ישראלים إسرائيليون | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Map of the Israeli diaspora | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Israel | c. 9.8 million (includingoccupied territories)[1] |
| United States | 106,839[2] – 500,000[3][4] |
| Russia | 100,000 (80,000 inMoscow)[5][6] |
| India | 40–70,000[7] |
| United Kingdom | 11,892[8] – 50,000[8][9][10] |
| Canada | 21,320[11] |
| Australia | 15,000[12] |
| Netherlands | 10,371[13] |
| Germany | 10,000[14][15][16] |
| Languages | |
| Hebrew (official) Arabic (recognized) English, Russian, French,Amharic,Tigrinya, various others (seelanguages of Israel) | |
| Religion | |
| Majority: Judaism Minority: Islam,Christianity,Druzism,Samaritanism,Baháʼí Faith | |
Israelis (Hebrew:יִשְׂרְאֵלִים,romanized: Yīśreʾēlīm;Arabic:إسرائيليون,romanized: Isrāʾīliyyūn) are thecitizens and nationals of theState of Israel. The country's populace is composed primarily ofJews andArabs, who respectively account for 75% and 20% of the national figure, followed byother ethnic and religious minorities, who account for 5%.[17]
EarlyIsraeli culture was largely defined by communities of theJewish diaspora who had madealiyah toBritish Palestine fromEurope,Western Asia, andNorth Africa in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Later Jewish immigration fromEthiopia, thepost-Soviet states, and theAmericas introduced new cultural elements to Israeli society and have had a profound impact on modern Israeli culture.
Since Israel's independence in 1948, Israelis and people of Israeli descent have had aconsiderable diaspora, whichlargely overlaps with the Jewish diaspora but also with that of other ethnic and religious groups; it is estimated that almost 10% of the general Israeli population lives abroad, particularly inRussia (withMoscow housing the single largest Israeli community outside of Israel),India,Canada, theUnited Kingdom, theUnited States, and throughout Europe.[18]
As of 2025, Israel's population is 10.148 million, of which the Israeli government estimates 7.76 million as Jews, 2.13 million as Arabs.[19] Israel's official census includes Israeli settlers in theoccupied territories[20] (referred to as "disputed" by Israel). 280,000 Israeli settlers live insettlements in theIsraeli-occupied West Bank,[20] 190,000 inEast Jerusalem,[20] and 20,000 in theGolan Heights.[21]
Among Jews, 80% wereborn in Israel (sabras), mostly from the second or third generation of their family in the country, and the rest areJewish immigrants. Of the Jewish immigrants, 20.5% were from Europe and the Americas, and 9.2% were from Asia, Africa, andMiddle Eastern countries.[22] Less than half of all Israeli Jews are descended from immigrants from the European Jewish diaspora. Approximately the same number are descended from immigrants from Arab countries, Iran, Turkey and Central Asia. Over 200,000 are of Ethiopian and Indian-Jewish descent.[23]
The officialIsrael Central Bureau of Statistics estimate of the Israeli Jewish population does not include those Israeli citizens, mostly descended fromimmigrants from the Soviet Union, who are registered as "others", or their immediate family members. Defined as non-Jews and non-Arabs, they make up about 3.5% of Israelis (350,000),[24] and were eligible for Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return.[25][26]
Israel's official language isHebrew, which serves as the language of government and is spoken by the majority of the population. Arabic is spoken by the Arab minority and by some members of theMizrahi Jewish community. English is studied in school and is spoken by the majority of the population as a second language. Other languages spoken in Israel include Russian,Yiddish, Spanish,Ladino,Amharic, Armenian, Romanian, and French.[27]
Between 600,000 and 800,000 Israelis have emigrated or live abroad, a phenomenon known in Hebrew asyerida ("descent", in contrast toaliyah, which means "ascent"). Emigrants have various reasons for leaving or living abroad, but there is generally a combination of economic and political concerns.
The main Israeliethnic andreligious groups are as follows:
.jpg)
Among theIsraeli-born Jewish population, most are descended fromAshkenazi Jews,Mizrahi Jews,Sephardic Jews,Ethiopian Jews, and otherJewish ethnic divisions. Due to the historically large Mizrahi population and decades of ethnic intermixing, over 50% of Israel's current Jewish population is of at least partial Mizrahi descent.[28][better source needed]
The CBS traces the paternal country of origin of Israeli Jews as of 2010 is as follows.[29]
| Country of origin | Born abroad | Israeli born | Total | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 1,610,900 | 4,124,400 | 5,753,300 | 100.0% |
| Asia | 201,000 | 494,200 | 695,200 | 12.0% |
| Turkey | 25,700 | 52,500 | 78,100 | 1.4% |
| Iraq | 62,600 | 173,300 | 235,800 | 4.1% |
| Yemen | 28,400 | 111,100 | 139,500 | 2.4% |
| Iran/Afghanistan | 49,300 | 92,300 | 141,600 | 2.5% |
| India/Pakistan | 17,600 | 29,000 | 46,600 | 0.8% |
| Syria/Lebanon | 10,700 | 25,000 | 35,700 | 0.6% |
| Other | 6,700 | 11,300 | 18,000 | 0.3% |
| Africa | 315,800 | 572,100 | 887,900 | 15.4% |
| Morocco | 153,600 | 339,600 | 493,200 | 8.6% |
| Algeria/Tunisia | 43,200 | 91,700 | 134,900 | 2.3% |
| Libya | 15,800 | 53,500 | 69,400 | 1.2% |
| Egypt | 18,500 | 39,000 | 57,500 | 1.0% |
| Ethiopia | 81,600 | 38,600 | 110,100 | 1.9% |
| Other | 13,100 | 9,700 | 22,800 | 0.4% |
| Europe/Americas/Oceania | 1,094,100 | 829,700 | 1,923,800 | 33.4% |
| Soviet Union | 651,400 | 241,000 | 892,400 | 15.5% |
| Poland | 51,300 | 151,000 | 202,300 | 3.5% |
| Romania | 88,600 | 125,900 | 214,400 | 3.7% |
| Bulgaria/Greece | 16,400 | 32,600 | 49,000 | 0.9% |
| Germany/Austria | 24,500 | 50,600 | 75,200 | 1.3% |
| Czech Republic/Slovakia/Hungary | 20,000 | 45,000 | 64,900 | 1.1% |
| France | 41,100 | 26,900 | 68,000 | 1.2% |
| United Kingdom | 21,000 | 19,900 | 40,800 | 0.7% |
| Europe, other | 27,000 | 29,900 | 56,900 | 1.0% |
| North America/Oceania | 90,500 | 63,900 | 154,400 | 2.7% |
| Argentina | 35,500 | 26,100 | 61,600 | 1.1% |
| Latin America, other | 26,900 | 17,000 | 43,900 | 0.8% |
| Israel | — | 2,246,300 | 2,246,300 | 39.0% |
A large part ofMandate-periodArab Palestinians remained within Israel's borders following the1948 exodus and are the largest group of Arabic-speaking and culturally Arab citizens of Israel. The vast majority of the Arab citizens of Israel areSunni Muslim, while 9% of them areChristian,[30] and 7.1% of them areDruze.[31]
As of 2013, the Arab population of Israel amounts to 1,658,000, about 20.7% of the population.[22] This figure include 209,000 Arabs (14% of the Israeli Arab population) in East Jerusalem, also counted in the Palestinian statistics, although 98 percent of East Jerusalem Palestinians have either Israeli residency or Israeli citizenship.[32]
According to the IsraeliCentral Bureau of Statistics census in 2010, the Arab population in Israel lives in134 Arabic towns and villages; around 44% of them live in towns, while 48% of them in villages with the status ofLocal council, and around 4% live in small villages that are part ofRegional council.[33] The Arab population in Israel is located in five main areas:Galilee (54.6% of total Israeli Arabs),Triangle (23.5% of total Israeli Arabs),Golan Heights,East Jerusalem, and NorthernNegev (13.5% of total Israeli Arabs).[33] Around 8.4% of Israeli Arabs live in officially mixed Jewish-Arab cities (excluding Arab residents in East Jerusalem), inHaifa,Lod,Ramle,Jaffa-Tel Aviv,Acre,Nof HaGalil, andMa'alot Tarshiha.[34]
The Arab citizens of Israel also include theBedouin. Israeli Bedouin include those who live in the north of the country, for the most part in villages and towns, and the Bedouin in theNegev, who are semi-nomadic or live in towns orunrecognized Bedouin villages. In 1999, 110,000 Bedouin lived in the Negev, 50,000 in the Galilee and 10,000 in the central region of Israel.[35] As of 2013, theNegev Bedouin number 200,000–210,000.[36][37][38]
There is also a significant population of IsraeliDruze, estimated at 143,000 at the end of 2019.[39] All Druze inBritish Mandate Palestine became Israeli citizens upon the foundation of the State of Israel.[citation needed]
There are about 7,000Maronite Christian Israelis, living mostly in theGalilee but also inHaifa,Nazareth, andJerusalem. They are mostly pro-IsraeliLebanese former militia members and their families who fled Lebanon after the2000 withdrawal of IDF from South Lebanon. Some, however, are from local Galilean communities such asJish.[citation needed]
There are about 1,000Coptic Israeli citizens.[citation needed]
In September 2014, Israel recognized the "Aramean" ethnic identity of hundreds of the Christian citizens of Israel. This recognition comes after about seven years of activity by the Aramean Christian Foundation in Israel – Aram, led by IDF MajorShadi Khalloul Risho and the Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum, headed byFather Gabriel Naddaf of the Greek-Orthodox Church and Major Ihab Shlayan. The Aramean ethnic identity encompasses all the Christian Eastern Syriac churches in Israel, including theMaronite Church,Greek Orthodox Church,Greek Catholic Church,Syriac Catholic Church andSyriac Orthodox Church. Many Israelis who advocated for and identify as Aramean today are Maronites, with Assyrians identifying as well.[40][41][42]
There are around 1,000Assyrians living in Israel, mostly inJerusalem andNazareth. Assyrians are anAramaic-speaking,Eastern Rite Christian minority who are descended from the ancientMesopotamians. The oldSyriac Orthodox monastery of Saint Mark lies in Jerusalem. Other than followers of the Syriac Orthodox Church, there are also followers of theAssyrian Church of the East and theChaldean Catholic Church living in Israel.[citation needed]
The African Hebrew Israelite Nation of Jerusalem is a small religious community whose members believe they are descended from theTen Lost Tribes of Israel. Most of the over 5,000 members live inDimona, Israel although there are additional, smaller, groups inArad,Mitzpe Ramon, and theTiberias area. At least some of them consider themselves to be Jewish, but Israeli authorities do not accept them as such, nor are their religious practices consistent with "mainstream Jewish tradition."[43] The group, which consists ofAfrican Americans and their descendants, originated inChicago in the early 1960s, moved toLiberia for a few years, and then immigrated to Israel.[citation needed]
There are about 4,000–10,000Armenian citizens of Israel (not including Armenian Jews). They live mostly in Jerusalem, including theArmenian Quarter, but also in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jaffa. Their religious activities center around theArmenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem as well as churches in Jerusalem, Haifa and Jaffa. Although Armenians ofOld Jerusalem have Israeli identity cards, they are officially holders ofJordanian passports.[44]
A number of immigrants also belong to various non-Slavic ethnic groups from the Former Soviet Union such asTatars,Armenians, andGeorgians.
In Israel, there are also a few thousandCircassians, living mostly inKfar Kama (2,000) andReyhaniye (1,000).[citation needed] These two villages were a part of a greater group of Circassian villages around theGolan Heights. The Circassians in Israel enjoy, likeDruzes, astatus aparte. Male Circassians (at their leader's request) are mandated for military service, while females are not.[citation needed]
Non-Jewish immigrants from theformer Soviet Union most of whom areZera Yisrael (descendants of Jews) who areRussians,Ukrainians,Moldovans andBelarusians, who were eligible to immigrate due to having, or being married to somebody who has, at least one Jewish grandparent. In addition, a certain number of former Soviet citizens, primarily women of Russian and Ukrainian ethnicity, immigrated to Israel after marrying Arab citizens of Israel who went to study in the former Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s. The total number of those primarily of Slavic ancestry among Israeli citizens is around 300,000.[citation needed]
Although most Finns in Israel are either Finnish Jews or their descendants, a small number of Finnish Christians moved to Israel in the 1940s before the independence of the state and have since gained citizenship. For the most part the original Finnish settlers intermarried with other Israeli communities, and therefore remain very small in number. Amoshav near Jerusalem named "Yad HaShmona", meaning the Memorial for the eight, was established in 1971 by a group of Finnish Christian Israelis, though today most members are Israeli, and predominantly Hebrew-speaking.[45][46]
TheSamaritans are anethnoreligious group of theLevant. Ancestrally, they are descended from a group ofIsraelite inhabitants who have connections to ancientSamaria from the beginning of theBabylonian captivity up to the beginning of theCommon Era.[citation needed] Population estimates made in 2007 show that of the 712 Samaritans, half live inHolon in Israel and half atMount Gerizim in the West Bank. The Holon community holds Israeli citizenship, while the Gerizim community resides at an Israeli-controlled enclave (Kiryat Luza), holding dual Israeli-Palestinian citizenship.[citation needed]
_-_Vietnamese_following_the_Hebrew_teacher_in_the_Ulpan_at_the_Absorption_Center_in_Afula.jpg)
The number ofVietnamese people in Israel is estimated at 200–400.[47] Most of them came to Israel between 1976 and 1979, after the Israeli Prime MinisterMenachem Begin granted them political asylum.[47] The Vietnamese people living in Israel are Israeli citizens who also serve in theIsrael Defense Forces.[citation needed] Today, the majority of the community lives in theGush Dan area in the center of Israel but also a few dozen Vietnamese-Israelis or Israelis of Vietnamese origin live inHaifa,Jerusalem andOfakim.[citation needed]
The number and status of African refugees in Israel is disputed and controversial, but it is estimated that at least 16,000 refugees, mainly fromEritrea,Sudan,South Sudan,Ethiopia and theIvory Coast, reside and work in Israel. A check in late 2011, published in Ynet reported that the number just in Tel Aviv is 40,000, which represents 10 percent of the city's population. The vast majority lives in the southern parts of the city. There is also a significant African population in the southern Israeli cities of Eilat, Arad and Beer Sheva.[citation needed]
Approximately 100–200 refugees fromBosnia,Kosovo, andNorth Korea live in Israel as refugees, most of them with Israeli resident status.[48]
Through the years, the majority of Israelis who emigrated from Israel went to the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
It is currently estimated that there are 330,000 native-born Israelis, including 230,000 Jews, living abroad, or even more.[49] The number of immigrants to Israel who later returned to their home countries or moved elsewhere is more difficult to calculate.
For many years definitive data on Israeli emigration was unavailable.[50] InThe Israeli Diaspora sociologist Stephen J. Gold maintains that calculation of Jewish emigration has been a contentious issue, explaining, "Since Zionism, the philosophy that underlies the existence of the Jewish state, calls for return home of the world's Jews, the opposite movement – Israelis leaving the Jewish state to reside elsewhere – clearly presents an ideological and demographic problem."[51]
Among the most common reasons for emigration of Israelis from Israel are most often due to Israel's ongoing security issues, economic constraints, economic characteristics, disappointment in the Israeli government, as well as the excessive role of religion in the lives of Israelis.[citation needed]
Many Israelis immigrated to the United States throughout the period of thedeclaration of the state of Israel and until today. Today, the descendants of these people are known as Israeli-Americans.[citation needed] According to the2000 United States census, 106,839 Americans also hold Israeli citizenship, but the number of Americans of Israeli descent is around half a million.[3][4]
Moscow has the largest single Israeliexpatriate community in the world, with 80,000 Israeli citizens living in the city as of 2014, almost all of them native Russian-speakers.[6][52] Many Israeli cultural events are hosted for the community, and many live part of the year in Israel. (To cater to the Israeli community,Israeli cultural centres are located inMoscow,Saint Petersburg,Novosibirsk andYekaterinburg.)[53]
Many Israelis immigrated to Canada throughout the period of thedeclaration of the state of Israel and until today. Today, the descendants of these people are known as Israeli-Canadians.[citation needed] According to theCanada 2006 Census as many as 21,320 Israelis lived in Canada in 2006.[11]
Many Israelis immigrated to the United Kingdom throughout and since the period of thedeclaration of the state of Israel. Today, the descendants of these people are known as Israeli-British.[citation needed] According to theUnited Kingdom 2001 Census, as many as 11,892 Israelis lived in the United Kingdom in 2001. The majority live inLondon.[citation needed]
In 2013 a three-judge panel of theSupreme Court of Israel's headed by Court PresidentAsher Grunis rejected an appeal requesting that state-issued identification cards state the nationality of citizens as "Israeli" rather than their religion of origin. In his opinion, Grunis stated that it was not within the court's purview to determine new categories of ethnicity or nationhood. The court's decision responded to a petition by Uzzi Ornan, who refused to be identified as Jewish in 1948 at the foundation of the state of Israel, claiming instead that he was "Hebrew." This was permitted by Israeli authorities at the time. However, by 2000, Ornan wanted to register his nationality as "Israeli". The Interior Ministry refused to allow this, prompting Ornan to file a suit. In 2007, Ornan's suit was joined by former ministerShulamit Aloni and other activists.[54] In the ruling, Justice Hanan Melcer noted Israel currently considers "citizenship and nationality [to be] separate."[55]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to itadding to it ormaking an edit request.(October 2009) |
The term "Israelite" refers to members of the Jewish tribes and polities of the Iron Age known from theHebrew Bible and extra-biblical historical and archaeological sources. The term "Israeli", by contrast, refers to the citizens of the modern State of Israel, regardless of them being Jewish, Arabs, or of any other ethnicity.
The modern State of Israel revived an old name known from the Hebrew Bible and from historical sources, that of the Iron Age Kingdom of Israel. The Bible differentiates between a period of tribal rule among the "children of Israel"; aKingdom of Israel uniting all twelve biblical Israelite tribes, with the common capital known as theCity of David (Jerusalem); and a period in which the northern tribes split away to form an independentKingdom of Israel, while the southern tribes became part of theKingdom of Judah. Archaeological research only partially agrees with the biblical narrative.[citation needed]
According to the biblical account, the United Monarchy was formed when there was a large popular expression in favour of introducing a monarchy to rule over the previously decentralised Israelite tribal confederacy.[citation needed] Increasing pressure from thePhilistines[citation needed] and other neighboring tribes is said by the Bible to have forced theIsraelites to unite as a more singular state.[citation needed]
The northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed inc. 720 BCE by the Neo-Assyrian Empire and its population was forcibly restructured through imperial policy. The southern Kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire (586 BCE), inherited by theAchaemenid Empire, conquered byAlexander the Great (332 BCE), ruled by the resulting Hellenistic empires, from which it regained autonomy and eventually independence under theHasmoneans, conquered by the Roman Republic in 63 BCE, ruled by the client kings of theHerodian dynasty, and finally transformed into a Roman province during the first century CE. Two Jewish revolts, the second one ending in 135 CE, led to the large-scale decimation of the Jewish population in Judea and the end of any type of Jewish territorial self-rule in thesouthern Levant for many centuries to come.[citation needed]
Palestine was part of theOttoman Empire from 1516 until it wastaken by British forces in 1918. The British establishment of colonial political boundaries allowed the Jews to develop autonomous institutions such as theHistadrut and the Knesset.[56] The resulting influx of Jewish immigrants, as well as the creation of many new settlements, was crucial for the functioning of these new institutions in what would, on 14 May 1948, become theState of Israel.[57] By 1960, 25% of Israelis were Holocaust survivors.[58]
The largest cities in the countryHaifa,Tel Aviv, andJerusalem are also the major cultural centers, known for art museums, and many towns and kibbutzim have smaller high-quality museums. Israeli music is very versatile and combines elements of both western and eastern, religious and secular music. It tends to be very eclectic and contains a wide variety of influences from theDiaspora and more modern cultural importation:Hassidic songs, Asian and Arab pop, especially by Yemenite singers, and Israelihip hop orheavy metal. Folk dancing, which draws upon the cultural heritage of many immigrant groups, is popular. There is also flourishing modern dance.[citation needed]
According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2014, 75% of Israelis wereJewish by religion (adherents ofJudaism), 17.5% wereMuslims, 2%Christian, 1.6%Druze and the remaining 3.9% (including immigrants) were not classified by religion.[59]
Roughly 12% of Israeli Jews defined asharedim (ultra-orthodox religious); an additional 9% are "religious"; 35% consider themselves "traditionalists" (not strictly adhering toJewish religious law); and 43% are "secular" (termed "hiloni"). Among the seculars, 53% believe in God. However, 78% of all Israelis (and virtually all Israeli Jews) participate in a Passover seder.[60]
Unlike North American Jews, Israelis tend not to align themselves with a movement ofJudaism (such asReform Judaism orConservative Judaism) but instead tend to define their religious affiliation by degree of their religious practice. Israeli religious life, unlike much of North American Jewish life, does not solely revolve around synagogues or religious community centers.[citation needed]
AmongArab Israelis, 82.6% were Muslim (includingAhmadis[61]), 8.8% wereChristian and 8.4% wereDruze.[62]
TheBaháʼí World Centre, which includes theUniversal House of Justice, in Haifa attracts Baháʼípilgrims from all over the world.[63]
Due to its immigrant nature, Israel is one of the most multicultural and multilingual societies in the world.Hebrew andArabic are the official languages in the country, while English and Russian are the two most widely spoken non-official languages. Yiddish (2%) and French (2%) are also spoken.[64] A certain degree of English is spoken widely, and is the language of choice for many Israeli businesses.[citation needed] Courses of Hebrew and English are mandatory in theIsraeli matriculation exams (bagrut), and most schools also offer one or more out of Arabic, Spanish, German or French.[citation needed] The Israeli government also offers free intensive Hebrew-language courses, known asulpanim (singularulpan), for new Jewish immigrants, to try to help them integrate into Israeli society.[citation needed]
The African Hebrew Israelites do not practice Judaism according to mainstream Jewish tradition and have not been accepted as Jews by the Israeli authorities.
Definitions from Wiktionary
Media from Commons| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
