The Public Demographic Council will convene next month, after four years of inactivity, to formulate its recommendations as to what the government can do to promote an increase in the Jewish birth rate.
The decision to reconvene what was generally considered to be a defunct organization was taken by Labor and Social Welfare Minister Shlomo Benizri (Shas). The council will examine issues such as abortion, 'mixed' marriages between Israelis and foreign workers, and how to encourage Jewish households to have more children, using government grants, housing benefits and other incentives.
The council was established in 1966, after a government decision to "create an atmosphere in which large families were encouraged." That decision also called for "restraining artificial pregnancy terminations." The council has been criticized in the past for some of its recommendations, including anti-abortion propaganda.
Benizri called on former council chairman Dr. Baruch Levy - an expert in social policy - to regroup the panel and to act as its acting head. According to Levy, "the task ahead - preserving the Jewish character of the country - is not an easy one."