FUNDING cuts pose a "mortal threat" to the future of one of Israel's most famous Christian schools, founded by a Scottish missionary more than 150 years ago, the Church of Scotland has warned.

The Rt Rev Dr Angus Morrison, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, is appealing to David Cameron intervene in the crisis facing faith schools in Israel, including the Church of Scotland-run Tabeetha School in Jaffa.

Staff at the Tabeetha School have been out on strike since last week in solidarity with the country's 47 other Christian schools in protest at budget cuts imposed by Israel's Ministry of Education.

The Tabeetha School was founded in 1863 by Jane Walker-Arnott, the daughter of a Glasgow University professor, to teach local girls to read and write, study the Bible and become skilled at sewing and lace-making.

When she died in 1911, she gifted the school to the Church of Scotland, who have run it ever since and appoint the Principal.

The school, which now educates both boys and girls, prides itself as a beacon for "open, ecumenical and interfaith" learning.

Although the majority of its 330 pupils are drawn from the Arab Christian community, around a third of the children at the English-speaking institution are Muslim and five per cent are Jewish. The remainder is made up of Hindu, Buddhist, Druze and a few who profess no religious following, and a third of all pupils are the children of ex-pats living in Israel.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Rev Morrison said: "From the beginning, its pupils have included Christians, Muslims and Jews. Tabeetha is also an international school, with a considerable number of expatriate pupils. These regularly include the children of staff working at the British embassy in Tel Aviv.

"A key purpose of the school is to serve the Arab Christian community, whose children form the majority of its pupils. An equally essential purpose is to encourage creative and constructive ways of living together, in contrast to what is too often the pattern in Israel outside the school gates."

The appeal comes after Mr Cameron welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Downing Street yesterday[Thu].

Teachers at the Christian schools in Israel are furious over what they see as educational discrimination.

Christian schools in Israel average the best exam results in the country, but two years ago their state subsidies were slashed by around a third.

Recent rule changes have made them even harder to fund by capping the amount the schools can receive from outside sources, such as charities.

Rev Morrison continued: "The government of Israel claims to award Christian schools 75 per cent of the per capita funding of state schools in Israel.

"This 75 per cent is already discriminatory, since two networks of ultra-Orthodox schools in the same category ('recognized but unofficial') associated with the Shas and United Torah Judaism parties – both members of the governing coalition – receive full funding.

"But the 75 per cent claim is also sleight of hand. A decade ago, the 75 per cent was calculated on the basis of 1,100 teaching hours. Today it is calculated on the basis of 660 teaching hours. It remains 75 per cent, but in real terms it has been cut by almost half ... discriminating against Christian schools in Israel and, indeed, the whole Arab-Israeli education sector, is not only wrong in principle. It is foolish and self-defeating."

Christian schools were offered full funding by the Israeli Government if they agreed to become "official" schools incorporated into the state system, but they rejected offer on the grounds that it would limit their autonomy.

The Israeli Government did not respond to a request for comment.