Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: The million missing Israelis

http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/07/05/the_million_missing_israelis
The million missing Israelis
Posted By Joseph Chamie, Barry Mirkin   Tuesday, July 5, 2011 - 5:40 PM
Over more than six decades of statehood, successive Israeli governments 
have repeatedly stressed the centrality of Jewish immigration and the 
Law of Return of all Jews to Israel for the well-being, security, and 
survival of the nation. Yet while much is published on Jewish 
immigration to Israel, considerably less information is available about 
Jewish emigration from Israel.
Government estimates of the numbers of Israelis residing abroad vary 
greatly due mainly to the lack of an adequate recording system. 
Consequently, scholars and others have questioned the accuracy of 
government figures. Besides the statistical and methodological 
shortcomings, the numbers of Israeli expatriates are open to 
considerable debate and controversy because of their enormous 
demographic, social, and political significance both within and outside 
Israel.
At the lower end is the official estimate of 750,000 Israeli emigrants 
-- 10 percent of the population -- issued by the Israeli Ministry of 
Immigrant Absorption, which is about the same as that for Mexico, 
Morocco, and Sri Lanka. The Netanyahu government places the current 
number of Israeli citizens living abroad in the range of 800,000 to 1 
million, representing up to 13 percent of the population, which is 
relatively high among OECD countries. Consistent with this latter figure 
is the estimated 1 million Israelis in the Diaspora reported at the 
first-ever global conference of Israelis living abroad, held in January 
2011.
Current estimates of Israelis living abroad are substantially higher 
than those for the past. During Israel's first decade, some 100,000 Jews 
are believed to have emigrated from Israel. By 1980, Israel's Central 
Bureau of Statistics estimated some 270,000 Israelis living abroad for 
more than a year or seven percent of the population. Several decades 
later, the number of Israeli emigrants had swelled  to about 550,000 -- 
or almost double the proportion at the end of the 1950s.
Of the Israelis currently residing abroad roughly 60 percent are 
believed to have settled in North America, a quarter in Europe and 15 
percent distributed across the rest of the world. It is estimated that 
about 45 percent of the adult Israeli expatriates have completed at 
least a university degree, in contrast to 22 percent of the Israeli 
population. The Israeli emigrants are deemed to be disproportionately 
secular, liberal and cosmopolitan. Furthermore, the emigrants are 
generally younger than the immigrants to Israel, especially those from 
the former Soviet Union, hastening the aging of Israel's population.
The often-cited reasons for Israeli emigration center on seeking better 
living and financial conditions, employment and professional 
opportunities, and higher education, as well as pessimism regarding 
prospects for peace. Consistent with these motives, one of the most 
frequently given explanations for leaving Israel is: "The question is 
not why we left, but why it took us so long to do so." And recent 
opinion polls find that almost half of Israeli youth would prefer to 
live somewhere else if they had the chance. Again, the most often-cited 
reason to emigrate is because the situation in Israel is viewed as "not 
good".
Another important factor contributing to the outflow of Jewish Israelis 
is previous emigration experience. As 40 percent of Jewish Israelis are 
foreign-born, emigration is nothing new for many in the country. 
Moreover, as Israeli emigrants cannot yet vote from abroad, they are 
likely to feel marginalized from mainstream Israeli society, further 
contributing to their decision to remain abroad as well as attracting 
others to do the same. Whether the Netanyahu government's effort in the 
Knesset to approve a bill granting voting rights to Israelis living 
abroad will slow the trend is uncertain.
Adding to emigration pressures, many Israelis have already taken 
preliminary steps to eventually leaving. One survey found close to 60 
percent of Israelis had approached or were intending to approach a 
foreign embassy to ask for citizenship and a passport. An estimated 
100,000 Israelis have German passports, while more are applying for 
passports based on their German ancestry. And a large number of Israelis 
have dual nationality, including an estimated 500,000 Israelis holding 
US passports (with close to a quarter million pending applications).
Population projections show that Jewish Israelis will remain the large 
majority in Israel for the foreseeable future. However, it will be a 
challenge for Jewish Israelis to maintain their current dominant 
majority of approximately 75 percent, primarily due to higher fertility 
among non-Jewish Israelis -- nearly one child per woman greater -- the 
depletion of the large pool of likely potential Jewish immigrants, and 
large-scale Jewish Israeli emigration. Consequently, demographic 
projections expect the Jewish proportion of the country -- which peaked 
at 89 percent in 1957 -- to continue declining over the coming decades, 
approaching a figure closer to two-thirds of the population by mid-century.
The emigration of a large proportion of a country's population, 
especially the well educated and highly skilled, poses serious 
challenges for any nation. However, large-scale emigration is 
particularly problematic for Israel given its relatively small 
population, unique ethnic composition, and regional political context.
Moreover, not only is Israeli emigration increasing the influence of the 
orthodox Jewish communities, it is also boosting the need for temporary, 
non-Jewish foreign workers, especially in agriculture, construction and 
care-giving. The presence of more than 200,000 foreign workers -- nearly 
half of whom are unauthorized and mainly from Asia (in particular 
Thailand and the Philippines, but also increasingly from Africa) -- is 
also contributing to the changing ethnic composition of the country.
The departure of Jewish Israelis also contributes to the undermining of 
the Zionist ideology. If large numbers of Jewish Israelis are opting to 
emigrate, why would Jews who are well integrated and accepted in other 
countries immigrate to Israel? Furthermore, up to a quarter of young 
Israelis in Europe marry outside their faith. The majority do not belong 
to a Jewish community and do not participate in any Jewish activities. 
As with other expatriate groups in Western nations, Israelis living 
abroad often profess their intention to return. However, Israeli 
emigrants are likely to remain in their adopted countries insofar as 
they and their families have become successfully settled and integrated.
Israeli governments have already consistently perceived immigration 
levels as too low and emigration levels as too high. In addition to 
policies encouraging immigration for permanent settlement, Israel has 
programs and media campaigns actively promoting the return of Israelis 
residing overseas. The government also maintains connections with the 
country's expatriates through mandatory registration in its consulates 
overseas and outreach programs and activities -- and provides 
counseling, guidance, financial assistance, and tax benefits to 
returning citizens.
Despite these efforts, it is doubtful based on past and current trends 
that these various incentives and appeals will be sufficient to entice 
the return of the million missing Israelis. Large-scale emigration has 
not only resulted in critical demographic and socio-economic imbalances 
in the country, but more importantly poses grave political challenges 
and jeopardizes the basic Jewish character and integrity of Israel.
[Joseph Chamie is research director at the Center for Migration Studies 
and Barry Mirkin is an independent consultant.]
-- 
Namib
"La force ne fait ni raison ni droit ; mais il est peut-ï¿œtre impossible 
de s'en passer, pour faire respecter le droit et la raison" (Saint-Just)

 Namib
e Namib si bagna.

 giravo con un amico ad angherizzare
ANGHERIZZARE? A SOMAROOOOOOOOOOO!

 cazzo.
falso pure questo. . Namib se ne preoccupa moltissimo, ha persino
scoperto che viaggiano all'estero.

aha.
anche la larga maggioranza degli abitanti dello Zimbabwe continuer� a stare
nello Zimbabwe nel futuro. QUesto rende lo Z. uno stato meno di merda?
-------------------------------------------------------------------	
uomo bianco parla con lingua biforcuta.
il Diamat � la spiegazione di tutte le cose

 nello Zimbabwe nel futuro.
tutto da dimostrare, visto l'andamento dell'economia. Che e' una delle
molte cose di cui non ti intendi