Quora: Does Israel Need A Jewish Majority?

I thought this was a great question:

Q: Is the idea of a Jewish state necessarily predicated on the majority of the population being Jewish?

The questioner expanded the concept for me as follows:

It seems as though people automatically assume that a one-state solution would mean an end to the idea of a Jewish state because the demographics would favor non-Jews. But if you enshrined into the Constitution the idea that Jewish immigration could not be limited, that the observation of a certain number of Jewish holidays had to be protected, and that otherwise there could be no discrimination based on religion in any other aspect of life, wouldn’t that be enough to make it a Jewish state that was also a secular, pluralist democracy capable of accommodating all of the various religions and ethnicities that live there? It seems like the idea of a country that provides a guaranteed refuge for the world’s Jews and a culture that allows Jewish life to flourish can exist without a Jewish majority if it’s enshrined in a state’s constitution.

Jewish Majority

It was clear to me that the questioner was seeing this from an American perspective and bias, still, the nucleus of the concept here was very good and it gave me an opportunity to put forward the concept that it’s not a numbers game–Israel is the indigenous territory of the Jews, always was and always will be, no matter who is living there. Here is my response:

That’s an excellent question! The fact is, it doesn’t matter whether or not the Jewish State has a Jewish majority. The point is that this is the indigenous territory of the Jews and that is something that is immutable. No one can change this reality and certainly, no document or legislation can change this reality.

The territory belongs to all Jews that ever were, are, or will be. Even if instead of 7 million Jews, you’ve got 7 million Eskimos living in Israel.

The main issue would be to secure the Jewish people in their own land so that they can have productive lives, govern themselves, and defend themselves from all outside threats.

4 thoughts on “Quora: Does Israel Need A Jewish Majority?”

  1. I couldn’t resist… I answered too.

    All of your suggestions would be great if we were in a part of the world where the rights of minorities had a long and healthy tradition of being respected.

    Unfortunately, a glance across the Jordan river or over the hills of the Golan toward Syria and beyond, reveals that our neighbours and those who would wish to assert dominance over our indigenous lands, are not big believers in tolerance of minority rights. I’d send you to talk to the Christians of Baghdad or the Yazidis for more information, but they’re rather hard to find as they’ve either fled or been murdered.

    Jew must never be Dhimmis again so for now, ensuring that Jews look after the affairs of Jews is pretty essential here.

    http://www.quora.com/Is-the-idea-of-a-Jewish-state-necessarily-predicated-on-the-majority-of-the-population-being-Jewish/answer/Brian-John-Thomas

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