Israel: Difference between revisions

Israel's financial center is [[Tel Aviv]],<ref name="lboro.ac.uk">{{cite web |title= GaWC&nbsp;– The World According to GaWC 2008 |work=Globalization and World Cities Research Network |accessdate=1 March 2009 |url= http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/world2008t.html}}</ref> while [[Jerusalem]] is the country's [[List of largest cities and second largest cities by country|most populous city]] and its designated capital, though [[international]]ly Jerusalem is not considered to be a part of Israel.<ref>Victor Kattan, "Competing claims, contested city: the sovereignty of Jerusalem in international law" states on page 2, paragraph 2 that no country recognizes Israeli sovereignty in West or East Jerusalem.</ref><ref group=note>The [[Jerusalem Law]] states that "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel" and the city serves as the seat of the government, home to the President's residence, government offices, supreme court, and [[Knesset|parliament]]. [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 478]] (20 August 1980; 14–0, U.S. abstaining) declared the Jerusalem Law "null and void" and called on member states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from Jerusalem. The United Nations and all member nations refuse to accept the Jerusalem Law (see {{Harvard citation no brackets|Kellerman|1993|p=140}}) and maintain their embassies in other cities such as Tel Aviv, [[Ramat Gan]], and [[Herzliya]] (see the [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/is.html CIA Factbook] and [http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/israel.pdf Map of Israel]). The U.S. Congress subsequently adopted the [[Jerusalem Embassy Act]], which said that the U.S. embassy should be relocated to Jerusalem and that it should be recognized as the capital of Israel. However, the US Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel concluded that the provisions of the act "invade exclusive presidential authorities in the field of foreign affairs and are unconstitutional". Since passage of the act, all Presidents serving in office have determined that moving forward with the relocation would be detrimental to U.S. national security concerns and opted to issue waivers suspending any action on this front. The [[Palestinian Authority]] sees [[East Jerusalem]] as the capital of a [[Proposals for a Palestinian state|future Palestinian state]]. The city's final status awaits future negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (see [http://www.pij.org/details.php?id=460 "Negotiating Jerusalem," Palestine–Israel Journal]). See [[Positions on Jerusalem]] for more information.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.knesset.gov.il/laws/special/eng/basic10_eng.htm |title='&#39;Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel'&#39; |publisher=Knesset.gov.il |accessdate=2013-10-14}}</ref> The [[Demographics of Israel|population of Israel]], as defined by the [[Israel Central Bureau of Statistics]], was estimated in 2014 to be 8,146,300&nbsp;people, of whom 6,406110,400600 are [[Israeli Jews|Jewish]]. The country's second largest group are [[Arab citizens of Israel|Arabs]], with 1,686,000 people (including the Druze and most East Jerusalem Arabs).<ref name="cbsmonth"/><ref name="population_stat">{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/newpop.html |title=Latest Population Statistics for Israel |date=April 2013 |publisher=Jewish Virtual Library |accessdate=21 April 2013}}</ref> The great majority of Israeli Arabs are [[Sedentism|settled]] [[Islam in Israel|Muslims]], with smaller but significant numbers of semi-settled [[Negev Bedouin]]s; the rest are [[Christianity in Israel|Christians]] and [[Israeli Druze|Druze]]. Other minorities than Arabs include [[Maronites in Israel|Maronites]], [[Samaritans]], [[Black Hebrew Israelites]],<ref>{{cite news |title=The Black Hebrews of Israel |first=Stephanie |last=Rice |url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/israel-and-palestine/090430/israels-black-hebrews |newspaper=GlobalPost |date=4 May 2009 |accessdate=12 August 2012}}</ref> [[Armenians in Israel|Armenians]], [[Circassians in Israel|Circassians]] and others. Israel also hosts a significant population of non-citizen foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia.

In early 2014, Israel's population was an estimated 8,146,300&nbsp;people, of whom 6,106110,400600 are [[Israeli Jews|Jews]].<ref name="cbsmonth"/> [[Arab citizens of Israel]] comprise 20.7% of the country's total population.<ref name="population_stat"/> Over the last decade, large numbers of migrant workers from Romania, Thailand, China, Africa and South America have settled in Israel. Exact figures are unknown, as many of them are living in the country illegally,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.irinnews.org/Report/85270/ISRAEL-Crackdown-on-illegal-migrants-and-visa-violators |title=ISRAEL: Crackdown on illegal migrants and visa violators |newspaper=IRIN |date=14 July 2009}}</ref> but estimates run in the region of 203,000.<ref>Adriana Kemp, "Labour migration and racialisation: labour market mechanisms and labour migration control policies in Israel", ''Social Identities'' 10:2, 267–292, 2004</ref> By June 2012, approximately 60,000 [[Illegal immigration from Africa to Israel|African migrants]] had entered Israel.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/11/us-israel-africans-idUSBRE85A0VI20120611 |title=Israel rounds up African migrants for deportation |newspaper=Reuters |date=11 June 2012}}</ref> About 92% of Israelis live in urban areas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/Land/Pages/THE%20LAND-%20Urban%20Life.aspx |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |title=THE LAND: Urban Life}}</ref>