It's all about the numbers

EDGAR ASHER ISRANET

At the end of last month, I was attending a press lunch near the southern Israeli port city of Ashkelon. The occasion was part of a visit by some 30 environmental journalists from leading daily newspapers and journals in Europe, the Americas, Africa and China.

Most of the journalists had never visited Israel before but, due to the fact that later on this year, there is to be a major international conference on all aspects of water technology, these specialist writers were having a three-day preview of the Israeli technology of water distribution, desalination, research and management.

These occasions, particularly over a pleasant meal, are good opportunities for what has become known as networking. I found myself sitting next to a South African journalist from one of Johannesburg's main newspapers. We exchanged pleasantries and soon established that this was his first visit to Israel and that, so far, he had been very impressed with what the Jewish state had to offer.

It was clear that almost all the journalists were here for the first time and, as far as I could tell, none of the visitors were Jewish. My South African friend, after learning that I had been in Israel for more than 30 years after being on the staff of BBC TV News in London, was very eager to know all about Israel. Like a good investigative journalist, he plied me with questions on every conceivable subject. It was apparent that there was a lot he did not know about Israel, and even clearer to me that I had a responsibility as an established Israeli Jewish journalist to make sure that he understood the Israeli side of the complicated political equation.

"You know," he said, "I've always admired the Jews." He was not being condescending; I really think that he meant what he was saying. "It's amazing," he went on, "how the Jewish people have contributed to science and technology all over the world." He chose his words carefully, not wanting to offend or seem patronizing. He told me that he had a few close Jewish friends in Johannesburg and Cape Town, although one friend of his, a dentist, had given up his "high standard of living" to come and live in Israel. Unfortunately, he had lost contact with his dental friend.

My lunch partner covered a lot of ground, from Jews who have won Nobel Prizes to the influence of Jews in countries all over the world. "The Jews," he said, "have spread over the whole world and left an important mark in all the countries where they live."

"It is amazing," I said, "considering their numbers, just how much Jews have contributed to science, medicine, jurisprudence, business and the arts. Do you know that when you consider the number of Jews in the world, their contribution is even more astonishing? Have you any idea of how many Jews there are in the world today?" I asked, noting that our conversation was now being intently, but quietly, listened to by a journalist from Costa Rica, another from Germany and a third from Spain, all of whom were sitting at our table.

"I've got no idea," my South African journalist colleague replied.

"Well," I said, "give me a ballpark figure."

He thought for moment, pursing his bottom lip and half closing his eyes in momentary thought. "I'd say about 200 million."

"I can tell you," I replied, "the number is less than 14 million."

"Fourteen million," he said. "You mean 14 million in Israel!"

"No," I said, "14 million in the whole world – one of the world's smallest ethnic groups."

He was amazed and looked very skeptical. For him, it just did not add up.

This was not intended on my part to be a quiz to show how good I was at statistics, but rather to underline the fact that when it comes to Israel and the Jewish world in general, the true position of the Jewish people is not well understood. If, for example, 200 million had been the true figure, then the perspective on Israel and Jewish support in the Diaspora would be very different.

I, therefore, regard it as very important to make sure that visitors to my country really understand the impact of demography on the Israel-Arab question; and the fact that some five million Jews in Israel are surrounded by 140 million Arabs. Further, it should be clear to all that Israel occupies 8,367 square miles to the 1.9 million square miles of her Arab neighbors.

It is meetings like this lunch-time exchange that bring into sharp focus the need for all Jews, wherever they are in the world, to make sure that those who might be detractors of the Jewish nation understand the true facts. Concern as to the future demography of the Jewish people is something that affects Jews wherever they live. Low birthrates and high intermarriage are accounting for a decline in Jewish numbers. Fifty percent of Diaspora Jews marry outside their faith – in some American cities, this figure is as high as 80 per cent, according to American Jewish Congress. The Congress report also cites the fact that where one partner is Jewish, only 20 to 25 per cent raises their children as Jews.

The lesson is obvious. Every Jew has a responsibility to make sure that our non-Jewish friends have a clear grasp of the facts, and because our total numbers are so small, we all have an added responsibility to be Jewish ambassadors. It is a sobering thought that, in 1933, the total world Jewish population before the Nazi Holocaust was estimated at 15.3 million. Unless there is a dramatic change in Jewish objectivity, we may never see this figure exceeded again.

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