Ahead of Yom Ha’atzmaut, the Central Bureau of Statistics released new data on Tuesday showing that Israel’s population has climbed to nearly 10.1 million — a dramatic twelvefold rise since the state’s founding in 1948.
The latest population count reflects an annual growth of approximately 135,000 people, or 1.4%. Of that number, around 7.7 million — making up 77.6% of the population — are classified as Jewish or “other.” The “other” group, previously categorized separately, includes individuals such as non-Arab Christians and those without an official listed ethnicity, many of whom are eligible for Israeli residency due to Jewish ancestry or family ties, according to the CBS.
The data also shows that roughly 2.1 million people in Israel, accounting for 20.9% of the population, are Arab citizens — whether Muslim, Christian, or Druze. An additional 250,000 individuals (2.5%) fall outside both the Jewish and Arab classifications. These include foreign nationals like students, laborers, and undocumented residents.
According to the statistics bureau, in the past year Israel saw the birth of approximately 174,000 babies, the arrival of 28,000 new immigrants, and the deaths of about 50,000 citizens. The demographics point to a relatively youthful nation, with 27% of the population under the age of 18, while only 13% are aged 65 and older.
When compared with global population trends, Israel’s growth remains high. The world’s population expanded by roughly 0.9% to reach just over 8 billion in 2023, based on World Bank figures. However, Israel’s pace of growth has slightly tapered off from the prior year’s 1.9% increase, which brought the population close to 9.9 million.
A factor contributing to the slowdown is a notable drop in immigration. A report issued Monday by the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration highlighted a 24% decrease in new arrivals over the last year.
The CBS also noted that around 56,000 Israeli citizens currently live abroad. While this figure has declined, the report did not specify by how much.
Since the country’s establishment, approximately 3.5 million people have made aliyah to Israel, the bureau said. Nearly half — 47.6% — came beginning in 1990, during the large wave of immigration from the former Soviet Union. By the end of 2023, Israel was home to about 45% of the world’s Jewish population, and 80% of Jewish Israelis were born in the country.
Israel is preparing to mark its 77th Independence Day on Wednesday evening, in line with the Jewish calendar. Commemorations will begin the night before with Memorial Day, which honors fallen soldiers and victims of terror. The day will open with a nationwide siren and a moment of silence at 8:00 p.m. Tuesday.
{Matzav.com Israel}
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is actively considering advanced tools, including artificial intelligence, as part of its ongoing efforts to enhance safety across the subway network, officials revealed during a Monday briefing.
Michael Kemper, the MTA’s Chief Security Officer, explained that the agency is experimenting with technology such as AI to detect potentially dangerous behavior before it escalates into a crisis. “We’re studying and piloting technology like AI to sense potential trouble or problematic behavior on our subway platforms,” he said.
At a recent safety committee meeting, Kemper elaborated on how the new system might operate, describing scenarios where erratic or aggressive behavior would automatically trigger alerts. “If someone is acting out, irrational, it could potentially—and again this is what we’re exploring—it could potentially trigger an alert that would trigger a response from either security and or the police department beforehand, proactively,” he said.
The MTA is collaborating with several tech firms to test “predictive tools” that evaluate surveillance footage in real time. The aim is to spot warning signs and allow authorities to intervene before any unlawful activity occurs.
But not everyone is on board. Albert Fox Cahn, who leads the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, expressed deep skepticism about the use of AI in public surveillance. “This sort of surveillance is pseudoscience. It’s creepy, it’s invasive and I just am really outraged that the MTA is going to give our data to a private company like this, in such a dubious way,” he said.
Cahn warned that AI might misinterpret benign behavior—such as expressive talking or dancing—as threatening, potentially resulting in wrongful suspicion. He also voiced unease about privacy violations, possible racial profiling, and the vague boundaries around how long the data is retained and who has access to it. “I don’t know how long they’re allowed to keep it or what they’re allowed to do with it,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s allowed to be sent overseas or if it’s sold to third parties. It’s a real violation of trust.”
The MTA’s AI initiative is part of a broader strategy to bolster rider confidence and demonstrate to both New Yorkers and federal authorities that public transit remains secure. Governor Kathy Hochul has backed the increased focus on subway safety.
A string of alarming incidents, such as last week’s fatal stabbing at the Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall/Chambers Street station and numerous unprovoked platform attacks in recent years, has intensified public concern. These events have painted the subway as increasingly unpredictable.
New York Police Department statistics show that 573 felony assaults were reported in the subway system in 2024—the highest figure in more than 25 years. Ten individuals were killed on the subway last year.
This latest push for AI implementation follows pressure from the Trump administration, which warned the MTA that it risked losing federal funding unless it presented a comprehensive plan to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy outlining how it intends to curb crime. In response, the MTA submitted detailed information about its security proposals.
{Matzav.com}
In the wake of the public uproar surrounding the World Zionist Organization (WZO) elections — and amid recent shocking revelations that the Conservative movement covertly ran a campaign within the chareidi community to undermine the Eretz HaKodesh slate — a recording has now surfaced documenting Rav Gershon Edelstein’s explicit directive encouraging American talmidim to vote for Eretz HaKodesh. Matzav.com has obtained this exclusive recording.
The publication of this recording comes just as the window to vote in the WZO elections is closing. Its release also follows revelations that Conservative figures Yizhar Hess and his assistant Eyal Ostrinsky financed a large-scale operation, allegedly compensating chareidi go-betweens to stir opposition to the Eretz HaKodesh slate within the chareidi world.
The individual who had been in possession of the recording told Matzav.com, “All this time, I chose not to share the recording, even as tensions around the issue escalated,” he said. “I kept it to myself out of deference to the directive from the gedolim that any encouragement to support Eretz HaKodesh be handled privately — passed discreetly from one person to the next, rather than promoted through public campaigning. But now that it’s evident that outside players have intentionally created turmoil and dragged this into the public arena to harm our efforts, I was given direct instruction, rooted in daas Torah, to release the recording openly.”
The recording opens with a brief introduction by Rav Gershon’s grandson, Motty Paley, who presents the matter to his grandfather.
Here is the full audio with sub-titles, followed by a transcription:
Grandson: “There’s a question — there’s this matter of the World Zionist Organization in America.”
The rosh yeshiva expresses surprise at the very existence of this body, which for years was not publicized and operated far from public view, and asks: “There is still such a thing?”
The grandson answers and explains why the issue is significant despite the fact that the body itself is almost irrelevant to any public matter.
Grandson: “There is still such a thing. It’s not active in anything significant, but there’s one thing — there is a lot of money there. Their annual budget is a billion dollars.”
Rav Gershon: “What do they do with it?”
The grandson answers and explains in detail all sides of the issue.
Grandson: “Over time, control over this body and its money lies in the hands of 250 people who are elected once every five years. It is divided — 150 of these people are from America. According to the rules, that’s how it’s set up. Anyone who wants can vote online — just one click, and he votes. Now, what’s happening is that Reform Jews have taken over this body, and they are taking this money and channeling it into battles over issues like giyur, the Kosel, and various matters against Yiddishkeit. They are investing the money for these purposes.
“Now, this issue came up among the American rabbanim because there are elections for this body, and there’s an opportunity to get our people into it. It’s simply a matter of two parts — there’s the sur meira [turning away from evil], and there might also be an aseh tov [doing good].
It involves several organizations — there’s the Jewish Agency, Keren Kayemet L’Yisroel, various bodies that are involved. And of the 150 people, they form the majority of the American representatives. Every American citizen can vote. Now, the question is like this: that’s on one hand. On the other hand, it’s the Zionist Organization — are we telling our people to vote for the Zionist Organization? They have to pay membership dues — five dollars — and become members of the Zionist Organization, and then they can vote. That’s how it works.
“This question was actually brought to the rabbanim in America — whether to do it or not to do it. And they said very clear words — that it’s halacha v’ein morin kein [the halacha is yes, but it should not be publicly disseminated]. They would not issue a public letter to the public to go and vote, but they themselves send emissaries — including Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky — all of them quietly send people to vote and act on it.”
The grandson continues: “There was someone here a year ago — Yisrael Friedman (editor of Yated Ne’eman in Eretz Yisroel) — who came to speak to Saba [grandfather] about the issue, regarding the many Americans here in Eretz Yisroel, what to do with them, whether to tell them to vote or not to tell them, to remain silent or not. In practice, Saba said that it is forbidden for an official instruction to come out from the gedolim of Eretz Yisroel on the matter. Because we… Saba and Rav Chaim [Kanievsky] are not in favor of the Zionist Organization, to become members in the Zionist Organization? Even though it doesn’t have real significance for anything nowadays, nevertheless, the Zionist Organization was once a problematic body. I don’t know exactly what it was — Saba surely knows it from many years ago — the Zionist Organization and what it represented.”
The grandson then poses the immediate question: “Now the question is like this: They are avreichim, he [Rabbi Nechemia Malinowitz] is managing all the English-language advocacy for Degel HaTorah. They are asking whether they really need to help and act in this matter quietly — without a real formal instruction — quietly to work on it. Is it permissible for them?”
Rav Gershon: “Do they have a ruling (hora’ah) from America?”
Grandson: “Yes.”
Rav Gerson: “So what’s the problem? They are Americans.”
Another speaker participating in the conversation details and explains that the talmidim in Eretz Yisroel are asking for an answer from the gedolim in Eretz Yisroel and not to rely solely on the ruling from the gedolim in America, since this is Eretz Yisroel and there are American bochurim learning in yeshivos like Mir and Brisk.
To this, Rav Gershon responds: “There is benefit (to’eles) in this. There is benefit in this.” (He repeats this a number of times.)
The grandson tries to summarize the response.
Grandson: “The rosh yeshiva is saying that since they have an instruction from their rabbanim in America, that is sufficient.”
Rav Gershon: “And there is benefit in this. There is spiritual benefit in this.”
Rav Malinowitz: “Indeed there is benefit — one can save the Kosel, and save giyur, and save other things…”
The Rosh Yeshiva again repeats (in a soft voice): “There is benefit in this. There is benefit.”
The grandson requests a bracha for success for their activities in the election campaign.
Grandson: “They want a brachah.”
Rav Gershon: “Amein.”
{Matzav.com}
Israel’s Memorial Day, Yom Hazikaron, opened this afternoon with a solemn ceremony at Yad Labanim, honoring fallen soldiers and victims of terror.
During the event, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu addressed the audience, stating: “My brothers and sisters, members of the family of the bereaved, this is also my family, close to the anniversary of my brother’s death. Each fallen person was a unique personality that we remember on this sacred day. How do we get through the day? How do we breathe? Because at the moment we receive the news, the most bitter of all, there is no air left. Everything is empty. And this is the great meaning of the embrace of the people. The people and the country for which our heroes fell. It is only thanks to our standing together, shoulder to shoulder, that we learn to walk again, and we walk in the path of our loved ones to ensure the eternity of Israel.”
Netanyahu shared the moving story of Shaul Moyal, saying: “Six months ago, Shaul Moyal, 47, a reserve soldier in the Alon Brigade, went on operational activity. His wife Smadar stayed behind, as did their 10 children. Shaul was asked many times, ‘Why are you doing this? At your age and your family situation – 10 children – you can be exempted.’ He would reply: ‘I have a mission to complete. I was called to duty on October 7th for the most just war possible. To return the residents of the north safely to their homes. So said Shaul, a wonderful educator, who fell in the operation to destroy a Hezbollah terror compound,” Netanyahu said.
He continued by recounting the powerful message Smadar Moyal shared with her children after the mourning period: “At the end of the shiva, Smadar gathered their 10 children and told them this: ‘We will rise from the crisis, we will live with the crisis. Right now, there is a deep hole in our lives, but we will build bridges over it. We will continue to give of ourselves to the state and the people because this is a huge privilege. It is the spirit of the 25,000 fallen soldiers of Israel. Jews, Druze, Christians, Circassians, Muslims, Bedouins. We have been given a historic opportunity to renew our national independence, and I tell you – we will not get another chance. Therefore, we must guard the State of Israel with all our might, and that is what we are doing.”
The prime minister also praised the younger generation for rising to the challenge in these difficult times, saying: “We have learned that the screen generation, the TikTok generation as they called it, this generation knows how to step away from the screen and connect with reality. After the October 7 massacre, the IDF soldiers revealed themselves in their full glory. They are attacking those who seek to meet us on all fronts, fighting like lions to achieve victory. They are giving their lives to create the conditions for the return of our precious hostages, who are constantly before our eyes. Bringing them home is a sacred mission and one that we will not relent from. We all understand who we are fighting against and what we are fighting for.”
{Matzav.com}
A newly released medical report from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum issued a grave warning on Tuesday, stating that the bodies of many deceased hostages could soon be lost forever, eliminating the possibility of recovering them for burial.
The document highlights two central dangers. The first is a critical loss of knowledge: many of the deceased hostages’ burial sites are known to only a handful of people who may die or vanish amid the fighting, leaving behind no trace or record. With each day that passes, this gap in intelligence grows, making it increasingly unlikely that reliable, first-hand information can be secured to support recovery missions.
The second danger involves physical degradation: the extreme environmental conditions in Gaza—such as intense heat, flooding, and structural collapses—are rapidly destroying the condition of the bodies. This damage makes it harder not only to retrieve the remains but also to identify them and determine how these individuals died, a step that may be necessary in any future investigative efforts.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum emphasized that this situation is especially poignant on Israel’s Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism, a day set aside to remember the nation’s lost lives. They said the occasion should reinforce the national responsibility to ensure that even the deceased hostages are brought back and laid to rest with honor.
The report stresses that time is not on Israel’s side. The longer action is delayed, the more evidence disappears, the fewer clues remain, and the lower the chances become of recovering the bodies. This delay, the Forum argues, not only harms the grieving families but also obstructs a broader process of healing and reconciliation. The authors call on leaders to act swiftly to recover all 59 hostages still held in Gaza, including the 35 confirmed dead.
Prof. Hagai Levine, who heads the Health Team within the Forum, said: “There is a real danger to the deceased hostages, one that could impair the ability to return them for proper burial. The dignified return of the fallen hostages for burial, alongside the return of the living for rehabilitation, is a fundamental condition for healing the personal, social, and national wound. It is a moral and national obligation of the State of Israel toward its citizens, part of the unwritten covenant upon which Israeli society rests. Without the return of the deceased hostages and in the absence of certainty, the families become the living-dead, and the fallen remain the dead-alive. This wound undermines the very trust upon which the social fabric relies.”
{Matzav.com}
The Israeli military is reportedly preparing to ramp up its ground operations in Gaza, according to a report from Kan News on Tuesday.
This escalation comes as a result of ongoing frustration over stalled efforts to reach a deal for the release of hostages, prompting both military and government leaders to chart a more aggressive course of action.
Thousands of reservists have already received advance notice of impending activation. Most of those contacted are part of infantry and armored divisions expected to take part in new combat deployments. However, this is not being classified as an emergency mobilization.
In addition, part of the operational expansion reportedly includes an overhaul of how humanitarian aid is distributed within Gaza. Under the updated plan, the IDF will assume control over the aid process.
While actual distribution will still be handled by civilian contractors, the logistics and organization will now take place under military coordination, with the infrastructure managed by the army.
Israeli officials reportedly believe that Hamas may choose to avoid conflict with the civilian population by refraining from interfering with the new aid system, thereby reducing the likelihood of direct clashes over the supplies.
{Matzav.com Israel}
