“All over the world there is a large movement from the village to the city, and all of them end up in the city centers, and here, too, 10% of the births in Tel Aviv-Jaffa in recent years are Africans,” Ron Huldai, the mayor of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, said on Tuesday at the Urban Innovation Fair, run by the Center for Local Government at the Exhibition Grounds in his city, Globes reported.
The statement, which probably described more aptly the gentrified 1990s than today’s urban reality, when many city folks are seeking cheaper and safer homes away from the urban noise, also stretched geographic limitations a whole lot to regard Sudanese illegal infiltrators as part of a village to city movement.
Nevertheless, predictions are, according to the mayor, that Israel will double its current population of roughly 8 million by 2048, and reach 48 million by Rosh Hashanah 5860 (that’s the year 2100 to you and me).
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, in 2065 we should expect anywhere from 15 to 25 million Israelis roaming the Holy Land, out of whom between 13 and 18 million will be Jews, and between 3 and 5 million will be Arabs (assuming Israel will remain ambivalent regarding Judea and Samaria, or a Palestinian State will have emerged).
Incidentally, out of the Jewish population in Israel in 2065, between 4 and 6 million will be Haredim.