The population of Israel is a combination of Jews, Arab-Christians, Arab-Muslims, Christians, Russians, and Ethiopians. The majority of the population are Jewish or identify as Jewish (roughly 75%) and the second largest group is the Arab population, both Christian and Muslim (20%). The remainder of the population is a mixture of immigrants from other countries. The capital, Jerusalem, is the most populated city in the country second to Tel Aviv. Because Israel’s government mandates military conscription, many native-born Israelis remain domestic after their military service.
The immigration to Israel began in the mid 19th century from primarily European countries and continued until the establishment of the state in 1948. The British government retained control over the physical land as an imperial power and therefore limited immigration to the land; subsequently, there were many waves of illegal immigration from both European and Arab countries. The largest wave of immigration was after World War II when many of the Jews who survived the atrocities of the Holocaust sought asylum in the fledgling Jewish state.
The largest challenge that Israel faced upon declaring independence was the mixture of immigrants that held and understood a wide gamut of education and trade fields. Many of the European Jews who survived the Holocaust had neither professional skills nor education. By contrast, the Eastern European Jews were largely educated and retained professional and trade skills. Therefore, the native-born Israelis and Haganah (Israeli paramilitary organization who facilitated immigration and resisted British imperialism) began the establishment of kibbutzim.
Kibbutzim (singular: Kibbutz) were commune-style neighborhoods that specialized in producing a certain commodity; for example, there were dairy kibbutzim, vegetable kibbutzim, etc. The new immigrants were given the opportunity to live on the kibbutz in exchange for their time and labor. The kibbutz was and is the center for Israeli cultural life because of the values instilled on the land and the lessons that the kibbutzniks (members of a kibbutz) learn.
Towards the 1970s and 1980s the kibbutzim began to privatize meaning the members were able to hold jobs outside of the kibbutz and still retain the benefits of living on the kibbutz such as the community amenities and family style meals for holidays and festivals. However, as the population of Israel grew, the kibbutzim learned that they would better benefit the interests of the country by privatizing their resources and shifting from a commune-style to a more capitalist economy.
The map underneath displays the current border of Israel. Throughout the years, the armed conflicts and wars have redefined Israel's boundaries and are a result of the present political conflict.
Israel and the Jordan River: Retrieved January 29, 2017, from https://barefootnotesdotnet.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/footnote-234/
Israel and the Jordan River: Retrieved January 29, 2017, from https://barefootnotesdotnet.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/footnote-234/
Population Pyramids
Source: Latest Population Statistics for Israel. (n.d.). Retrieved February 01, 2017, from http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/latest-population-statistics-for-israel