Islam in Israel and Palestinian territories includes the Muslims of Israel, where they constitute 16% of the population, those who comprise 75% of the population of the West Bank, and those who comprise 99% of the population of the Gaza Strip. Jerusalem is Islam's third holiest city after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

 History

The majority of Muslims currently residing in Israel are Sunni Arabs. From 1516 to 1917, the Sunni Ottoman Turks ruled the areas that now include Israel. Their leadership reinforced and ensured the centrality and importance of Islam as the dominant religion in the region.

The conquest of Palestine by the British in 1917 and the subsequent Balfour Declaration opened the gates for the arrival of large numbers of Jews in the Mandate of Palestine who began to tip the scales in favor of Judaism with the passing of each decade.

However, the British transferred the symbolic Islamic governance of the land to the Hashemites based in Jordan, and not to the House of Saud. The Hashemites thus became the official guardians of the Islamic holy places of Jerusalem and the areas around it, particularly strong when Jordan controlled the West Bank (1948-1967).

The Bedouin in Israel are also Muslims, with some Bedouin clans participating in the Israeli army. The small Circassian community is composed of Sunni Muslims uprooted from the Caucasus in the late 19th Century and settled in the Galilee by Ottoman authorities.

In 1922, the British created the Supreme Muslim Council in the British Mandate of Palestine and appointed Amin al-Husayni (1895-1974) as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. The council was abolished in 1948, but the Grand Mufti continued as one of the most notorious Islamic and Arab leaders of modern times, often inciting Muslims against Jews.

Demographics

Israel - 16% Palestinian territories - West Bank - 75%, Gaza Strip - 99%