Jerusalem.
Israel’s population growth overwhelms the small country. Climate change is exacerbating the lack of space – and fueling an old dispute.
Wer in Israel lives and commutes to work in another city, knows the problem: trains are hopelessly overcrowded in the morning, the streets are backed up – and it’s getting worse. Apartments are scarce and completely overpriced, families live in very small spaces: there is a lack of space everywhere. No industrial nation is growing as fast as little Israel. And no one expects that to change anytime soon.
When the state was founded 75 years ago, just 800,000 people lived here. This year, the population could Ten million mark exceed. In an area that is hardly larger than the state of Hesse (6.2 million inhabitants), the population doubles every 36 years. According to forecasts by the Taub Center, Israel will even overtake Greece and Sweden in terms of population in the next five years.
Demographic experts are puzzled as to how to build enough houses, railroad tracks and roads and how to maintain water and energy supplies to keep up with this growth to withstand. Especially since more than half of the Israeli territory consists of Kahlland, i.e. desert and arid land – and where you can live, there are already high-rise buildings next to high-rise buildings.
In Israel, every woman has an average of 2.9 children
Unlike Germany, for example, Israel does not owe its growth to migration. While Germany and other rich countries will shrink in the coming decades if not enough people immigrate, so many babies are being born in Israel that the country is bursting at the seams. On average, every Israeli woman gives birth 2,9 Kinderamong the ultra-Orthodox there are even 6.6 children.
Also interesting:Israel: Ultra-Orthodox call for all-male beaches
Since the strictly religious give birth to more than twice as many children as the average, their share of the population is steadily increasing. It is now 13 percent, and among Israelis under the age of 18, one in five now owns the ultra-Orthodox minority an.
Israel, which is under the constant threat of terrorism and war, is also faced with the question of how it should be military force can maintain. Because most of the strictly religious do not take part in military service, to which all young Jewish men and women in Israel are actually obliged. Ultra-Orthodox marry early, women usually have their first child in their teens, making them unavailable for military service.
Ultra-Orthodox children do not go to regular schools
Strictly religious men, on the other hand, have a right before the law exemption from military service Negotiated: If they can prove they spend their days studying the Bible, they, too, may stay away from armed service and are not required to perform alternative service. In the longer term, therefore, fewer and fewer Israelis will be available for the army.
The children of the strictly religious usually attend private schools, which focus on doctrine set and do not have to follow state curricula. Mathematics and English are often not even taught at these schools. This limits their chances on the labor market – and raises the question of how Israel should deal with the many later unemployed.
But it’s not them Ultra-Orthodox alone who make Israel grow so rapidly. Even in non-religious families where both parents work, four children are not uncommon. “It’s kind of a part of having a lot of kids,” says Rachel, 32-year-old mother of three. “None of my girlfriends of the same age is childless.” Not that it would be easy to find decent childcare in Israel. “We spend a third of our income on day care centers and schools,” says Rachel. “Of course it’s tough, but we’ll manage somehow.”
Climate change could make many parts of the country uninhabitable
Growth comes through to the many children Migration. In the previous year, Jewish immigrants from Russia and Ukraine made up the majority of immigration. More than 60,000 people came to the country in this way. Warnings from demographic experts that strong growth is creating problems that need to be addressed by politicians often go unheeded. In Israel, the top issue when it comes to population growth is how the proportion of the approximately 20 percent Israeli Arabs will change.
However, climate change, which will further reduce the habitable area in Israel, does not stop at Jews or Arabs Mediterranean coast built. As sea levels rise, many of these areas will become uninhabitable.
Also read: Israel – Angry settlers march in front of Palestinian village
Jerusalem built on the hill is not safe either: the city is surrounded by large areas of forest, which often catch fire in times of heat waves. The risk that Forest fires getting out of control and getting closer to Jerusalem has been a topic for researchers for years – but politicians hardly react to it. There is a lack of risk plans and equipment for emergencies.
Right-wing Israelis see the way out in increased settlement construction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. There, however, they come into conflict with international law, which prohibits the Israeli government from settling its own population in the occupied country.
More on the subject: Scholz becomes clear: “Great concern” for Israel
Israel’s growth has one good thing: From aging and skills shortages is less noticeable here than in Europe. It’s quite possible that German companies will soon start looking around in Israel if they can’t find any applicants for their jobs.
More articles from this category can be found here: Politics
