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Counting Jews in Israel: The ‘Other’ Is Not Enough
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.
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Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to task experts to start drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said, after a second round of talks following President Donald Trump’s threat of military action.
At their second indirect meeting in a week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi negotiated for almost four hours in Rome with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, through an Omani official who shuttled messages between them.
Trump, who abandoned a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, says it is willing to discuss limited curbs to its atomic work in return for lifting international sanctions.
Speaking on state TV after the talks, Araqchi described them as useful and conducted in a constructive atmosphere.
“We were able to make some progress on a number of principles and goals, and ultimately reached a better understanding,” he said.
“It was agreed that negotiations will continue and move into the next phase, in which expert-level meetings will begin on Wednesday in Oman. The experts will have the opportunity to start designing a framework for an agreement.”
The top negotiators would meet again in Oman next Saturday to “review the experts’ work and assess how closely it aligns with the principles of a potential agreement,” he added.
Echoing cautious comments last week from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he added: “We cannot say for certain that we are optimistic. We are acting very cautiously. There is no reason either to be overly pessimistic.”
There was no immediate comment from the US side following the talks. Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Washington’s ally Israel, which opposed the 2015 agreement with Iran that Trump abandoned in 2018, has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy program.
A senior Iranian official, who described Iran’s negotiating position on condition of anonymity on Friday, listed its red lines as never agreeing to dismantle its uranium enriching centrifuges, halt enrichment altogether or reduce its enriched uranium stockpile below levels agreed in the 2015 deal.
The post Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike
Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Edan Alexander, 19, an Israeli army volunteer kidnapped by Hamas, attends a special Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony with families of other hostages, in Herzliya, Israel October 27, 2023 REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
Hamas said on Saturday the fate of an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last US citizen held alive in Gaza was unknown, after the body of one of the guards who had been holding him was found killed by an Israeli strike.
A month after Israel abandoned the ceasefire with the resumption of intensive strikes across the breadth of Gaza, Israel was intensifying its attacks.
President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war, was a “top priority.” His release was at the center of talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.
Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack. On Saturday it said the body of one of the guards had been recovered.
“The fate of the prisoner and the rest of the captors remains unknown,” said Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades’ spokesperson Abu Ubaida.
“We are trying to protect all the hostages and preserve their lives … but their lives are in danger because of the criminal bombings by the enemy’s army,” Abu Ubaida said.
The Israeli military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Hamas released 38 hostages under the ceasefire that began on January 19. Fifty-nine are still believed to be held in Gaza, fewer than half of them still alive.
Israel put Gaza under a total blockade in March and restarted its assault on March 18 after talks failed to extend the ceasefire. Hamas says it will free remaining hostages only under an agreement that permanently ends the war; Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit about 40 targets across the enclave over the past day. The military on Saturday announced that a 35-year-old soldier had died in combat in Gaza.
NETANYAHU STATEMENT
Late on Thursday Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.
He dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing “impossible conditions.”
Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya’s comments, but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to give a statement later on Saturday.
Hamas on Saturday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot. Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda.
After the video was released, Bohbot’s family said in a statement that they were “deeply shocked and devastated,” and expressed concern for his mental and physical condition.
“How much longer will he be expected to wait and ‘stay strong’?” the family asked, urging for all of the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza to be brought home.
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Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks
FILE PHOTO: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said gives a speech after being sworn in before the royal family council in Muscat, Oman January 11, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani/File Photo
Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is set to visit Moscow on Monday, days after the start of a round of Muscat-mediated nuclear talks between the US and Iran.
The sultan will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Iran and the US started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran’s atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Following the meeting, Lavrov said Russia was “ready to assist, mediate and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the USA.”
Moscow has played a role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The sultan’s meetings in Moscow visit will focus on cooperation on regional and global issues, the Omani state news agency and the Kremlin said, without providing further detail.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and economic ties, the Kremlin added.
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