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Israelis celebrate Independence eve (file)
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| By israelinsider staff April 23, 2007 |
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Israel will face immense dangers in the next few years, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday at a ceremony for outstanding IDF soldiers at the President's residence in Jerusalem. President Moshe Katsav, who has taken temporary leave of office due to rape and other sexual allegations against him, was not present.
But the prime minister -- who himself is widely expected to face corruption charges and a withering report on the conduct of last summer's Lebanon War, urged citizens to take heart: if "we're smart," he reassured, "we'll know how to create opportunities." Olmert said that faith in the nation's future and the "great strength of its people" would turn back any threat.
Acting President Dalia Itzik took the podium after Olmert. During her remarks, she stated that Israel was making every effort to secure the release of its captive soldiers. Earlier she spoke at a traditional torch-lighting ceremony on Mount Herzl, and called on Arabs states to swap weapons of war for tools of education: "Our advice to you is replace your Katyushas and Qassams with computers and loving education, the smile of a boy that has a future, and neighborliness," Itzik said during her speech.
"We hear the sharpening of swords and voices of war from near and afar. In distant Iran, in nearby Syria, in the Palestinian Authority at out doorstep, there still reside fiery zealots of hate-ridden leaders that believe in their ability to harm the state of Israel," Itzik said, adding that "the citizens of Iran, Syria and the Palestinian Authority should think twice about why they are so thirsty for battles and blood."
"Isn't the blood that you have already spilled enough?" she wondered aloud.
Confrontation looming in Samaria?
Pro-settlement activities geared up for a march at the site of the former settlement of Homesh in northern Samaria, even though the government has not authorized the march and the IDF has set up roadblocks aimed at preventing them from making the pilgrimage.
The army said, however, that soldiers had been instructed not to engage in confrontations with marchers, but that all roads leading to the site would be closed off and violators would be subject to arrest.
However, march organizers said the walk would go on, led by Nobel Prize laureate Prof. Israel Aumann. Most of the activists are expected to arrive at midday, with picnics, barbecues and other events scheduled to continue until evening, when the group has said it plans to leave the site.
Population Statistics
Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics released the rundown on the Israeli population since last year's Independence Day, ahead of this year's celebration starting after the finish of Memorial Day on Monday evening.
According to the report, the population of the small Jewish state rose by 1.8 percent (121,000 people) for a total of 7,150,000. The rise is mainly due to the high birth rate (148,000 babies were born) and the arrival of 18,400 new immigrants in 2006.
While a large number of immigrants have come to Israel, 10,000 Israelis who left for abroad in 2004 for over a year have returned (though 14,000 have remain abroad), according to CBS data.
Eighty percent of this total is comprised of 5,415,000 Jews and 310,000 "others" (who mostly hail from the FSU, and are either not Jewish or an undetermined Jewish status.
The Arab and Druse population make up for the other 20 percent, totaling 1,425,000 citizens.
Twenty-five percent of Israel's population (1,810,300 people) are city dwellers in the country's five largest cities: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Rishon Lezion and Ashdod. A mere six percent live in small towns and less than two percent live on Israel's famous centers of communal-living -- kibbutzim.
According to an "alternative survey" a significant 47 percent of the population would have preferred being born in another country besides Israel. The Geocartographic Institute's iGeo subsidiary conducted the survey.
On the other hand, 83 percent of the modern Orthodox population are satisfied with their birthplace, saying that given the choice, they would choose to be reborn in Israel. Eighty percent of kibbutzim and small town residents agreed, along with 65 percent of wealthy Israelis receiving pensions.
Read more about Israel's immigrant population breakdown and cultural tendencies. |
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