The million missing Israelis
The Middle East Foreign Policy
07-Jul-2011

Over more than six decades of statehood, successive Israeli governments
have repeatedly stressed the centrality of Jewish immigration and the
Law of Return of all Jews to Israel for the well-being, security, and
survival of the nation. Yet while much is published on Jewish
immigration to Israel, considerably less information is available about
Jewish emigration from Israel.
 
Government estimates of the
numbers of Israelis residing abroad vary greatly due mainly to the lack
of an adequate recording system. Consequently, scholars and others have
questioned the accuracy of government figures. Besides the statistical
and methodological shortcomings, the number of Israeli expatriates is
open to considerable debate and controversy because of its enormous
demographic, social, and political significance both within and outside
Israel.
 

At the lower end is the official estimate of
750,000 Israeli emigrants -- 10 percent of the population -- issued by
the Israeli Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, which is about the same as
that for Mexico, Morocco, and Sri Lanka. Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's government places the current number of Israeli citizens
living abroad in the range of 800,000 to 1 million, representing up to
13 percent of the population, which is relatively high among OECD
countries. Consistent with this latter figure is the... >>>

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