Israelis

Israelis (יִשְׂרְאֵלִים‎; إسرائيليين) are the citizens and nationals of the State of Israel. The country's populace is composed primarily of Jews and Arabs, who respectively account for 75 percent and 20 percent of the national figure; followed by other ethnic and religious minorities, who account for 5 percent. Early Israeli culture was largely defined by communities of the Jewish diaspora who had made aliyah to British Palestine from Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Later Jewish immigration from Ethiopia, the states of the former Soviet Union, and the Americas introduced new cultural elements to Israeli society and have had a profound impact on modern Israeli culture. Since Israel's independence in 1948, Israelis and people of Israeli descent have a considerable diaspora, which largely overlaps with the Jewish diaspora but also with that of other ethnic and religious groups; it is estimated that almost 10 percent of the general Israeli population lives abroad, particularly in Russia (with Moscow housing the single largest Israeli community outside of Israel), India, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and throughout Europe. Demographics of Israel As of 2013, Israel's population is 8 million, of which the Israeli civil government records 75.3% as Jews, 20.7% as non-Jewish Arabs, and 4.0% other. Israel's official census includes Israeli settlers in the occupied territories (referred to as "disputed" by Israel). 280,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, 190,000 in East Jerusalem, and 20,000 in the Golan Heights. Among Jews, 70.3% were born in Israel (sabras), mostly from the second or third generation of their family in the country, and the rest are Jewish immigrants. Of the Jewish immigrants, 20.5% were from Europe and the Americas, and 9.2% were from Asia, Africa, and Middle Eastern countries. Nearly half of all Israeli Jews are descended from immigrants from the European Jewish diaspora.