Aspects of Israeli Society

Modern Israeli society faces a host of complexities and contradictions beyond Israel's ongoing security situation and its fraught relationships with its neighbors. They result, in part, from the State of Israel's short history as a sovereign country, the varying aims of its Zionist founders, the absorption of large numbers of diverse immigrants, the ambiguous roles of Judaism and Jewishness in the self-definition of Israel and Israelis, a wide range of political points of view, and Israel's ongoing relationships with Diaspora Jewish communities. The remarks that follow focus on just a few of these internal issues: demography and immigration, religious diversity, and the role of gender in Israeli society. DEMOGRAPHY AND IMMIGRATION When Israel became an independent state in 1948, the Jewish population was 650,000. In 2008, Israel, including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, had a total population of 7.3 million. Of this number, 5.5 million were Jews (with an additional 300,000 non-Jews, mostly immigrants from the republics of the former Soviet Union who came to Israel with family members who were Jews). Another 1.5 million were Arabs, of whom 1.2 million were Muslims, 150,000 Christians, and 120,000 Druze. Most of this Jewish population growth is a result of immigration. After the establishment of Israel, immigration of Jews to the new country and their integration into its society were a central Zionist priority. According to Israel's Declaration of Independence, “The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the ‘Ingathering of the Exiles.