Jewish fertility surpasses Arab fertility in Jerusalem
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The fertility rate for Jewish women (4.3 children per mother) in Jerusalem has surpassed the fertility rate among the city’s Arab women (3.3 children), according to newly released data.
The 2016 fertility figures were provided by the Statistical Yearbook of Jerusalem, which is issued annually by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies and the municipality. The overall fertility rate represents the number of children a woman is projected to give birth to in her life. Unsurprisingly, the high rate among Jewish women is heavily influenced by the city’s haredi and religious population.
Despite the fertility numbers, Jerusalem’s overall Arab population has continued to grow while the city’s Jewish majority shrinks. In 2014, the last year for which official figures are available, Jerusalem’s population of 849,000 residents comprised 533,900 Jews (63 percent) and 315,900 Arabs (37 percent). The Arab population growth rate that year stood at 2.7 percent, while the growth rate for the Jewish population was just 2.2 percent. Unofficial figures now show that the city’s Jewish majority has dropped to 61 percent of the population.
The Jewish majority has decreased not because of the fertility rate, but because more Jews are leaving Jerusalem than moving there. In 2014, 17,100 Jewish residents left the city, but only 10,400 new residents moved in. Research has attributed this trend to the shortage of available or accessible housing in Jerusalem. During the past decade, construction beyond the pre-1967 lines has fallen off due to political pressure. Construction in the western part of Jerusalem, over that same time period, has decreased due to pressure from environmental groups. Construction has been concentrated in the city’s central neighborhoods and primarily consists of high-rise buildings.
Students discover 3,330-year-old Egyptian amulet during dig in Israel’s Galilee
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The Tzipori (Sepphoris) village in Israel’s Galilee region has revealed its latest archaeological find. On Tuesday, a group of young students participating in an archaeological excavation run by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) at the ancient site discovered an Egyptian amulet that is 3,300 years old.
The object was uncovered at a dig being conducted as part of preparations for creating a new access road. The students who dug up the amulet were among the 350 10th-graders from the ORT Kiryat Bialik high school who have spent this week helping with IAA excavations throughout the Galilee under the auspices of an Israeli Education Ministry program designed to increase youths’ connection to their communities and surroundings.
“The excitement over the discovery was immense, and the girls’ eyes lit up,” said Nimrod Getzov, the excavation’s director.
“When I came closer to see what had been found, I was surprised to see that it was an Egyptian amulet, because things like this are usually found in graves. Our excavation focuses on periods that pre-date the amulet, and it’s intriguing how it happened to wind up here,” Getzov said.
Dr. Daphna Ben-Tor, curator of Egyptian archaeology at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, who identified the scarab amulet, explained that it is “an Egyptian scarab from the times of the Ramses, the 19th Dynasty, the golden days of the pharaohs of Egypt. The scarabs were mostly used as amulets for anyone who could afford one. In most cases, they were used as burial amulets, but also [worn] by the living, and were generally originally set in rings.”
New Israeli defense minister takes office, plans to ‘work 24/7’
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Newly appointed Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman sought to convey a message of unequivocal support to the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday, telling the officers that the IDF and its commanders “are the widest consensus in Israeli society, and that is the military’s greatest asset.”
“Israel is the only country in the world were the phrase ‘the people’s army’ is not a cliche but a reality,” Lieberman said at the IDF’s headquarters in Tel Aviv. “Even now, the majority of fighting forces comprise reservists, meaning civilians. This is why the IDF’s position and role in Israeli society is far more significant than the roles played by other militaries, and its missions are far more diverse.”
Lieberman stressed that “when there is a conflict between the unity of the nation and the unity of the land, the unity of the nation is of greater importance.”
“I believe in diplomatic pragmatism and military power,” he said. “I come here with an open mind and I plan to work 24/7. I would like to thank my predecessor, [Moshe] Ya’alon, and while I disagreed with him many times, he has many credits and he contributed greatly to Israel’s security. I plan fully cooperating with [IDF] Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot and the General Staff, and I’m sure that together, we will keep Israel safe and secure.”
Poll: 33% of Americans, 40% of Brits believe boycotting Israel is ‘justified’
(JNS.org) Thirty-three percent of Americans and 40 percent of Brits believe that boycotting Israel is “justified,” according to a new poll by the market research firm Ipsos, Israel’s Channel 2 reported.
Ipsos surveyed 1,100 people in the United States and a similar number in the United Kingdom. About 38 percent of Americans do not think the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is connected to anti-Semitism, but 62 percent believe BDS is meant to hurt Israel’s status as “the national homeland of Jewish people,” the poll found.
A slim majority (51 percent) of the British poll’s respondents agreed that BDS is a modern form of anti-Semitism. In addition, a strong number (81 percent) of American students defined themselves as pro-Israel, with fewer British students (67 percent) self-identifying as such.
78 percent of Israelis favor annexing Ma’ale Adumim, survey finds
(JNS.org) Nearly 78 percent of Israelis favor annexing the Jewish community of Ma’ale Adumim, which lies east of Jerusalem and across the pre-1967 lines, according to a newly revealed survey.
In the poll, which was conducted by the Midgam research institute, 77.9 percent of Jewish Israelis said they believe Israeli law should apply to Ma’ale Adumim even if there is no agreement with the Palestinians on that territory, mirroring Israel’s control over the Golan Heights and eastern Jerusalem. Furthermore, 70.4 percent of respondents said they agree with the Ma’ale Adumim annexation even if it is condemned by the international community.
Home to more than 40,000 people, Ma’ale Adumim is located roughly four miles east of Jerusalem. The survey results were revealed amid a campaign by members of the Israeli Knesset’s “Land of Israel Caucus” to extend Israeli civil law over Ma’ale Adumim.
“This poll shows that Israel knows what is good for itself and that the great majority of its citizens supports Israeli sovereignty over Ma’ale Adumim. In the next Knesset session, we will submit a bill to apply sovereignty and we will promote it,” said Member of Knesset Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home), Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
Iran launches ‘Zionist Caliphate’ cartoon contest after Holocaust competition
(JNS.org) Iran’s Cultural-Art Masaf Institute has announced that it is launching a “Zionist Caliphate” cartoon contest.
The announcement comes on the heels of the Iranian Islamic Propaganda Organization’s 2016 Holocaust cartoon contest, which was widely condemned by world leaders and agencies, including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The Holocaust cartoon exhibition goes “against the universal values of tolerance and respect, and runs counter to the action led by UNESCO to promote Holocaust education, to fight anti-Semitism and denial,” UNESCO said.
According to the Cultural-Art Masaf Institute, the latest contest’s themes focuses on “Zionism, terrorism and racism” and “ISIL (Islamic State) terrorism and genocide in the name of religion and to the benefit of the Zionists,” Iran’s Fars News Agency reported. The contest has a category for caricatures depicting Theodor Herzl and the United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth II.
The submissions for the contest are sent to a group called “Cartoons Clan,” which describes itself as a “group of cartoonists and caricaturists from all over the world who have gathered together to fight against any kind of racism and terrorism.”
“In our point of view, Zionism is the worst kind of racism and is the enemy of the world’s big religions,” the Cartoons Clan said on its website.
The winning entry will be awarded a $5,000 prize.
David Blatt, Israeli-American former NBA coach, to sign with Turkish team
(JNS.org) David Blatt, the Israeli-American former head coach of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Cleveland Cavaliers, is reportedly close to completing a deal to coach the Turkish professional basketball club Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul.
According to ESPN.com, Blatt is close to finalizing a multiyear contract with Darussafaka worth $1.7 to $2 million per season.
Blatt, 57, led the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals last year, but was abruptly fired in January despite the fact that the Cavaliers led the Eastern Conference standings with a 30-11 record at that time. The Cavaliers, who lost in six games to the Golden State Warriors in the 2015 Finals under Blatt, will begin a Finals rematch with the Warriors on Thursday.
Blatt grew up in Framingham, Mass., and played college basketball at Princeton University. Following his college career, he played professionally in Israel for more than a decade, then coached several professional teams in Europe before becoming Maccabi Tel Aviv’s coach in 2010. He led Maccabi to a European league championship in 2014, his final season coaching the team.
Jordan’s King Abdullah appoints prime minister with strong ties to Israel
(JNS.org) Jordan’s King Abdullah II—after ordering to dissolve the country’s parliament on Sunday—appointed a politician known for his strong ties to Israel as the new Jordanian prime minister, Al Jazeera reported.
Although Jordan’s government has a peace treaty with Israel, a majority of the outgoing Jordanian parliament’s members held anti-Israel views. But the newly appointed prime minister, Hani Mulki, chaired the Jordanian government committee that negotiated peace with Israel from 1994-1996. He is expected to now join the effort to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
“Mulki will be working to bring Palestinians and Israelis to the negotiation table and work to bring a final solution to the Palestinian cause which most likely will be at the expense of the Palestinian people,” Husam Abdallat, a former senior government aide within the Jordanian prime minister’s office, told Al Jazeera.
Tareq al-Fayed, a Jordanian policy analyst and a journalist at the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, said Mulki will have two major tasks while in office.
“The first is to manage the news phase of the parliamentary elections and set the government’s political agenda. The second is to manage Israeli-Jordanian relations, which have seen tension over Israel’s policies and encroachment on the Palestinians in Jerusalem and against Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Fayed told Al Jazeera. Although Jordan in April released a statement slamming “Israeli settlers and police” for storming the “Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram al-Sharif (Temple Mount),” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to maintain the Israeli-Jordanian-Palestinian status quo of a ban on Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount.
Fayed also said that under Mulki, the possible strengthening of Israeli-Jordanian relations could encourage Israeli investment in Jordan’s economy.
Israel’s president welcomes LGBTQ delegation from North America
(JNS.org) Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Tuesday welcomed leaders from the LGBTQ community who were visiting Israel with the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA).
“This is a historic trip because it’s the largest ever of LGBTQ Jews to the state of Israel and it’s coming at time when discussions around LGBTQ rights are attracting a lot of attention in both countries. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to have an open exchange and find out about how to support each other in our search for equality,” said Stuart Kurlander, a leader in the Jewish Federation and LGBTQ communities.
Rivlin spoke about Israel’s diverse society and how “there is no gap between Israel as a Jewish state, and Israel as a democracy.”
“I hope that this visit will help you, look beyond the headlines, and see that despite the challenges, Israel is still a beacon of democracy and equality in the Middle East, and the world,” Rivlin said.
“We look forward to your continued advocacy for equality and tolerance. As American, Jewish, LGBT leaders, we stand beside you and our counterparts in Israel as we push ahead toward a better future for all,” said Kurlander.
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