Population
 Palestine had for centuries had a small Jewish enclave
surrounded by an overwhelming Arab majority. This was
changed by the collapse of Jewish life in Eastern Europe
during the latter half of the 19th century and the first
half of the 20th century, which led to an extensive
emigration to Palestine. By the turn of the century, Jews
constituted 10 percent of Palestine's population, and when
the British mandate expired 40 percent. In May 1948, the new
state had about 650,000 Jewish residents.
Until then, immigrants had mainly come from Eastern
Europe, but for a few years after the state's proclamation,
immigration from the Arab world was contemplating; A total
of 900,000 Jews were forced to leave the Arab world from
1948 until the beginning of the 1970s. This immigration is
now practically completed, and immigration from Western
Europe and the United States is relatively modest (a few
thousand people annually, see
Digopaul.com).
After the Iranian revolution in 1979, nearly 30,000 Jews
moved from there to Israel. In the 1990s, nearly 800,000
Jews from the former Soviet Union immigrated. This
immigration has also continued in recent years, with an
additional 170,000 people until 2010. Also from Ethiopia,
40,000 individuals moved in during the 1990s; an occupation
that continued in the 2000s with more than 3,000 people
annually. In connection with the economic crisis in
Argentina in the years around the turn of the millennium,
quite extensive emigration from there occurred, but it has
since subsided. Since the 1990s there has been a small
immigration of so-called Ben谷 Menash谷 Jews from northeastern
India with a few hundred people per year.
Israel has an average population density of 428 residents
per km2, but most live on the coastal plain. In
2008, 76 percent of the population were Jews and 20 percent
were Arabs. In the occupied areas, 1.5 million Arabs and
100,000 Jews live. About 3/4 of the Jewish and nearly 2/3 of
the non-Jewish population is between Ashqelon and Nahariya.
The Negev desert in the south is almost uninhabited.
In 2019, 91 percent of the population lived in cities,
half of them in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa. The
population is young (28 percent is under 15).
For information on life expectancy and other demographic
statistics, see Country facts.
Language
Official languages in Israel are Hebrew and Arabic. Among
the Jews, a number of languages still live from their
respective countries of origin, even though 80% say they use
Hebrew everyday. The spoken Arabic in Israel and the
occupied territories are of hadaric type and belong to the
Syrian dialect group. In Negev, most Bedouins speak badawi
dialect. TV broadcasts programs in Hebrew and Arabic and
regular radio broadcasts take place on eg. Hebrew, Arabic,
English, French, Russian, Yiddish and Georgian.
Religion
Of Israel's population, 77% are Jewish, about 19% Arab,
and about 2.1% Christian. The other approximately 1.9% are
mainly druses and church boxes (2009). The Declaration of
Independence of 1948 states, that the State of Israel
guarantees complete social and political equality for all
its citizens regardless of religion, race or gender. It
maintains religious freedom and protects in its territory
the sacred places of all religions. Israel is a
parliamentary democracy but, at the same time, characterizes
itself as a "Jewish" state by be open to immigration of all
Jews who so desire.
Relations between the state and the Jewish majority
religion are regulated by a series of laws, but these are
not enshrined in a constitution. In 1947, the leading Mapai
Party and the Jewish-religious parties (Mizrahi and Agudat
Israel) agreed to renounce a constitution that would
establish the relationship between the secular state and the
Jewish religious right (halakha). Israel's first
prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, objected to a
constitution, including because he wanted to prevent the
religious right from infringing on the sovereign right of
parliament, the Knesset. The representatives of the
religious parties could just as easily imagine a
constitution that circumvents the validity of traditional
Judaism in any area of society. The agreement meant that the
Knesset alone enacts laws but leaves it to the religious
authorities to interpret civil law so as to conform to
traditional halakha. More recently, attempts have been made
to find a clearer boundary between state and religion. Since
none of the major political blocs (the Labor Party or Likud)
alone managed to achieve a majority in the Knesset, For
example, the religious parties (with a total of about 15-20%
of the mandate) have become the tongue on the balance and
have been able to form coalitions - first with the Labor
Party and then with Likud. As a result, their
representatives have generally gained control of the
Ministry of Religion, often also of the ministries of social
and home affairs, and have been able to exert a decisive
influence on the legislation. Under the Ministry of
Religion, all religious communities registered in Israel
obey. All recognized religious communities have internal
self-government with their own religious right. Under the
Ministry of Religion, all religious communities registered
in Israel obey. All recognized religious communities have
internal self-government with their own religious right.
Under the Ministry of Religion, all religious communities
registered in Israel obey. All recognized religious
communities have internal self-government with their own
religious right.
Judaism's role as a dominant religion appears,
among other things. of the fact that Sabbaths and holidays
apply as national rest days and that ritual proper food (kashrut)
is served at state institutions. One sign of the influence
of religion is that religious schools are also maintained by
the state. State religious courts have been set up; their
approval is needed i.a. for entering and dissolving marriage
between Jews. Civil marriages cannot be entered into Israel
but are registered as such if entered into outside of
Israel. The highest Halakhic body is the upper rabbinate,
led by an Ashkenazic and a Sephardic upper rabbinate - both
representing Orthodox Judaism. Local justice is handled by
the state rabbis, religious councils and rabbinical courts.
For the population register, the Knesset 1970 defined that
"Jew" means a person born of a Jewish mother or converted to
Judaism and who does not belong to another religion.
The State of Israel both expects and receives support
from Judaism throughout the world, from both individuals and
communities. But through traditional Orthodox control of
religious law, other Jewish directions, such as Reform
Judaism and Conservative Judaism, which are strong in the
United States, do not have equal opportunities to establish
themselves in the country. Although they have several dozen
synagogues and other institutions in the country, they are
not recognized by the Ministry of Religion as legitimate
forms of Judaism and thus stand outside the entire
state-sanctioned system. For example, they will not in the
enjoyment of state financial aid.
About 20% of Israel's Jewish population follows
traditional halakha, while 60% combines it with personal
preferences and ethnic traditions. The remainder is largely
non-observant. Most Orthodox view the state of Israel as a
preparation for the coming of the Messiah - as "the
beginning of our emerging salvation" as it is called in the
prayer for the state. These vote either on Mafdal (National
Religious Party, a successor to Mizrahi) or on any other
religious or non-religious party and actively participate in
the political life of Israel. Among the religious are also
ultra-Orthodox (haredi), who strictly adhere to halakha. A
minority of these (Naturai map) do not recognize the state
of Israel, as they believe that a Jewish state can be formed
only after the arrival of the Messiah; a larger group of
ultra-Orthodox (politically organized in Agudat Israel and
some other religious parties) now participates in politics
with the aim of strengthening the Jewish-religious character
of the state. Most ultra-Orthodox men and all ultra-Orthodox
women are exempt from military service, which has been
subject to growing criticism.
Islam is the largest minority religion in
Israel. The vast majority are Sunni Muslims. The history of
the Muslims in the country goes back to the 640s, when the
Caliph Umar conquered the country from the Byzantines.
Muslim supremacy prevailed in the country until 1917 - with
the exception of the Crusades during the 12th and 13th
centuries. The two major mosques on the Temple Mount in
Jerusalem (Umarm Mosque or the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque) were
built shortly before and after the year 700. They have since
been the foremost Muslim shrines in the country.
The Muslims have their own state-maintained courts that
handle Muslim law (Arabic Sharia) for entering into
marriage, teaching religion, observing Muslim holidays, etc.
Christianity has existed in the country from New
Testament times. Initially, it was mainly Jewish Christians
in the aftermath of the apostles, but from the 300s, the
pagan Christian communities that emerged in the
Mediterranean began to establish themselves in the country.
Christian (Roman Catholic) kingship was here during the
Crusade.
Of the Christians, 42% belong to the Greek-Catholic
Church, 32% to the Greek Orthodox, 16% to the Roman Catholic
(1998). In addition, Maronites, Armenians, Syrian Orthodox,
Copts, Protestants, etc. In the city of Nazareth, half of
the population is Christian. About 90% of Christians are
Arabic speaking. The different communities have their own
churches, monasteries and other institutions but share eg.
the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Each
registered church community has its own internal court
order.
The traditional Christian communities in Israel are
non-missionary. Exceptions are some Protestant churches or
groups, which have a mission among Jews on their program. In
particular, ultra-Orthodox Jews have reacted; From time to
time there have been tangible attacks on institutions that
carry out or are suspected of carrying out missions. Israeli
legislation has circumvented such activities that aim to
persuade someone to convert to another religion. A bill
aimed at completely banning non-Jewish missions was
presented in 1997 but was withdrawn two years later.
The Druzes include the third largest minority
religion. The Drusian religion arose from the split of Islam
in the early 1000s and is largely secret. The Drusians are
mostly settled in the Galilee and on the Golan Heights.
Those who live in Galilee have a positive relationship with
the state and fulfill, for example. Israeli military
service.
Since the vast majority of Muslims and Christians come
from the Arab population of the country, the political
tension between Jews and Arabs adversely affects the
relationship between the various faith communities. More
recently, attempts have been made to activate the religious
dialogue between Jews, Christians and Muslims.
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