Building Jewish Samaria Once Again – but Without Banging on Tables

by Shalom Ber (Bereleh) Krumbi, journalist and political activist, translated by Hillel Fendel.

I was a youth of 15 years of age during one of the forcible dismantlings of the Gilad Farm, near Karnei Shomron. This was an experience I will never forget, though not for any positive reasons. There were thousands of policemen and soldiers, with bulldozers, burning tires, and dozens of IDF jeeps and police vans. They all arrived for one reason: to destroy a few wretched shacks on a Samarian hilltop.

This particular evacuation was followed by several more from the Tor Hilltop, and then from the Yitzhar Lookout and other hilltops (five in number). Every time it was the same ritual. It was largely forbidden to build in the Shomron, and every shack that was put up faced the sword of uprooting and destruction. Photos of burning tires and burning structures in Yesha filled the front pages of the nationalist newspapers every week.

The Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria (Yesha), still under the traumatic effects of the expulsion of 9,000 Jews from Gush Katif and the northern Shomron in 2005, then kicked off a campaign against the destruction of the outposts, which had been built to serve as a defense line for the nearby settlement communities. But meanwhile the army and police simply pursued every new Jewish shack they could find and bulldozed them down. I remember one Friday afternoon when the Tapuah Junction, east of Ariel, was closed for two hours by large army and police forces, because a truck was suspected of transporting a caravan home to a Jewish community in the Shomron. In the end, the caravan was found to be headed to a nearby army base…

In any event, the hilltop pioneers didn't give up. Mitzpeh Yitzhar was rebuilt time and again until it finally took root. The same with the Gilad Farm, only more so; it was demolished and rebuilt lots of times, and now, not long ago, it was recognized as a full-fledged official community.

In general, every hill that was destroyed was rebuilt, and every house demolished was later reconstructed. The struggle continued constantly – even when [former PM Ariel] Sharon commissioned a special “Outposts Report” by Attorney Talia Sasson, seeking to turn every construction in Judea and Samaria into a criminal matter, and even under the painful freeze during the Obama period. Through it all, the pioneers of the hills kept on building with unlimited self-sacrifice, continuing to settle and cultivate this land.

And then came the farms. No longer were there just individual couples or families living alone on a barren hill, but real farms, with flocks of sheep controlling acres and acres of land. Thus was born the new modern Zionist project that reawakened the values on which Zionism was founded: the Land of Israel for the Jewish Nation. The new farmers lived the Zionist credo "another dunam [quarter-acre] and another sheep" to the hilt. These Jewish shepherds are the Trumpledors and JNF pioneers of the Tik-tok generation. The second Zionist revolution is underway!

But nothing could prepare us in Judea and Samaria for what has begun taking shape during the course of this Netanyahu government, and particularly over the past year.

MK Betzalel Smotrich, who wears two ministerial hats - Treasury Minister and Minister in the Defense Ministry - is basically, together with his colleague in the Religious Zionism party that he heads, Minister Orit Strook, leading the current charge to certify and recognize increasingly more new Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. Not that he is the first to do this: Arik Sharon, as Housing Minister 25 years ago, also led the charge for more Yesha housing [before he championed the Disengagement/withdrawal from Gush Katif and northern Shomron in 2005]. He liked to do this in a very "audio-visual" manner, arranging for media coverage of himself standing on a wind-blown hilltop surrounded by contractors and builders, banging on a specially-brought table, "Everyone get a move on here!" No wonder Sharon was known as a bulldozer.

Smotrich does things differently. He and his colleagues are barely seen going out to the field, and they don't make sure to be photographed giving dramatic orders. He rather remains in his Finance Ministry office well past midnight almost every night, while Strook, too, works behind the scenes. Together, they are permanently changing the map of Judea and Samaria.

The numbers are barely believable. Over 160 Jewish farms, mostly quite young, now control the open areas in Judea and Samaria, rendering them unquestionably "Jewish." In addition, thousands of new housing units are being approved in Yesha, along with new neighborhoods, roads, and infrastructures.

Just a few years ago, our nationalist camp could not dare to speak about building new communities in Yesha. The establishment of Evyatar between Ariel and the Jordan River was seen as a miraculous, one-time event. And now suddenly, dozens of new communities are being established in all over the expanse. These include the rejuvenation and renewal of Homesh and Sa-Nur, two of the four northern Samaria communities Israel destroyed in the Disengagement.

If until Oct. 7^th of 2023, many decision makers in Israel were held captive by the infamous "conceptziya" – the conception that Hamas won't attack, that our borders were secure, and that the situation was under control – the Government of Israel has now become the leader in waking up from old misconceptions. This is true not only in terms of the rejuvenation of Judea and Samaria, but also in Israel's new take-the-offensive security doctrine. In terms of Yesha, it appears to be now understood that in order to stop the next massacre, we must return to the fundamental principles of early Zionism: another dunam and another goat, and the old, basic rule that wherever the plow passes, the Israeli border will pass there.

RELATED DEVELOPMENTS (ed. note):

April 10 – The Cabinet decided secretly two weeks ago to establish 34 new communities in Yesha. The decision was kept secret by American request. Among the future towns are:

Alonei Shomron, No'a, and Emek Dotan – slated to be established in the northern Shomron. No'a will be in close proximity to Kadim and Ganim, of Disengagement fame, so as to relieve their relative isolation. Tzofnat will be located near Tapuach, and Ta'anakh is to arise in the Jenin region. Yishuv HaDaat already exists unrecognized near Shilo, and Mevo'ot Yehoshua will be located along Route 443 between Jerusalem and Modiin – not far from Maoz Tzur, which already has 11 families.

April 12 - The Interior Ministry has granted official local-government status to eight new Jewish towns and communities in Judea and Samaria. Among them are Ganim and Kadim, which were destroyed over 20 years ago in Israel's unilateral disengagement under Prime Minister Sharon. All four Shomron towns destroyed then have now been officially reinstated.  Twenty-five other Yesha communities have similarly been recognized over the past four months. Among the 25 are Kanfei Shachar in Binyamin, Alon (which until now was a neighborhood of Kfar Adumim), Lechi (Chavot Yair), Brosh HaBik'ah in the Jordan Valley, and Mitzpeh Zif near Hevron.

The Fake "Settler Violence" Campaign: The Case of Kisan in Gush Etzion

Adapted from an article by Atty. Michael Shparber, Gush Etzion, translated by Hillel Fendel.

As many readers of this column well know, the well-orchestrated media campaign crying out against alleged "settler violence" is not at all restricted to the borders of the State of Israel, making its active presence known long ago in America. Under pressure from the Trump Administration, which expressed its “shock” at the violence against Arabs in the West Bank, our government here in Israel puzzlingly committed to establish a special enforcement unit against Jews within the Ministry of Defense, and to fund it with no less than 130,000,000 shekels ($41.27 million).

As an example of the fake phenomenon of "settler violence," let us consider a series of three "minor" events that flew under the radar last week at the Magen Avraham Farm in the Gush Etzion bloc, south of Jerusalem. Magen Avraham is a small pioneer farm that, like all the new farms in Yesha (Judea and Samaria), is strategically located and oversees a large area. It is adjacent to the Arab village of Kisan in the eastern part of Gush Etzion, not far from Tekoa.

One way of looking at Gush Etzion is that it guarantees the Jewish settlement presence between Beit Shemesh and the Dead Sea. It is not a continuous, integral bloc, in that a chain of Bedouin outposts formed over the last few centuries in the Bethlehem and northern Judean Desert area divides between them. Some of these Bedouin localities even have a permanent nature, such as the hostile village Tokua (based on the Biblical city of Tekoa, home to the Prophet Amos), and others.

These Bedouins, of the Taamari tribe [regarding which there is some evidence that it was originally Jewish before converting, either voluntarily or by coercion], basically block off the thriving and expanding Jewish area of northern Gush Etzion (Nokdim, Tekoa, Kfar Eldad) from the settlements to their south along the edge of the desert (Maaleh Amos, Metzad, and Pnei Kedem). Their illegal intrusions into the Jewish areas are both dangerous and demographically threatening to the Jews of the area.

If one would have looked for a locality named Kisan on the maps of several years ago, he would have come up with no results. Rather, Kisan, like many other Bedouin and other Arab villages in the vicinity, grew out of a strategic PA plan to take over the open areas in Judea and Samaria, for the express purpose of preventing Jewish contiguity in the area and paving the way for a Palestinian state, even if only de facto at first.

Arabs from Kisan, with help from accomplices, simply descend southward from the mother village of Tuqua and its satellites, position themselves along the only road leading to the southeastern part of Gush Etzion, and create constant friction with the Jewish population. This they do by stone-throwing, placing explosive devices, ambushing travelers at night, encroaching on Jewish-owned land, agricultural sabotage, and primarily through ongoing takeover of the area.

And here enter the picture the heroic pioneers of our generation, the youths of the Yesha farms. Specifically, those in Magen Avraham – few in number but largely fearless – who live there without running water, without electricity, and without support from the authorities. With their bare hands they work the fields of our homeland, on the banks of the beautiful, flourishing Arugot Stream (leading from eastern Gush Etzion to the Dead Sea). By day they work, plant and thresh; by night they keep the route open and guard the flock from Arab thieves and rioters.

It is important to remember that these pioneers guard not only the plot of land adjacent to them, and not only the continuity of Jewish settlement in the area; rather, they are the ones who, with their very bodies and strength of spirit, are preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state – of which its possible horrifying consequences we all received a taste of on the bitter day of October 7^th.

The Arabs there, including the infiltrators of the illegal adjacent village of Kisan, are not happy with these actions of the few Jews of Magen Avraham. After all, their entire purpose of living there is to prevent contiguous Jewish settlement in the area, which is why they instigate violence against their Jewish neighbors, hoping both to kill and scare them away.

Just imagine how it works: A Jewish shepherd goes out to graze with his sheep, generally armed with nothing more than a stick and backpack, trusting in the Creator and in the strength of his mission. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, dozens of Arabs appear, throwing rocks of all sizes, striking him with their sticks with abandon, stealing or harming sheep, and causing damage to the Jewish fields. This is the type of event that happens time and again, not only in Magen Avraham, but all over Yesha. But will you ever hear of this in the news? Never. For violence and aggression against the Hilltop Youth has been whitewashed and all but kosher-certified in public opinion.  

This is precisely what happened to the pioneers of Magen Avraham no fewer than three times in the past week; I assume that none of those reading this heard of it. On the other hand, "Jewish settler violence" opens the news reports, even during these wartime days. And that's how a narrative is created and developed. It's not the truth or the facts that matter, but rather what is repeated over and over, and eagerly swallowed up by a public that is a combination of apathetic and anxious to hear news that is anti-Jewish – or specifically anti-religious. Demonizing the settlement enterprise has long been the objective, and maligning the vital pioneering enterprise of the Yesha farms (which actually should have been a priority of our government and society) – serves the political interests of those who oppose the State of Israel.

We would be well advised to return to the spirit of previous decades, and encourage and strengthen our beloved emissaries who dedicate their days and nights to preserving our homeland. As the Zionist activist, lawyer and poet Avraham Levinson (1891-1955) wrote:

Let us build our land, our homeland
For it is ours; this land is for us.
To build the land is the charge of our blood, the charge of the generations.
We will build our land despite all who come to destroy us,
We will build our land with the strength of our will.

Just the Facts, Please: Misreporting Does Injustice to Palestinian Terror Victim and the Entire Settler Population

by Hillel Fendel, former editor of Arutz-7's IsraelNationalNews.com.

A grave murder that happened three days ago has barely been reported – in Israel, and certainly around the world – thus spotlighting another aspect of the great myth of what is known as "settler violence"

Shmuel Sherman, an 18-year-old Land of Israel pioneer, was brutally murdered by Palestinian Arabs this past Saturday. His brother Daniel, 20, was significantly injured in the event, when an Arab pick-up rammed their jeep, which flipped over and down the mountainside.

The two brothers were driving a patrol jeep on a dirt road encircling the fledgling outpost of Shuva Yisrael, east of Homesh. At one point, Daniel, the driver, said he saw an Arab-driven pick-up, "and the driver identified me from below. He waited for me on the side of the road, and then when I passed him, he made a U-turn and began to speed up towards me - and then as soon as there was a curve with a cliff, he purposely banged me from behind and sent me careening off the cliff."

Possibly, though not exclusively, because of the Iranian bombs that injured dozens of Israelis in both Dimona and Arad just a few hours later, the murder was relegated to the less-important slots in the news sites and broadcasts - until it practically disappeared altogether.

The youngster was engaged in the holy work of protecting Jewish national lands when he was maliciously felled in the line of duty. A friend of his said, "Yehuda was a full-fledged soldier without a uniform. Without ranks on his shoulders, he assumed the responsibility of a top officer. He patrolled the area every day in order to guarantee that these expanses remain in Jewish hands. He understood that Israel's security begins here, in these open areas in which our grasp is still much too sparse."

The Zionist Response

Without the presence of Shuva Yisrael, the newly-rebuilt Homesh, with its ten families, would be a lone enclave surrounded on all sides by Arab villages. Seventy families originally lived there, before Ariel Sharon's unilateral withdrawal (Disengagement) in 2005. On the night of the murder, Sherman's friends established three new Jewish outposts in the vicinity, as a "Zionist response" to the murder. They immediately began a fund-raising campaign for the purpose – "to deepen our roots precisely where the enemy sought to uproot them," the organizers say, "and to solve the problem of the sparse Israeli presence in these open areas."

Another reason why the story has largely been overlooked is likely because it contra-indicates the running narrative of Jewish settler violence – although, in fact, the Palestinian violence against Israelis in these areas is many times higher. In addition, though statistics purporting to show intense Jewish violence are widely circulated, the actual number of such events, many of which are in self-defense, is a fraction of the reported numbers.

Opposing the Blood-Libel

Well-known mainstream Israeli reporter Kalman Liebskind has written an authoritative Hebrew article, entitled, "The Blood Libel of 'Settler Violence' - Time to Let the Facts Speak." The article begins:

"A study by Regavim [the leading movement dedicated to the protection of Israel’s national lands and resources, acting to prevent illegal seizure of state land] crushes to pieces the data presented by the United Nations and left-wing organizations…"

Some of the findings of the Regavim report:

** Among the U.N.-reported 8,332 incidents of violence "involving Jewish settlers" against Arabs between 2016 and 2023, only about 10% can reliably be considered in any way unprovoked Jewish violence. A full 1,361 of them were nothing more than Jewish visits to the Temple Mount or clashes there between Israeli policemen and Arabs who rioted there.

** Among the incidents reported was a protest by "right-wing extremists outside the Tel Aviv home of the Justice Minister [in which] one activist was arrested for insulting a policeman."

** Others were physical altercations in which the only injury was to a Jewish man. This one, like many other similar events, was recorded as "Jewish violence" and not Arab violence. Why? That's one way of phrasing the question – but another way is, "Why not?"

** Similarly, dozens of cases involved Arab attacks against Jews, including security guards, who responded in self-defense and wounded or even killed their attackers. These, too, were puzzlingly recorded as "Jewish violence" and not Arab violence.

** Over 1,700 incidents were listed as "Jewish entry" to areas claimed to be Arab-populated in the framework of hikes, patrols, or placing of infrastructures and the like, with no violence or damage.

** In short, only 833 actual reports of Jewish violence were registered, over a 15-year period. Not that these are acceptable, but they certainly do not indicate that the half-million-strong Jewish population of Jews deserve the be labeled "violent," as is widely-accepted around the world.

For the sake of the Jewish people in the State of Israel, the Regavim report must be widely circulated. See www.regavim.org.

In addition, these articles provide more information:

https://www.jns.org/opinion/oshy-ellman/the-settler-violence-lie by Oshy Ellman.

and https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/opinion/387204/some-settlers-are-violent-but-charging-settler-violence-demonizes-israel/.

Reports of the Demise of American-Israeli Alliance are "Highly Exaggerated"

by Zev Kam, public news commentator and reporter, translated by Hillel Fendel.

It took only a bit more than a week for the media onset of the usual nonsense about "cracks" in the cooperation between the U.S. and Israel in the war against Iran. This is precisely as it's been for years now in the Israeli media: In the first days of a war, we see almost total unity behind the army, government, and war objectives. But as the days go by, all sorts of hints of weariness and impatience begin to pop up, and even doubts regarding the "justness of our cause" – as if protecting ourselves against Iran needs justification. Then come the reports of "gaps" and disagreements and even tension between Israel and the U.S. This is how it happened in the war with Hamas, then regarding the battles in Lebanon, and even now in this unprecedented war with no-longer-nuclear Iran.

There are some who simply can't find it in their hearts to enjoy all this goodness. Either they're impatient, or they forgot the threat that Iran possessed, or their political agenda simply doesn't allow them to do anything other than try to bring down or even just criticize the government. So they look for any possible hint of disagreement between us and America, and if they find some minor Administration official who can say a half-sentence that shows less than total infatuation with Israel, they'll be happy to spread far and wide "news" of the end of the American-Israeli honeymoon.

The same thing is happening with alleged American criticism of Israel's bombing of Iran's gas reserves. The fact is that the coordination between Israel and the U.S. has remained as tight as it was two weeks ago. The Americans are still determined to go all the way, in contrast with the fake reports of "erosion" in their resolve. Trump 2026, in the Iranian context, is the same Trump as in his first term, when he quit Obama's nuclear agreement with Iran and successfully targeted the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC). He's also the same Trump who was nearly assassinated by Iranians. He knows precisely what Iran is and the extent of the threat it represents.

If anything, his appetite is getting stronger. If last June Trump gave us 12 days to wage a short war against Iran, this time he was predicted to give a full two weeks - and the clock is still running now, nearly three weeks later. The great early successes seem to have whetted his appetite, and he has therefore decided he wants more.

In this regard, we must clarify the respective goals of the two allies. Back at the end of last year, before the Iranian protests started, the goals defined by the Americans were very clear and precise: No nukes or intercontinental ballistic missiles, degraded IRGC and proxies, no regional aggression, and an end to Iranian missile development.

But during January, when toppling the Iranian regime began to seem possible, the Americans started to consider making this a war objective. This looked realistic especially when Trump announced to the Iranian public, "Help is on the way!" But we must remember that, in fact, absolute, official regime change has never been an American war objective. No matter how many Iranian government officials are killed and how many targets are bombed, in the end it's up to the Iranian people: If they don't take down their government themselves, it won't be done.

As of now, therefore, both Trump and Netanyahu will be happy if their original objectives are carried out.

If there is any fear of tension between the U.S. and Israel, it has to do with "the day after." It could be that precisely on the backdrop of the full bilateral cooperation at present, the Americans might come and tell us, "We were with you in Iran, now it's your turn to show us that you're with us regarding the Palestinian issues and the Saudi demands." Just like we were all sadly surprised when Trump announced his objections to Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, it's not out of the question that something similar will happen again.

On the other hand, that is far from the only scenario. It could very well be the opposite - that the Arab nations around us will realize that their own existential interests overshadow the Palestinians, and that they would be smart to continue their cooperation with the U.S. It would not be surprising at all if after the war, we see a quick rejuvenation of the Abraham Accords, at the expense of Abu Mazen and the Palestinian Authority. 

On the one hand, if the Iranian threat is neutralized, Saudi Arabia may feel it no longer needs us; after all, why should they pay a price in domestic public opinion by aligning with the Zionists? This is actually what happened after the war of last June: The Saudis thought we had removed the Iranian threat hanging over them as well as over us, and they therefore quickly distanced themselves from us.

Now, however, a fascinating partnership of fate has unwittingly emerged, wherein both they and we, along with other Gulf states, are being attacked by the same country. At the same time, the Saudis have discovered that the alliance they forged with Turkey and Pakistan is nothing but a broken reed, an alliance only on paper – for the Turks did not stand by the United States in this war, choosing rather the side of the “bad guys,” and the Pakistanis mainly looked for a way to avoid any involvement.

What Time Will it be Over? 

Back home in Israel, many are asking how it is that it appears that the Iranian missiles keep coming? Didn't we destroy them already?

The answer is that, numerically, Iran has in fact been firing fewer and fewer missiles in each attack, even though the number of bomb sirens has not decreased. This is actually the main challenge facing the IDF now: how to destroy the most missiles and launchers. One explanation is the cloudy weather in Iran in recent days, which has made it difficult to locate the launchers. In addition, it must be remembered that the more launchers are destroyed, the harder it is to find the rest of them. It will take a bit more time, but the IAF has expressed its confidence to the government that it will happen. When we reach, with G-d's help, a level of just one Iranian rocket per day, as it was with the Houthis for a long while, the entire economy will be opened, including schools and airports, and we will be in a different place.

Politically, what's going on with the elections scheduled for this October? It is now clear that this year's annual budget will be passed by the Knesset – an achievement that can be chalked up to Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich's credit. The following sentence has not been spoken or written in Israel for over 30 years: It looks like the elections will be held on time, and will not be advanced because of some political crisis or another. All the talk about Bibi calling snap elections to take advantage of the war gains seem to be just that – talk – assuming that the work in Iran will be completed successfully.

And how did it come about that the hareidi parties agreed to support the budget and not topple the government even without the lenient hareidi recruitment bill they have been hoping for? It's complex, but the short answer is that in exchange for other political benefits, they convinced their rabbinical leaders that the charge of the hour now is to be united in the war and put aside matters in dispute.

And now, for desert, an encouraging true story: On Monday I happened to be in the Shivtei Yisrael synagogue in Givatayim for evening prayers, when all of a sudden we heard the familiar bomb siren. We all went down to the shelter, and within seconds, more people joined us as well: locals without a safe room at home, passersby who chanced to be there, etc. So there we were: one of us reciting aloud a chapter of Psalms, others with their knitted yarmulkes, older secular neighbors, young couples, and more than one with a dog. Children played and yelled enthusiastically around and about the adults – and all in great harmony of the most Jewish type. Different folks, brothers sharing troubles, brothers in Redemption.

Israel’s Demographic Momentum: A Growing Gap Between Jewish and Arab Trends

Based on "2026 Israel’s Demography Repudiates Conventional Wisdom" by Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger

For years, conventional wisdom warned of a looming demographic balance between Jews and Arabs in Israel because Arab fertility was far higher than Jewish fertility. But recent data suggests a different reality is unfolding—one marked by diverging trends in birth rates, fertility, and population growth.

A Widening Gap in Births

According to Israel’s Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of Jewish births has risen sharply over the past three decades:

• 1995: about 80,400 Jewish births

• 2025: about 139,676 Jewish births

This represents a 74% increase.

By contrast, Arab births grew much more modestly:

• 1995: about 36,500

• 2025: about 44,000

That’s roughly a 21% increase.

As a result, Jewish births now make up about 76% of all births in Israel, compared to 69% in 1995. The gap is not just persisting—it’s widening.

Fertility Rates: A Historic Reversal

One of the most significant changes is in fertility rates.

For decades, Arab fertility was far higher than Jewish fertility. But that gap has closed—and in some cases reversed:

• Jewish fertility: about 3.0 children per woman

• Muslim fertility: about 2.5 children per woman

Around 2015, the two rates converged. Since then, Jewish fertility has often edged ahead.

This is a dramatic shift from the past, when Arab families were significantly larger on average.

Why Arab Fertility Is Declining

The decline in Arab fertility reflects broader social and economic changes:

• Increased urbanization

• Higher levels of education

• Greater participation of women in the workforce

• Later average age of marriage

• Expanded use of contraception

These trends mirror patterns seen across much of the developing world as societies modernize.

Jewish Fertility: Unusual for a Developed Country

At the same time, Jewish fertility in Israel remains unusually high—especially compared to other developed nations.

Among countries in the OECD, most have fertility rates well below replacement level. Israel stands out as a rare exception.

What makes this even more notable is that:

• Higher education and income in Israel do not necessarily lead to fewer children

• Fertility is supported across multiple segments of society

While the Haredi Jews continue to have the highest birth rates, growth is also coming from secular and traditional populations.

Younger vs. Older Populations

Another emerging difference is in age structure:

• The Jewish population remains relatively young, supported by higher birth rates

• The Arab population, with declining fertility, is beginning to age gradually

Over time, this affects everything from workforce size to economic growth and social services.

Why This Gap Matters

These diverging trends are not just statistical—they have real-world implications:

• Population balance: A growing Jewish share of births strengthens long-term majority trends

• Economy: A larger, younger population supports workforce growth

• National planning: Education, housing, and infrastructure needs shift accordingly

The Bottom Line

Israel’s demographic picture is no longer defined by convergence, but by divergence.

• Jewish birth rates are rising

• Arab birth rates are growing more slowly

• Fertility trends have shifted in favor of the Jewish population

Together, these changes suggest that the demographic balance within Israel is evolving in ways that challenge long-held assumptions—and may shape the country’s future for decades to come.