Check out the Nebula-exclusive companion video to this one over on Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/wonderwhy-israels-diverse-population-and-their-fractured-politics Get 40% off a Nebula subscription by signing up to the annual plan using this link. This video has actually been up on Nebula for 5 days already. I do always upload to Nebula first anyway, but in this case it was because I was facing some issues with demonestisation (and still may be, actually). This is a very real reminder of why Nebula is the best way to watch my videos. First, and in their original form, without any editing to get past UA-cam's automatic flags. Really hope you enjoy this video. It was quite a challenge to make it. Talking about Israel can be difficult, especially when topics like this one touch on some of the more controversial aspects of the country. Please keep in mind that some of the topics I've touched on here are background information for better understanding the main topic as a whole - there's a lot more complexity to these issues. As always, please keep the comment section civil and focused on the main topic at hand. Thanks for watching!
I live in Israel and agree with this video. I am trying to convince my husband to move to a liberal western country, just worried sick for my children. This country is changing and it is becoming more religious and less democratic. I belive in the two state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but now more and more people in Israel want to cling to the land, no matter what. Because they belive it was promised to them by god. All this will lead to a disaster.
You can't have an ethno-state which is humane or democratic. It is fundementally indecent and undemocratic to say a state exists to prioritize the interests of only one group of its residents.
A few corrections on a very well made video You suggest that Arab citizens are "equal" for Israeli law. They are not. Palestinians can not serve in the army. In practice this means they are excluded from many rights Jewish citizens do have. And in practice, as you say it is a lot worse! Public services, housing and job opportunities, building permits are extremely restricted for Arab citizens. And if we regard East Jerusalem as part of Israel, the Arab citizens of Jerusalem are not citizens of Israel. Their position is extremely vulnerable and threatened, not only by extreme settlers, but also by discrimination in building rights, getting building permits, lack of protection, public services, leaving the city, coming back to the city, public services and more. And in the West bank it is total horror. It makes South African Apartheid look like just some silly game. Within the area of historical Palestine (Israel, Gaza, West bank) Arabs are already a majority. But since the Arab population in the West bank is under Military rule, the have no right to be part of any decision making except for the Palestinian enclaves which can get raided by the army whenever they feel like it. This is why Israel will never grant Palestinians in Gaza and the West bank voting rights. It would mean the end of the "Jewish State" and is not a democracy.
This is a fascinating subject. It's more than just Arab vs Jew; there are so many more sides to it. I'd love to see a similar video that discusses the internal divisions on the Palestinian side, which you alluded to. Keep up the great work.
@@inz1 its secular zionists vs ultra orthodox jews(ideological rivalry) vs islamism and pan arabism,nkt arabs.we have druze arabs and samaritans and maronites and certain bedouin trines in our army. we dont have anything against "arabs" for being arabs(so many of rhe palestinians are arabizes,from blond ahed tamimi to the african neighbourhood in the muslim quarter of the old city in jerusalem),we want a secular state vs the people who gave have their votes to hamas in 2006 elections,and before 1948 followed haj amin el husseini .... its true certain orthodox parties try to push us to a more religious way,we push back,but here its ideological rivalry that never resulted in violence.
true, but the type of relationship where the US will fund, defend and support a country on every concievable level might change drastically if Israel decides to become another dictatorship. though, one of the larger reasons why the US supports Israel is because of insane american christians who support Israel for religious reasons.
@@boarfaceswinejaw4516 it has mostly to do with the Israeli lobby (which is a Jewish American lobby not Israeli) and less to do with evangelicals. As long as American politicians from both parties are sellouts to the intrests of them the US won't leave the middle east alone.
Wow! This is just so, so incredibly well-researched and nuanced. Just the conversation about the complicated nature of the spectrum of Jewish ethno-religious identity and the fact that there can be secular as well as ultra-Orthodox Jews is frankly more than most people can get their heads around. And then on top of that, you somehow managed in a balanced and respectful fashion to absolutely nail the nuances of Russian Jews, settlements, complicated attitudes of the Haredim, distinctions between Religious Zionists and other movements… I’m just awestruck right now! Incredible work!
If you look at demographics anywhere in the world you see a strong correlation between religion and fertility. It’s not the only correlation but it’s real and it’s persistent. Most atheist think the future is with atheism because in their small circle it seems to make sense but the reality and math says otherwise. To see how certain this seems to be, consider 70 years of atheism in the Soviet union where religion was relegated to a few old grandmothers. Yet when the Soviet Union fell despite all of those decades and generations of atheism The rebound of religion has been remarkable. Even though China is solidly atheist now religious groups are growing So quick did they were actually more Christians than there are members of the communist party. There are more Christians in China than there are in the United States in total numbers.
Thank you for an informative presentation, I knew about the Ultra Orthodox increasing their representation in the government of Israel due largely to their demographic increase but not about the religious settlers. Israel is facing a challenge which I hope it overcomes. I listened to a radio discussion between an ultra orthodox and a female Rabbi and he was so dogmatic it was unreal, it seemed he wanted to pass laws limiting the opportunities for women and talked blithely about the orthodox community having 6 or more children which was not unusual and therefore democratically he would limit the ability of women to participate in the usual social sphere. The Israeli system gives too much power to fringe parties to dictate concessions for their support to minority governments.
As an Israeli I must say this has been the best analasys of the driving forces behind Israel's political climate I have ever seen. It has been extremely hard explaining all of this to people without an existing lens into Israeli society but you have done a perfect job at accomplishing that!
It’s becoming increasingly clear that the root cause of current political unrest in Israel is not due to any one “side” in Israeli politics, but the very nature of Zionism and Israel itself as a state. Secular and “moderate” Zionist concern and opposition to growing Ultra-Orthodox representation is rooted in their unwillingness to participate in the military, thus affecting Israel’s ability to continue its colonial expansion into the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights. Likewise, so-called “left” or “labor” Zionist opposition to right wing nationalists like Netanyahu is not based in any fundamental opposition to their platform or ideology, but their rhetoric and the methods they employ. Meretz politician Yair Golan has gone on record stating that his opposition to the proposed annexation of the West Bank in its entirety stems from the sudden demographic change jeopardizing Israel’s Jewish majority in the short term instead of acknowledging it as the very same Zionism he himself continues to support. The current political crisis is the logical progression of Israel continuing to exist as a colonialist ethnostate whose status quo will require more and more drastic measures to maintain (see similar examples such as Apartheid South Africa). The underlying cause of this tension will remain so long as the Zionist colonial project continues.
Israel has a fundamental right to exist as a Jewish state and will continue to vote for Republicans who support militarily funding Israel so this reality can continue to be maintained
apartheid against who?which racial group?do we have different rules for blond palestinians of bushnak(bosniak,like mother of ahed tamimi) and turkamen origin(like palestinians from abu zurayk) than the rules for black palestinians? are yemenite jews(half here myself)zoned away from ashkenasi jews(i guess not,i am dating one)? you can say we have religious discrimination,which would make us a "theocracy", but we would still be the most secular country in the middle east,and druze and cherkes and samaritans and maronites know that perfectly well and serve in the idf to protext the secular nature of the state. we have rules to maintain the relatively secular nature of the state which is being kept with the jewish majority. agreed to partition in 1920s(autonomy plan,not even a jewish state),1947...we tried to establish connections with out arab neighbours from 1948 to 1967 when we didnt control the west bank,but they all kept sending fidayeen in and hold west jerusalem under fluctuating siege... we agreed again to a 2 states solution in 1999 and 2006(agreeing to give up judaism's 2 holiest sites). so we have "apartheid" against the people who followed haj amin el husseini before 1948 and gave half their votes to hamas in 2006....
as for "colonialism"-we gave up land mass bigger than israel and with oil reserves and access to suetz canal-sinai-for peace with egypt. we offered/accepted the 2 states solution in 1947,1999 and 2006 when we expressed willingness to give up judaism's 2 holiest sites for peace. arabs still attacked us in 1948,in 1956 and all throughout till 1967 by sending fidayeen in and holding west jerusalem under fluctuating siege and bombings and sniping... not to mention all the lands where jews lived till 1948 were bought from the legal owner regustered in ottoman land registry(which continued to the british mandate),and the ones who removed people by force from their homes were the muslims-1929 hebron and nissan bec houses,1938 pekiein and silwan...
Fantastic video. I hate people say you need to divide history and politics and other and can’t talk about them at the same time while being objective about all. You are clearly showing us all the oppose it true. And makes better videos too.
A very good summary and description of what is going on in Israel. Thank you for taking the time to research this complicated topic and explain it very clearly.
P.S. Speaking about Russian Jews (actually the majority of Russian Jews originate from Ukraine and Belarus, they began to come to modern day Russia in big numbers only after the 1917 revolution) in Israel. If Im not wrong, about 10-20% of them are not even Jewish. There was a proverb in USSR when the migration to Israel has started: "Jewish wife is a means for transportation (i.e. migration)". Btw one of my second cousins (he is ethnic Russian from Russia) is married to an ethnic Jewish woman. They live in Israel and they are not religeous. They have one child now in their mid 30s.
The fact that you didn't mention Netanyahu's (not to mention other current ministers, like ben Gvir) encouragement of and culpability in the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin is a glaring omission. Considering he's the PM and responsible for the country's rightward shift going back decades, that's information that should have been included!
Oh boy, I can't wait to see all the very reasonable and normal takes people have on the existence of Israel. Btw, love u dude, I have recently seen an increase in the attention given to demographics on youtube, which in my opinion, is a good development. For a century or more we have seen at the world as a place were population growth is a given, when it is not.Thx for the video on this topic.
@@gertaro people who aren't resonable and abnormal say israel doesn't exist, and whether it should or shouldn't, it very much does exist as much as france does
@@FurgusFungus I'm pretty sure that when people say "Israel doesn't exist", they're making a normative claim ("Israel doesn't _legitimately_ exist, doesn't 'count' in some sense"), not a factual one ("there is no organization that calls itself Israel").
Huh, who would have thought that allowing the demographic with the single highest birthrate in the country the privilege of not having to contribute anything tangible to society, economy or military whilst enjoying state funding might cause some issues in the long run...
I would be pissed if I was forced into the military but the guy next to me gets a pass because of his religion, and he gets free money as well? Wtf! Haha
Every nation 🏛 needs to organise their laws 📜 from the current mess they are in. Israel just has to write a constitution to give a consistent framework to do everything else with. Afghanistan needs one even more. Though the West keeps on annoying it with relatively minor issues, because the West has *no* concept of *priorities.*
Im Israeli. I want to applaud you for this video, the level of accuracy is astonishing and the fact that you aren't even Israeli or Palestinian is mind blowing to me. The depth of you research really goes above and beyond. Literally every image you showed was directly relevant to the topic you were talking about, you even found images of spacifc politicans that are related to the corresponding topic. The quality is amazing compared even to israeli sources. Very minor nit-pick, in 19:29 you showed to logos the right one you correctly labeled as the logo of one of the religious Zionist parties, the left logo is actually the logo of the alliance of all three of the parties that support religious Zionism.
How did you manage to talk almost half an hour about Israel, telling the objective truth, while staying accurate, professional and polite is beyond me! That is an amazing achievement!!
This guy never misses. Even on Ukraine where people were screeching that he was spreading Russian Propaganda you could not really dispute any of the issues he brought up.
There is no such thing as 'the objective truth' in politics. Political science is relatively low on the scale of academic hardness. A large part of it, by definition, will always be fact fused with opinion. Take the way the juidicial reforms are interpreted. I see it as perfectly legitimate for the executive branch to want to curtail the power of the juidiciary. In the Trias Politica, the juidicial branch is supposed to be the weakest of the 3. One of the biggest threats to the ability of a people to govern itself, is when judges acquire quasi lawmaking power. The power of the juidiciary should be severely curtailed. Judges do not answer to the people and therefore are not under direct democratic control and their power to effectively dictate elected officials how they should go about governing the country is a sinistre prospect. One which has, for example, been at the root of the social unrest in the Netherlands, where an unholy alliance of environmental loonies + activist judges have compelled the government to crack down on an imaginary problem with nitrogen emissions, which will, if these activist twats get what they want, cause Holodomor-scale mass starvation. Of course, because our government is truly despised by the people and the Farmer's Party just won a plurality in every single provincial government + in the Senate, this will not happen, but these environmental radicals and their globalist shill judicial allies will not go down without a fight. If there's one thing you shouldn't do, is give the juidiciary a position of power over the executive branch. And that was what the reforms in Israel sought to prevent. Now, you can disagree with this analysis but you cannot argue that it's nonsense because it is 100% rooted in logical thought. There, by definition, is no 'objective truth' when the exact same scenario can be completely rationally analysed in opposite ways depending on one's focus. Political science is not a hard science. A significant portion of it is interpretative and cannot be separated from one's personal political ideology.
I'm really impressed with the prologue! Explains so well so many nuances and contexts that often get ignored in a lot of heated debates among foreigners and even among Israelis.
@@ronmaximilian6953 there isnt much divide as "gaps". 25 percent of the israeli jews are of mixed descent(mizrahi/sephardi and ashkenasi),the number of people who date across those line is always growing. there are financial and political gaps due to historical practices
Frustrating to say just how accurate this video is.. I’m Israeli and like to watch UA-cam videos about Israel made by international media and foreign people. Usually they get some to most details wrong and give a biased report to whatever side they support, but this guy got it perfect from history to culture and even slang. Big props for the research, I wish this wasn’t so true.
Excellent video as always. We've just done our own video on Israel (about the constitutional crisis) and know just how intimidating the subject area can be and how challenging it is to carve out a reasonable position in a middle ground. Well done!
Just watched it now. So good, well done. Yeah, I'm glad that others can appreciate how difficult such topics can be, and how challenging it can be to find the right balance.
I highly doute the US government will change its opinion on the israeli government even if it becomes a dictatorship, israel is the US. The us gives us money and we give money to the politician.
Great video! I remember watching an explainer a while back which mentioned that the two-state solution was becoming more and more unlikely, and I didn't want to believe it. But this video really gives me a sense for why experts are saying that; a lot has happened in Israel over the last 20 years and for those of us who tuned in only when there was an election or a flare-up of tensions it is easy to miss these demographic shifts and how significant they are in limiting what peace outcomes are even possible. I now have to agree that we missed our last real opportunity for a peace deal in the 1990s and the political leanings of both the Israeli and Palestinian populations have drifted further and further away from the hope of a two-state solution ever since.
The only way a two state solution will be possible is with the world intervening and forcing it. The situation is far beyond what any political personality on both sides can manage, it is simply fucked up.
Really, any peace deal would inevitably have to dissolve anyway, whenever the USA's 🦅 influence weakens enough that the modern Islamic ☪ nations start collapsing due to their incredibly weak institutions without effectively subsidies. So don't weep to much. Not saying they can't regenerate, but they will definitely die ☠ just due to the massive amount of reordering they need.
I don't think there was a chance in the 1990's. The Oslo accords were (in hindsight) a huge mistake on Israel's part. After finally getting rid of Arafat's terrorist bases in Lebanon and having him banished to live the rest of his life in Libya, after losing hundreds of soldiers for that mission (first Lebanon war or מבצע שלום הגליל) Rabin brought him back and made a terrorist as legitimate as any other prime minister. It was a horrible mistake, A. trusting a terrorist is always a no go, Jewish (like modern day Smotrich and Ben Gvir) or Arab alike B. making a terrorist organisation legitimate(???) stupidly bad idea. C. Lastly is the fact that Arafat's PLO has already had a competitor, the Hamas terror organisation has become no less legitimate in the eyes of the Palestinians and fiercely opposed the peace deal, sending suicide bombers to blow up busses and streets. It was truly a horrible time, but nothing as bad as the second intifada. In the second intifada the PLO used it's new found authority and self rule to make the Arab cities (across the green line) bomb factories, sending gunmen and suicide bombers to end the lives of Israeli citizens. That showed the Israeli citizens once and for all. There is no partner for peace. But hey, Hindsight is 2020. We were all blinded by the opportunity of peace. If only the leaders didn't fail to understand what was best for us.
As an Israeli I'm not so sure u are right actually... In the near future it's not possible but might be in the farther one. Those demographic shifts are not necessarily gonna happen. The predictions were always wrong in the past
@@itamarplayz3153 One of the main objectives of the Zionist state was ensuring the expulsion of arab people from thier homeland. Zionism never had any plan for a two state. Zionist only want everything for themselves
I'm an Israeli American and recently relocated to the US a few months ago. I can't imagine the hours of research and learning that was done to pull this video together. This is by far the most accurate Israel related video I've ever come across. I will say that after some decompression in the states, and after viewing this video, thoughts on the chain reaction of future political and demographic events in Israel sadden and terrify me. The secular population is the only pillar left holding this country together, and the burden of its existence is growing heavily on their shoulders. Eventually, there will be an ultra orthodox-religious government in power. All seculars will concentrate in Tel Aviv. The Army will be lacking the proper workforce to operate efficiently, leading to overwhelming attacks and ineffective micro-wars. Seculars do not want to live in a religious state where the future majority of the population is exempt from paying taxes and participating in national burdens. Relations and funding from the US Jewish community will come to an end. Political relations with important allies will seize. Our grandparents sacrificed so we could live, but this is not living. The country they built is slowly poisoning itself, and there seems to be no antidote in sight. It breaks my heart to say, but I feel extremely privileged to have had the opportunity to leave this country and start a new life. It may not be clear yet what will become of Israel in the next 40 years, but I can't help but think of Israel as we know it, become just another chapter in history. Time will tell.
Very good presentation, the West bank then is occupied which I didn't realize. The problem is that the Ultra Orthodox don't work but study and refuse military duties. I do remember that when the Yom Kippur war broke out, the reinforcements racing to the fronts were stoned by individuals who objected to travel on the Sabbath.
Thank you for such a detailed account of what is happening. I am very alarmed over the unprovoked attacks on Christian clergy and pilgrims the last few years are getting more and more violent. Extremism on any front is never healthy.
Another issue is that religious Jews don't work too much. They "study the holy books". I think they have some sort of stipend and that's not going away and there will be more and more of them. The economy will not last.
Wow I'm Israeli and have been following this topic pretty closely since 2011 and even I feel like I learned quite a couple of things from this video, this is REALLY well made!
Except Israel is *not* a 'democracy' bc you can't have a democracy within an apartheid state. My gov the US just appreciates having white skinned allies in the region who are non-muslims.
Now this is how new media can be a tool for learning and the diffusion of unbiased truth. Thank you for the fantastic research, editing and calm Scottish voice over! More of this please!
zoroastrinism is also dualistic religion,talking of contant war between good and evil gods. judiasm is more strictly monotheistic nowdays,but sure. all the region has vast pagan influence.
many secular/irreligious jews think about leaving israel because of this issue. they want israel to be a secular democratic country, but the amount of religious jews and ultra orthodox in particular is rising. i myself have seen plenty of religious and ultra orthodox jews move into israel lately, its pretty safe to assume that an american who moved to israel moved due to religious reasons
@@PokemonU-xc4cx its not about society ultra orthodox people dont care about democracy, in their perspective the only valuable rules are those of the jewish law
As a secular Israeli, I am very impressed by this very historically accurate (to my knowledge) and in-depth analysis of Israel’s internal political and demographic situation. I doubt there are many people who are so knowledgeable about a foreign country’s internal affairs.
Of course you guys want to secularize the religious capital of the world. It's the the simple fact , the thousands of years Israel has been a nation. Israel never stood under a secular mind state. Only proves the Muslims should rule Israel!
As a "Russian Jew". Let's just say that it's the USSR Jews. So... from many countries actually. You said it later than many came from Ukraine (Like us). But in this group, many also become more traditional or even religious, in the second (or the 1.5) generation. And yes, many are agnostics and atheists (like myself). And, the video is amazing. Really good nuances. Great detail. Great job!
6:07 "What secularism looks like in Israel is not exactly what it looks like in other countries." It doesn't look the same in a lot of countries. I think there are many "secular" countries, like India, Singapore, and possibly Indonesia or somewhat even Germany where you have to citizens have to officially declare their religion and only certain religions are officially recognized (which is also true in China, where only certain standardized religions are allowed to practice I think).
It doesn't make any sense saying "Jews and Arabs". Judaism is a religion, and Arabic is a language. Someone can totally be both Jewish and Arab at once
Just from anecdotal experience, it does seem to me like a lot of secular Jews are moving out of Israel. Almost every Israeli I have ever had to talk to has had enough of the endless violence and of the political and religious extremism that is everywhere in Israel and the occupied territories. There are simply better opportunities elsewhere. On the other hand I have never met a single Jew in Canada or in the U.S. who has ever even considered moving to Israel. Most people in Israel still take a hard line on the Israel Palestine conflict. They don't see any need to negotiate with the Palestinians or to end the occupation of the West Bank because they still think that Israeli casualties are at an acceptable level and that the conflict is just a minor inconvenience. But I know for a fact that this conflict continues to take a toll on Israeli society. Good people who genuinely want peace more and more want nothing more to do with Israel, and sooner or later it will be only the extremists who remain.
I adore the video although there's a large point you miss about the Haredi demographics: There's a massive defection rate amongst Haredi communities, somewhere between ~20-50% of haredis will leave the community in their lives (the number is uncertain, although anecdotally I can confirm this) . I personally know a few who defected from ultra-orthodoxy, and it's a fact of life for many haredi, everyone knows someone who's left, and through the massively interconnected kinship stuctures amongst Haredi, it's usually one of your many family members, who will usually aid those who leave the community. The massive extended families actually help any individual who wishes to leave; most Ultra-Orthodox will have at least one uncle/aunt or cousin who's left, and often those people help each other. It's easy to fear the massive birth rates of their community, but it's significantly reduced when one considers the LARGE proportion of people who leave that way of life, I'd sat haredi's growth still above the other demographies in Israel, although I believe it's not as imminent of a shift as many claim. All the info I have read about defection from Haredi communities has been focusing on diaspora Haredis, although I suspect the same could be happening in Israel (much to the chagrin of Haredi communities) For those interested I'd reccomend looking up the concept of "Off the Derech", I don't mean to imply it's an easy thing, leaving Haredi communities, although it is not uncommon.
Very helpful analysis. But as a lawyer, and non-Jew, it amazes me that Israel does not have a written constitution- including a Bill of Rights? Israel and the UK both suffer as a result of this. The idea of the Knesset/ executive acting as a court of last resolve is beyond the absurd. (And that is why this present juggling of interests dominates when issues between "synagogue and state" arise.) The reasons why there is no written constitution- are purely political. Constitutions don't need to be argued for. They are needed by all states who call themselves democratic.
As an Israeli, I am amazed by your great and professional explanation. Only one note, is that religious zionist is still mostly used to describe most religious non-ultra-orthodox. What you refered to as religious zionism is just one small part of it. As in, there are for example many left wing religious zionists, and they are still considered as such. So this is not a political term, but a term to differentiate religious jews from the ultra-orthodox. The part who are far right (as in supporting annexation of the west bank, etc.) is a minority. And the part which is extremist or violent in any way (supporting Kahana, etc.) is relatively tiny. There are probably significantly more leftist religious zionists than Kahana-supporting ones, for example.
Israeli here, I've been your subscriber since the very first videos and I am so greatful for that video. It is very accurate and notably objective and unbiased. Good job!
Judaism actually wasn’t the only monotheistic religion in its early days. Zoroastrianism had been around in Ancient Persia for a long time by then. However, Judaism was definitely the only prominent religion in the ancient Israel area.
Why is the Al-Aqsa Mosque being attacked? Because Israel needs an armed conflict to change the law in order to maintain power and suppress protests in the country. This happens every year. It has always worked and legislation has always been changed in the direction of Theocracy. The conflict at the mosque occurred after calls by Jewish far-right activists to hold a ritual sacrifice at the beginning of the Pesach holiday on the Temple Mount, where Al-Aqsa is located. When Palestinians learned of this, they barricaded themselves inside the mosque and refused to leave....,,,,.../....
Clearly explained, and helpful graphics. Well done! Something that rarely gets mentioned is that there are Arab Christians and other kinds of Christians, both in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Israel is actually three states in one and has three distinct communities. The first is the "general" community with TFR of 2.7 children. It's the community most commonly seen and resembles the common populations in the west. Actually it resembles the 60ies west in many respects like family life more then the modern west but still. This community partially went through the demographic before Israel's foundation(1910-1960 depending on origins). The second community is the Arab community with TFR of 3.0 children. It's completing the demographic transition in it's current generation after it went through urbanisation in recent decades. The third community is the "Haredi" community mentioned here with crazy TFR of 7.0 and 40%+ of income dependence on the state. Indeed it becomes harder and harder for the general community to support and many there consider the reforms to be a way to skew more resources in Haredi favor as broad increase of welfare (which does not violate equality) is impossible anymore, especially after the tech boom slowed down.
Two minutes into the video and there's a big error. Israel does not define itself as a secular state, although it does not define itself as a religious one either. But it does have laws that are explicitly religious in nature and fundamentally infringe upon the liberal principle of separation between Church (Or Synagogue) & State. In every Israeli classroom, and yes I went to one, the country is defined as "Jewish AND Democratic" not "Jewish, Democratic and Secular". Furthermore, Freedom of religion is NOT guaranteed. Conversions are highly regulated by State bureaucracy & if you are registered as a non-religious person, you basically cannot marry or do anything; If you practice any religion that is not recognized by the State, you have no rights for your religious practice. You are using the Declaration of Independence as a source, when it is not a legal framework for anything and this has been discussed by our Supreme Court - It only has "spiritual influence".
1)"cant marry or do anything"- is there any law banning a cohen from dating a divorced lady,or a jewish lady dating a guy of muslim background without marrying? the video mentioned marrying in cyprus, we have "yedoeim baztibur" (ידועים בציבור) which grants you most rights of a married couple,you can form a better spousal agreement in a lawyer's officd than in the rabbanot... 2) yeah in the classes israel is defined as jewish and democratic,jewish in the national sense,hebrew. no bans on atheists. in the national tv there is a seriss,hayehudim baim,which basically mock up lots of biblocal and rabbanical figures...are you saying judaism is just a religion again ignoring the hebrew judean kingdoms here and us being the majority here till 300 c.e?
Nice video! One small criticism: in the beginning of the video, around 1:12 , you claim that Judaism was the only monotheistic religion at the time, even though evidence suggests that Zoroastrianism was practiced even earlier in modern-day Iran.
I will just say, using current religious demographics and their birth-rates as a way of predicting future demographics is unreliable. America's non-religious demographic is the fastest growing demographic in relation to religious belief, despite the fact that the vast majority of them are coming from religious and even ultra-religious families with higher birth rates than secular families. It is entirely possible that despite the disparity in birth rates, the number of religious people be begin to decline due to what appears to be an international loss of religion thanks to the internet age.
Judaism wasn't the first Monolithic religion but Zarathustra was (Persia). Besides that, Judaism has very complex history where they had as many gods as the Hindus at one point. Plus, you can't always believe the more Nationalist Jewish voices on their own history for obvious reasons.
In the medium to longer term it seems that the proportion of Israeli citizens who neither contribute Economically (they engage in full-time Religious Studies and receive a State stipend to do so) nor train as part of the Defence Forces, is apparently going to increase exponentially. If the US declines economically (as is likely) and is no longer able to subsidise Israel (consider what happened to the CCCP's client states) then can Israel actually be expected to continue to exist in anything like its current form? Discuss.
It's funny, because the Hasidic Jews originated in the Russian Empire. And yet the non-Hasids coming from these countries now are called the Russian Jews. Nice.
~1:13 "as the only Monotheistic religion at the time" is quite a dubious statement to make lmao. It may have been the only Monotheistic religion in its immediate geographic area at the time of its founding in the 6th century BCE, but there were several other debatably monotheistic religions known to have existed during the time, and who knows how many unattested monotheistic faiths (Africa has quite a few monotheistic faiths of unknown antiquity, for example). The world is a big place, can't make sweeping statements like that!
Not only the politics and society, but it's also the environment. Israel's territory and ressources are not growing with its population, when does it become too much ?
I didn't realize how broad the right of return is. I have a good friend who's grandfather was Jewish. His other three grandparents weren't. I had no idea he and his wife (not Jewish at all) were able to immigrant to Israel if they wanted to.
Great video. However there is a very important element to the demographics of Israel which you did not mention: ultra Orthodox Jews leaving orthodoxy. It’s a major factor and has resulted in multiple revisions of the projections of the Israeli population. Not that the ultra orthodox population won’t grow more the the secular population, but the secular population will grow faster as a consequence of net inflow from the ultra orthodox communities.
I'm not sure that's true about the ultra orthodox, the last data I've seen about it doesn't show a significant movement like that, though that was about a decade ago so things may have changed. But it is true for religious Zionists, with some data suggesting that as many as 50% of children born to religious Zionist families end up as secular, with some even joking about how religious Zionists give birth to more secular Jews than the secular Jews. This might also explain why that sector seems to have grown more extreme over time, the people who weren't were probably more likely to leave it.
@@yakov95000 Not necessarily... Just look how opinions has changed in the last few months. The right wing parties lost a lot of support in less than 4 months. They became a joke
Returning to this video after the Hamas attacks inside Israel. The opposition party leader expressed his openness to forming an emergency unified government with Netanyahu to deal with the “war.” Crazy to think of all the ways the attacks today will change Israeli politics.
Check out the Nebula-exclusive companion video to this one over on Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/wonderwhy-israels-diverse-population-and-their-fractured-politics
Get 40% off a Nebula subscription by signing up to the annual plan using this link.
This video has actually been up on Nebula for 5 days already. I do always upload to Nebula first anyway, but in this case it was because I was facing some issues with demonestisation (and still may be, actually). This is a very real reminder of why Nebula is the best way to watch my videos. First, and in their original form, without any editing to get past UA-cam's automatic flags.
Really hope you enjoy this video. It was quite a challenge to make it. Talking about Israel can be difficult, especially when topics like this one touch on some of the more controversial aspects of the country. Please keep in mind that some of the topics I've touched on here are background information for better understanding the main topic as a whole - there's a lot more complexity to these issues.
As always, please keep the comment section civil and focused on the main topic at hand. Thanks for watching!
🇮🇱
New video!!!!!!
It is pretty annoying how some people use terms without knowing what they mean. Can you define what the hell do you mean by "far/extreme/ultra" right?
gh
Interesting. The "Russian Jews" section gives major clues as to why Israelis have been mostly silent on the Russia-Ukraine situation.
I live in Israel and agree with this video. I am trying to convince my husband to move to a liberal western country, just worried sick for my children. This country is changing and it is becoming more religious and less democratic. I belive in the two state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but now more and more people in Israel want to cling to the land, no matter what. Because they belive it was promised to them by god. All this will lead to a disaster.
You can't have an ethno-state which is humane or democratic. It is fundementally indecent and undemocratic to say a state exists to prioritize the interests of only one group of its residents.
A few corrections on a very well made video You suggest that Arab citizens are "equal" for Israeli law. They are not. Palestinians can not serve in the army. In practice this means they are excluded from many rights Jewish citizens do have. And in practice, as you say it is a lot worse! Public services, housing and job opportunities, building permits are extremely restricted for Arab citizens. And if we regard East Jerusalem as part of Israel, the Arab citizens of Jerusalem are not citizens of Israel. Their position is extremely vulnerable and threatened, not only by extreme settlers, but also by discrimination in building rights, getting building permits, lack of protection, public services, leaving the city, coming back to the city, public services and more. And in the West bank it is total horror. It makes South African Apartheid look like just some silly game.
Within the area of historical Palestine (Israel, Gaza, West bank) Arabs are already a majority. But since the Arab population in the West bank is under Military rule, the have no right to be part of any decision making except for the Palestinian enclaves which can get raided by the army whenever they feel like it. This is why Israel will never grant Palestinians in Gaza and the West bank voting rights. It would mean the end of the "Jewish State" and is not a democracy.
Babe wake up WonderWhy posted a new video
Me when WonderWhy uploads
Thanks honey 🍯
This is a fascinating subject. It's more than just Arab vs Jew; there are so many more sides to it. I'd love to see a similar video that discusses the internal divisions on the Palestinian side, which you alluded to. Keep up the great work.
And the divisions between Israelis too.
You’re right, it’s not Israel vs Arab, it’s orthodox and zionists vs Arabs.
Shame that distinction doesn’t really change anything though. Huh.
@@inz1 Truly I don't think it has to be anyone vs anyone, except corrupt governments vs people fighting for freedom
@@inz1 its secular zionists vs ultra orthodox jews(ideological rivalry) vs islamism and pan arabism,nkt arabs.we have druze arabs and samaritans and maronites and certain bedouin trines in our army.
we dont have anything against "arabs" for being arabs(so many of rhe palestinians are arabizes,from blond ahed tamimi to the african neighbourhood in the muslim quarter of the old city in jerusalem),we want a secular state vs the people who gave have their votes to hamas in 2006 elections,and before 1948 followed haj amin el husseini .... its true certain orthodox parties try to push us to a more religious way,we push back,but here its ideological rivalry that never resulted in violence.
@@netanelzion One of your prime ministers was killed by a right wing Zionist. There is very much a tension in the country.
The US has no problem with having relationships with Non democracies
Its country of interests (Like any other country) , It does not care about principles and morals (Well to much anyways)
true, but the type of relationship where the US will fund, defend and support a country on every concievable level might change drastically if Israel decides to become another dictatorship.
though, one of the larger reasons why the US supports Israel is because of insane american christians who support Israel for religious reasons.
Says “CEO_Of_Racism”. Ok kid
@@boarfaceswinejaw4516 it has mostly to do with the Israeli lobby (which is a Jewish American lobby not Israeli) and less to do with evangelicals. As long as American politicians from both parties are sellouts to the intrests of them the US won't leave the middle east alone.
@@moisuomi I as the CEO of Racism have hereby declare the end of Racism
Wow! This is just so, so incredibly well-researched and nuanced. Just the conversation about the complicated nature of the spectrum of Jewish ethno-religious identity and the fact that there can be secular as well as ultra-Orthodox Jews is frankly more than most people can get their heads around.
And then on top of that, you somehow managed in a balanced and respectful fashion to absolutely nail the nuances of Russian Jews, settlements, complicated attitudes of the Haredim, distinctions between Religious Zionists and other movements… I’m just awestruck right now! Incredible work!
It was well done, I am always astounded at the massive political difference between the majority of Israeli Jews and the majority of American Jews
If you look at demographics anywhere in the world you see a strong correlation between religion and fertility. It’s not the only correlation but it’s real and it’s persistent. Most atheist think the future is with atheism because in their small circle it seems to make sense but the reality and math says otherwise. To see how certain this seems to be, consider 70 years of atheism in the Soviet union where religion was relegated to a few old grandmothers. Yet when the Soviet Union fell despite all of those decades and generations of atheism
The rebound of religion has been remarkable. Even though China is solidly atheist now religious groups are growing So quick did they were actually more Christians than there are members of the communist party. There are more Christians in China than there are in the United States in total numbers.
Thank you for an informative presentation, I knew about the Ultra Orthodox increasing their representation in the government of Israel due largely to their demographic increase but not about the religious settlers. Israel is facing a challenge which I hope it overcomes. I listened to a radio discussion between an ultra orthodox and a female Rabbi and he was so dogmatic it was unreal, it seemed he wanted to pass laws limiting the opportunities for women and talked blithely about the orthodox community having 6 or more children which was not unusual and therefore democratically he would limit the ability of women to participate in the usual social sphere. The Israeli system gives too much power to fringe parties to dictate concessions for their support to minority governments.
As an Israeli I must say this has been the best analasys of the driving forces behind Israel's political climate I have ever seen. It has been extremely hard explaining all of this to people without an existing lens into Israeli society but you have done a perfect job at accomplishing that!
It’s becoming increasingly clear that the root cause of current political unrest in Israel is not due to any one “side” in Israeli politics, but the very nature of Zionism and Israel itself as a state. Secular and “moderate” Zionist concern and opposition to growing Ultra-Orthodox representation is rooted in their unwillingness to participate in the military, thus affecting Israel’s ability to continue its colonial expansion into the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights. Likewise, so-called “left” or “labor” Zionist opposition to right wing nationalists like Netanyahu is not based in any fundamental opposition to their platform or ideology, but their rhetoric and the methods they employ. Meretz politician Yair Golan has gone on record stating that his opposition to the proposed annexation of the West Bank in its entirety stems from the sudden demographic change jeopardizing Israel’s Jewish majority in the short term instead of acknowledging it as the very same Zionism he himself continues to support. The current political crisis is the logical progression of Israel continuing to exist as a colonialist ethnostate whose status quo will require more and more drastic measures to maintain (see similar examples such as Apartheid South Africa). The underlying cause of this tension will remain so long as the Zionist colonial project continues.
A lucid and correct assessment of the situation! Great comment!
Israel has a fundamental right to exist as a Jewish state and will continue to vote for Republicans who support militarily funding Israel so this reality can continue to be maintained
apartheid against who?which racial group?do we have different rules for blond palestinians of bushnak(bosniak,like mother of ahed tamimi) and turkamen origin(like palestinians from abu zurayk) than the rules for black palestinians? are yemenite jews(half here myself)zoned away from ashkenasi jews(i guess not,i am dating one)? you can say we have religious discrimination,which would make us a "theocracy", but we would still be the most secular country in the middle east,and druze and cherkes and samaritans and maronites know that perfectly well and serve in the idf to protext the secular nature of the state.
we have rules to maintain the relatively secular nature of the state which is being kept with the jewish majority. agreed to partition in 1920s(autonomy plan,not even a jewish state),1947...we tried to establish connections with out arab neighbours from 1948 to 1967 when we didnt control the west bank,but they all kept sending fidayeen in and hold west jerusalem under fluctuating siege...
we agreed again to a 2 states solution in 1999 and 2006(agreeing to give up judaism's 2 holiest sites). so we have "apartheid" against the people who followed haj amin el husseini before 1948 and gave half their votes to hamas in 2006....
as for "colonialism"-we gave up land mass bigger than israel and with oil reserves and access to suetz canal-sinai-for peace with egypt. we offered/accepted the 2 states solution in 1947,1999 and 2006 when we expressed willingness to give up judaism's 2 holiest sites for peace. arabs still attacked us in 1948,in 1956 and all throughout till 1967 by sending fidayeen in and holding west jerusalem under fluctuating siege and bombings and sniping...
not to mention all the lands where jews lived till 1948 were bought from the legal owner regustered in ottoman land registry(which continued to the british mandate),and the ones who removed people by force from their homes were the muslims-1929 hebron and nissan bec houses,1938 pekiein and silwan...
@@netanelzion Israel continues to settle the West Bank. They also annexed East Jerusalem. That’s colonialism.
As a former Israeli, this is a very good presentation. Bravo!
Fantastic video. I hate people say you need to divide history and politics and other and can’t talk about them at the same time while being objective about all. You are clearly showing us all the oppose it true. And makes better videos too.
A very good summary and description of what is going on in Israel. Thank you for taking the time to research this complicated topic and explain it very clearly.
This is shockingly detailed and nuanced.
Israel can either be a Jewish state or a democracy but not both!
Would you say that about India or Turkey? That they can can't be religious and democratic. What a terrible lie.
Many democracies have been founded on stated Christian values. Isn't Israel similar to that?
Excellent, detailed and objective. Thank you.
P.S. Speaking about Russian Jews (actually the majority of Russian Jews originate from Ukraine and Belarus, they began to come to modern day Russia in big numbers only after the 1917 revolution) in Israel. If Im not wrong, about 10-20% of them are not even Jewish. There was a proverb in USSR when the migration to Israel has started: "Jewish wife is a means for transportation (i.e. migration)". Btw one of my second cousins (he is ethnic Russian from Russia) is married to an ethnic Jewish woman. They live in Israel and they are not religeous. They have one child now in their mid 30s.
This is bless. Definitely not a crisis.
I did not realise that 2 atheists could not get married in Israel. Enlightening video.
I struggled so much to keep up with this vid. Felt like Algebra in HS again
This really does have me worried about the future of Israel.
As an Israeli, I want to thank this video maker for making such an accurate video.
great work guys!
The fact that you didn't mention Netanyahu's (not to mention other current ministers, like ben Gvir) encouragement of and culpability in the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin is a glaring omission. Considering he's the PM and responsible for the country's rightward shift going back decades, that's information that should have been included!
this is some of the most relevant content in internet
This is one of the most fair and accurate videos i’ve seen on Israel.
Oh boy, I can't wait to see all the very reasonable and normal takes people have on the existence of Israel. Btw, love u dude, I have recently seen an increase in the attention given to demographics on youtube, which in my opinion, is a good development. For a century or more we have seen at the world as a place were population growth is a given, when it is not.Thx for the video on this topic.
"Oh boy, I can't wait to see all the very reasonable and normal takes people have on the existence of Israel" wdym by that?
@@gertaro people who aren't resonable and abnormal say israel doesn't exist, and whether it should or shouldn't, it very much does exist as much as france does
@@gertaro A lot of people have "hot takes" , as in, "controversial opinions" on the State of Israel, its legitimacy and so on, and so on.
@@FurgusFungus I'm pretty sure that when people say "Israel doesn't exist", they're making a normative claim ("Israel doesn't _legitimately_ exist, doesn't 'count' in some sense"), not a factual one ("there is no organization that calls itself Israel").
Huh, who would have thought that allowing the demographic with the single highest birthrate in the country the privilege of not having to contribute anything tangible to society, economy or military whilst enjoying state funding might cause some issues in the long run...
I would be pissed if I was forced into the military but the guy next to me gets a pass because of his religion, and he gets free money as well? Wtf! Haha
"It's important to understand that the majority of Israel's population is Jewish."
You learn something new every day.
One thing Israel needs is a written Constitution. One that can't be easily changed, but can be amended.
Wait they don’t have one ?
@@Juanguar Disagreements, they decided to add chapters throught out the countries lifespan.
@@Juanguar No we do not,we have "Basic laws" which theoretically in the end should add up to the constitution.
@@JuanguarThey don't, they have an uncodified constitution, a situation similar to the UK and San Marino.
Every nation 🏛 needs to organise their laws 📜 from the current mess they are in.
Israel just has to write a constitution to give a consistent framework to do everything else with.
Afghanistan needs one even more. Though the West keeps on annoying it with relatively minor issues, because the West has *no* concept of *priorities.*
Im Israeli. I want to applaud you for this video, the level of accuracy is astonishing and the fact that you aren't even Israeli or Palestinian is mind blowing to me. The depth of you research really goes above and beyond. Literally every image you showed was directly relevant to the topic you were talking about, you even found images of spacifc politicans that are related to the corresponding topic. The quality is amazing compared even to israeli sources.
Very minor nit-pick, in 19:29 you showed to logos the right one you correctly labeled as the logo of one of the religious Zionist parties, the left logo is actually the logo of the alliance of all three of the parties that support religious Zionism.
שלום, מה קורה?
Agreed.
Factually accurate and slanted opinion kept to a minimum - kolakavod
@@TheMichaelmorad בסדר מה המצב
No israel
Same here!
How did you manage to talk almost half an hour about Israel, telling the objective truth, while staying accurate, professional and polite is beyond me!
That is an amazing achievement!!
It's called good college n university education with lot's of assays & research experience.
This guy never misses. Even on Ukraine where people were screeching that he was spreading Russian Propaganda you could not really dispute any of the issues he brought up.
There is no such thing as 'the objective truth' in politics. Political science is relatively low on the scale of academic hardness. A large part of it, by definition, will always be fact fused with opinion.
Take the way the juidicial reforms are interpreted. I see it as perfectly legitimate for the executive branch to want to curtail the power of the juidiciary. In the Trias Politica, the juidicial branch is supposed to be the weakest of the 3. One of the biggest threats to the ability of a people to govern itself, is when judges acquire quasi lawmaking power.
The power of the juidiciary should be severely curtailed. Judges do not answer to the people and therefore are not under direct democratic control and their power to effectively dictate elected officials how they should go about governing the country is a sinistre prospect. One which has, for example, been at the root of the social unrest in the Netherlands, where an unholy alliance of environmental loonies + activist judges have compelled the government to crack down on an imaginary problem with nitrogen emissions, which will, if these activist twats get what they want, cause Holodomor-scale mass starvation. Of course, because our government is truly despised by the people and the Farmer's Party just won a plurality in every single provincial government + in the Senate, this will not happen, but these environmental radicals and their globalist shill judicial allies will not go down without a fight.
If there's one thing you shouldn't do, is give the juidiciary a position of power over the executive branch. And that was what the reforms in Israel sought to prevent. Now, you can disagree with this analysis but you cannot argue that it's nonsense because it is 100% rooted in logical thought. There, by definition, is no 'objective truth' when the exact same scenario can be completely rationally analysed in opposite ways depending on one's focus.
Political science is not a hard science. A significant portion of it is interpretative and cannot be separated from one's personal political ideology.
I'm really impressed with the prologue!
Explains so well so many nuances and contexts that often get ignored in a lot of heated debates among foreigners and even among Israelis.
As an Israeli, this is the most accurate and well-researched video about Israel I have ever watched. Thank you for making such great content.
I thought most Israelis are Progressive, Secular and Agnostic?
It doesn't mention the divine between Ashkenazi Jews and Sephardic in Mizrahi Jews.
@@ronmaximilian6953 you probably meant "divide" but good Freudian slip!
@@ronmaximilian6953 there isnt much divide as "gaps". 25 percent of the israeli jews are of mixed descent(mizrahi/sephardi and ashkenasi),the number of people who date across those line is always growing. there are financial and political gaps due to historical practices
@@nicholasphelps3872 tell that to the Samaritans.......
Frustrating to say just how accurate this video is.. I’m Israeli and like to watch UA-cam videos about Israel made by international media and foreign people. Usually they get some to most details wrong and give a biased report to whatever side they support, but this guy got it perfect from history to culture and even slang. Big props for the research, I wish this wasn’t so true.
Excellent video as always. We've just done our own video on Israel (about the constitutional crisis) and know just how intimidating the subject area can be and how challenging it is to carve out a reasonable position in a middle ground. Well done!
Just watched it now. So good, well done. Yeah, I'm glad that others can appreciate how difficult such topics can be, and how challenging it can be to find the right balance.
Your video is great, by the way. Coming from the Israeli.
I highly doute the US government will change its opinion on the israeli government even if it becomes a dictatorship, israel is the US. The us gives us money and we give money to the politician.
Great video! I remember watching an explainer a while back which mentioned that the two-state solution was becoming more and more unlikely, and I didn't want to believe it. But this video really gives me a sense for why experts are saying that; a lot has happened in Israel over the last 20 years and for those of us who tuned in only when there was an election or a flare-up of tensions it is easy to miss these demographic shifts and how significant they are in limiting what peace outcomes are even possible. I now have to agree that we missed our last real opportunity for a peace deal in the 1990s and the political leanings of both the Israeli and Palestinian populations have drifted further and further away from the hope of a two-state solution ever since.
The only way a two state solution will be possible is with the world intervening and forcing it. The situation is far beyond what any political personality on both sides can manage, it is simply fucked up.
Really, any peace deal would inevitably have to dissolve anyway, whenever the USA's 🦅 influence weakens enough that the modern Islamic ☪ nations start collapsing due to their incredibly weak institutions without effectively subsidies. So don't weep to much.
Not saying they can't regenerate, but they will definitely die ☠ just due to the massive amount of reordering they need.
I don't think there was a chance in the 1990's.
The Oslo accords were (in hindsight) a huge mistake on Israel's part. After finally getting rid of Arafat's terrorist bases in Lebanon and having him banished to live the rest of his life in Libya, after losing hundreds of soldiers for that mission (first Lebanon war or מבצע שלום הגליל) Rabin brought him back and made a terrorist as legitimate as any other prime minister.
It was a horrible mistake,
A. trusting a terrorist is always a no go, Jewish (like modern day Smotrich and Ben Gvir) or Arab alike
B. making a terrorist organisation legitimate(???) stupidly bad idea.
C. Lastly is the fact that Arafat's PLO has already had a competitor, the Hamas terror organisation has become no less legitimate in the eyes of the Palestinians and fiercely opposed the peace deal, sending suicide bombers to blow up busses and streets. It was truly a horrible time, but nothing as bad as the second intifada.
In the second intifada the PLO used it's new found authority and self rule to make the Arab cities (across the green line) bomb factories, sending gunmen and suicide bombers to end the lives of Israeli citizens. That showed the Israeli citizens once and for all. There is no partner for peace.
But hey, Hindsight is 2020. We were all blinded by the opportunity of peace. If only the leaders didn't fail to understand what was best for us.
As an Israeli I'm not so sure u are right actually...
In the near future it's not possible but might be in the farther one.
Those demographic shifts are not necessarily gonna happen. The predictions were always wrong in the past
@@itamarplayz3153 One of the main objectives of the Zionist state was ensuring the expulsion of arab people from thier homeland. Zionism never had any plan for a two state. Zionist only want everything for themselves
I'm an Israeli American and recently relocated to the US a few months ago.
I can't imagine the hours of research and learning that was done to pull this video together. This is by far the most accurate Israel related video I've ever come across.
I will say that after some decompression in the states, and after viewing this video, thoughts on the chain reaction of future political and demographic events in Israel sadden and terrify me.
The secular population is the only pillar left holding this country together, and the burden of its existence is growing heavily on their shoulders.
Eventually, there will be an ultra orthodox-religious government in power. All seculars will concentrate in Tel Aviv. The Army will be lacking the proper workforce to operate efficiently, leading to overwhelming attacks and ineffective micro-wars. Seculars do not want to live in a religious state where the future majority of the population is exempt from paying taxes and participating in national burdens. Relations and funding from the US Jewish community will come to an end. Political relations with important allies will seize.
Our grandparents sacrificed so we could live, but this is not living. The country they built is slowly poisoning itself, and there seems to be no antidote in sight.
It breaks my heart to say, but I feel extremely privileged to have had the opportunity to leave this country and start a new life. It may not be clear yet what will become of Israel in the next 40 years, but I can't help but think of Israel as we know it, become just another chapter in history.
Time will tell.
Define any state on ethnic terms and you’ll end up with a ethno-fascist regime.
Very good presentation, the West bank then is occupied which I didn't realize. The problem is that the Ultra Orthodox don't work but study and refuse military duties. I do remember that when the Yom Kippur war broke out, the reinforcements racing to the fronts were stoned by individuals who objected to travel on the Sabbath.
Thank you for such a detailed account of what is happening. I am very alarmed over the unprovoked attacks on Christian clergy and pilgrims the last few years are getting more and more violent. Extremism on any front is never healthy.
Another issue is that religious Jews don't work too much. They "study the holy books". I think they have some sort of stipend and that's not going away and there will be more and more of them. The economy will not last.
Wow I'm Israeli and have been following this topic pretty closely since 2011 and even I feel like I learned quite a couple of things from this video, this is REALLY well made!
מתי משיח בא ?
@@denigorelov9909 הוא אפילו לא מטלפן
Except Israel is *not* a 'democracy' bc you can't have a democracy within an apartheid state. My gov the US just appreciates having white skinned allies in the region who are non-muslims.
As a Muslim , I am amazed that you didn’t even miss the Arab issue which is either ignored or only showed from Jews side . Thank you for great work!
Lasting peace can only by obtained by telling the truth as best we understand it.
Now this is how new media can be a tool for learning and the diffusion of unbiased truth. Thank you for the fantastic research, editing and calm Scottish voice over! More of this please!
Zoroastrianism is the first monotheistic religion and it came before Judaism, and mnay of the early jews still believed in other gods.
Shall we speak of Daevas and Ahriman? Zoroastrianism, particularly ancient Zoroastrianism was far more polytheistic than that practice to today.
zoroastrinism is also dualistic religion,talking of contant war between good and evil gods. judiasm is more strictly monotheistic nowdays,but sure. all the region has vast pagan influence.
many secular/irreligious jews think about leaving israel because of this issue.
they want israel to be a secular democratic country, but the amount of religious jews and ultra orthodox in particular is rising.
i myself have seen plenty of religious and ultra orthodox jews move into israel lately, its pretty safe to assume that an american who moved to israel moved due to religious reasons
99% of indian are religious , still it is secular democratic country .
It is about society
@@PokemonU-xc4cx its not about society
ultra orthodox people dont care about democracy, in their perspective the only valuable rules are those of the jewish law
As a secular Israeli, I am very impressed by this very historically accurate (to my knowledge) and in-depth analysis of Israel’s internal political and demographic situation. I doubt there are many people who are so knowledgeable about a foreign country’s internal affairs.
Of course you guys want to secularize the religious capital of the world. It's the the simple fact , the thousands of years Israel has been a nation. Israel never stood under a secular mind state. Only proves the Muslims should rule Israel!
As long as "Israel holds a secular understanding to other aspects of lifestyle" is important
As a "Russian Jew".
Let's just say that it's the USSR Jews. So... from many countries actually.
You said it later than many came from Ukraine (Like us).
But in this group, many also become more traditional or even religious, in the second (or the 1.5) generation.
And yes, many are agnostics and atheists (like myself).
And, the video is amazing.
Really good nuances. Great detail. Great job!
An extremely nuanced and well researched documentary. Well done.
6:07 "What secularism looks like in Israel is not exactly what it looks like in other countries." It doesn't look the same in a lot of countries. I think there are many "secular" countries, like India, Singapore, and possibly Indonesia or somewhat even Germany where you have to citizens have to officially declare their religion and only certain religions are officially recognized (which is also true in China, where only certain standardized religions are allowed to practice I think).
It doesn't make any sense saying "Jews and Arabs". Judaism is a religion, and Arabic is a language. Someone can totally be both Jewish and Arab at once
Just from anecdotal experience, it does seem to me like a lot of secular Jews are moving out of Israel. Almost every Israeli I have ever had to talk to has had enough of the endless violence and of the political and religious extremism that is everywhere in Israel and the occupied territories. There are simply better opportunities elsewhere. On the other
hand I have never met a single Jew in Canada or in the U.S. who has ever even considered moving to Israel.
Most people in Israel still take a hard line on the Israel Palestine conflict. They don't see any need to negotiate with the Palestinians or to end the occupation of the West Bank because they still think that Israeli casualties are at an acceptable level and that the conflict is just a minor inconvenience. But I know for a fact that this conflict continues to take a toll on Israeli society. Good people who genuinely want peace more and more want nothing more to do with Israel, and sooner or later it will be only the extremists who remain.
Safe to say it got worse
This feels like a preamble to something...will there be a follow up due to current events
It's amazing seeing apparently educated people argue over whos invisible middle eastern sky wizard is better than another.
Honestly with both myself and my dad watching this and him being a dedicated Baha'i, seeing that name and symbol on the list still felt amazing.
Being from an Islamic country, this video has taught me more information about Israel than I have my entire life
I adore the video although there's a large point you miss about the Haredi demographics: There's a massive defection rate amongst Haredi communities, somewhere between ~20-50% of haredis will leave the community in their lives (the number is uncertain, although anecdotally I can confirm this) .
I personally know a few who defected from ultra-orthodoxy, and it's a fact of life for many haredi, everyone knows someone who's left, and through the massively interconnected kinship stuctures amongst Haredi, it's usually one of your many family members, who will usually aid those who leave the community. The massive extended families actually help any individual who wishes to leave; most Ultra-Orthodox will have at least one uncle/aunt or cousin who's left, and often those people help each other.
It's easy to fear the massive birth rates of their community, but it's significantly reduced when one considers the LARGE proportion of people who leave that way of life, I'd sat haredi's growth still above the other demographies in Israel, although I believe it's not as imminent of a shift as many claim.
All the info I have read about defection from Haredi communities has been focusing on diaspora Haredis, although I suspect the same could be happening in Israel (much to the chagrin of Haredi communities)
For those interested I'd reccomend looking up the concept of "Off the Derech", I don't mean to imply it's an easy thing, leaving Haredi communities, although it is not uncommon.
Very helpful analysis. But as a lawyer, and non-Jew, it amazes me that Israel does not have a written constitution- including a Bill of Rights? Israel and the UK both suffer as a result of this. The idea of the Knesset/ executive acting as a court of last resolve is beyond the absurd. (And that is why this present juggling of interests dominates when issues between "synagogue and state" arise.) The reasons why there is no written constitution- are purely political. Constitutions don't need to be argued for. They are needed by all states who call themselves democratic.
@WonderWhy Judaism wasn't the only religion that was monotheistic at the time, you also had Zoroastrism and so on
Zoroastrians were actually Pagan for much of history before they became monotheistic.
Arguable if that is monotheistic
Ancient Zoroastrianism was more polytheistic than that practiced today.
Before this video I was only aware of the haredi. Guess there are a lot more extremists crammed on this piece of land than I thought.
Hey!! I am Cathloic. I give the right to live in the Vatican
As an Israeli, I am amazed by your great and professional explanation.
Only one note, is that religious zionist is still mostly used to describe most religious non-ultra-orthodox.
What you refered to as religious zionism is just one small part of it.
As in, there are for example many left wing religious zionists, and they are still considered as such.
So this is not a political term, but a term to differentiate religious jews from the ultra-orthodox.
The part who are far right (as in supporting annexation of the west bank, etc.) is a minority.
And the part which is extremist or violent in any way (supporting Kahana, etc.) is relatively tiny.
There are probably significantly more leftist religious zionists than Kahana-supporting ones, for example.
Israeli here, I've been your subscriber since the very first videos and I am so greatful for that video. It is very accurate and notably objective and unbiased. Good job!
Judaism actually wasn’t the only monotheistic religion in its early days. Zoroastrianism had been around in Ancient Persia for a long time by then. However, Judaism was definitely the only prominent religion in the ancient Israel area.
It was duotheistic
How many takes did you need in order to read that line about zionism being an obstacle in USA-Israel relations without chuckling?
Why is the Al-Aqsa Mosque being attacked?
Because Israel needs an armed conflict to change the law in order to maintain power and suppress protests in the country. This happens every year. It has always worked and legislation has always been changed in the direction of Theocracy.
The conflict at the mosque occurred after calls by Jewish far-right activists to hold a ritual sacrifice at the beginning of the Pesach holiday on the Temple Mount, where Al-Aqsa is located. When Palestinians learned of this, they barricaded themselves inside the mosque and refused to leave....,,,,.../....
It's not being attacked
@@mirrored464 Are you now a literary expert who can define what attack is?
Clearly explained, and helpful graphics. Well done! Something that rarely gets mentioned is that there are Arab Christians and other kinds of Christians, both in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Oy vey.
Israel is actually three states in one and has three distinct communities.
The first is the "general" community with TFR of 2.7 children. It's the community most commonly seen and resembles the common populations in the west. Actually it resembles the 60ies west in many respects like family life more then the modern west but still. This community partially went through the demographic before Israel's foundation(1910-1960 depending on origins).
The second community is the Arab community with TFR of 3.0 children. It's completing the demographic transition in it's current generation after it went through urbanisation in recent decades.
The third community is the "Haredi" community mentioned here with crazy TFR of 7.0 and 40%+ of income dependence on the state. Indeed it becomes harder and harder for the general community to support and many there consider the reforms to be a way to skew more resources in Haredi favor as broad increase of welfare (which does not violate equality) is impossible anymore, especially after the tech boom slowed down.
So glad that this legend now makes videos more regularly, the evening today is saved! 🎉
I think those Orthodox Jews should be requiered to work and serve in the army too
Two minutes into the video and there's a big error. Israel does not define itself as a secular state, although it does not define itself as a religious one either. But it does have laws that are explicitly religious in nature and fundamentally infringe upon the liberal principle of separation between Church (Or Synagogue) & State. In every Israeli classroom, and yes I went to one, the country is defined as "Jewish AND Democratic" not "Jewish, Democratic and Secular".
Furthermore, Freedom of religion is NOT guaranteed. Conversions are highly regulated by State bureaucracy & if you are registered as a non-religious person, you basically cannot marry or do anything; If you practice any religion that is not recognized by the State, you have no rights for your religious practice. You are using the Declaration of Independence as a source, when it is not a legal framework for anything and this has been discussed by our Supreme Court - It only has "spiritual influence".
1)"cant marry or do anything"-
is there any law banning a cohen from dating a divorced lady,or a jewish lady dating a guy of muslim background without marrying?
the video mentioned marrying in cyprus, we have "yedoeim baztibur" (ידועים בציבור) which grants you most rights of a married couple,you can form a better spousal agreement in a lawyer's officd than in the rabbanot...
2) yeah in the classes israel is defined as jewish and democratic,jewish in the national sense,hebrew. no bans on atheists. in the national tv there is a seriss,hayehudim baim,which basically mock up lots of biblocal and rabbanical figures...are you saying judaism is just a religion again ignoring the hebrew judean kingdoms here and us being the majority here till 300 c.e?
Nice video! One small criticism: in the beginning of the video, around 1:12 , you claim that Judaism was the only monotheistic religion at the time, even though evidence suggests that Zoroastrianism was practiced even earlier in modern-day Iran.
The future is for those who show up.... hope to see europeans waking up to this fact aswell
The one thing i can say is that as an iranian you really don't want religion to determine anything in your guvernment and i mean anything
WonderWhy has always been in my mind and heart. Good to see another video by you sir! Thank you for making my day as a server more bearable.
I will just say, using current religious demographics and their birth-rates as a way of predicting future demographics is unreliable. America's non-religious demographic is the fastest growing demographic in relation to religious belief, despite the fact that the vast majority of them are coming from religious and even ultra-religious families with higher birth rates than secular families.
It is entirely possible that despite the disparity in birth rates, the number of religious people be begin to decline due to what appears to be an international loss of religion thanks to the internet age.
It’s rare to come across an unbiased video about Israel, let alone one with such great research. Greetings from Israel
Judaism wasn't the first Monolithic religion but Zarathustra was (Persia). Besides that, Judaism has very complex history where they had as many gods as the Hindus at one point. Plus, you can't always believe the more Nationalist Jewish voices on their own history for obvious reasons.
In the medium to longer term it seems that the proportion of Israeli citizens who neither contribute Economically (they engage in full-time Religious Studies and receive a State stipend to do so) nor train as part of the Defence Forces, is apparently going to increase exponentially. If the US declines economically (as is likely) and is no longer able to subsidise Israel (consider what happened to the CCCP's client states) then can Israel actually be expected to continue to exist in anything like its current form? Discuss.
The problem? UA-cam does not like religious people.
I've been watching this channel for 8 or 9 years, it's a real treat to see you posting all these years later. Cheers
It's funny, because the Hasidic Jews originated in the Russian Empire. And yet the non-Hasids coming from these countries now are called the Russian Jews.
Nice.
Ultimately demographics decide everything
~1:13 "as the only Monotheistic religion at the time" is quite a dubious statement to make lmao. It may have been the only Monotheistic religion in its immediate geographic area at the time of its founding in the 6th century BCE, but there were several other debatably monotheistic religions known to have existed during the time, and who knows how many unattested monotheistic faiths (Africa has quite a few monotheistic faiths of unknown antiquity, for example). The world is a big place, can't make sweeping statements like that!
Is there another monotheistic religion with writings that predate 600 bc
Speaking as someone who doesn't normally engage with politics or religion, I was impressed with how you held my attention.
damn mizrahim dont even get a mention smh
Not only the politics and society, but it's also the environment. Israel's territory and ressources are not growing with its population, when does it become too much ?
I didn't realize how broad the right of return is. I have a good friend who's grandfather was Jewish. His other three grandparents weren't. I had no idea he and his wife (not Jewish at all) were able to immigrant to Israel if they wanted to.
23:00
Well this makes me be more appreciative of the separation of powers in the US
Great video. However there is a very important element to the demographics of Israel which you did not mention: ultra Orthodox Jews leaving orthodoxy. It’s a major factor and has resulted in multiple revisions of the projections of the Israeli population. Not that the ultra orthodox population won’t grow more the the secular population, but the secular population will grow faster as a consequence of net inflow from the ultra orthodox communities.
I should hope so, ultra orthodox jews (or really ultra orthodox anything) are LUNATICS!
This is very true many Haredim are Assimilating/Leaving,still I think the overall Israeli population will definitely be more right wing in the end.
The idea sounds nice, but I am not certain that is actually the case.
I'm not sure that's true about the ultra orthodox, the last data I've seen about it doesn't show a significant movement like that, though that was about a decade ago so things may have changed. But it is true for religious Zionists, with some data suggesting that as many as 50% of children born to religious Zionist families end up as secular, with some even joking about how religious Zionists give birth to more secular Jews than the secular Jews. This might also explain why that sector seems to have grown more extreme over time, the people who weren't were probably more likely to leave it.
@@yakov95000
Not necessarily...
Just look how opinions has changed in the last few months. The right wing parties lost a lot of support in less than 4 months. They became a joke
Returning to this video after the Hamas attacks inside Israel. The opposition party leader expressed his openness to forming an emergency unified government with Netanyahu to deal with the “war.” Crazy to think of all the ways the attacks today will change Israeli politics.
Tis video aged quite well
11:13 7 children per woman if you're ultra orthodox ... jeez. and that's on AVERAGE meaning about half have even more
Yea the real Average for majority is above 10
@@rickording I know an "ultra orthodox" woman who lives in my city and has 22 children.
thats what happens when a portion of the population are literally paid to do nothing but stay at home and breed.
And people think Mormons are crazy about children...