Illegal Israeli immigrants, equal number of American Israeli immigrants

George Mitchel, Obama's envoy in Israel, met with Netanyahu yesterday. It appears that Mitchel came to deliver in person, a very simple three word message, "two state solution".

In a clever move Netanyahu seemed to agree, as long as one of those states was a Jewish Israel, and that the Palestinians accept this condition, before the negotiations begin.

This is of course something which the Palestinians will never do, because it would delegitimise their claim, to the right of return.

Netanyahu's response was effective, because it brought into focus something which we all too often take for granted. The fact that Israel is Jewish in the first place.

The reality is that barring the break out of World War III, there is nothing that could end the existence of the nation of Israel. That being said, the existence of a Jewish homeland is seriously in doubt.

Here is the question. What percentage of the population needs to be Jewish, if Israel is to maintain it's status as a Jewish country?

Right now, just a little over 75% of Israel's population is Jewish. So to state the obvious, that means, 1 out of every 4 citizens, is not.

This number is declining for three reasons. The increasing number of Israeli's leaving the country, the decreasing number of Jews making Aliyah, and the higher birth rate of the Arab population compared to the Jewish population.

Is 70% Jewish enough to call Israel the home of the Jews? How about 65%?

At what point will Israel be forced to admit that, while it has a Jewish history, and many Jewish traditions remain, it is in fact a multicultural society, not a Jewish one?

While Netanyahu fends off the prospect of a crippling two state solution, the Jewishness of Israel is slowly eroding.

No one wants to see the day when Israel is faced with the disgusting choice of either revoking the citizenship of thousands of Israeli Arabs, or resigning itself to the fact that a Jewish state simply can't be maintained demographically.

The answer has always been the same. The Jews must return to their homeland.

And where are the Jews? They are in the United States. 6 million strong. With money, and educations, and resources, and everything you would want in a potential group of immigrants.

But Americans are simply not making Aliyah in significant numbers.

And time is running out.

I will illustrate the point with a startling fact which dawned on me while I was reading a Ynet article about Israel's illegal immigration problem. Apparently, there are as many as 100,000 illegal immigrants living in Israel today. Now that's a problem for many reasons, but it is another problem I want to discuss.

THE NUMBER OF AMERICAN IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN ISRAEL IS ABOUT THE SAME!

That's right.

There are just as many people living in the Jewish homeland who are not Jewish, and are doing so illegally, as there are Americans, who are Jewish, and could be doing so legally, and with unbelievable advantages.

That is a dangerous embarrassment.