Israel’s Jewish birthrate fell by one-third during the past decade, while that of the Israeli Arabs rose by about 10 per cent in the same period, Deputy Health Minister Yitzhak Raphael declared today in Parliament.
He disclosed the data during debate on the Ministry budget and in reply to critics who had urged Government measures to promote birth control. He reported that while Jewish births fell from 32.9 per thousand to 22.5, the Arab rate rose from 46.5 per thousand to 51. He also reported that there were 20 known abortions to every 100 births, currently, as compared to 15 per hundred in 1952.
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