Being driven out by demography

By Israel Harel, Haaretz

The truly critical demographic problem is inside the State of Israel. The overall number of Israeli Arabs - some of whom clearly demonstrated in October 2000 and afterward, by means of the dozens of terror cells that have been uncovered, the extent of their loyalty to the Jewish state - represents about 20 percent of Israel's population. The percentage of Arab pupils in the first grade, a crucial indicator for what can be expected in the near future, is 32.5. Moreover, about 58.8 percent of Israel's Arabs are under the age of 24, while among Jews the proportion is only 38 percent. These figures clearly show that the Jewish population is growing older and its fertility is declining. The Arab population, on the other hand, is young and its fertility is on the rise - and is certainly not declining. The average Israeli Arab family has 5.26 members while the average Jewish family has only 3.13 members - and if not for the ultra-Orthodox and Orthodox families, the Jewish figure would be even lower.

And when the Arab population has become an even more significant minority, say 40 percent of the population, the State of Israel will no longer be able to be a Jewish state. So temporarily, until the Arabs become the majority, it will become - de facto - "a state of all its citizens." As a result, many Jews will want to flee from such a state, and most of those abandoning the country will the same ones that want to flee from Judea and Samaria now because of the demographic problem. And only those for whom life in Eretz Israel is not conditional will not run away in the future, just as they oppose running away now. If you run away from a problem like demographics now, it will continue to plague you in the future.

of a bi-national solution.

I don't like it but there are a number of possibilities.


I hope that Israelis chose wisely and humanely

Into every generation a Chicken Little must be born. But that doesn't mean that the sky will really fall.

Nor will a binational state occur.

There already is one state. The next thing to do is start working on the details of bi-nationalist coexistence.

Either that, or keep millions of Palestinians imprisoned in a huge ghetto.

That is a substantial difference.

Face it, Israel doesn't want the Palestinians and the Palestinians don't want Israel. You declaring a shotgun wedding does not make it so.

Right? Great. Makes no difference to you. You're not suffering. Makes no difference to me. I'm not suffering. Think of the poor and stressed out people who have to live there. The only people who are benefitting are the valium manufacturers.

The Peace Fence will at least limit the access the two sides have at one another and that should lower the body count.

to live with the problem, Muddle. You're not trying to solve it.

It's not a Peace Fence. It's a fence that does't help, because it doesn't solve the problem.

I think you don't (seem to) care that this war goes on and on because you don't live there. If you did, you'd probably leave. I know I would.

Eager does not mean able however.

You can't have peace if both sides don't want peace. So, even if Israel pulled back to the '67 borders, it would still face war from the Palestinian terror groups and their supporters.

However, if the Palestinians actually shut down the terror groups, we do have a chance for peace.

In the meantime, the Peace Fence sure as hell helps if you live in Israel. It keeps out suicide bombers and prevents them from killing women and children.

I don't live there, but I have friends who do from my time over there. I do care, but caring doesn't make the problem go away.

Your posts seem to support this problem to go on. You don't want to give an inch.

How do you know Israel would still face war from the Palestinian terror groups and their supporters if it pulled back to the '67 borders? Do you have a crystal ball? You seem to think all the Palestinians are terrorists.

You support the demand that the Palestinian extremists stop attacking before negotiations can start, but can you blame them for not trusting Israel either? Do you expect them to believe that if they actually shut down the terror groups there is a chance for peace?

Jews are not immigrating and the ones already there are leaving.
Great political leadership, that. And the Palestinians are,
as a group, farther than ever from the sort of economic and
educational status that leads to lower birth rates and more
bourgeois social attitudes. I won't get into the the pressuring
of a secular Arab population towards more fundamentalist sentiments.

to expect people to move there. Who wants to move to a place where there's no prospect for peace with the neigbors. I don't know how many are leaving but I'm sure that number will increase.