The Jewish population is 6,450,000 (74.8%); 1,796,000 (20.8%) are Arabs; and “others” (non-Arab Christians, Baha’i, etc.) make up 4.4% of the population (384,000 people).
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, some 27,000 people made aliyah (immigrated to Israel) in 2016, down from 31,000 in 2015. Some 7,000 olim (immigrants) arrived from Russia, the highest of any country and an increase from 6,600 in 2015. But all the other leading countries saw declines: approximately 5,500 immigrants arrived from Ukraine compared to 7,221 in 2015; the 5,000 from France was down from 7,900 the previous year; and only 2,900 immigrants came from the US, a drop from 3,070 in 2015.
Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky remains optimistic, saying the numbers provide “evidence of the fact that...
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