Tonight, Monday evening, Israel will embark on a 48-hour experience of 24 hours of remembrance of those who have given their lives in defense of this country follow immediately by 24 hours of joy and celebration marking 78 years of the successful emergence of an independent Jewish state for the first time in over two millennia.

Tonight, when the sirens sound in Israel at 8 PM to mark the beginning of Remembrance Day, we will note with sadness the deaths of 1,152 security personnel killed, including 940 IDF soldiers as well as police officers and local security officers killed during the Hamas-led attacks, the subsequent ground offensive in Gaza, and fighting on other fronts.

As a result of these battle casualties, there are a combined total of over 10,000 spouses, parents, children and close family members who have stood graveside and mourned loved ones these past two and a half years.  In addition, 6,424 soldiers have been wounded since the war began, 958 of them seriously, according to figures published by Israel’s Ministry of Defense.

The question on some people’s minds is, was it worth it? A look at the demographics of Israel as we approach Independence Day will show that, painful as these losses and injuries most certainly are, this was the high price attached to our continued battle for survival in a world that seems all to quick to forget the past and condemn us for doing nothing more than defending our hard won country from those who would destroy us.

Strikingly, as Israel approaches its 78th Independence Day, our population stands at 10.244 million of whom 7.79 million, or 76% of the population, are Jews and “others” — meaning non-Jewish, non-Arab citizens — while 2.157 million (21.1%) are Arabs, and the remaining 296,000 (2.9%) are foreigners.  During the past year, 177,000 Israelis were born, while 48,000 died, indicating that the population has grown over a dozen-fold since state’s founding when it was just 806,000 according to figures released Sunday by the Central Bureau of Statistics. The number was some 146,000 higher than last year, representing an increase of 1.4%.

Since 1948, 3.5 million people have immigrated to the country, though currently four out of five people in the population are Israeli-born (“sabras”).  More than a quarter of the population, 27%, are children aged 14 or under. Around 13% are over 65.

According to other data released last week for Holocaust Remembrance Day, the second largest concentration of Jews in the world is in the United States, with 6.3 million, or around 40% of the global total of 15.8 million.  Israel now is home to 49.4% of all Jews in the world.

Was it worth the sacrifice?  Former British MP Tony Benn of blessed memory, correctly said that “All war represents a failure of diplomacy.” So the answer is that it is never “worth” sacrificing loved ones in wars that, by definition, are the outcome of failed political systems.  In a word, there are no words of consolation to those who have suffered loss as a result of war.

Nevertheless, even in spite of two and half years of war, the people of Israel have voted, via their reproductive systems, in favor of the future.  Statistically Israel maintains the highest birth rate among the member countries of the OECD, with a total fertility rate (TFR) of approximately 2.9 to 3.0 children per woman. There is no other OECD member country with an FTR higher than 1.6 which is that of the US, Colombia, France and Iceland.

While fertility among Arab populations has declined with the emergence of a better educated population, high rates among Jewish, particularly Haredi (approx. 6.5–6.6) and secular/traditional (3.0-3.4 on average) populations, keep the national average high. Fertility rates returned to upward trends in early 2024, soon after October 7th, after a brief decline in the prior year.

So tomorrow morning, when the second siren of the day sounds at 11 AM and memorial ceremonies begin at military cemeteries throughout the country, all of Israel will come to a stop for two minutes in grateful appreciation of the sacrifice made by 1,152 of our best and brightest in defense of our continued existence as a beacon of liberty and freedom in an increasingly angry world.

Then, at sundown on Wednesday, the flags will be raised from half mast to full mast and Independence Day celebrations will begin with traditional services of thanksgiving for the miracle of Israel and the return of our people to our homeland after 2,000+ years of dispersion.  Throughout the land we will hear the cherished words of our national anthem, Hatikvah (the Hope) once again as we celebrate as much in honor of those who sacrificed as in our own hope for a secure future in our own land.

As long as deep in the heart, the soul of every Jew yearns, And forward to the East, to Zion, an eye looks Our hope will not be lost, the hope of two thousand years, To be a free nation in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem.

May it be so and may we all be worthy of God’s beneficence as we continue to defend our right to be here.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)