ABSTRACT
Population growth lies at the heart of public debate on the religious-national character of Israel, which is expressed in the existence of two main nationalities: the Jewish majority and the Arab minority. This paper reviews the growth in both nationalities from 1948 to the present day with a clear distinction between the sources of growth of the two nationalities. The data show that the average growth in each of the population was rapid, with different sources of growth. While the natural increase was faster among Arabs as a result of high historical fertility rates, the increase in international migration was very fast among Jewish and it was minimal among Arabs.
