Israeli demographer: no Jewish majority between Jordan River and Mediterranean

There is no Jewish majority in the combined population of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, a leading Israeli demographer has stated in an interview published by Ynetnews.

According to Professor Sergio DellaPergola, “the Jewish majority in the geophysical unit between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea has been worn out and has even disappeared, all the more so if you only address the halachic definition, thereby removing from the count hundreds of thousands who are in Israel by the power of the Law of Return, but are not Jewish.”

Thus, he added, “according to these parameters, there is no Jewish majority in Israel.”

The Hebrew University-based academic noted that this fact “is very unpopular in certain circles, and there is a counterattack trying to say that it’s not true. The responses range from ‘we’ll leave Gaza out of the calculations’ to ‘we’ll perform a land swap’ and then the Jewish majority will increase.”

DellaPergola also noted “a supposition that we will bring another a million immigrants to Israel”, which the demographer described as “completely groundless” under “the existing conditions.” Mass emigration to Israel, he said, “is the result of distress”, and “today there is not enough strength or a catastrophe to move a large mass of immigrants, like the collapse of the Soviet Union.”