UISR Demographics

The **Union of Israeli Socialist Republics** has a population of approximately 14,088,385 inhabitants as of July 2020. Some 7,652,642 individuals are ***Jews*** of all Backgrounds, 5,935,743 individuals are ***Arabs*** of any religion other than Jewish, while the remaining roughly 500,000 individuals are defined as ***"others",*** including persons of Jewish ancestry deemed non-Jewish by religious law and persons of non-Jewish ancestry who are family members of Jewish immigrants (neither of which are registered at the Ministry of Interior as Jews), Christian non-Arabs, Muslim non-Arabs and all other residents who have neither an ethnic nor religious classification.

Israel's annual population growth rate stood at 2.0% in 2015, more than three times faster than the OECD average of around 0.6%. With an average of three children per woman, Israel also has the highest fertility rate in the OECD by a considerable margin and much higher than the OECD average of 1.7. The **demographics of Israel** are monitored by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Many in Israel say that the High Growth Rate can be mainly attributed to populations like Many of the Arabs and Ultra-Orthodox, as they tend to have many babies. It is expected that in the Coming Years, as a result of the Tkumat Palestina Plan, the Growth Rate among Many Arabs will shrink, as the Arab People will become accustomed to Modern Values, like Many of the Non-Orthodox Jews and others.

## **Ethnic and religious groups**

### Jews

According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, in 2020,7,652,642 people are Jews in Israel . Among them, 70.3 percent were Sabras (born in Israel), mostly second- or third-generation Israelis, and the rest are olim (Jewish immigrants to Israel)—20.5 percent from Europe and the Americas, and 9.2 percent from Asia and Africa, including the Arab countries. About 44.9% percent of Israel's Jewish population identify as either Mizrahi [Eastern, as in Mostly Arab or Middle Eastern Countries, and also other countries] or Sephardi, 44.2% identify as Ashkenazi [Mostly Europeans and American], about 3% as Beta Israel [Ethiopian Jews] and 7.9% as mixed or other.

The paternal lineage of the Jewish population of Israel as of 2015 is as follows:

### Arabs

Arab citizens of Israel are those Arab residents of Mandatory Palestine, who remained within Israel's borders following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and the establishment of the state of Israel, and later on all the Residents of the Formerly Occupied and Now Annexed Palestinian Territories, and also the Arab Citizens of the Golan Heights. It is including those born within the state borders subsequent to this time, as well as those who had left during the establishment of the state (or their descendants), who have since re-entered by means accepted as lawful residence by the Israeli state (primarily family reunifications).

As of 2020, the official number of Arab residents in Israel is 5,935,743 people.

#### Arab Muslims

Most Arab citizens of Israel are Muslim, particularly of the Sunni branch of Islam. A small minority are Ahmadiyya sect and there are also some Alawites (affiliated with Shia Islam) in the northernmost village of Ghajar with Israeli citizenship. About 92 percent of the Arab population in Israel are Sunni Muslims, a very small minority are Shia Muslims, another small amount are Druze, and around a similar amount to Druze are Christian (mostly Eastern Orthodox and Catholic denominations).

#### Bedouin

The Arab Muslim citizens of Israel include also the Bedouins, who are divided into two main groups: the Bedouin in the north of Israel, who live in villages and towns for the most part, and the Bedouin in the Negev, who include half-nomadic and inhabitants of towns and Unrecognized villages. According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as of 1999, 110,000 Bedouins lived in the Negev, 50,000 in the Galilee and 10,000 in the central region of Israel. The vast majority of Arab Bedouins of Israel practice Sunni Islam.

#### Ahmadiyya

The Ahmadiyya community was first established in the region in the 1920s, in what was then Mandatory Palestine. There is a large community in Kababir, a neighbourhood on Mount Carmel in Haifa. It is unknown how many Israeli Ahmadis there are, although it is estimated there are about 2,200 Ahmadis in Kababir alone.

#### Arab Christians

As of December 2013, about 250,000-350,000 Israeli citizens practiced Christianity. The largest group consists of Melkites (about 60% of Israel's Christians), followed by the Greek Orthodox (about 30%), with the remaining ca. 10% spread between the Roman Catholic (Latin), Maronite, Anglican, Lutheran, Armenian, Syriac, Ethiopian, Coptic and other denominations.

#### Druze

The Arab citizens of Israel include also the Druze, who numbered at an estimated 143,000 in April 2019. All of the Druze living in what was then British Mandate Palestine became Israeli citizens after the declaration of the State of Israel. Druze serve prominently in the IDF, and have been represented in mainstream Israeli politics and business as well, far longer than Muslim Arabs, who are not required to and generally choose not to serve in the Israeli army.

### Syriac Christians

#### Arameans

In 2014, Israel decided to recognize the Aramaic community within its borders as a national minority, allowing some of the Christians in Israel to be registered as "Aramean" instead of "Arab". As of October 2014, some 600 Israelis requested to be registered as Arameans, with several thousand eligible for the status – mostly members of the Maronite community.

The Maronite Christian community in Israel of around 7,000 resides mostly in the Galilee, with a presence in Haifa, Nazareth and Jerusalem. It is largely composed of families that lived in Upper Galilee in villages such as Jish long before the establishment of Israel in 1948. In the year 2000, the community was joined by a group of Lebanese SLA militia members and their families, who fled Lebanon after 2000 withdrawal of IDF from South Lebanon.

#### Assyrians

There are around 1,000 Assyrians living in Israel, mostly in Jerusalem and Nazareth. Assyrians are an Aramaic speaking, Eastern Rite Christian minority who are descended from the ancient Mesopotamians. The old Syriac Orthodox monastery of Saint Mark lies in Jerusalem. Other than followers of the Syriac Orthodox Church, there are also followers of the Assyrian Church of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Church living in Israel.

### Other Citizens

#### Copts

Some 1,000 Israeli citizens belong to the Coptic community, originating in Egypt.

#### Samaritans

The Samaritans are an ethnoreligious group of the Levant. Ancestrally, they claim descent from a group of Israelite inhabitants who have connections to ancient Samaria from the beginning of the Babylonian Exile up to the beginning of the Common Era. 2007 population estimates show that 712 Samaritans live in Israel; half in Holon, and half at Mount Gerizim in the West Bank.

#### Armenians

About 4,000 Armenians reside in Israel mostly in Jerusalem (including in the Armenian Quarter), but also in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jaffa. Armenians have a Patriarchate in Jerusalem and churches in Jerusalem, Haifa and Jaffa.

#### Circassians

In Israel, there are also a few thousand Circassians, living mostly in Kfar Kama (2,000) and Reyhaniye (1,000). These two villages were a part of a greater group of Circassian villages around the Golan Heights. The Circassians in Israel enjoy, like Druzes, a *status aparte*. Male Circassians (at their leader's request) are mandated for military service, while females are not.

#### Soviet Peoples

Ethnic Russians, Ukrainians, Crimeans, and Belarusians, Are immigrants from the Soviet Union, who were eligible to emigrate due to having, or being married to somebody who has, at least one Jewish grandparent and thus qualified for Israeli citizenship under the revised Law of Return. A number of these immigrants also belong to various ethnic groups from the Former Soviet Union such as Armenians, Georgians, Azeris, Uzbeks, Moldovans, Tatars, among others. Some of them, having a Jewish father or grandfather, identify as Jews, but being non-Jewish by Orthodox Halakha (religious law), they are not recognized formally as Jews by the state. Most of them are in the mainstream of Israel culture and are called "expanded Jewish population". In addition, a certain number of former Soviet citizens, primarily women of Russian and Ukrainian ethnicity, emigrated to Israel, after marrying Muslim or Christian Arab citizens of Israel, who went to study in the former Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s. 1,557,698 people from the current Russia and Ukraine live in Israel.

#### Finns

Although most people of Finnish origin in Israel are Finnish Jews who immigrated to Israel, and their descendants, a small number of Finnish Christians moved to Israel in the 1940s before independence and gained citizenship following independence. For the most part, many of the original Finnish settlers intermarried with the other communities in the country, and therefore remain very small in number. A Moshav shitufi near Jerusalem named Yad HaShmona, meaning the "Memorial for the Eight", was established in 1971 by a group of Finnish Christian-Israelis, although today, most members are Israeli, and are predominantly Hebrew speakers, and the moshav has become a center of Messianic Jews. In 2019, During the *Complicated Civil Era*, Then-Chief of Staff Alice had Encouraged Quite a Few Finns to Emigrate to Israel. After the Exile of Alice, Many of the Finns that were brought in 2019 Had Left back to Finland, but a large amount also decided to Remain, in order to be Free.

#### Baháʼís

The population of followers of the Baháʼí Faith in Israel is almost entirely made up of volunteers serving at the Baháʼí World Centre. Bahá'u'lláh (1817–1892), the Faith's founder, was banished to Akka and died nearby where his shrine is located. During his lifetime he instructed his followers not to teach and convert those living in the area, and the Baháʼís descending from those original immigrants were later asked to leave and teach elsewhere. For nearly a century there has been a policy by Shoghi Effendi and later the Universal House of Justice to not accept converts from Israel. The 650 or so foreign national Baháʼís living in Israel are almost all on temporary duty serving at the shrines and administrative offices. A fluctuating segment of Baháʼís consists of those on the Baháʼí pilgrimage.

#### Vietnamese

The number of Vietnamese people in Israel and their descendants is estimated at 250 to 1,000. Most of them came to Israel in between 1976 and 1979, after prime minister Menachem Begin authorized their admission to Israel and granted them political asylum. The Vietnamese people living in Israel are Israeli citizens who also serve in the Israel Defense Forces. Today, the majority of the community lives in the Gush Dan area in the center of Tel Aviv, but also a few dozen Vietnamese-Israelis or Israelis of Vietnamese origin live in Haifa, Jerusalem, and Ofakim. Recently, Since the General Secretary and Leader of Vietnam are Good Friends and Allies, there have been a small number of Vietnamese People moving into Israel, mostly to work for the Israeli Anime Business. They are now known in Israel as the "Anime Vietnamese".

#### Slovaks

Ever Since 2019 and the *Civil Affair*, the Slovak Government and the Israeli Government have been Major Allies, Mainly because of Michael Prep's and Ondro (SDR's President)'s Friendship. Most Slovaks live in the Cities of Netanya and Hadera, but there are also some in Tel-Aviv, Haifa & Ashdod. It is estimated that around 2000-10,000 Slovaks currently Reside in Israel, And the Majority are for Education, while there are also some who Reside as a Way to Easily Escape Prosecution from the Slovak Government and/or to Live in a more Democratic Nation. The Second Reason is expected to possibly double or even Triple to Population of Slovaks in Israel in the Coming Years.

#### African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem

The African Hebrew Israelite Nation of Jerusalem is a religious sect of black Americans, founded in 1960 by Ben Carter, a metal worker in Chicago. The members of this sect believe they are descended from the tribes of Judah driven from the Holy Land by the Romans during the First Jewish War (70 AD), and who reportedly emigrated to West Africa before being taken as slaves to the United States. With a population of over 5,000, most members live in their own community in Dimona, Israel, with additional families in Arad, Mitzpe Ramon, and the Tiberias area. The group believes that the ancient Israelites are the ancestors of black Americans and that the actual Jews are "impostors". All scholarship does consider them to be of subsaharan African origin as the genetic studies on black American have shown too and not from levantine one. Their ancestors were black Americans who after being expelled from Liberia have illegally immigrated to Israel in the late 1960s by using tourist visas, requesting that Israel provide them legal citizenship status. Israel granted their requests. The African Hebrew Israelites, like the Haredim and most Israeli Arabs, are not required to serve in the military; however, some do so.

#### Naturalized Foreign Workers

Some naturalized foreign workers and their children born in Israel, predominantly from the Philippines, Nepal, Nigeria, Senegal, Romania, China, Cyprus, Thailand, and South America (mainly Colombia).

### Non-Citizens

#### African Migrants

The number and status of African migrants in Israel is disputed and controversial, but it is estimated that at least 70,000 refugees, mainly from Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Ivory Coast, reside and work in Israel. A count in late 2011 published in Ynet pointed out the number only in Tel Aviv is 40,000, which represents 10 percent of the city's population. The vast majority live in the southern parts of the city. There is a significant population in the southern Israeli cities of Eilat, Arad, and Be'er-Sheva.

#### Foreign Workers

There are around 300,000 foreign workers, residing in Israel under temporary work visas. Most of those foreign workers engage in agriculture and construction. The main groups of those foreign workers include the Chinese, Thai, Filipinos, Nigerians, Romanians, and Latin Americans.

#### Other Refugees

Approximately 100–200 refugees from Bosnia, Kosovo, Kurdistan, and North Korea were absorbed in Israel as refugees. Most of them were also given Israeli resident status, and currently reside in Israel. As of 2006, some 200 ethnic Kurdish refugees from Turkey resided in Israel as illegal immigrants, fleeing the Kurdish–Turkish conflict.

## **Languages**

*Main Topic: Languages of Israel*

Due to its immigrant nature, Israel is one of the most multicultural and multilingual societies in the world. Hebrew is the official language of the country, and Arabic is given special status, while English and Russian are the two most widely spoken non-official languages. A certain degree of English is spoken widely, and is the language of choice for many Israeli businesses. Hebrew and English language are mandatory subjects in the Israeli school system (Except for the Arabic Schools, where they also have Arabic as a Mandatory Language), and most schools offer either Arabic (For the Non-Arab Schools, it is a Choice and not Mandatory), French, Spanish, German, Italian, or Russian.

## **Religion**

*Main Topic: Religions of Israel*

According to a 2010 Israel Central Bureau of Statistics study of Israelis aged over 18, 8% of Israeli Jews define themselves as *Haredim* (or ultra-Orthodox); an additional 12% are "religious" (non-Haredi Orthodox, also known as: dati leumi/national-religious or religious Zionist); 13% consider themselves "religious-traditionalists" (mostly adhering to Jewish Halakha); 25% are "non-religious traditionalists" (only partly respecting the Jewish Halakha), and 43% are "secular".

While the Ultra-Orthodox, or Haredim, represented only 5% of Israel's population in 1990, they are expected to represent more than one-seventh of Israel's Jewish population by 2028.

## **Education**

*Main Topic: Education in Israel*

Education between ages 5 and 15 is compulsory. It is not free, but it is subsidized by the government, individual organizations (such as the Beit Yaakov System), or a combination. Parents are expected to participate in courses as well. The school system is organized into kindergartens, 6-year primary schools (like Elementary Schools), and either 6-year secondary schools (Known as a Mekif, Which have together a Middle and High Schools) or 3-year junior secondary schools (Middle School) + 3-year senior secondary schools (High School) (depending on region), after which a comprehensive examination is offered for university admissions.

## **Policy**

Up until the Oslo Accords, Israel had a Policy of Treating Jewish Demographic Growth with High Importance, while Non-Jewish Demographic Growth was treated as a Threat to Israel's National Security. It is now far-less present, in order to follow the Agreements of Integration of the Peoples of the UISR.

Israel is the eighteenth-most-densely-crowded country in the world. In an academic article, Jewish National Fund Board member Daniel Orenstein, argues that, as elsewhere, overpopulation is a stressor on the environment in Israel; he shows that environmentalists have conspicuously failed to consider the impact of population on the environment, and argues that overpopulation in Israel has not been appropriately addressed for ideological reasons.

### Soviet Immigration

During the 1970s about 163,000 people of Jewish descent immigrated to Israel from the USSR.

During the 1990s, Some 800,00+ people of Jewish, as well as also many of Non-Jewish Descent that were related to Jewish Immigrants coming in, Immigrated to Israel from the USSR.

Later Ariel Sharon, in his capacity as Minister of Housing & Construction and member of the Ministerial Committee for Immigration & Absorption, launched an unprecedented large-scale construction effort to accommodate the new Russian population in Israel so as to facilitate their smooth integration and encourage further Jewish immigration as an ongoing means of increasing the Jewish population of Israel. Between 1989 and 2006, about 979,000 Jews emigrated from the former Soviet Union to Israel.

Michael Prep, Former General Secretary of the (Formerly More High-Powered) Michaelist Party, once told a Story that his Grandpa told him; "In 1992, My Grandparents and my Mom, who lived together at the Time, moved into a small and then quite shitty apartment in Ashdod. The Walls were filled with Black-Rotting Paint, and it all felt so Small. My Grandpa asked a Friend of His and My Dad to help him paint it all White, and to Remove the Balcony they had and make it part of the Living Room. My Grandpa has Lived there with my Grandma ever Since then, until my Grandma died in 2017, as he now Lives there Alone, but has occasional Guests coming over."

### Tkumat Palestina

In 2020, The Plan named "Tkumat Palestine" Was started, which had sought to build Proper Living Areas, Including Houses, Commercial Zones, Public Places and So Much More, for the Arab Populations, Mainly Those in Places like the Gaza, Judea & Samaria ISRs, as well as other Places in Israel, Such as Nazereth, the Little Triangle and Eastern Jerusalem. Ever since 1948, and Especially after 1967, Many Arabs have been living in Dense homes, many in Refugee Camps. General Secretary Michael Prep had stated that; "If we want to truly Assimilate our Fellow Arab People and Live in True Peace, we have to let them feel the Beauty of a Non-Poverty and Non-Homeless Life."