Is Israel becoming less Jewish?

israelinsider.com ^ | November 19, 2002 | Shalom Freedman

[Destro]

Is Israel becoming less Jewish?

By Shalom Freedman November 19, 2002

The threat to the Jewish character of the Jewish state is growing more and more severe. This is first and above all because of the much higher (two and one half times higher) birth rate of the Arab population. But it is also because of three other factors which have only come into play in recent years. One is the large number of guest workers who are choosing to make Israel their permanent home. A second reason is the large number of non-Jews who have been part of the wave of immigration from the Soviet Union. A third factor is the illegal residence in Israel of a large number of Arabs from across the Green Line, including many who have moved from the Hebron area into Jerusalem.

If in 1960 Jews constituted eighty-nine percent of the state, today they constitute only seventy-eight percent. And this official number does not include the large number of unregistered foreign workers or Arabs residing illegally in Israel.

A considerable part of Israel's Muslim population has rejected its own minority status and refuses to consider itself part of the Jewish state. A great share of Israeli Arabs are, in their own eyes, Palestinians who believe the demographic factor will lead to the day when the state becomes not a Jewish state, but a "state of all its citizens." This is for them a stage toward the eventual transformation of the country into a part of the larger Arab world, i.e. making it into yet another Arab state.

As for the large group of non-Jews, estimated at between three hundred and five hundred thousand, who came with the wave of aliyah from the former Soviet Union, it is clear that the great majority of them will make no serious effort at Halachic conversion. A certain number of these non-Jewish immigrants are actually believing Christians who are crowding Israel's Orthodox Christian churches on Sundays more than ever before.

As for the guest workers, the same reality applies here as has been seen in most countries of Western Europe. The workers first come temporarily, but tempted by the higher standard of living, they extend their stay and eventually begin bringing their families over. There is a growing population of young people among this group who will in time have Israeli citizenship, but will not be Jewish.

At present there is no sign of the non-Jewish populations cooperating politically. But should they do so, it is likely that the first item in their platform will be to detach Israel from the Jewish people, and make it the 'state of all its citizens' that the Arab minority so desperately wants.

There is another alarming sense in which Israel is becoming less Jewish. The extreme polarization between the religious and the secular has resulted in secular Jews moving farther and farther away from Jewish tradition. The unfortunate efforts at religious coercion on the part of the ultra-Orthodox have led to a backlash in the larger secular society. The grandchildren of many of those secular Jews who were founding fathers of Israel are often simply ignorant of Judaism.

It appears that the broad, moderate, Masorti, or traditional center of the Jewish people is being reduced from both sides. Therefore, a broad consensus around a few basic principles of Jewish and Israeli identity is becoming less and less likely. This is reflected in the increasing numbers of young people who, for one reason or another, do not serve in the army. Already forty-five percent of those of enlistment age, including religious youths who opt for yeshiva studies as well as others, find their way out of it.

Countering this process of diminishing Jewishness is likely to be more difficult than it has been in the past. Aliyah, the traditional answer, is more and more problematic as assimilation increases in the Diaspora. Aliyah from the former Soviet Union is a good example of this. Perhaps a large infusion of religious Jewish immigrants might help, but it may well be that the numbers are not large enough to make a vital difference.

Certainly efforts to facilitate conversion of Israel's non-Jewish immigrant population, without sacrificing authenticity, should be increased. Until now, the numbers of converted immigrants have been small, and most have managed to live without it. The non-Jewish population of Israel is already so large that it can show some contempt for the majority's institutions.

Still another suggested remedy for the problem is the bringing to Israel of large numbers of crypto-Jews from various parts of the world. This idea of mass immigration of communities that identify themselves as being lost members of the Children of Israel makes certain sense but may too be Utopian, as there are no signs that those masses are on their way here.

One additional possible answer is through peace negotiations, in which the Arab party to the conflict is ceded certain heavily populated areas within Israel. An agreement, in which the Arabs become part of an Arab political entity, leaving Jews as the outright majority of a Jewish one, is a diplomatic possibility. But it is one which may have insurmountable security difficulties.

A more fundamental improvement of the situation would come from a massive overhaul of the school systems within Israel. This would involve an emphasis on more serious teaching of Judaism and Jewish history in the secular school system, and a wholly revamped program in various Haredi institutions which would connect them to the historical life of their own people. The goal of this fundamental change would be an increased involvement of larger segments of the Jewish population in the activities of the Jewish state in order to strengthen its Jewish character.

Most importantly, Israeli political leaders must become more aware of the increasing threat to the Jewish character of Israel. They must begin seeking ways to ensure that an enterprise created through the sacrifice and effort of generations will not be carelessly dissipated through an apathetic resignation to the extension of present trends. Views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.

Shalom Freedman is an American-born writer on Jewish subjects who has lived and worked in Israel for many years.

sfreedman@bezeqint.net

[Destro]

Bump it around for the Russian Freepers.

[Alberta's Child]

Whoever it was who said "Demographics is Destiny" was absolutely right.

[KantianBurke]

"The unfortunate efforts at religious coercion on the part of the ultra-Orthodox have led to a backlash in the larger secular society"

I've said it before and I'll say it again alonside this validation: most of the branches of ultra-orthodox in Isreal is the Jewish answer to the Taliban. Different sides of the same coin.

[robertpaulsen]

I'm curious. What percentage of Israeli citizens are Jews?

[plano29]

"I've said it before and I'll say it again alonside this validation: most of the branches of ultra-orthodox in Isreal is the Jewish answer to the Taliban. Different sides of the same coin."

Since when did Orthodox Jews start arresting and beating the non-observent? When did they start blowing up ancient monuments? When did they start harboring terrorists? When did they start kidnapping missionaries and Western Journalists?

Israel is the most religiously pluralistic society in the Middle East.

[sheik yerbouty]

A Chasidic Jew from Williamsburg was on line at an airport, and was going through a security check. He wore a long black caftan, had peyos and a long beard, and wore a large black hat. The security guard looks him up and down, and seeing this man in a strange garment, with a long bear, went up to the individual and asked? "Taliban?" The Chasid then replies; "Teitelbaum"!

[Austin Willard Wright]

Really? Who killed Rabin?

[KantianBurke]

They don't have control of the country as the Taliban did. Wait till they do. And the areas that they do control are already their run as their little religious fiefdoms. Complete with blazen hatred and discrimination for those citizens who don't follow the Torah word for word.

[rmlew]

Really? Who killed Rabin?

1. A single Religious nationalist, but not a member of an ultra-Orthodox group.
2. Rabin started it. Rabin had Jewish blood and the fall of Jerusalem on his hands. Rabin carried out the attack on the Altalena, killing Jews and denying the Irgun weapons with which to reopen the Tel-Aviv Jerusalem road in 1948.
Frankly the fact that he was not shot earlier, and only at the behest of a GSS agent, says a lot about the peaceful nature of Jewish religious nationalists.

[valkyrieanne]

Yes, because Jewish Israelis aren't having very many babies (outside of the Orthodox settlers, who have 7 or 8), and Arab Israelis are. It's called "outbaby the enemy," and it *works.*

[Alouette]

Complete with blazen hatred and discrimination for those citizens who don't follow the Torah word for word.

This disgusting accusation is entirely imaginary and was invented by secular extremists like Meretz and Shinui to justify THEIR OWN BLAZEN HATRED of observant Jews.

If you can find anything from any ultra-Orthodox site that matches the sheer blazen hatred in these cute cartoons from your Meretz and Shinui buddies .

Caption: "So everyone can see what a rabbi really is."

Caption: The New Enemies!!!!
They have to be EXTERMINATED while they are still LITTLE!

Caption: "The Orthodox Jews - black ants"
"Social bugs, black dressed, are acting together for their aims and obey blindly to their Queen"
Please, notice that the faces are well known Orthodox figures; the "ants" are transferring from the Public Treasure, piles of money, upon prayer shawls !

"The Millenium tourism $"
The Rabbi (Orthodox Jew) crucifies a Christian tourist (and the expected incomes) for the millenium (year 2000)

"Danger !!! Kippot in Ness Tsiona - Beware" [on the hat]: "Shas [Orthodox Sephardic party] ... Parasites"
"Fear in town" [with the two pigs]: "Great fear" [a word play between orthodox and fear]
"An Orthodox threat on our lives ! "
"in town Ness Tsiona"
"Join us to the struggle against the Orthdox darkness"

More here

Meretz MK Ran Cohen considers them to be "black ants".
Journalist Amnon Dankner thinks of them as dogs, "tied up in the yard and barking Psalms all night long".
Tour guide Sefi Ben-Yosef sees them as "a humming collection of locusts". Poet Moshe Dor pictures them as "the dark forces of our era".
Columnist Amnon Avramovicz maintains that they are "a death-causing plague".
Commentator Natan Donevitz imagines them as "black swarms".
Yoel Marcus, author and newspaperman, knows they are "black forces" and "soul snatchers".

Playwright Yosef Mondey opines that they are "rude baboons".
The now defunct Marxist daily, Al HaMishmar, the mouthpiece of the Mapam party, held them to be "barbarians...the black front...representing the most mystical, magical, primitive urge...their schools are ‘institutes of darkness’".
Gideon Sammet, journalist and former diplomat, knows they are "the most obscurantist and ugly phenomena of our time".

Shulamit Aloni, former Education Minister and progressive politician, is convinced they are "bloodsuckers...snakes...suckling from the most darkest urges that the Nazi horror suckled from. They are greedy, domineering, evil and primitive, immoral, parasitical and power-hungry".
Uri Avnery, media person, sees them as "bloodsuckers".
Meretz MK Professor Naomi Chazan "a terrible evil...a black genie". Acclaimed writer Amos Oz "armed groups of gangsters, criminals against humanity, sadists, pogromists and murderers...".
(All the quotations appeared in newspapers and other periodicals except for the words of Shulamit Aloni which were spoken in the Knesset Chamber).

And so on and so forth. The "they" are, of course, the Charedim. The religious, and more specifically, the more observant Jews, termed ultra-orthodox.

Since the beginning of the "intifada" most of the anti-religious incitement has died down as Israelis realize that the terrorists make no distinction between ultra-Orthodox Jews and secular Jews.

[TopQuark]

The grandchildren of many of those secular Jews who were founding fathers of Israel are often simply ignorant of Judaism.

That is what happens when you foresake your tradition for socialism and other varieties of group-think. It happens all over Europe and here, too.

[TopQuark]

My G-d! Alouette, I had no idea. A Jew, in the face of the danger of annihilation, developing such animal-like hatred towards another Jew. Leftists always succum to hatred.

I will keep an eye on these people now.

[Kaafi]

Those left parties indeed full of hate towards the orthodox Jews.
However, the orthodox Jews are to blame for the general secular population opinion of them, they don’t serve in the military (most of them) but they demand to receive money from the government to pay for their schools and the burden of taxes fall’s on the seculars (The orthodox aren’t very productive as a society).

[plano29]

I had no idea it was this bad. You would think these folks purchased back issues of Der Sturmer on eBay and copied the illustrations.

Thanks for posting this.

[js1138]

(The orthodox aren’t very productive as a society).

And they voted for Hillary Clinton. Sheesh, what a choice. I'd ask what's in the middle eastern water, but there isn't any.

[Alouette]

(The orthodox aren’t very productive as a society).

What the Chareidim Give & Take From Israeli Economy

Ultra-Orthodox Jews in the High Tech Sector

Both very long articles--the second is from a secular business magazine--go into a great amount of detail of the productivity of the religious Jews.

Personally, I think Chareidim should not avoid military service, and I have encouraged my son to enlist.

[KantianBurke]

Yawn. You again? We've been through this before. Still waiting on any sort of explanation regarding how those "tolerant" Orthodox went nuts on the Israeli airline and attacked their fellow passengers because of a film. Try not to change the subject, start calling everyone Nazis or dissappear like you did the last time.

[rmlew]

Amazing how much of it could be translatted directly from Strycher and other Nazis.