Coda: Zionism and the Biology of the Jews Tomorrow

Abstract

Israel is a semi-Western country […] but, it would be difficult to transform Israel into a Western country as long as Zionism as an ethnic ideology dictates the order of life in the country (Smocha 1999, p. 253).For me Zionism died (Ruth Dayan, the ninety-seven year old divorced widow of Moshe Dayan, on an Israeli TV program, December 24, 2014). Although Israel is the realization of political-Zionist longing and is considered a modern Western country, its demographic future is notably directed by far-reaching, traditional, conservative policies. Childbirth, which has been encouraged since early on by its leaders and is reinforced by various state regulations, reflects the strong impact of the traditional, religious, even orthodox Jewish lifestyle on the heterodox, humanist-liberal notions of the early Western Zionists. As noted by Susan Martha Kahn, there were many justifications for Israelis to desire large families in addition to honoring the commandment to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis I: 28). For Israeli Jews, the imperative to reproduce has deep political and historical roots. Some feel they must have children to counterbalance what they believe to be a demographic threat represented by Palestinian and Arab birthrates. Others believe they must produce soldiers to defend the fledgling state. Some feel pressure to have children in order to ‘replace’ the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. Many Jews simply have traditional notions of family life that are very child-centered (Kahn 2000, p. 3).