Study: One in 10 Israeli Jews intermarried

Around 10 percent of married Israeli Jews have non-Jewish spouses, a study found. The New Family lobby, which promotes alternatives to Orthodox marriage rites in Israel, released data this week suggesting that 58 percent of Israeli families include a Jewish mother and father. Approximately 12 percent of Israeli families are entirely non-Jewish — many of them, presumably, Israeli Arabs — while 10 percent of families comprise a Jewish parent and a non-Jewish parent. The remaining population is made up of single-parent families, common-law couples and foreign workers. The findings are believed to reflect the large number of non-Jews among recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union.