Jerusalem: Israel's population is nearing
7.6 million, official figures showed Sunday ahead of the 62nd
anniversary of the creation of the Jewish state.
Of the 7,587,000 population, 5,726,000, or 75.5 per cent,
are Jews and 1,548,000, or 20.4 per cent, are Arabs, according
to the Central Bureau of Statistics.
The population has grown by 137,000 people in the past
year, a 1.8 per cent increase.
The official statistics for Israel's Arab population
include 270,000 Palestinians living in east Jerusalem, which
Israel occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed in a move
not recognised by the international community.
They carry permanent residency IDs but the vast majority
have declined citizenship of Israel, which this year
celebrates its independence from sunset tomorrow to sunset the
following day.
Israel's nearly 1.3 million Arab citizens are descendants
of the 160,000 Palestinians who remained in the Jewish state
after the Middle East war that erupted following Israel's
creation in 1948.
About 750,000 Palestinians fled or were driven out during
the conflict, and now more than 4.7 million UN-registered
refugees live in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and
neighbouring Arab countries.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, April 18, 2010, 21:58