Article
from
Review of International Affairs
Israeli's have always felt as though they lived within a fortress under siege - surrounded and at times attacked by hostile and more populous Arab states. Within Israel, a parliamentary democracy, Ultra-Orthodox Jews - who rarely work, pay no taxes and do not serve in the Israeli Defense Forces - are bearing children at a far higher rate than all other groups combined. These children overwhelmingly become Orthodox Jews in turn, and over time this process of high reproduction and abstention from military service may threaten Israel's survival from within. This paper, in exploring the concept of the demographic disintegration of states, provides an overview of the interaction between the structure of government and differential population growth, as well as an explanation of how diaspora issues affect local and regional politics. Israel's experience is compared with that of Belgian, Yugoslav (Serb).
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