Jewish Immigration to Israel at Lowest in 20 Years

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Jewish immigration to Israel at lowest in 20 years

Mon Dec 24, 3:28 AM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Jewish immigration to Israel continued to slide in 2007 with the number of newcomers at just 19,700, the lowest level in 20 years, according to figures published on Monday.

Immigration was down six percent from 2006, the immigrant absorption ministry said.

The number of immigrants from former Soviet countries, which made up 30 percent of all newcomers, dropped 15 percent from 2006.

Zeev Bielsky, the head of the Jewish Agency in charge of bringing in immigrants to the Jewish state, expressed concern over the falling numbers.

Diaspora Jews today "have fewer reasons to leave their countries of origin" as Israel has become "less attractive as a land of immigration," he told army radio.

Numbers from former Soviet countries have declined because the economic situation in Russia has improved and Jewish communities there are flourishing, he added.

Immigration from France has also fallen following the election as president of Nicolas Sarkozy, whose "popularity in the Jewish community gives it a better sense of security." One of Sarkozy's grandparents was Jewish.

Israel's Law of Return allows anyone who is Jewish or has a Jewish spouse, a Jewish parent or a Jewish grandparent, to obtain Israeli citizenship.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071224/wl_mi...raelimmigration

This article is from just this morning, but it's been recognized as an issue in Israel for quite some time now. And it ties in with the other thread about how Israel treats its Palestinian citizens.

This is key to understanding what Israel considers the "demographic threat" to the Jewish State, and it will explain much of Israel's behavior toward its non-Jewish citizens.

Israel was able to establish a Jewish majority in Israel with two strategies -- by driving out as many Palestinians as possible (ethnic cleansing) and by massive immigration of Jews from around the world, especially from Europe and the Soviet Union.

However, there's still a big problem for the Jewish State -- the million or so Palestinians (Muslim and Christian) who managed to hang on to their homes and property inside Israel. They have a much higher birthrate than Jews (exceptions are the Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox communities.) Without that constant "shot in the arm" of new Jewish immigrants, and according to current birth trends, non-Jews inside Israel are projected to outnumber Jews within about 20-25 years. That would certainly spell the end of the "Jewish State" (but not necessarily the end of Israel itself, depending on how it handles the challenges.)

Another nagging problem is the chance that many of the million new Russian immigrants to Israel may not be Jewish at all -- according to the Chief Rabbinate, *half* of them are not considered "Jewish" under Jewish law. There have already been clashes over the issue -- Russian immigrants wanting to open butcher shops that sell pork, Russian immigrant neo-Nazi groups attacking Jewish Israelis, etc.

But mainly, right-wing extremists in Israel focus on the "Arab threat" to Jewish majority. Some of these extremists are elected or appointed officials, and they are already proposing ways to rid Israel of its Arab citizens.

[Ban Hammer 13,490]

already posted in ot a half hour earlier than this

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=101872