Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, “Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative”
In 2022, the number of Israel’s Jewish births was 137,566 – 71% higher than 1995 (80,400), compared to 43,417 Arab births – 19% higher than 1995 (36,500). In 2022, Jewish births were 76% of total births, compared to 69% in 1995. The surge of Jewish births has taken place due to the unprecedented rise of births (since 1995) in the secular sector, notwithstanding a rising level of education, income and wedding age and expanded urbanization. Since 1995, Israel’s ultra-orthodox sector has experienced a mild decrease of fertility.
In 1969: Israel’s Arab fertility rate (number of births per woman) was six births higher than the Jewish fertility rate. In 2021: Jewish fertility rate – 3.13; Israeli Arabs – 2.85; Judea and Samaria (West Bank) Arabs – 3.02.
Muslim fertility rate has been Westernized: Jordan – 2.9 births per woman, Iran – 1.9, Saudi Arabia – 1.9, Morocco – 2.27, Iraq – 3.17, Egypt – 2.76, Yemen – 2.91, United Arab Emirates – 1.62, etc.
Israel’s growing Jewish fertility rate reflects optimism, patriotism, attachment to roots, communal solidarity, frontier-mentality and less abortions. Arab demographic Westernization is attributed to sweeping urbanization, enhanced stature of women (education, employment, rising wedding age, shorter reproductive period) and contraceptives
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