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1.
How many Jews are there in
Israel?
On the eve of Independence Day 2023, there are
over 9.7 million people living in Israel. The
Jewish population is 7.1 million Jews, 73.5% of
the total population and its 2 million Arabs
represent 21%. (The majority of the Arabs are
Muslim.)75% of the Jewish citizens living in Israel
today were born in Israel. They are called
sabras. In 1948 when Israel gained
independence, only 35% of Israelis had been born in
the country. At the time of independence, 82%
of the population was Jewish.
Israel has the highest birth rate
in the developed world. As opposed to the
international average of 1.7 children per woman,
Israel's rate stands at 3 children per woman because
of Israel's large Orthodox Jewish and Muslim
populations. 28% of all Israelis are under the
age of 14.
As for Christians, in 2021 5.5% of the population
(534,000) are non-Arab Christians. There are 3,300
people over the age of 100 living in Israel at the
time of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of
the state. |
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2. How many square miles is
Israel?
8,367 square miles. Israel fits into Texas 31
times and into California 18 times!
3. What is the ratio of
males to females in Israel?
A 2009 report by the Central Bureau of Statistics
shows that for every 1,000 women in Israel there are
979 men. However, for every 1,000 women aged 75,
there are only 673 men. But if you compare the
population of males to females aged 36 years and
younger, then men outnumber the women!
Now if you are talking about date palms, which
produced the honey in the biblical “land of milk and
honey” then the ratio is one male tree for every 50
female trees! (The male trees are needed only for
their pollen, whereas the females produce the
dates.)
4. What is a kibbutz and
how many people live on the kibbutzim?
The kibbutz was established as a communal pioneer
settlement based upon the principle of equality:
that all members have equal rights and that all work
has equal value. Members within the traditional
kibbutz framework were expected to work to their
ability and each would be given whatever he or she
needed.
The first kibbutz, Degania, was founded in 1909 by
ten men and two women, right across from where the
River Jordan exits from the Sea of Galilee. Opposite
the kibbutz today lies the site where millions of
Christian pilgrims
renew baptismal vows.
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Although the kibbutz was originally |
Map of Israel
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established as an agricultural settlement, the
kibbutzim today boast some very successful
industrial enterprises and tourism ventures.
For example, while touring, we often stay by the Sea of
Galilee in the resort guest house owned by either
Kibbutz Ginosar or Kibbutz Maagan and in Jerusalem
we eat at a restaurant operated by Kibbutz Ramat Rahel. |
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Over the past decade, a number of kibbutzim,
including the pioneer kibbutz Degania have changed
to a capitalistic model where members are paid
differentially according to the market value of
their work. Today there are some 273 kibbutzim in
Israel and the 120,000 kibbutzniks (as kibbutz
members are called) account for about 2% of the
population of Israel.
When we are on tour together, ask me to share
stories of some of my amazing adventures from my
first two years in Israel when I lived on a kibbutz
in the Beth Shean Valley. Or the story of how I
offered to give my brother a TV set for his 40th
birthday and he had to refuse because kibbutz rules
at that time did not allow individual members to own
TV sets. My brother has been a member of Kibbutz
Ketura, named after the woman Abraham married after
Sarah's death, for 40 years. |
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5. Who are the Beduin?
The Beduin were once nomadic, wandering from place
to place, looking for sources of water for
themselves, their sheep and their goats. We believe
that the patriarchs Abraham and Isaac had a nomadic
way of life. Today Beduin are still found in the
Judean wilderness and in the Negev desert, in the
south of Israel. Their traditional tents, once made
of black goat hair which expanded to become
impermeable when the rain fell, are now made of
plastic sheets. Pickup trucks, electric generators
and water tanks usually lie scattered around their
encampments. |
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Photo courtesy of
Yankele Geva |
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Traditional Beduin tent woven with
black goat hairs |
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Photo courtesy of
Bette Arieli |
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Beduin guides making tea and playing the rababa
during a 1975 Sinai trek |
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At the end of 2013, there were an estimated 210,000 Beduin living in the Negev in the south of Israel
(in contrast to 1948, when Israel became
independent, there were just 12,000 Beduin). Although Islam allows a man to have up to four
wives, most polygamous Beduin husbands have only
two! An estimated one quarter of Israel’s Beduin population live within a polygamous
framework. |
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My friend Yankele who is our driver guide on
wilderness tours tells me that the Beersheba area
Beduin have discovered his romantic rustic bed and
breakfast bungalows. Very recently he and his wife
rented one of their cottages (complete with Jacuzzi)
to a young Beduin couple on their honeymoon. Yankele
watched as the newly-weds "moved into" the bungalow.
The young man, eighteen or nineteen
years old, strolled towards the cottage carrying a
light plastic bag and his cell phone. A few feet
behind him walked his sixteen year old bride,
dragging their sixty-pound suitcase! Apparently some
things never change in Beduin tradition. |
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Photo courtesy of
Yankele Geva |
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Beduin mom and daughters from the
Mazeina tribe |
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6. What's the ratio
of Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem? In 2023
the estimated population of Jerusalem was 979,000
people with 64% Jewish, 34% Muslim and 2%
Christian. |
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COMING TO
JERUSALEM?
BOOK GILA for your customized private tour |
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7. What is the most popular food?
Hummus. Israelis love hummus. Want to rub
elbows with Israelis at the most popular hummus
joints in Jerusalem? See the section on
sampling Middle
Eastern soul food in Gila's 2023 PDF guide, “Explore
Jerusalem’s Soul.” |
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8. How many immigrants has Israel absorbed?
In seventy years, Israel has absorbed 3 million
immigrants from 90 different countries. Over a
million immigrants have come from the former Soviet
Union. |
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9. How much does an apartment cost?
This question crops up on every single tour. And it
always makes me chuckle to myself as I remember one
time I climbed Mount Sinai, first in line behind our
Beduin guide. As I was huffing and puffing on those
steep steps, I asked our guide, ‘How much does a
camel cost?” He stopped in his tracks to look at me
like I had just asked the dumbest question in the
world. His answer was such a Jewish one – he replied
with a question, “How much does a car cost?” Then he
went on to explain to me about camels. That they
were of all types -- what I would translate as a
“one-camel power,” two-camel power”, up to five.
It basically has to do with breeding and pedigree. |
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Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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Each adult camel costs about $1500
-- they are "3-power!" |
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So, an apartment in Jerusalem with three bedrooms
with a view of the Old City could cost a million
dollars....or more. A two-bedroom apartment in Jerusalem in a
Jewish neighborhood which is not ultra-orthodox and
centrally located could cost up to $500,000. A
two-bedroom apartment in Tiberias with a view of the
sun rising over the Sea of Galilee could cost about
$150,000. Just like with camels, it depends!
Some 71% of Israelis own their own homes, the
majority of which are condominiums. |
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10. When was the last major earthquake?
It was July 11, 1927 with the epicenter north of
Jericho, by the Adam Bridge. It was rated 6.2 on the
Richter scale.
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Copyright 2009, 2023 Gila Yudkin. Permission
needed for any reuse. |
