Sunday, December 29, 2013

Israel Update


Israel’s population reaches more than 8 million at year’s end

From: JPost.com
By: Benji Rosen
Israel’s population is over 8 million at the close of 2013, the Central Bureau of Statistics announced Sunday.
The CBS report, published just days before the New Year, estimates that the population of Israel is 8,132,000.
The country’s population increased by 1.8 percent – or 147,000 people – since 2012, according to the report.
Sunday’s data showed that 75.2% of the country – approximately 6.1 million Israelis – are Jewish. The Arab population of Israel, which includes Muslims, Arab-Christians, and Druse, is 20.6% – 1.6 million. The remaining 4% of Israel’s population – 348,000 – are either non-Arab Christians, individuals practicing another religion, or those with no religious affiliation.
The report also showed that 175,000 infants were born in Israel in 2013. In a similar report CBS published on Independence Day last April, about 41,000 people died and some 163,000 infants were born from 2012’s Independence Day to 2013’s.
Israel’s population is on track to reach 11.4 million by 2035, according to a report CBS released in June. Israel’s annual population growth rate, however, is predicted to decline from 1.8% to 1.4% because of declining fertility rates.
Nevertheless, Israel will remain exceptionally fertile, especially in comparison to neighboring Arab states. Citing UN estimates, CBS indicated the most fertile Arab nation, Jordan, has a projected 2035 fertility rate of 2.41 children born to the average woman. Israel’s Jewish fertility rate, in comparison, is predicted to increase from 2.99 to 3.04, while the rate for Israeli Muslims is projected to decline from 3.37 to 2.71.
CBS also estimates that Israel’s already high life expectancy is set to increase across all sectors by 2035. In 22 years, the average Jewish female born in Israel may expect to live 89.5 years, as opposed to 86.3 for Arab females, 84.8 for Jewish males, and 81.6 for Arab males.
CBS’s latest population statistics do not account for the foreign population of approximately 202,000 who live in Israel, which includes anyone who entered Israel without a residence permit.

News to Remember


Israel Signs Historic Trade Agreement in Indonesia, World’s Largest Muslim Country

Naftali Bennett, Minister of Economy and the first Israeli Cabinet member to visit Indonesia in more than a dozen years, signed an historic trade agreement there, which he expects will inject a trillion dollars into the world economy.

Bennett, who is also chairman of the Jewish Home party and a reserve major in the Israel Defense Forces, was representing Israel at the recent World Trade Organization conference in Bali. Shimon Peres had visited Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, in 2000 as Israel’s minister of regional cooperation.


Indonesia on the world map

Bennett’s trip was part and parcel of “an effort on the political, economic and international diplomatic fronts,” which also included visits to the US and Australia.
As minister of the economy, he has been stressing an interest in diversifying economic ties.
“We promoted trade agreements with surprising countries that I can’t publicize yet,” he posted on his Facebook page. “We promoted cooperation agreements in research and development with other countries in the East, as I had promised, so that in the future, we will not be so dependent on the European Union.”
To learn more about the European Union, visit:
http://www.euintheus.org/who-we-are/what-is-the-european-union/  
“I later gave a speech before the 157 trade ministers, including those from Muslim and Arab states with which Israel does not have diplomatic ties. We didn’t notice anyone walk out.”

In fact, he received enthusiastic applause.
“A couple of years ago, our region entered a new era of turbulence,” which could last for decades, he told the WTO audience.
Israel is the “one place that has withstood the storm,” he continued. It has become the “lighthouse” of the region because of its solid foundations: a “strong economy,” a “flourishing democracy,” and “Jewish roots that date back 3,800 years.”
A lighthouse, however, “also projects light,” and it is therefore important that Israel’s economy not only do well, but also do good, he said, stressing the need to “break down barriers” for the sake of global prosperity.
“An open market is in all our interests,” he stated. “It creates peace and makes the world a better place.”
Discussing Israel’s “innovative…lighthouse technology,” he focused on the areas of agriculture and food security, water, cyber-security, medical advancements and alternative energy.
“I anxiously await the day I can sit down and sign free-trade agreements with all of Israel’s neighbors, as well as other Arab and Muslim states in the wider region,” he stated.
Author: Atara Beck, Staff Writer for United With Israel