Israel's Jews Reach Historic Six Million Mark, But Could be Outnumbered By Palestinians By 2020

Israel's Jewish Population Reaches Symbolic Six Million Mark

Israel's Jewish population has reached the symbolic six million mark, the number killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust, according to new data.

But the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics also predicted there will be an equal number of Palestinians and Jews in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip by 2016, with Jews the minority in the country by 2020, which analysts say would end any hope for a two state solution, with Palestinians more likely to push for one state.

Israeli Jewish children in Jerusalem

Israel is the only country in the world with a growing Jewish population. Despite the increase there, the numbers do not yet come close to the number of Jews worldwide, pre-Holocaust.

Before the Nazi genocide, there were around 18 million Jews worldwide. Now, there are around 13.5 million. Other countries with large populations include the US, which has 5.75m, France, Canada, the UK and Russia.

The Jewish population has grown tenfold since 1948. A tenth of the national population resides in Jerusalem, 804,400 residents. It is the largest city in the country, followed by Tel Aviv with 404,400 and Haifa with 270,300.

A Palestinian woman holds her baby to be weighed by a medic at a hospital in Gaza City

Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics in Jerusalem showed the country's population at just below eight million, with six million Jews, growing at a rate of 1.8%. 1.4 million are Israeli Arabs, Palestinian citizens of Israel. Around 4.4 million others live in the Palestinian Territories.

The total fertility rate in 2011 among Palestinians living in Israel was 3.3 births compared to 3.0 births among Jews

Palestinian Authority official Hanan Ashrawi told Ynet: “If the situation carries on this way, at the end we’ll be a majority, but we’re giving the Israelis a chance to understand the Palestinians could have their own democratic country that would neighbor Israel."

Close

What's Hot