Who is an Israeli? Citizenship, religion and the demographic mosaic

Israel's population crossed ten million in 2025, the year of its 77th Independence Day, and stands at approximately 10.1 million in mid-2026. About three-quarters are Jewish, one-fifth are Arab (Muslim, Christian and Druze), and the rest are recorded as "other" under Israel's official statistics. That headline conceals a more complicated picture: citizenship runs through three different legal routes, the categories used by the Central Bureau of Statistics do not map directly onto the categories used in religious law, and the boundaries of all of these are contested in domestic Israeli politics. This piece explains the working categories and the major communities they cover.

The headline composition

The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics records the population in three groups: Jewish, Arab, and Other. The most recent published breakdown, on the eve of Israel's 77th Independence Day in 2025, gave the following composition:

• Jewish: approximately 7.7 million, or 73 to 74 per cent of the population.
• Muslim Arab: approximately 1.8 million, or 18 per cent.
• Christian (Arab and other): approximately 200,000, or about 2 per cent.
• Druze: approximately 160,000, or about 1.6 per cent.
• "Other" (non-Arab Christians and those with no religion listed, most entitled to live in Israel through a Jewish grandparent or Israeli spouse): approximately 540,000, or about 5 per cent.

The proportions have shifted gradually over time. The Jewish share has held at roughly three-quarters since the early 2000s; the Muslim Arab share has risen slowly with higher fertility; and the "other" category has grown materially since the 1990s as immigration from the former Soviet Union brought hundreds of thousands of people with Jewish heritage but no Jewish status under Orthodox religious law.

Three routes to Israeli citizenship

Israeli citizenship is acquired through three legal routes.

By birth. Anyone born to an Israeli citizen acquires Israeli citizenship at birth, regardless of where the birth takes place. This is the standard rule of citizenship by descent (jus sanguinis).

By naturalisation. Non-Jews who are not Israeli by birth may naturalise after meeting residence, language and other requirements set out in the Citizenship Law of 1952. Naturalisation is the route used by Arab residents of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights who choose it, and by foreign nationals who marry Israeli citizens.

By the Law of Return. Any Jew, anywhere in the world, has the right to immigrate to Israel and become an Israeli citizen on arrival. The Law of Return was passed by the Knesset on 5 July 1950 and has been amended twice. The 1970 amendment extended the right to a child or grandchild of a Jew, and to the spouses of all such people, except where the relevant person has voluntarily converted out of Judaism.

The 1970 amendment is the source of the "other" category in the demographic data. Hundreds of thousands of people who hold Israeli citizenship through the Law of Return are not considered Jewish under Orthodox interpretations of religious law, but are legally Israeli and entitled to live in Israel. The amendment remains politically contested: the coalition agreements of the 37th government, formed in late 2022, proposed narrowing the grandchild clause, although no amendment had passed by mid-2026.

The Jewish majority and its internal divisions

The Jewish majority is not a single community. Israeli demographers and CBS data conventionally group Jews by three overlapping cuts: origin, religious observance and language.

By origin. Ashkenazi Jews trace their families to central and eastern Europe; Mizrahi and Sephardi Jews trace theirs to the Middle East, North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula and beyond. Beta Israel Jews from Ethiopia are a distinct community of around 170,000. The distinctions have softened across generations but remain visible in voting patterns, neighbourhoods and institutions.

By religious observance. Israeli polling commonly groups Jews into Haredi (ultra-Orthodox), Dati (religious), Masorti (traditional), and Hiloni (secular). Haredi Jews are the fastest-growing group, both demographically (high fertility rates) and politically (their parties have been pivotal in recent coalitions); they are approximately 13 to 14 per cent of the Jewish population.

By language. Russian-speaking Israelis, the legacy of the 1989 to 1990s Soviet aliyah, number more than one million; Hebrew-speaking native-born Israelis (Sabras) are the largest single group; significant English-speaking, French-speaking and Amharic-speaking communities reflect successive immigration waves.

The Arab citizens of Israel

About one-fifth of Israeli citizens are Arab. They are not a single community either. The CBS records three main subgroups:

Muslim Arabs, the largest group at approximately 18 per cent of the population, concentrated in the Galilee, the so-called Triangle area, and the cities of Nazareth, Umm al-Fahm and Tira. A separate Negev Bedouin community of approximately 250,000 forms a distinct subgroup with its own institutional footprint.

Christian Arabs, approximately 2 per cent of the population, concentrated in the Galilee and in mixed cities such as Haifa.

Druze, approximately 1.6 per cent of the population, concentrated in 18 villages in the Galilee and on Mount Carmel. The Druze are legally classified as a distinct religious community in Israeli law; Druze men are subject to mandatory military service, unlike Muslim and Christian Arab citizens.

Arab citizens of Israel hold full citizenship rights including the vote, but a long-running set of debates concerns institutional equality (in budgets, planning permission, and the structure of the state itself). The 2018 Nation-State Law, which defined Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people and demoted Arabic from official to "special status", crystallised many of those debates.

Citizens, residents and others living within Israeli-controlled areas

Not everyone living in territory administered by Israel is an Israeli citizen. Three categories run alongside the citizen population.

Permanent residents. Most Arab residents of East Jerusalem hold Israeli permanent residency rather than citizenship. Permanent residents have most economic and welfare rights but cannot vote in national elections. The status can be revoked under certain conditions.

Druze residents of the Golan Heights. Most Druze in the Golan, which Israel annexed in 1981, hold Israeli permanent residency; a minority have taken Israeli citizenship. The number of Golan Druze taking citizenship has risen materially since 2018.

West Bank and Gaza Palestinians. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are not Israeli citizens and do not hold Israeli residency; they are administered by the Palestinian Authority (in Areas A and B of the West Bank) or Israel directly (Area C, East Jerusalem) or have been administered by Hamas (Gaza, 2007 to 2025) and the post-war transitional arrangements that followed the October 2025 ceasefire.

These categories sit outside this piece's main subject. The borders explainer addresses them in more depth.

A demographic note on growth

Israel has the highest total fertility rate in the OECD, at 2.89 children per woman in the most recent CBS data, with the Haredi rate substantially higher than the Hiloni rate and Arab fertility roughly at the Jewish average. The CBS projects that Israel's population will reach 15 million by the mid-2050s on current trends, with the share of Haredi and Arab citizens rising and the share of secular Jews falling. The political implications of that trajectory are part of every domestic Israeli debate, from the budget to the basic law structure.

In one paragraph

Israel is a country of just over 10 million people. About three-quarters are Jewish, one-fifth are Arab (Muslim, Christian and Druze), and the rest are an "other" category created by the 1970 amendment to the Law of Return. Citizenship runs through three routes: birth, naturalisation, and the Law of Return. The Jewish majority is internally diverse by origin, observance and language; the Arab minority comprises Muslim, Christian and Druze communities with distinct institutional footprints; and Israel's population also includes permanent residents in East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights who are not citizens. Israel has the highest fertility rate in the OECD; the demographic trajectory is a live political question.

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Sources

[1]: Statistical Abstract of Israel 2025, Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics. https://www.cbs.gov.il/en/

[2]: "Israel's population tops 10 million for 1st time, on eve of 77th Independence Day." Times of Israel, 2025. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-population-tops-10-million-for-1st-time/

[3]: Israel Religion Statistics 2026, World Data summary of CBS figures. https://theworlddata.com/israels-religion-statistics/

[4]: Demographics of Israel, Wikipedia (overview of CBS data). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Israel

[5]: Israeli Citizenship Law of 1952 (text and overview), Israeli Ministry of Justice. https://www.gov.il/

[6]: Law of Return, 5710-1950 (text and 1970 amendment), Knesset. https://main.knesset.gov.il/EN/activity/Documents/BasicLawsPDF/BasicLawTheGovernment.pdf

[7]: "Coalition Agreements of the 37th Government - Amending the Grandchild Clause of the Law of Return." Israel Democracy Institute. https://en.idi.org.il/articles/47418

[8]: "Religion in Israel - Pew Research and Israeli Democracy Institute surveys." https://en.idi.org.il/

[9]: Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People (2018), text and analysis. Israeli Knesset. https://main.knesset.gov.il/

[10]: "East Jerusalem residents and the Golan Druze: status and statistics." International Crisis Group / Israeli MFA. https://www.gov.il/

[11]: Gaza ceasefire and post-war transitional arrangements, Council on Foreign Relations summary (2025-26). https://www.cfr.org/articles/guide-trumps-twenty-point-gaza-peace-deal

[12]: "Israel's borders: recognised lines, armistice lines, and contested boundaries." KnowIsrael explainer. https://www.knowisrael.org/explainers/israel-borders-explainer