Simonsohn expressed his concerns that such “confusion” has been manipulated by the political leadership in Israel and used as a means to “distort national funding, and get [certain issues] prioritized over other important social issues.” These blurred lines can crop up concerning Palestinians, as well, as Simonsohn questions, “Were the Hamas attacks religious or political? Or national? Or both? Or was one instigating the other? Or using the ‘wrapper’ of one to conceal the other? We don’t know.”
Musalaha expressed similar concerns over Israel’s position as a mixed ethnoreligious state. “Ethnocentric and ethnoreligious states are very dangerous,” they added, claiming that the intertwinement of faith and politics can lead to radicalization, both in certain Islamic states and through Zionism. Musalaha noted how, for their Jewish participants, negotiating Jewish identity with Palestinian solidarity requires an “amputation” of Zionism, which necessitates an “existential amputation of oneself.” Family history, religion and community are intertwined with colonial Zionism, making the reconciliation process “very painful.”
“There is, of course, Judaism without Zionism, but it’s a process…there is no difference between national identity and religious identity in Israel, I think.” Musalaha added that this creates a concerning dilemma for secular Jews, who may not follow Jewish religious principles but may use religious justifications for their national identity. “You need to convince yourself, your system, the government and other governments that you have the right to be there,” Musalaha explained, which consequently leads to either “the trivialization or erasure of native peoples.”
They continued, “you need territory to be a people…you need territory if you want to feel safe. But it’s also about belonging, identity and safety…If you take all of that away, you get this conflict.” Concerning Israeli land claims, Musalaha asserted that “it’s colonial talk…in this specific case, in the framework of settler-colonialism, they just have completely instrumentalized and made religion into a justification to ethnically cleanse.”
The AEI added that, while Palestine is a Muslim-majority, a secular Palestinian state would be the most desirable outcome for Palestine, citing historical collapses of religious regimes, such as the Holy Roman Empire and the trend towards secularization in the West. They clarified that democratization should not prioritize any one religion, though they believe that the shared values of Judaism, Christianity and Islam could be beneficial to the establishment of new secular states.
Simonsohn warned against overlooking the nuance of identity and religion in the region, with broad categories such as “Islamic” and “Jewish” risking damage to constructive conversations on Israel-Palestine. “There is no nuance in the media,” he said, resulting in binaristic perspectives which overlook the numerous and competing perspectives within Islam, Judaism, Christianity and those among the broader Israeli and Palestinian nationalities.
Looking toward the future, Simonsohn spoke to a handful of competing visions, with some Palestinians not recognizing a right to the existence of a state of Israel, while others made concessions for Jews whose heritage in the land predates the establishment of Israel. Still others argue in favor of a two-state solution. “Every Islamic political movement in this country has its approach to the conflict in a different way.” Likewise, he noted two “extreme” visions for the future from the Jewish side: one in which non-Jews are viewed as “alien residents” — citizens without equal rights, according to Jewish Rabbinic law — laying the groundwork for the eventual coming of the messiah. The other extreme: “Jews who couldn’t care,” the very secular who do not mind life with non-Jews. Simonsohn presented a general middle perspective: those who are “very zionist…carrying the ethos of the Jewish state in their heart,” but are to an extent committed to “liberal values,” and would be willing to give non-Jews a “certain rope on which to thrive.”
Whether any of these visions may come to fruition is yet another uncertainty as the ceasefire enters its fourth month, amidst slow-moving progress with President Trump’s “Board of Peace” and continued Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. More than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed and 171,000 injured in Gaza since the beginning of the war, including at least 380 killed and 1,000 injured since the ceasefire began. The remains of the last Israeli hostage held in Gaza were recovered on January 26, 2026.
Editor’s note: parts of this article have been redacted or briefly edited to differentiate an interviewee’s personal opinions from their professional opinions.