For the first time in Israeli history, the Jewish population of the country has dropped below 74 percent. According to reports which appeared in Israeli media outlets on Sunday, the drop came as a result of the natural growth of the Arab population and the “other” populations of Israel, while at the same time, there was a drastic decline in the number of Jewish immigrants into the country over the past year.
At the end of 2019, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) of Israel, the Jewish population numbered 74.1 percent of the total population of the country. Now, in a recent report by the Israeli Immigration Policy Center (IPC), the number dropped by 0.2 percent to 73.9 percent, thus falling below 74 percent for the first time ever.
The number of Jewish immigrants to Israel over the course of 2020 hit a record low, with only 33.8% of the usual number of new immigrants, according to the IPC. The drop in Immigration was mostly due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the closing of Israel’s borders numerous times throughout the year.
IPC Director Yonatan Jakubowicz said, “This year as well, the proportion of the population that is Jewish continued to shrink at a fast pace… Israel needs to have an immigration policy that will protect its interests as a Jewish and democratic state.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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For those who have never given much thought to the one-state / two-state question, this article might be good motivation to do so. If demographics continue moving in the way they have been, and if the one-state status quo is kept, then there could come a time in the near future when Jewish people in this country are a minority. Think about how that will effect government, laws, and everything else.
The Israeli government is not looking for frum jews to move there. They want Jews who are supportive of Judaism with democracy. That means Jews who wave Israeli flags but violate shabbos.
In addition to the other contributions to the State, (the high volume of volunteering, the huge sums of charity raised abroad, lowering the crime rate, creating a huge Jewish tourism industry etc. etc.), this is one of the big points where cudos are due to the Charedi community.
Instead of artificially increasing the Jewish population with immigration (and all it’s side-affects…) they are putting a lot of money, time and effort into naturally increasing the population.
They are not doing this for the sake of The State of Israel, but the State stands to benefit in a big way.
well the Frum sector is rapidly glowing and so are the Arabs
its the Tel Aviv ‘dog + baby family’ that are causing this to happen, but not bad, less mamzeirim in the world
Jewish Population of Israel Drops Below 74 Percent For The First Time sounds like an excellent platform to run on for this upcoming election except for Netanyahu who now now has consequences to deal with, for having closed the border to We Jews but not world leaders & politicians from overseas.