Israel Hits 10.2 Million As Independence Day Nears
Ahead of its 78th Independence Day, Israel’s population stands at approximately 10,244,000, according to statistics the Central Bureau of Statistics published on Sunday (19th).
According to the published statistics, 76% of the population is classified as Jews and “other,” 11.1% are Arabs, and approximately 2.9% are foreigners. Since the previous Independence Day, the population grew by approximately 146,000 people, with 177,000 babies born over the past year and 21,000 new immigrants.
Israel is considered a very young country, with 27% of its population being children 14 and under, and only 13% being older than 65.
It also found that Israel’s population continues to grow at a fast rate relative to the Western world, stemming from a combination of a high birth rate, aliyah, and long life expectancy.
Historically, since the foundation of the State of Israel, its population has grown more than 12-fold, with only 806,000 residents in 1948.
Today approximately 45% of the world’s total Jewish population lives in Israel.
Despite the security situation, Israelis report high satisfaction: Israel is ranked #8 on the UN’s Happiness Report for 2026. 91% are satisfied with their lives, and 96% are satisfied with their connection with their families.
83% rate their health as good or very good. Life expectancy has increased by almost 20 years since the establishment of the state, and as of 2024 stands at 81.1 years for men and 85.5 years for women. The data includes war casualties.
The average salary for an employee rose from 2,328 NIS in the 1990s to 13,919 NIS in 2025. In 1959, only 3% of households owned a car, today, that figure stands at 71.9%. The number of vehicles on the roads surged to from o.54 million in the 1980s to 4.35 million in 2025.
According to forecasts by the Central Bureau of Statistics, the trend is expected to continue. By Israel’s 100th Independence Day in 2048, the population is projected to reach 15.2 million, and by 2065, it is expected to surpass 20 million.
Israel’s 78th Independence Day begins on Monday evening (20th) at sunset, and will end Tuesday evening April 21st.
Huckabee: Netanyahu, Milei Restore Western Values With’Moral Clarity’
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Sunday (19th) praised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Argentinian President Javier Milei during a joint meeting marking the signing of a series of agreements between Israel and Argentina, including the opening of direct flights between the countries and the Isaac Accords.
Huckabee opened by calling it “a distinct honor” to stand with “two of President Trump’s greatest friends,” saying there are no two world leaders for whom President Trump has more respect or a closer personal relationship than Milei and Netanyahu.
Representing the President of the United States, Huckabee said he brought greetings from America to “these two wonderful friends and allies.”
He praised both leaders for what he described as restoring the values underpinning Western civilization and the judeo-Christian foundation on which their nations were built, and said they stand with “moral clarity” and demonstrate courage, conviction and will.
Referring to the newly announced direct flights, Huckabee joked that he would like to be the first person to buy a ticket on El Al to Buenos Aires so he could bring back Argentinian beef, calling it”world-known” and saying “there is none better.”
Huckabee also said President Trump has helped “change swords into plowshares, ” but added that “there can’t be plowshares unless there are swords,” arguing that strength creates conditions for peace.
He praised the US partnership with Israel, saying he had never seen a partnership like the current one, and described it as an extraordinary opportunity for the United States to stand with Israel and against what he called “a menace that has plagued the world for 47 years.”
Addressing Netanyahu, Huckabee thanked the Prime Minister for extraordinary courage, leadership, and direction,” and expressed hope that “the swords can soon be put aside for the plowshares,” while adding that if others are unwilling to put down their swords, it is important to have a partner that understands swords may sometimes come first.
Quoting “Blessed are the peacemakers,” Huckabee distinguished between “peace lovers” and “peace makers,” and thanked the leaders for their efforts.
He described the Isaac Accords as “an extraordinary opportunity for Israel and Argentina to do something that would change the Western hemisphere, the Middle East and the rest of the world,” calling it of”great historic significance.”
Netanyahu responded by thanking Huckabee, calling him, “our great friend,”and also thanked his delegation, ministers, ambassadors, and all those who helped bring about the special day.
Israel Blames Hezbollah For Deadly Attack On UN Peacekeepers
The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday (19th) that its intelligence has confirmed that Hezbollah opened fire on United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon in an attack that killed one soldier and injured three others.
According to the IDF, Saturday’s (18th) incident occurred as a UN Interim Force team in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was working to clear unexploded ordnance in the Ghandouriyeh area, around 10 kilometers from the Israel-Lebanon border.
During the operation, a Hezbollah cell fired on the force, resulting in casualties among the peacekeepers.
“The Hezbollah terrorist organization continues to exploit the ceasefire to carry out terror activities, while endangering and harming international forces and personnel in Lebanon”.
French President Emmanuel Macron identified the fatality as French Sgt. First Class Florian Montorio.
‘Everything suggests responsibility for this attack lies with Hezbollah,” Macron tweeted on Sunday (19th).
UNIFIL condemned the attack and attributed it to “non-state actors,” a term often used in reference to Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Separately on Sunday (19th), the IDF said an Israeli reservist was killed and nine soldiers were wounded, one seriously, by an explosive device in southern Lebanon on Saturday (18th.).
The soldier was identified as Sgt.First Class (res.) Lidor Porat, 31. According to an initial military probe, an engineering vehicle operating in IDF controlled territory drove over a bomb believed to have been planted by Hezbollah.
Troops securing the area were hit by the blast, resulting in additional injuries.
A 10-day ceasefire went into effect on Friday night (17th).
Hamas Officials Claim Terror Group Ready To Hand Over Small Weapons, Rifles To Gaza Police – NYT
Hamas will give up thousands of automatic rifles and other small weapons belonging to their Gaza police force and other internal security services, according to a Sunday (19th) report by The New York Times, citing two officials from the terror organization.
Both of the officials are based in Gaza and spoke under the condition of anonymity with the report noting that the proposal would not include the full disarmament of Hamas’ weapons, as it will retain weapons in its so-called military wing, the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades.
The terrorists’ officials also said that they have already met with the other security agencies in Gaza that operate besides Hamas’ police, saying that they laid the groundwork to transfer the government of Gaza to the Board of Peace and its technocratic committee.
The report also mentioned that Palestinians inside Gaza fear that the terrorist group’s refusal to give up its military wing could ignite a new round of fighting between Israel and Hamas.
“We, the innocent people in Gaza, want an end to this situation,” Saed Abu Aita, a 45-year-old Gaza resident whose two daughters were killed early in the war, told the newspaper.
“We want Hamas to give up their weapons and the Israelis to withdraw,” he added.
The IDF said on Friday (17th) that it expected Hamas to start disarming soon, with the military showing growing confidence that Hamas, overall, is leading toward taking “painful” steps to avoid Israel reinvading the Gaza Strip.
The IDF was extremely vague about what such disarmament could look like.
The US also expects Hamas to begin handing over its heavy weapons, namely its remaining rockets, drones, and anti-tanks missiles along with maps of its remaining terror tunnels, during early May.
Prior to the IDF’s statement, there had been significant media speculation that Hamas might take advantage of the fact that Israel and the US would be distracted by the war with Iran and thus attempt to drag out the deadline for entering the first disarmament stage.
Trump On Israel: ‘A Great Ally, They Know How To Win’
President Donald Trump praised Israel in a bombastic social media post on Saturday (18th), highlighting the country as a “great ally,” after repeatedly criticizing Washington’s European partners in NATO for their lack of involvement in the ongoing conflict with Iran.
“Whether people like Israel or not, they have proven to be a GREAT ally of the United States of America. They are courageous, bold, loyal, and smart and, unlike others that have shown their true colors in a moment of conflict and stress, Israel fights hard and knows how to WIN,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The remarks come amid growing frustration from Trump and his administration over NATO’s stance on the war. In recent weeks, the president has slammed the alliance for failing to provide meaningful support to U.S. efforts against Iran, raising the possibility that Washington could withdraw from the pact.
Trump administration officials have echoed those concerns, suggesting that NATO’s neutrality in the conflict calls into question its value to the United States.
According to a White House official who spoke to Politico earlier in April, “As President Trump said, NATO was tested and they failed.”
The official added that Trump “has zero expectations for NATO at this point and did not ask them for anything, even though it is a fact they benefit from the Strait of Hormuz far more than the United States.”
Several European countries – including NATO members such as France, Italy, and Spain, as well as non-member Austria and Switzerland – have taken steps to avoid appearing aligned with Washington’s military campaign. These measures included restricting US warplanes from using their airspace.
Trump has argued that European nations benefit heavily from the Strait’s stability yet have been unwilling to assist in ensuring its reopening during the conflict – fueling his broader criticism that NATO allies are not pulling their weight in times of crisis.
In An Israeli Bombshelter, My Students Restored My Faith In Their Generation’s Resilience And Commitment – Mark Shpall
My students from de Toledo High School in Los Angeles were on a trip to Israel when the war with Iran began on Saturday morning and we heard the first sirens in Jerusalem. When the alarm goes off, you move quickly to the nearest protected space. For the first 48 hours, the alerts came every ffew hours.
It was not the itinerary we had planned. But the experience revealed something powerful about these young people. What I saw in those shelters was not panic. It was grit. It was strength. It was solidarity. Students checked in on one another. They reassured friends and texted worried parents back home. They thanked the hotel staff, and as we were checking out, ,the hotel general manager told me how impressed she was by the group. She said they were respectful to staff and remained calm amid sirens, and how appreciative they were even in the middle of a crisis.
There is a widespread belief today that young people lack resilience, that they retreat from difficult realities. That is not what I saw. I saw teenagers who understood that being part of the Jewish story sometimes means standing shoulder to shoulder as one people. And I saw how deeply connected they felt to Israel.
As the days passed, the prudent decision was to take our students back home via Egypt. Yet the reaction from many of the students was not relief. It was reluctance. Several told me they did not want to leave Israel. Their instinct was not to run from the experience. It was to remain connected to it. That reaction continues to stay with me. This experience will stay with them for the rest of their lives – the sirens, the shelters, the kindness of strangers, and the sense of community they felt with Israelis.
(jta.org)
