Will the Jewish state survive? At what cost? With what identity? Can it ever know peace?

The ticking sound beneath the surface of the violent confrontation between Arab and Jew is a silent bomb, a demographic bomb. Palestinian women are producing babies at some of the highest rates in the world. Their leader, Yasser Arafat, has called Palestinian mothers his "biological bomb"—the ultimate Palestinian weapon against the Jews.

How potent is this weapon? According to a recent Chicago Tribune article, extremely potent. Among Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the annual birth rate is 40 for every 1,000 people. Among Palestinians living in Israel, it drops slightly, to 36 per 1,000. The birth rate among Jews across the region is only 18.3 per 1,000, which is high by European standards, but less than half the rate of the Palestinians.

Currently, the population in Israel is evenly balanced between Arabs and Jews. But as the competition heats up for scarce living space and water resources, the Palestinians are on the brink of a population explosion that could very well overwhelm their Jewish neighbors.

The dry, narrow strip of land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is already overcrowded with 9.7 million people. A Haifa University study estimated that by 2020, the number of people living in this area will swell to 15.2 million, and 58 percent of them will be non-Jews. Similarly, a U.N. study predicts that by 2050, the population in the West Bank and Gaza alone will almost quadruple to nearly 12 million.

In light of these alarming figures, it is difficult to imagine that Israel could survive for long. Even the United States, though it is Israel’s closest ally, has grave concerns about this trend. The April 1, 2002 issue of Newsweek magazine published the results of a recent poll conducted in the United States. This poll showed that a mere 34 percent of adults surveyed thought Israel would remain a Jewish state 50 years from now. Some 23 percent thought Israel would become a mixed state, with Palestinians having a major share of power, and 18 percent thought Israel would no longer exist.

How can Israel survive in light of these overpowering demographics?

Israel still has the strongest military in the Mideast, but the threat now comes from a source that is not vulnerable to nuclear weapons, sophisticated jets, or Merkava battle tanks. The weapon that will bring victory must be able to counter these demographic trends. To counter the Palestinian birthrate, Israel must use a combination of: 1) increasing their own birthrate; and 2) increasing their immigration rate.

Quite naturally, the Palestinians and the surrounding Arab nations will do all they can to discourage immigration to the Jewish State, and to encourage emigration from it.

Israel’s survival depends on their ability find a source of motivated immigrants. The answer:

Israel needs more Israelites!