Among western states, two are experiencing demographic growth: the US and Israel. In the former case, it’s mostly associated with immigration, which continues apace, and the families of immigrants. (Canada may be the third for similar reasons.) “Faith” is still relevant here, and believers have more kids. (In Europe, by contrast, the only faith that counts is Islam.)

But unlike in the US, in Israel even *secular* Jews are reproducing at above-replacement rates. So while the Jewish community in the US is shrinking and aging, that in Israel is vibrant. If genetic mixing is one explanation for so many good looking Israelis, the other is that the demographic balance trends young.

While Israel’s Arabs at one point were reproducing at much higher rates than Israel’s Jews, that’s no longer the case, as Arab rates have gone down while Jewish rates have gone up in recent years. (The Bedouin population continues to grow rapidly, in part because polygamy, nominally illegal, is widely practiced.)

That’s not to say there aren’t socio-economic consequences associated with that growth, as economic participation rates are especially low among Arab women and ultra-Orthodox men, and both communities tended to be poorer than average. But talk of a “demographic threat” as a reason to shrink Israel down to an indefensible size is no longer convincing.

Raymond in DC on January 17, 2012 at 5:21 pm

Even before the state of Israel came into being, it was obvious where the NYT stood. Check out 1930s – and even 40s – archives and count the many sympathetic articles about ‘Mr.’ Hitler. Un-effing-believable.

Nir Leiu on January 17, 2012 at 5:40 pm

In 1960, Saudi Arabia had 4,000,000 people. Today, it has over 28,000,000, a seven fold increase.

In 1960 Egypt had a population 27.8 million people. Today, it has over 82,000,000, a three fold increase.

Now, the Palestinians breed like rats. What, no criticism from the NY Times?

As I have written before, the New York Times was always hostile to all things Jewish, even when it was owned by Jews (The publisher converted to Christianity years ago). In 1896, they opposed the immigration of Eastern European Jews, considering them dirty and uneducatable. In 1948, they opposed the Jewish Homeland. Previously, they played down the slaughter of Jews under Hitler.

The only question I have is why do Jews continue to buy this rag? They are the largest group to purchase this alleged newspaper.

I hear so many people claim they are intellectuals because they read the NY Times. I would have more respect for them if they read Debbieschlussel.com, instead.

Jonathan E. Grant on January 17, 2012 at 5:52 pm

I bet this jack wagon Rosner would never blog about how the high level of birth rate in the U.S. by illegal aliens is detrimental to the U.S.

In his own words, “the state often seems to lose sight of the general good or overlooks considerations of costs or ethics”. This sounds like he is describing how B. Hussein and his buddies treat our illegal alien problem. They overlook all of this and just see potential voters.

– somewhere in kenya a village is missing its idiot

Jarhead on January 17, 2012 at 6:07 pm

Maybe they’re just trying to reproduce to replace the kids being beheaded and murdered (rest in peace, Fogel family) by Muslims.

Lisa G on January 17, 2012 at 6:24 pm

It’s become clear in recent years that Jewish fertility is almost the same as, and may yet surpass, Muslim fertility. This blows up the old leftist argument for a so-called “two-state” solution. In fact, the demographic changes argue for an Israeli annexation of all of Judea and Samaria.

adam on January 17, 2012 at 6:53 pm

Shmuel Rosner is either a Jewish anti-Semite or he wrote satire.

Just frickin’ outrageous!

NormanF on January 17, 2012 at 7:24 pm

Debbie to register my disapproval with what that Times tool said I would like to travel to Detroitistan and impregnate you with fine Israelite twins. No turkey baster required. Afterward we can go to the Stage Deli on Orchard Lake Road and you can watch me eat corned beef, matzoh ball soup and latkes with apple sauce while you resume your Schlusseling, B’H.

A1 on January 17, 2012 at 7:37 pm

A1, anyone with any degree of sensibility is laughing…AT you; those with a greater degree feel sorry for you. Hush, now. Come back when you grow up.

lee on January 17, 2012 at 7:56 pm

Lee I admit to being flawed, immature, and in need of repair. But the offer stands. Hi Debbie.

A1 on January 17, 2012 at 9:31 pm

But it’s okay for those illegal aliens to have all those kids according to this guy, eh?

Squirrel3D on January 17, 2012 at 9:56 pm

A1, you’re incorrigible but a healthy free-spirited good will comes through. My comments would have probably been better left unsaid. I’ll blame it on the subject of Debbie’s post. Self-hating Jews make me crazy; they’re a study in what people who don’t think much, think.
And to you, simply a good-natured “Oy, oy, and gevalt!” 🙂

lee on January 17, 2012 at 10:08 pm

This reminds me of the time that old enema bag named Walter Cronkite did an editorial for CBS radio in which he criticized Orthodox Jews for having too many children in America. He did not criticize Catholics (no offense to anyone), blacks (ditto), welfare mothers; no, he singled out Orthodox Jews, and cited the environment as the excuse for criticizing Jews, which have not even replaced the numbers that were lost in WWII.

It seems anytime anyone wants to critique breeding habits, they cite to the 13 million people on earth who are Jews, and ignore the seven billion other people.

Jonathan E. Grant on January 17, 2012 at 11:15 pm

Add me as one more person outraged by what JINO Shmuel Rosner wrote.

Excellent post and thread by all in response to what that scumbag Rosner wrote.

JeffE on January 17, 2012 at 11:57 pm

I would like to see Shmuel Rosner follow his own example. He has my permission to dispose of himself in a sanitary manner.

Worry01 on January 18, 2012 at 12:08 am

For a number of years, there was article after article stating that demographics were against the Jews in Israel, and that the Muslims were reproducing more rapidly. Israelis were urged by the liberals, communists, socialists, muslims, etc. to make concessions that were considered inevitable because of unfavorable demographics.

Now it is becoming known that the demographics are not so unfavorable after all. So the lcsm’s are trying to change the demographics against the Jews so that they will have a ‘stronger’ case for urging concessions.

The bottom line is always against the Jews; as JEG has pointed out, the New York Times has always fought against Jewish interests. In contrast, the Hearst papers, so looked down upon by the lcsm’s, gave much more publicity to the Holocaust while it was going on, and did much more to put pressure on Roosevelt to do something, than did the NYT. During the 40s and 50s, the Hearst papers knew who our enemies were.

Little Al on January 18, 2012 at 8:16 am

Not only a schmuck, but a gutter rat.

Walter Cronkite helped demoralized America after our victory in the Tet Offensive that destroyed the Viet Cong and defeated the NVA. Years later he exposed himself through his columns as a leftist, one – worlder who as the “most trusted man in America” betrayed his country.

The future of the world is Jewish.

Concerned Citizen on January 18, 2012 at 9:48 am

2.97 kids?

Doesn’t His Gaian Holiness, Al Gore, have 3?

Michelle on January 18, 2012 at 10:54 am

In terms of carrying capacity, 7 billion people ought to be enough for this planet. Memo to Muslims: Stop breeding so much. Read a few decent books besides that idiotic Koran.

Seek on January 18, 2012 at 11:29 am

Given what Muslim birthrates are throughout the ummah, it’s nothing but hypocritical of anyone to demand that any group practice birth control before Muslims do.

Jonathan pointed out the figures of Saudi Arabia & Egypt, but the same story is true in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India(!), Indonesia & Malaysia. In fact, Indonesia & Malaysia have been islamizing their non-Islamic islands thanks to that birth rate, while it steadily grows elsewhere. Even in the former Soviet republics, Muslim birthrates exceeds Christian birthrates. The only thing that’s saved Russia for the forseeable future is the break-up of the Soviet Union, or else, the USSR too would have been a Muslim majority country.

None of this is coincidental – you have the quran that equates women to tilth, and commands Muslim men to plow them as they see fit (thw quran’s words, not mine). Since the mission statement of Islam is to have everybody worship allah, they do this by increasing their numbers by excessive breeding. First, they start w/ 4 wives, of which any number is disposable – a man can keep marrying, breeding & discarding wives like toilet paper, but in the process, has created a huge number of Muslims who will either grow up to be future jihadis or suicide bombers, or if they are girls who won’t be suicide bombers, they’ll be like fast breeder reactors where they’ll keep breeding to expand their numbers.

If Shmuel Rosner was genuinely concerned about the world’s overpopulation, this is where he would have started, had he not been a pure hypocrite.

Infidel on January 18, 2012 at 12:39 pm

NormanF writes, “Israel won’t have a future until there are at least 30 million Jews.”

David Goldman (aka “Spengler”) in his recent book “How Civilizations Die” offers some interesting demographic projections assuming current fertility rates continue (not always a reasonable assumption). It shows, for example, that by 2085 Israel’s population will match Poland’s at 20 million (p. 201), and that by 2100 Israel will have more aged 15-24 than Turkey or Germany, and many more than Iran (p. 202).

As Yogi Bera would say, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” These projections also fly in the face of Jewish demographic history. At its height during the late Second Temple period, Jews numbered some 4-8 million – roughly 2% of the world’s population. Those numbers collapsed after the Bar Kochba rebellions, and it took some 1700 years to reach those peak numbers again. Jews haven’t yet recovered to 1939 levels, and their numbers have stagnated for two generations. Today Jews are about 0.2% of the world’s population. But Israel could be changing that.

Raymond in DC on January 18, 2012 at 12:46 pm

We lost so many irreplaceable Jewish souls during the Holocaust. Thank G-d that we are having more children. “Be fruitful and multiply.”

Naomi R on January 18, 2012 at 2:00 pm