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Counting Jews in Israel: The ‘Other’ Is Not Enough

The Israeli flag at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Photo: Hynek Moravec via Wikimedia Commons.

On November 7, 2023, just one month after the Hamas massacre of Israelis and the onset of the war in Gaza, The Jerusalem Post’s Zvika Klein reported on a surge of interest in immigration to Israel by French and American Jews. So, it comes as no surprise that on February 14, 2024, the Israel Minister of Aliyah and Integration announced that, in spite of an ongoing war, 6,500 new immigrants had arrived in Israel since October 7, including a significant number from Western countries such as the US and Canada. According to the Minister, this burst of immigration is due mainly to a sense of solidarity with Israel, rather than a result of antisemitism.

The latest population report from the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics notes that as of January 1, 2024, close to one-half (47%) of the world’s 15.2 million Jews live in Israel. In addition, fertility values for Israelis have been consistently high, by far the highest of the 38 developed countries that make up the OECD. In a recent article, Ofir Haivry writes that two thirds of all Jewish babies are born in Israel. Thus, it is a safe bet to say that a majority of the world’s Jews will probably live in Israel by 2048, the centenary of the state, and possibly sooner.

The Central Bureau also reported that the population of Israel stood at 9,842,000, as of January 1, 2024. (The number includes Jewish settlers in the West Bank, but not Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza.) This is more than a ten-fold increase over the population of Israel when the state came into being 75 years ago, and a substantial 1.9 % increase over the previous year. The number of Jews was listed as 7,208,000, (73.2 %) and Arabs as 2,080,000 (21.1 %).

What about the missing 5.7 %? This demographic is listed as “others,” and includes groups such as Baha’is, Karaite Jews, Samaritans, Messianic Jews etc. What the Central Bureau does not state explicitly, is that many in this group — more than one-half million people — are immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU), most recently from Russia and Ukraine. While most self identify as Jewish, they do not satisfy the Orthodox definition used by the government for civil procedures such as marriage etc. (Ironically, the Central Bureau also reports that close to one-half of Jewish Israelis consider themselves to be secular.)

These citizens of Israel immigrated to the country, either as spouses of Jews, or under the regulation stipulated by the Law of Return, which gives the right to anyone with one or more Jewish grandparents to apply for Israeli citizenship. This does not agree with Jewish law (Halacha), but it does coincide with the definition used by the Nazis to define a Jew.

These people participate in Israeli democracy, they speak Hebrew and celebrate the rites of the yearly Jewish calendar, and they and their offspring serve — and indeed some die — in the IDF. According to Sue Surkes in a recent Times of Israel article, these “others” from the FSU accounted for 20% of Israel’s population growth in 2023. She also notes that data from a Labor Force Survey indicate that this is the cohort with the highest employment numbers, and the longest work hours of any group in Israel. They are an essential component of the Israeli economy,

To Jews the designation “other” — acher in Hebrew — should bring to mind the story of Elisha ben Abuyah, the first century CE rabbi and sage who was ostracized by his peers for straying from Jewish particularism to a Hellenistic view of the world. Elisha, a colleague of Rabbi Akiva, teacher of the great Rabbi Meir, and one of the estimated 120 Tannaim, or teachers, responsible for writing the Mishna during the early Talmudic period, was referred to later in the Talmud not by name but as acher.

Rather than the vague and insensitive category “others,” it would be more accurate to specify that the demographic makeup of Israel today includes 7.7 million Jews, 7.2 million of whom are Jewish according to religious law. The sum represents approximately 75% of the total population of Israel.

Jacob Sivak, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, is a retired professor, who taught at the University of Waterloo.

The post Counting Jews in Israel: The ‘Other’ Is Not Enough first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.

The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.

They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.

Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.

Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.

Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.

The post Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS

i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.

The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.

Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.

He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.

The post Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.

Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.

Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.

Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.

Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.

The post Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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