"In days past, the demographic question was perceived as the key to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Everyone remembers the words of Yasser Arafat, who said the woman's womb was the Palestinian national weapon to facilitate a majority between the river and the sea and the end of Israel. Those days have long passed, however, and it appears the Jewish majority is stronger than ever, among other factors because of immigration from Russia and Ethiopia, and rising birth rates in the Jewish sector.
Over the past decade, the discourse in the Middle East has reverted to demographics and counting births, deaths, and emigration. This time, though, it no longer revolves around the Israel-Palestinian conflict, rather the Sunni-Shiite conflict and the clash between Iran and Arab countries, which has become a central component of the regional agenda. Demography plays a critical role in this fight, and when the need arises, the Iranians and their allies don't shy from "engineering" the demographics to serve their hegemonic regional interests."
Read the full article in English here.
Read the full article in Hebrew here.