In the year 2048, Israel will celebrate her 100th anniversary as a modern nation-state, and be home to 17 million citizens. At the moment, Israel’s population numbers nine million. At the time of the foundation of the state in 1948, there were 650,000 people living here; by 1988, that number had grown to 4.5 million. That rapid increase was due to both a high natural growth and mass immigration, both of which continue to impact Israel’s population today.

Local demographers fear a catastrophe if Israel’s population figures double over the next three decades, especially given that the local population is not well dispersed within the land. Today, Israel’s population density is already reckoned as one of the highest in the world, averaging 395 citizens per square kilometer. By comparison, the Netherlands counts 412 people per square kilometer, the UK 274, Germany 231 and the US just 33.

Nearly everything Israel has achieved in the past 70 years borders on the miraculous. She has not only survived numerous wars, but in the midst of that constant threat has managed to continually develop into a world leader in the...

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