In more recent years, the country has assimilated millions of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, Morocco and Ethiopia. Some 36 percent of the 13.8 million Jews worldwide now live within Israel's borders. Many immigrants are poverty-stricken and face little hope of true assimilation. Many don't speak Hebrew, the Israelis' chosen language, or English, the country's second language. Many have inadequate housing.
Ethiopian immigrants complain of being isolated in muddy trailer communities in the north.
Many immigrants from the former Soviet Union are trained, skilled professionals who say there is little work for them in their true professions. The problem of too many immigrants and too few jobs has exacerbated an economic recession that many blame on the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Miri Winternitz knows about unemployment firsthand. She was educated at the Technion, Israel's premier technological institute, and worked for many years as a drafter. But she was laid off in 1995, when new construction slumped.