Israel’s population stands at around 8 million people, with 6 million Jews, and nearly 400,000 non-Jews related to Jewish immigrants. There are around 1.7 million Israeli Arabs, which includes Christian and Druze. For decades Israelis have been hearing how they will be outnumbered, yet the trends don’t change much.
This is why Kerry is forced to create the fictional “unitary” state. There is no unitary state. No Israeli government — not right, left, or center — has ever seriously considered annexing the West Bank or the Gaza Strip. Israel can offer limited autonomy to Palestinians — as it does in the Gaza Strip – and the “unitary” demographics change nothing. The Hamas voting block has no impact on Israel’s domestic policy today, so why would it matter tomorrow or a decade from now? This situation is hardly ideal, and it would be in the best interest of all to have a workable and lasting peace in place, but no agreement will be palatable to Israelis if it includes Fatah nonstarters like “right to return” or a Hamas-run government eager to make deals with belligerent nations. Israel is prosperous and free enough to carry the cost of judiciousness.
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