Israel's Jews 'set to exceed US'

By Lucy Williamson
BBC News, in Jerusaelm

Average Jewish birthrates are higher in Israel than abroad

Israel will soon be home to the largest Jewish community in the world for the first time in two millennia.

According to a report by an Israeli pro-immigration organisation, the US currently has a slightly more Jews than Israel - about 5.28 million.

But intermarriage and low birth rates mean numbers are declining, the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute says.

The number of Jews in Israel, by contrast, is predicted to grow by some 50,000 in the coming year.

The report is by the think tank of the Jewish Agency, a quasi- governmental body that manages immigration to Israel.

According to the report, Israel is one of very few countries where Jewish populations are growing.

Each Jewish woman in Israel has an average of 2.7 children - and most would like to have more.

JEWISH POPULATIONS United States - 5,280,000 Israel - 5,235,000 France - 494,000 Canada - 372,000 United Kingdom - 298,000 Russia - 235,000 Source: JPPPI Annual Assessment for 2005

This, rather than immigration, is the reason behind the community's growth, researchers say.

Jewish immigration to Israel has fallen from 70,000 a year in the early 1990s to about 20,000 in the last couple of years.

The JPPPI has suggested the Israeli government take a more creative approach to further expand the country's Jewish population - for example, by offering "gradual immigration".

This would allow Jews living in other countries to become non-resident Israeli citizens in return for some basic military training and a small investment.

Demography is seen as politically important in the Middle East.

The Arab population in Israel and the Occupied Territories is approaching the size of the Jewish community, and growing faster.

This is something many in the Israeli government see as a threat to the country's Jewish identity.