The proportion of Jewish citizens has shrunk by more than half a percent in the last three years • Director of the Center for Israeli Immigration Policy: "The public is unaware of the tectonic demographic changes"
Priests' Blessing at the Western Wall
Photo:
Jonathan Zindel
Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, published today (Monday) in honor of the 73rd Independence Day of the State of Israel, reveal that the proportion of Jews in the Israeli population, which stood at 82.1% at the establishment of the state, shrank to only 73.9% this year.
The data reveal that in just three years, the proportion of Jews in the Israeli population has shrunk by more than half a percent (0.6%), from 74.5 percent in 2018, to 73.9 percent this year.
In demographic terms these are very significant scale changes.
This comparison reveals that in parallel with the shrinking proportion of Jews in the population, the proportion of Arabs increased in those years by 0.2 percent and stands at 21.1%, while the rate of the "other" population increased at a double rate of 0.4 percent, and now stands at 5%.
This population consists of "non-religious" who immigrated under the Law of Return, but also of "non-Arab Christians" and other religions such as Buddhists, who immigrated under the Entry into Israel Law, such as families of foreign children and family reunification.
Advocate Yonatan Jakubowicz, Director of the Center for Israeli Immigration Policy: "This year, too, the proportion of the Jewish population in the State of Israel continued to decline rapidly, largely thanks to immigration, but most of the public is unaware of tectonic demographic changes."
According to him, the CBS data emphasize the strategic importance of a responsible immigration policy that will safeguard Israel's interests as a Jewish and democratic state.
This policy must include comprehensive treatment of the phenomenon of fictitious marriages for immigration purposes, stricter enforcement against illegal immigrants, prompt processing of asylum applications to reduce system abuse and adapting Home Office procedures and the Law of Return to changing realities.
"These steps must be taken before it is too late and the identity of the State of Israel will change beyond recognition."