israeli

The terms Israeli Jews (Hebrew: יהודים ישראלים‎, Yehudim Yisraelim), and Jewish Israelis refer to
Israeli citizens of the Jewish ethnicity or faith, and also the descendants of Israeli-Jewish emigrants outside of Israel. Israeli Jews comprise the modern descendants of the Ancient Israelites, along with other diaspora populations. Israeli Jews are found mostly in Israel and the Western world, as well as other countries worldwide, not necessarily only in Jewish communities. Israeli Jews mostly speak Hebrew and most follow at least some religious Jewish practices. Israel, the Jewish state, currently has almost half the world's Jews.
The Jewish population in Israel comprises all Jewish diaspora communities, including Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Beta Israel, Cochin Jews, Bene Israel, Karaite Jews, and many other groups. The Israeli Jewish community manifests a wide range of Jewish cultural traditions, as well as encompassing the full spectrum of religious observance, from the haredi communities to the hilonim Jewish communities who live a secular lifestyle. Among the Jewish population, over 25% of the schoolchildren and over 35% of all newborns are of mixed ancestry of both Ashkenazi and Sephardi/Mizrahi descent, which increases by 0.5% each year. Over 50% of the Jewish population is of at least a partial Sephardi/Mizrahi descent.Despite the ongoing debate over the question of who is a Jew among Israeli Jews, the Jewish status of a person, which is considered a matter of 'nationality' by the Israeli authorities, is registered and controlled by the Israeli Ministry of the Interior, which requires a person to meet the halakhic definition to be registered as a 'Jew'. Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics estimated the Israeli Jewish population was 6,556,000 as of December 2017 (74.6% of the total population if East Jerusalem and Golan Arab population are counted in).An IDI Guttman Study of 2008 shows that a plurality of Israeli Jews (47%) identify themselves first as Jews and Israeli second, and that only 39% consider themselves first and foremost Israeli.Jews living in the region prior to the establishment of the State of Israel were commonly referred to in English as "Palestinian Jews" and in Hebrew as HaYishuv HaYehudi Be'Eretz Yisra'el (The Jewish Community in the Land of Israel).

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