This banner was hung recently on a building opposite mine in Bat Yam, apparently by a supporter of the controversial Efrat organization, which tries to convince Jewish women not to have abortions. They seem to have taken their campaign up a notch…
"At the end of the day... the birthrate is what will determine our existence as a Jewish state." The Efrat organization (photo: Ami Kaufman)
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Julia
I always find it disturbing when a state encourages the people it rules over to “have more babies” only for sheer political reasons.
max
Julia, where’s the ‘state’ you’re referring to? I always find it disturbing when a person let’s her wishes overtake her vision
Yariv M
In a way it make sense even in the egalitarian & democratic framework (although I’m sure that wasn’t Efrat’s intentions).
A Jewish-democratic state is a concept coherent only in the sense of a democratic state which the majority of its citizens happened to [self-]defined themselves as “Jews”.
Noam W.
A few years ago, I ran an experiment. I sent two similar emails to Efrat saying that I am a woman who is thinking of having an abortion and asking for advice. In one email I pretended to be an Jewish woman, in the other an Arab woman.
2 points to whomever guesses which email got a response and which did not.
Engelbert Luitsz
A Belgium reporter wrote this week about an undercover operation in a mosk in Brussels.
The Imam claimed – among other things – that Women’s Day was a Jewish invention.
Some people have more in common on both sides than they are willing to admit, I guess.
Aaron the Fascist Troll
Noam W’s results don’t surprise me. I’m more anti-abortion than are typical Israelis, and the typical Israeli approach really bothers me. (My wife’s obstetrician couldn’t understand why I might be opposed to amniocentesis when it was indicated by the ultrasound – he asked me if I was haredi, even though I obviously look secular!) I got interested in Efrat at about the time my first child was born, interested enough to read their literature and consider donating. But their nationalist motivation really turned me off. I’m all for a Jewish demographic state, and I’d like to see fewer abortions in Israel, but linking them together like that just seems really creepy.
max
The message isn’t wrong, though the birthrate isn’t the only factor: as Yariv points out, it refers to the only base by which Israel can be both Jewsih and democratic.
As for pushing for birthrate: it’s quite common today in many countries though for economical reasons. The Economist had a long and interesting article about it a few months ago.
I’m not familiar at all with the organization, so I have no idea whether and how they use the basic message
Engelbert Luitsz
Scientists have found that the probability of giving birth to a baby girl rather than a baby boy increases significantly the nearer the mother lives to the equator.
That would certainly help the demographics. Just move further south.
max
EL, so you think that demography depends on the girls/boys ratio?
Engelbert Luitsz
Well, Max, 1 woman and a thousand men will not solve your problem, the other way around might.
max
EL, I don’t know who’s “your” but your idea would certainly find its positive echo with many a man
Engelbert Luitsz
Sorry Max, it should read: the above mentioned problem.
delia
Looks as if some people in Israel have finally faced facts: Israel’s migration balance is hovering around zero, and is possibly trending downwards (I. Lustick). So the ad is correct.
However, next ad: “It’s women’s fault that the Jewish population in Israel is declining.”
Sol Salbe
Engelbert: Given that International Women’s Day was started by a US Socialist Party known to have had a large Jewish membership, and an even higher proportion among the leadership, is it so unreasonable to surmise that IWD is a Jewish invention? As a pro-feminist lefty Jew I’m quite proud of that. Thank you.
Shelly
It’s not just because of the demographics. If Ehud Barak coldly predicts that ONLY about 500 will die when Iran counter-attacks, obviously this country needs more “cannon fodder” to survive.
Shimona
I followed the link to the Wikipedia page on Efrat and found that, contrary to many anti-abortion groups in the United States, Efrat actually tries to help women who, in many cases, are considering abortion for socio-economic reasons, with an alternative.
“Efrat is an Israeli pro-life group which tries to convince Jewish women not to undergo abortions. To this end, the organization distributes explanatory materials and offers economic aid to pregnant women considering abortion.”
I’m not quite sure why Mr Kaufman considers the organization to be “controversial”. I have never heard, for example, of Efrat members threatening doctors who perform abortions, or bombing abortion clinics – another big difference to the situation in the U.S.
@Noam W.
Efrat is an organization whose aim is to pursuade JEWISH women not to have abortions. What is wrong with that? As long as they are not trying to pursuade Arab women to have abortions, I see nothing wrong in their policy. They are quite right – the only way to keep Israel both Jewish and democratic is by ensuring a Jewish majority. Since I am sure you would object to a policy of ENCOURAGING Arab women to abort, and are undoubtedly against expulsion of Arabs, and possibly also oppose the Law of Return since it “discriminates” against non-Jews, encouraging Jewish women to bear more children or, at least, not to abort the ones already conceived, would appear to be the only acceptable way to go about realising that aim.
Unless, of course, you don’t want Israel to be both Jewish and democratic.
Iman
I do see something wrong and borderline racist with trying to inflate the Jewish birthrate for ethno-centric political purposes.
Efrat isn’t motivated by moral opposition to abortion, but rather by opposition to the potential emergence of a larger Arab Palestinian share of the population.
I’m very anti-abortion myself. I support trying to prevent abortions; I don’t support racist discrimination against the Palestinian people in their homeland.
Shimona
@Iman
I’ve checked out Efrat’s website and I don’t see anything there to support your claim that Efrat is “trying to inflate the Jewish birthrate for ethno-centric political purposes” or that they are motivated not by “moral opposition to abortion, but rather by opposition to the potential emergence of a larger Arab Palestinian share of the population.”
From their web site, we learn that Efrat was founded by a Holocaust survivor, who understood that our children are our future. Is it so difficult for you to understand that, after 6 million Jews were exterminated by the Nazis and their collaborators, including one and a half million children, Herschel Feigenbaum should have felt the need for an organization that would (a) perpetuate their memory and (b) encourage the birth of many, many more Jewish children. In the immediate aftermath of WW2, in the DP camps, contrary to all expectations, there were many weddings and births. Many Holocaust survivors have described this as their “revenge” on those who sought to destroy us. Others saw it as a simple affirmation that, despite everything, the Jewish People lives and will continue to do so, despite all those who sek to destroy us. What is racist about that? What is racist about surviving? What is your basis for claiming that Efrat is motivated by “opposition to the potential emergence of a larger Arab Palestinian share of the population.”?
Efrat does not seek to limit the Arab birthrate, but rather to increase the Jewish birthrate. What is wrong with that?
Or is it you, rather, who, for “ethno-centric political purposes” of your own, would prefer to limit the Jewish population by increasing abortions and decreasing the birthrate among Jews?
Iman
“determine our existence as a Jewish state”
And what supports your claim that I want to increase abortions and lower the birthrate among Jews?
Iman
Here’s an article from the “Friends of Efrat” website that describes the “demographic threat” Palestinians pose to Israel:
http://www.friendsofefrat.org/self-annihilation.php
Vicky
Shimona,
Here is a very clear description of Efrat’s ethnocentric motivation (available on their website):
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“Israel is currently fighting a demographic war for survival as a Jewish State. Demographic projections forecast an Arab majority in Israel by the year 2020!
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Every year Efrat brings over 1,500 Jewish children into Israel in what we call an ‘Inner Aliyah’. From its humble office in Jerusalem and tiny staff Efrat brings more Jews into Israel every year than the entire Aliyah from North America. At a cost of only $1,000 per ‘Oleh’ Efrat is a bargain compared to other Aliyah projects and we need not pay for housing or airfare as the potential Olim are already in Israel just waiting to be born!
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Last year, with its 1.75 million dollar budget Efrat saved the lives of 1,658 Jewish children costing Efrat about $1,000 per case. It is estimated that as many as half of the 50,000 abortions in Israel every year could be prevented if the women were offered financial and social help. There is thus a potential to save the lives of tens of thousands of Jewish children each year which would create a badly needed wave of Aliyah – an ‘Inner Aliyah’!”
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http://www.friendsofefrat.org/inner-aliyah.php
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I am all in favour of providing practical support to disadvantaged mothers who otherwise might not be able to bring their pregnancies to term. But in describing their work as ‘a bargain compared to other aliyah projects’, Efrat do seem to be ranking the needs of disadvantaged women and the value of unborn life a notch or two below the ethnicity of those women and the children they are carrying. Would Efrat be willing to offer their services to non-Jewish women who need some extra help with a pregnancy? Their comments about the ‘demographic threat’ suggest not.
Shimona
Vicky,
The Arabs DO pose a demographic threat to Israel. But I am sure you would all oppose combatting that threat by expelling Arabs, limiting their birthrate, forcing Arab women to have abortions, etc. No doubt you are also opposed to increasing the Jewish population by means of aliyah, and would claim that the Law of Return is discriminatory. But what is wrong with preserving the Jewish majority by the humane and democratic method of simply having more babies?!
Are you saying it is somehow WRONG to want a Jewish majority in the Jewish homeland?
Vicky
Shimona,
I believe that pregnant women who feel that their economic circumstances leave them with no option other than abortion should receive help. And I believe that this help should be available to all women in this position, irrespective of who they are. Efrat evidently doesn’t care much about non-Jewish pregnant women who are facing hardship. They aren’t people to be helped; they’re a demographic threat. And yes, I do think that is wrong, because I don’t think anybody should ever pause to ask if a struggling person is of the right ethnicity before they help them. Efrat also can’t really claim to be pro-life, if its primary concern is not the ethics of abortion, but the ethnicity of the foetus: is it a ‘potential olah’, or isn’t it? Its value is determined by that question alone.
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You are right that I oppose such ethnocentric nationalism, and this is why – it creates a hierarchy based on ethnicity. Initially you disputed that Efrat had any ethnocentric motivation and wrote that they just wanted to be helpful. When evidence of their motivation was provided, you started to defend it as a ‘humane’ response to a threat. The only real threat here is the existence of a mindset that treats babies and struggling women as ammunition in a battle, rather than as people to be helped for their own sake. Efrat values the people it helps because they are Jewish, not because they are people. That’s wrong.
Shlomo Krol
There’s nothing on Efrat site which would support its nationalistic agenda, probably this ad is just a gimmick.
Now, there is a simple sociological theory (somewhat neo-Malthusian) of “youth buldge” which basically says that in a society with large proportion of young people, between the ages of 15 to 27 approximately, there is greater probability of internal conflicts and external aggression. On the other hand, when there is more 30-40 y.o. people – there’s greater probability that such society would be stable and prosperous. Both Israel and Palestine have a “youth buldge”, as well as most other societies of the Middle East.
I don’t call for abortions, but I believe, that family planning is a good idea for all.
I also don’t like the Israeli obsession with demography and with the “Jewish character of the state”. We live in the native land of Jewish people, in the society where Hebrew is one of the official languages and in fact the dominant one. Where most people don’t drive on Yom Kippur, where most of food is kosher, where Jewish literature and history are taught in schools. Who needs more than this? Why the obsession with this “Jewish state” thing? This is very wrong, that this state separates its citizens to Jews and non-Jews, gives privileges to the former and discriminates against and marginalize the latter. Now, as the national self determination of Jews is the matter of fact, this “Jewish state” thing is a dangerous, divisive and exclusivist anachronism.
Historical Zionists claimed that “Jewish state” will be Jewish in a sense that England is English state. But what’s so English in England? Does it divide its citizens into English and non-English? Does it legislate laws aimed to “strenthen the English character of the state”? Are English people obsessed with demography? No! Than what is English in England? Nothing except for everything – it is very English in its way of life, it is English speaking, English looking and English behaving. And also very confident of itself.
Pay attention, that usually those who propose the most ugly laws aimed to “strenthen the Jewish character of the state” also want to keep the occupied territories and to deepen the occupation, colonization, apartheid and subjugation of non-Jews. These people are real threat for the Jewish way of life and Jewish self determination. It is not how many kids of which ethnicity are born and not the more or less racist laws which will define the future of the Jewish self determination here. But where is Israel’s border – this is what will define the future of this society!