Kipala
JF-Expert Member
- Jan 10, 2009
- 3,763
- 700
The country can either be a Jewish democracy or possess all of its historical territory. It can't have both.
... Right now, the total number of Jews and Arabs living under Israeli rule in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza is just under 12 million people. At the moment, a shade under 50 percent of the population is Jewish. In other words, right now -- not in five or ten years, but right now -- only 50 percent of the people living in the Jewish state and in the areas under its control are Jews. The dreaded tipping point -- which advocates of the two-solution have been warning about for years -- has finally arrived.
.. taking Gaza out of the equation does not buy Israel much time, anyway. .. if Israel continues to maintain control of the West Bank alone (without Gaza) and if current fertility rates among Jews and Arabs continue, then by 2030, Jews will constitute only 54 percent of the population. By May 2048, when the State of Israel turns 100 years old, the population of this area will be approximately 55 percent Arab and 45 percent Jewish.
..... three possibilities for the Jewish state: that it be a Jewish state, that it be a democracy, and that it possess all of its historical territory. Israel cannot have all three.
The Jews are not the only people who want and feel entitled to a homeland within the historical territory of Israel. The Palestinians in the West Bank ... know, and the world knows, that this is the only place where they can set up their homeland of Palestine.
If Israel ignores the demand to establish the Palestinian state there, then, in addition to incurring tremendous hostility from the rest of the world for doing so, it will eventually have to find a way to incorporate the stateless Arabs of the West Bank into Israel. What then? Either Israel will stop being a Jewish state, or it will choose to deny the Arabs of the West Bank the most basic of civil rights, such as the right to vote, and stop being a democracy.
If Israel wants to remain a Jewish state and a democracy and is willing to help bring about the creation of a state in the West Bank, its future -- particularly given its wildly productive and expanding economy -- is very bright indeed. But, if Israel insists on holding on to all the historical territory spoken of in the Bible, then its future becomes grim.
...
Soma yote: Israel's Dreaded Tipping Point Has Finally Arrived - S. Daniel Abraham - The Atlantic
... Right now, the total number of Jews and Arabs living under Israeli rule in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza is just under 12 million people. At the moment, a shade under 50 percent of the population is Jewish. In other words, right now -- not in five or ten years, but right now -- only 50 percent of the people living in the Jewish state and in the areas under its control are Jews. The dreaded tipping point -- which advocates of the two-solution have been warning about for years -- has finally arrived.
.. taking Gaza out of the equation does not buy Israel much time, anyway. .. if Israel continues to maintain control of the West Bank alone (without Gaza) and if current fertility rates among Jews and Arabs continue, then by 2030, Jews will constitute only 54 percent of the population. By May 2048, when the State of Israel turns 100 years old, the population of this area will be approximately 55 percent Arab and 45 percent Jewish.
..... three possibilities for the Jewish state: that it be a Jewish state, that it be a democracy, and that it possess all of its historical territory. Israel cannot have all three.
The Jews are not the only people who want and feel entitled to a homeland within the historical territory of Israel. The Palestinians in the West Bank ... know, and the world knows, that this is the only place where they can set up their homeland of Palestine.
If Israel ignores the demand to establish the Palestinian state there, then, in addition to incurring tremendous hostility from the rest of the world for doing so, it will eventually have to find a way to incorporate the stateless Arabs of the West Bank into Israel. What then? Either Israel will stop being a Jewish state, or it will choose to deny the Arabs of the West Bank the most basic of civil rights, such as the right to vote, and stop being a democracy.
If Israel wants to remain a Jewish state and a democracy and is willing to help bring about the creation of a state in the West Bank, its future -- particularly given its wildly productive and expanding economy -- is very bright indeed. But, if Israel insists on holding on to all the historical territory spoken of in the Bible, then its future becomes grim.
...
Soma yote: Israel's Dreaded Tipping Point Has Finally Arrived - S. Daniel Abraham - The Atlantic
