Islam in Israel

Islam is the second-largest religion in Israel, after Judaism. As of 2022, Muslims made up to 18.1% of the country's total population. Most of this figure is represented by the Arab citizens of Israel, who are the country's largest ethnic minority, but there is a notable non-Arab Muslim populace, such as that of the Circassians. Upwards of 99% of Israel's Muslims are Sunnis and the remainder are Ahmadis. Despite Shias constituting the second-largest Islamic sect, there are no reliable sources attesting a Shia presence in Israel or the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which the Israeli government administers as the Judea and Samaria Area. There were only seven Shia villages in the entirety of Mandatory Palestine and all of these were located along what is now the Israel–Lebanon border before being depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.

In 2015, the Israel Democracy Institute conducted a survey on the religiosity of Israeli people with Islamic background: 47% identified as traditional, 32% identified as religious, 17% identified as not religious at all, and 3% identified as very religious. In recent years, the average age at marriage has risen, and Muslim women hold more degrees than their male counterparts.

Background

Ottoman Empire

During the time of Ottoman rule, Palestine had a large Muslim majority and a number of religious minority communities, mainly Christians and Jews. Many of these non-Muslim communities were accorded the status of Millet (nation/religion).