As many as 1 million Israelis have left for the U.S.

“Can Israel bring home its 1 million US Expats?” was the headline on an article in the Jerusalem Post 3 weeks ago; and it has gotten very little attention, though the article states bluntly that as many as 1 million Israelis are now living in the U.S.

“[B]etween 750,000 and 1 million Israelis live in the country,” says Israel’s US Embassy, though others put the figure as low as 200,000.

If you walk around the Upper West Side, you know something’s up, from the Hebrew you can hear on Broadway; but this is an important story for two reasons, demographic and spiritual.

First, Israel has long claimed to be a majority Jewish state (as if that justifies Jews’ higher status). Right now the numbers of Jews and Palestinians between the river and the sea are said to be equal, 6.5 million to 6.5 million. If 1 million Jews are living outside the country– and the Post article refers to the expats as “Jews” — that means it’s likely that there are more Palestinians than Jews in the lands over which Israel is exercising sovereignty.

That would mean a Jewish minority ruling a non-Jewish majority under the aegis of “the Jewish state”: which just seals the deal on the contested “apartheid” label.

The other reason this story is important is that it shows that for all the propaganda about Israel being the safest place in the world for Jews, and Israel being the Jewish “home,” and Jews in Israel “living the dream,” Jews themselves do not seem to be swayed by the argument. Israel has never traditionally been the top choice for emigrating Jews; and it’s not now, either.

“In recent years, Israel has lost more people to the United States than it has gained,” the article says– by 17,700 to 13,000 over three years.

That outflow apparently came in the latest year on record, 2015; 16,700 Israelis left while 8,500 came in, Haaretz reports. In talks, John Mearsheimer has called the trend “reverse aliyah.”

Back in 2011 Gideon Levy reported that 100,000 Israelis hold German passports; and he noted the irony that Israel is not a safe place for Jews (or non-Jews either):

If our forefathers dreamt of an Israeli passport to escape from Europe, there are many among us who are now dreaming of a second passport to escape to Europe.

He also said the crisis was generated by the fact that Israel hadn’t figured out its constitutional structure:

If the Palestinian people already had one real passport, maybe the Israelis wouldn’t need two.

We have heard many anecdotal stories about Israelis leaving, because they do not see a future in living in a state increasingly isolated from the world. This article is more evidence of that trend. It deserves a lot more attention– a 60 Minutes report exposing the claim that Israel is the safest place for Jews, or some other investigative project on why these Israelis are leaving. Don’t hold your breath.

Thanks to Scott Roth. 

 

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I hope that in the next 5 years 80% of jews have left the land that is called israel and spread over the earth to strenghten communities in the diaspora so judaism can continue to grow in number and in peace.

The question is , how will they manage being treated like everyone else.No exclusivity.Just full and equal rights .

No Jews only “communities”. Men having to sit next to women , (in short skirts and showing them a thong or two.) in the back of the bus or in the front . Worse still , they may even have the odd Arab sharing the same seat .

No anthem of their own.No walking around the neighbourhood armed to the teeth .No beating up Eritreans after the game.

I could almost feel sorry for them.

Israel is a not a safe haven. Today 2017, the biggest existential threat to Jews are unrealistic Zionists and Neocons with access to nuclear bombs.
How do you get half of America to swallow a cyanide pill? You smile sweetly, and explain that it’s a lemon drop. Hillary and her army of Neocons did just this when they disguised war with Russia by calling it a “no fly zone” or worse yet a “safe zone” over Syria. In effect, they were promoting a game of nuclear chicken with Russia placing Israel/Palestine at ground zero.
I get the idea that Neocons believe that wars are always winnable, and like any TV series, defeat only happens to the other guy. The Times of Israel reported on an op ed printed in the Israel National News that called for dropping atomic bombs, 30 each, on Iran and Germany. See the reference below.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/op-ed-calls-on-israel-to-nuke-germany-iran/
The Israel Nation News does not seem to realize that promoting a preemptive first strike on Iran would encourage Iranians to plan the same thing for Israel. A first strike would by no means make Israel safer. It would create a whole army displaced people with ideas of revenge. These days, atomic bombs can be miniaturized to fit in a suitcase.
The Greater Israel crowd seems convinced of the belief that the most aggressive policy is the safest policy. For the price of the Iraq war, an estimated three trillion dollars, America could have paid Iraq three billion dollars a year for then next thousand years. Three billion dollars would pay for a lot of good will.
How much sense does it make to worry about a second Holocaust, march half the Jews in the world into an area that could be destroyed by a single atomic bomb, and then do your best to start war with Russia?

8,343,000 people live in Israel for the right reasons. The reverse aliyah trend
has been decreasing over the past 5 years. World wide anti-Semitism
is helping Israel to grow and proper.

unless and until every synagogue in the world casts ballots, israel cannot represent judaism, let alone pretend to ‘jewish democracy’. are these expats sick of the concept? or sick of being singled out for justifying it – and so proselytizing ethnic nationalism in america? and at what point will america disallow entry for (violent, if not all) settlers, as israel has done for the entire palestinian diaspora, and lately, left-wing jewish activists? if the settlers are ever evacuated, they’ll always be welcome in d.c.