Israeli Demographer Admits Losing ‘Demographic War’

Israeli occupation forces assault an elderly Palestinian Man in Masafer Yatta. (Photo: via Social Media)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

An Israeli demographer warned that the Jewish population currently makes up less than 47 percent of all of those living west of the Jordan River, The Times of Israel reported last week.

Arnon Soffer, a professor of geography at Haifa University, told Israeli Army Radio that there are “7.45 million Jews and others along with 7.53 million Arab Israelis and Palestinians living in what he termed the Land of Israel, meaning Israel plus the West Bank and Gaza Strip”, according to The Times of Israel.

Therefore, the Jewish proportion is left at “between 46% and 47% of the total”, he claimed.

Soffer also explained that the Arab population is far younger on average and is growing faster. 

“Israeli officials often refer to the growing Palestinian population as a ‘demographic bomb’, thus developing state policies to ensure the constant growth of the country’s Jewish citizens at the expense of Palestinian Arab communities,” Palestinian journalist and editor of The Palestine Chronicle Ramzy Baroud added.

“Palestinian researchers have argued that the number of Palestinians in Palestine/Israel has already exceeded that of Israeli Jews, a claim that was often denied in Israel. Soffer’s research is a rare admission that Israel’s so-called ‘demographic war’ has been lost,” Baroud added.

(The Palestine Chronicle)

(The Palestine Chronicle is a registered 501(c)3 organization, thus, all donations are tax deductible.)
Our Vision For Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders & Intellectuals Speak Out