2,000 years of Jewish Judges on Abortion

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                        

Right now the USA is in a conundrum because out of 9 Supreme Court Judges,  from 2010 Court:
one has died, and Scalia was a conservative in the mix of 4 liberals and 5 conservatives.  Right now they are left with 4 Republicans and 4 Democrats.  Obama wants to appoint another quickly of his choosing since the issue of abortion is on the table.  They are:

to right): Back row (left Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen G. Breyer, Samuel A. Alito, and Elena Kagan. 

Front row (left to right): Clarence Thomas,  Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John G. Roberts,  Anthony Kennedy, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 
                                                                                                                Appointed year
Antonin Scalia was appointed by  Reagan. Republican      1986  Recently died at 79. 
Anthony Kennedy b: 1936 .......................... Reagan                            1988-80 years old
Clarence Thomas b: 1948........................... Bush, father                     1991-68 years
Ruth Bader Ginsburg b: 1933......................Clinton, Democrat           1993-83 years
Stephen G. Breyer b: 1938..........................Clinton                               1994-78 years
John G. Roberts b:1955..............................Bush, Republican, son     2005-61 years
Samuel A. Alito b: 1950............................... Bush                                 2006-66 years
Sonia Sotomayor b: 1954............................Obama, Democrat          2009-62 years
Elana Kagan b: 1960....................................Obama                             2010-56 years

Why is it that our federal government is deciding on a question of morality?  Death is in the picture.
In today's modern world, females can opt to take birth control pills or apparati.  When does abortion come into their life as a decision to make?  Why isn't the female allowed to make decisions for her own body and life?  If a female feels she must have an abortion and it is against the law to do so, she will find a way.  There have always been abortionists who have gone against the law and have performed them, to the detriment of the female, of course in many situations, for there is no way to make sure it is done professionally and safely.
                                                                       

Rashi, (1040-1105) from Troyes, France, famous codifier of the law, comparable to
constitutional lawyer, only on religion, descendant of King David.    

This question of abortion has been in the Jewish culture for probably over 2,000 years and the decisions are not the same as the Catholic church, but they came about with the wisest of judges who discussed the issue.  They had some basic laws to consider their decision, our moral laws.

                                               Basic Law
Rabbis made these decisions in their writing of the Mishnah in (Oholot 7:6).  It was concluded not later than the end of the 2nd century CE:  Also, the Bablonian Talmud in Sanhedrin 72b speaks of abortion further.  The commentator, Rashi, also adds information.  Mishnah was finished in about 220 CE.  by Rabbi  Judah Ha-Nasi of the Palestinian (Judah) Jews.  B. Talmud was finished in about same period, but a Talmud includes the Mishnah.  

It all stems from the 6th Commandments of Moses.    of Thou Shalt Not Kill.  It says in our Tanach that this takes faith in G-d.  Someone with belief in G-d as the Creator and Sustainer of human life will not commit murder.  Hopefully, today people see the reasoning for not killing (murdering), but it is still happening in our communities.   
                                                                
1. It is not permitted to murder one person in order to save the life of another.
2. It is permitted to kill a potential murderer if this is the only way in which the life of his intended victim can be saved.  A potential murderer is called a rodef, translated as a pursuer, one who pursues another in order to kill him.
3. A fetus is not considered as a literal person.  Destroying a fetus is not considered as an act of murder.  Therefore, its destruction is not an act of homicide.
                             
                                                     Why Abort?
 Codifiers were divided on what would be weighty reasons for terminating a pregnancy.

1. Agreed:  None would permit abortion for economic reasons or where the child is simply unwanted.
2. When the birth of a child would cause the mother to lose her sanity.
3. Permit it if child would be born seriously deformed or as an imbecile such as thalidomide babies.
4. Pregnancy is the result of rape, especially if woman is already married.
5. To save the life of the mother in which case is extremely rare.

                                               Judicial Reasoning

1.  If a woman finds it is extremely hard to give birth to her child and there is great danger to her life, the child must be destroyed in her womb since the life of the mother has priority over the life of the child.  BUT, if most of the child has already emerged from the womb in giving birth, it must not be harmed, since the claim of one life cannot override the claim of another life.

2. Because once the greater part of the child has emerged from the womb, it is considered as if the child had been born and the child is then a person according to Jewish law.  The life of the mother must not be saved by destroying that of her child.

3.  While the child is still in the womb, it is not a person in law.  Then this is not an act of murder.  One cannot compare this killing done to save the mother's life to the case of murdering one person in order to save the life of another.  It's more like comparing "destroy" with that of "murder"  There is this legal difference.

4.  The Talmud asked the Mishnah why it made a distinction between the fetus and the child when the greater part had emerged?  The answer is that the child upon emerging is a person, called a nefesh., but he is not a rodef.  It is the child which threatens the life of the mother and the law is that a rodef must be killed in order to save the life of his intended victim, and this applies even if the rodef is a minor and so not responsible for his actions.

5. The Talmud stated that the mother is not being "pursued" by the child but by "Heaven."  This means it is the result of natural causes and so the child's life can't be made forfeit on the grounds that he is a rodef.

6. Rashi, the famous commentator, said that the question of rodef can be disregarded since it is all due to natural causes.  The principal applies that it is forbidden to murder one person in order to save the life of another so that once the child has become a nefesh, when the greater part has emerged, it is forbidden to destroy him even to save the mother's life.
   BUT, a fetus is not a person (nefesh), and its destruction is not an act of murder.  The fetus then must be destroyed if this is the ONLY way in which the mother's life can be saved.

Update:  9:56am; Permissive rulings for abortions before the 40th day, and in some instances up to 3 months, are found in certain dire instances.  Opinion have ranged from stricter views of the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Isaac Unterman, to liberal views of Yehiel Yaacov Weinberg, rabbinic scholar and halakhic authority.

Today's Americans, not Jewish scholars, but 9 Judges of the Supreme Court,  must decide whether or not an abortion is permitted to be considered to be a homicide or not.  If it is, then no abortion would ever be permitted.  Evidently Catholicism does not allow it but considers life to start at conception, if one listens to the 17 various  Republicans who had thrown their hat into the ring of presidential hopefuls.

All the Jewish codifiers agreed that where the life of the mother is at stake, an abortion is not only permitted, but must be performed.

Isn't this decision stepping on the toes of religious rights?  Either the Catholic view will be followed or the Protestant one will, they most likely are varied on this..  A woman makes the decision to have some romance and then if found pregnant from it all-without protection-her decision is not her own?  This will only lead to abortion mills, as some women have always done.   On the other hand, if abortion is legal, women will not be as careful about using protection as they can always run to the hospital to have an abortion-most likely free under liberal health laws.  Abortions will be the accepted thing.  Is this the gift of the future for women?  This morality finding itself in the garbage pile?  Choosing a judge under today's circumstance takes much thought, as they will provide answers for more than abortion for us all.  Do they leave the "beholding to the president that appointed them" at the door, or do they think of just the problem before them to judge and how to they come to a decision?  What skills to they bring to the table to decide?  Who will be as acceptable as Judge Scalia was?

Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Justices_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States
Book:  What does Judaism say about...?  by Louis Jacobs, and his reference was from Birth Control in Jewish Law, by David M. Feldman, New York, 1968, part 5, pp 251-294.
To Be a Jew by Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin

Our Former 2 State Solution in 920 BCE

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                          

Israelites entering Egypt

In the days of Pharoahs and kings, there was an oppressed people who had been living in Egypt for 400 years as slaves after leaving their home in Canaan because of a drought.  They were freed by an Egyptian prince named Moses who had found out his birth parents had been Israelites, Amram and Jochebed of the tribe of Levi.  He led them back to Canaan and took it over under the guidance of the one and only G-d, and there they built their kingdom with kings Saul, David and Solomon (961-920 BCE), son of King David and the beautiful Bathsheba.
                                                                         

King Solomon and a wife

King Solomon was wise, known throughout the land for his wisdom. He is also the author of much of our Jewish thinking.   His reputation was far and wide, even reaching the ears in Africa of Queen Sheba who came and visited him.  He built the Temple to glorify G-d.  This was finished in the 11th year of Solomon's reign and ensured the central position of Jerusalem in his kingdom.  Solomon divided his land into 12 districts  for the 12 tribes of Jacob and constructed a series of fortresses, store-cities and chariot-cities such as Megiddo  and Hazor.  He then developed trade and commerce by building a harbor at Elat on the Red Sea and together with Hiram of Lebanon, sent a  great fleet of ships to the land of Opohir.

He received wealth from gifts from foreign monarchs such as Sheba.  Trade prospered with neighboring states.  They were producers of copper and iron with their large smelting furnaces in the southern areas. Of course, Solomon's royal house and court were built up with oriental magnificence and sumptuous building which housed the royal family and his harem, said to consist of 1,000 wives and concubines which he married to keep the peace between countries.

The one thing he did wrong that brought about a split in the country was demanding forced labor from his people.  This was so he could have his extensive building program, and he did this in order to save face and continue to be a strong country.  All the nations did it.  Egypt had its particular building programs going on of pryamids.  Others had gigantic temples to their gods.  Solomon's building projects were so vast that they impoverished the country, and there was no China to borrow money from.

People other than Israelites lived under his rule.  The Edomites and Arameans began to revolt.Even Israelites were malcontents.  In 933 BCE, Solomon died.  The tribe of Judah lived in the south and was the largest of the 12.  They decided to pull away from Israel and be their own state. It was Jeroboam, king of Israel (933-912 BCE)  who led the revolt against Rehoboam (933-917BCE) , King Solomon's son and successor who then became Judah's king . So Solomon's line stayed with the tribe of Judah.  Most of Benjamin joined Judah and they presumably absorbed the tribe of Simeon, which was isolated in the extreme South.  Judah had no access to the sea and had no great trade-route.  Their land was only no more than 1/3 of the area of what remained of Israel now.  Israel remained an important state, and Judah was a poor one.  However, it held Jerusalem, the center of their Jewish religion.

After they had divided, they fought each other.  It was not a peaceful divide, more like the American Civil War.  Israel existed for 210 years.  During that time they had 19 kings from 9 dynasties.  10 died from violence and 7 ruled for less than 2 years.  Before Israel was taken over by the Assyrians, they had reached their greatest power by conducting successful campaigns against neighboring states, had much luxury and at one time extended its presence as far as the gulf of Akaba.  On the other hand, Judah lasted from 933 BCE to 586 BCE, a total of 347 years.  By comparison, the USA, created in 1776, is now only 240 years old.
                                                                           

You can see that Judah was on the right and Israel went way over to the left, being less religious and more involved in international affairs.  Israel's strength had become sapped with being in a perpetual state of warfare with Damascus, Syria and both ultimately fell before the advancing power of Assyria.  Samaria had become Israel's capital and Sargon captured it in 721 BCE which was the end of Israel.

Seeing their chance, the Assyrians attacked in 721 BCE and led away the best of the men into captivity, never to be heard from again until lately when we find that it's most likely they were taken as far as today's Afghanistan and Pakistan and are the Pashtos, Muslims since at least 632 CE when Mohammad died and had his followers force people into their new religion.  Judah was not taken at this time.  Their last king was Hoshea (730-721 BCE)
                                                                     

King of Babylonia, Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BCE) Conquered all lands from Euphrates to the Egyptian frontier, including Judah, captured Jerusalem and replaced king with his own pick-Zedekiah and exiled 8,000 of the local aristocracy to Babylon.  

Finally, the Babylonians, who had taken over the Assyrians' holdings, came along in 597 BCE and again in 586 BCE with Nebuchadnezzar at the helm and take most of the population to their capital of Babylon as captives.

Divided, neither Israel nor Judah had been strong enough to hold off the strongest of empires of the period.
                                                                         

Benjamin Netanyahu, twice Israel's Prime Minister

Netanyahu, today's Prime Minister of Israel, knows our history.  His decisions are so that he keeps Israel together, never to be divided again.  Israel remains a free democracy, with opinions running from the left to the right, and today the right is in the power seat because they offer the most security, and they need it badly.  The whole world has turned against Israel for wanting to be back in its native land after 2,000 years of being homeless and the objects of persecutions.  This, surprisingly, had all been foretold by our ancient prophets.  So it's something Israelis are living with, knowing they are doing their best to be a good people and to help the world that is against them.

Why Jews Often Disagree: The Twins, Esau and Jacob, Complete Opposites

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                   

Esau and Jacob, twin sons of Isaac and Rebecca

A very special man named Abraham lived about 4,000 years ago in the 2nd millennium BCE.  He and his wife, Sarah, had a son named Isaac.  The land was full as strange people at that time in the Middle East.  People usually found mates among their own family.

Isaac at the age of 40 and Rebecca had twin sons, Esau and Jacob.  Jacob was a very important person in our Jewish history as he was the father of 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel.  And who  was Israel?  It was actually Jacob, who had a name change as his mind and soul  had developed.

Terah, father of Abraham

I wondered about their grandparents being I'm a grandmother now.  How did they contribute to the minds of both twins?  What genes did they bring to the table?  Their paternal grandfather was Abraham and grandmother was Sarah, the niece of Abraham.  So this set of grandparents had come from the same genetic family.  Abraham's father was Terah.  They had lived in the city of Ur, which is in today's Iraq;   Ur of the Chaldees, Sumeria, Mesopotamia- Iraq.  Abraham's line goes back to Noah.  Sarah's grandfather was Terah.  That's how they had been related.  Abraham and Sarah are buried in Hebron, Israel, now taken over by the Palestinian Arabs.    Abraham had been one of three sons of Terah.  His other 2 brothers were Haran and Nahor II.
                                                                               

Abram- Abraham

Abraham's son, Isaac, born in the Negev,  had married Rebekah who was his 1st cousin once removed.  Again, they were all  from the same family and were laying down the roots of their descendants becoming an endogamous society.  Rebekah's father was Bethuel,  the Aramean from Paddan-aram, and she was the sister of Laban, also an Aramean.   Bethuel's  father was Nahor II and mother was Milcah who would have been the other set of grandparents.  .  Milkah was the daughter of Haran. She had married her uncle, Nahor II.   Nahor II's father was Terah.  Luckily, brother and sister never had married in this family like what had gone on in the Egyptian culture.

The tribes of Aram, called Arameans,  were a group of Semitic tribes who invaded the Fertile Crescent at the time of Abraham and roamed between the Persian gulf and Amanus Mountains.  Aram and Israel had a common ancestry and the Israelite patriarchs were of Aramaic origin and maintained ties of marriage with the tribes of Aram.  They were found living in Syria and Mesopotamia.  The states in Syria were overthrown and turned into Assyrian dependencies.  When they were rebellious, they were punished by deportation to distant countries.  This is how the Aramaic language spread.  The Aramean deity in Syria was Hadad, god of wind, rain, thunder and lightning.  Today it's an important surname.

When Rebecca was pregnant, she could feel much movement, like an agitation, and she ask G-d about it and was told this: " That she had 2 nations in her womb, 2 regimes that shall be separated.  The might shall pass from one regime to the other, and the elder shall serve the younger."  This actually came about.

When Esau was born,  he was red, entirely like a hairy mantle.  This is why he was named "Esau."  After that Jacob was born with his hand holding onto the heel of Esau, so he was named "Jacob".  Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.

Esau and Jacob were fraternal twins.  They were complete opposites.  Esau was born first.  This meant he was to receive his father's birthright.  Jacob tricked him into selling it to him, as he felt he really deserved it more.  This made Esau so angry when he realized what he had done that he intended to kill Jacob, so Jacob fled to the land of Haran. and only returned to the family after 20 years.  While there he married his uncle Laban's 2 daughters, Rachel and Leah.    Esau received him warmly when he returned home.  .  Esau is later identified with Edom and Jacob had a growth in spirit and his name was changed to Israel.  It was later when he had sons by his wives' handmaids, Bilhah and Zilpah.  Leah also had given him a daughter.

When grown, they had different interests.  Esau became known for hunting, a man of the field.  Jacob was known as a wholesome man, abiding in the tents.  Isaac loved Esau the most and was proud of his hunting skills.  Rebecca loved Jacob.  Jacob would cook the game that Esau caught.

When Esau was 40 years old, he married Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite.  Isaac and Rebecca were not happy about this at all.  These wives were a source of spiritual rebellion to them.  The Hittites were enemies.  From the 15th century BCE on, their power extended south to Syria.  Their main kingdom had fallen in 1200 and all they had left was in northern Syria and the area around the Euphrates River.  These places were then run over by the Armenians and Assyrians.  The Hittites in the Bible were connected with the Canaanites.  Abraham had bought the cave at Machpelah from a Hittite.  They had been one of the 7 peoples the Israelites had to fight to conquer Canaan.  Later on, King David had Hittite warriors, and King Solomon himself took Hittite wives.  This should mean that some of us  carry some Hittite genes.

These twins and their story symbolizes the relationship between 2 nations, developing to the point of hostility.  In the Talmud, Esau was synonymous with villainy and violence.  The word, Esau in late Hebrew literature implies a coarse materialist.
                                                                       

Ishmaelites buying Joseph from his older brothers

 Very little has changed.  The Arab nation is said to have come from Ishmael, son of Abraham by Hagar, the Egyptian princess who was Sarah's maid. She had been a servant for 10 years before Abraham felt the need to have a son through her.  This was because Sarah had been barren and he was living under the injunction to have many children.  It was at this time that Abram's name was changed to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah.   Esau had joined Ishmael's new family when he left his father's house. Ishmael had gone to live earlier in Paran, which was the desert in the Negev.  It was land that the Israelites have marched through after they had left Mt. Sinai.  It lies south of Kadesh, going to the shores of the Gulf of Elath and the Arabah.   Ishmael  had joined Isaac in burying Abraham when he died.  His daughter married Esau.

Whatever happened to Abraham's brother Haran?  He was the father of Lot, Abraham's nephew.  Haran lived and died in Ur of the Chaldees.  It had been a trading town of NW Mesopotamia and was the center of a moon cult.  Assyrian inscriptions from this period mention a Habiru (Hebrew?) settlement in the vicinity which some scholars link with Terah's residence there.  In the 12th century, Benjamin of Tudela found a small Jewish community in Haran.

We do have the story of Lot's problem.  Lot had 2 daughters.  Lot and his daughters had been living in Zoar and settled on the mountain in a cave.  The girls had no males around to marry, so they decided to sleep with their father.  They got him drunk on wine one night, and the older one laid with him.  She bore a son and named him Moab.  He became the ancestor of all the Moab tribe.  The younger daughter had also laid with her father and she had born a son she called Ben-Ammi, the ancestor of the children of Ammon.

Moab is a country in southern Transjordan bounded by the river Hesehbon in the north, and the river Zered in the south.  The Jordan and Dead Sea is to the west and the Syrian Desert is on the east.  We see the Moabites were related to the Israelites from Lot.  Their language was akin to biblical Hebrew.  During Abraham's day they had settled in their land which had been captured from the Rephaim or Emim.  During the Exodus Period, part of this land had come under the rule of the Amorite monarch, Sihon, but after he had been defeated by the Israelites, it was occupied by the Amorites and became an object of contention between Israel, Moab and Ammon.  The Moabites were originally divided into small tribes but also united into a single kingdom, and it was the 2nd ruler, Balak, who called up Balaam to curse the Israelites.  The Moabites had extended their kingdom to Jericho.  King David had conquered the Moabites .  It finally fell to the Assyrians and became a province of theirs.  During the Persian Period, Arabs entered and assimilated with the people.  Moabites were conquered by the Hasmoneans and was later incorporated by the Romans into Arabia.

When the Pentateuch was completed, we see it forbids intermarriage with a Moabite.  The Talmud took this to mean only males and then the prohibition was finally abolished in the Mishnaic Period.  Ruth was a Moabite!  She was the ancestor of King David!  She had married Boaz, Naomi's cousin.  David's father was Jesse and his mother was Ithra's daughter.  His grandfather was Oved and his great grandfather was Boaz.  Boaz was the son of Judah of the 12 sons of Jacob/Israel..    David, the youngest son,  became king of Israel in about 1000 BCE to 960 BCE.  Today,  many of us find through DNA that we have King David as a distant ancestor.

And so Jews often disagree.  We are split in religious understandings between Orthodox, Conservative and Reform with many names in between each today.  We range from left to right in political ideals.  Much of this is connected to our religious understanding.  Each one of us thinks we are right.  The old joke has been that if 2 Jews were stranded on an island, they would build 3 synagogues; one for each and the third the one neither would enter.                                                                            

I have dual citizenship: USA and IsraelNadene Goldfoot, age 15 

 We have almost 6 million Jews in the USA making up about 2% of the population though we are only 0.02% of the world population.  6 million Jews populate Israel along with 1.7 million Arabs.  I see that we have our differences.  A big % of American Jews are Democrats and voted for Obama.  Israeli Jews have switched from left leanings with Labor to right politics with Likud for security's sake.  Where Jews in the USA have had it pretty good since WWII's end in 1945, Jews in Israel have been struggling to keep afloat since their inception in 1948.  Each has developed some different outlooks on life.  Israel lives with orthodoxy while 1.5 million American Jews are of the Reform Jewish movement and many are on the left side.  Many have also intermarried with non-Jewish partners.  It's all in the article, "Have Reform Jews given up on Israel? by Elliot Jager in The Jerusalem Report Magazine, Dec. 14, 2015 issue.  But yes, this is a crucial time in our history, and here we share very different ideals, J Street with many Reform American Jews and Israeli Jews defending Israel through the IDF service until age 55 in Israel who have gone over to the right side with Netanyahu.  .
                                                                       

You don't want to argue with my father, the boxer in his youth.
His haplogroup is Q1b1a or Q-L245.  

Though it must have been the haplotype of J1 that Aaron, brother of Moses, a Levite,  carried as the chosen Priest by Moses, and almost half of the Jews of today carry this DNA marker, we are carrying other haplotypes as well  as Jews.  My father carried Q1b1a; others carry E, G, R, I, in the male line, most likely picked up from our out of family-from the neighborhood  connections.  I guess we were never meant to all be agreeable with each other.  Differences of opinion keeps us thinking and on our toes.  There are no sheep here in our outgrown clan.  We do have a nation once again.   I have to give Netanyahu a double hand.  Anyone who can manage a people like us is just amazing.  I know what it was like to teach in a Jewish school and keep all my parents happy, both in the USA and in Israel!

I can't complain about us.  We are a creative people.  That's what we do:   debate, become lawyers, teachers, performers, businessmen and women and doctors.  But don't be surprised if we do not always agree with each other.  What we do and must keep on doing is respecting each other's opinion.  Like my husband used to say, " Moshe has a point and Sam has a point, but their hair hides it nicely.  Now my point is......"   To L'Chaim, life.  The important thing to us is preserving life.  This must come first in our decisions.

Yes, Jewish people count Abraham and Sarah as their ancestors.  It doesn't matter if we are Mizrahi, Sephardi or Ashkenazis, we had to leave Jerusalem in 70 CE and we scattered.  Now many are back.  We carry the same DNA as our ancestors.  It's like a label found in clothing telling where it was made.  Only if an ancestor converted would they not have some common haplogroups found in Jews.

Resource: The Jerusalem Report Magazine, Dec. 14, 2015, page 26-31; Have Reform Jews given up on Israel?  by Elliot Jager; though the movement is on the political and theological left, members remain mostly committed to the Zionist enterprise.  
 The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
Tanach, The Stone Edition, ArtScroll Series.
http://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2010/01/jewish-genes-what-haplogroup-could-they.html

Apartheid Debunked in Israel-Before 1973's War: A Most Pluralistic Democratic Society

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                        

Israel today is made up of 6 million Jews and 1.7 million Arabs.  These are all 100% citizens. Those born in 1972 would today be 43 years old, probably parents of the young men who are drafted at age 18 above.
                                                                             

Druze in IDF

Druze in Israel

Back in 1972's census, only 24 years after its birth, there were 3.2 million people in the state of which 2.7 million were Jews which was 85% and there were only 359,000 Muslims which was 11.2%, about the same percent as USA's black population.  All or nearly all of the Muslims were Arabs.  About 80,000 were Christian Arabs (2.4%) and about 39,000 were Druzes and others which was 1.3%.  Druzes are an Arab group that separated from Islam the 10th century.
                                                                         

1949 armistice-Purple is Israel

In 1949 at the end of the Israeli War  of Independence, there were only some 160,000 Arabs.  Natural growth was one cause of a big increase.  Another was due to the readmission of thousands who fled when the Arab states attacked Israel and then returned.  Those who didn't remain in refugee camps supported by UNRWA.
                                                                                                                                   

Citizens are anyone who lived in Israel in 1948  when Israel announced her rebirth on May 14th.  This is also when the Brits' mandate of 30 years was up.  Conditions are that if they stayed, they are citizens.  Anyone  else who wants to be a citizen must wait for 3 years.  In the USA a person waits and studies to pass an exam for 5 years.  It is the homeland of the Jewish people, so Jews are the exception, coming under the Law of Return.  Thus, any Jewish immigrant from any country will be admitted and made a citizen if they wish without waiting the 3 years.
                                                                     

Soon after moving into my Safed apartment in 1980

 My husband and I weren't aware of this, even though my husband was a history teacher in high school in Oregon.  We waited for 5 years and then filed.  Luckily, in the USA one can have dual citizenship.

Because of the Arabs living in Israel, Arabic has official status along with Hebrew, the  language spoken in Biblical days and used for prayer in synagogues ever since since our writings are mostly in Hebrew.  Hebrew was revived in the 1880s as a spoken language in Eretz Yisrael.  It is helping to unite Jews from all over the world.                                                  

Knesset in Jerusalem, Israel's Capital

In the Knesset (building of legislature), Arab members speak Arabic.  All Knesset proceedings are conducted with simultaneous translation from Hebrew into Arabic or vice versa just like in the UN.  Citizens may use Arabic in any court of law or government office.  The USA doesn't even have this procedure for Spanish speakers.
                                                                                                       

Hebrew

Arabic

Arab children attended schools where classes were conducted in Arabic and where Arab history and culture were freely taught.  My personal opinion is that this should have been stopped and public schooling should be required.  The reason is that in Judea and Samaria, hate is still taught for Jews.  Maps show Palestine but not Israel.  There will never be  a national spirit of love for Israel by the Arabs with exceptions for Druze and a few others.  The way Muslims have been acting in Jerusalem lately, knifing the population there, shows that these attackers are following the dictates of otherMuslims who want an uprising.  They have become brainwashed to hatred.
 I entered the scene in 1980 and by 1981-1985 was teaching English.
                                                                                 

Circassians in Israel

 I had a mixture of Jewish and a few Circassian students in  the jr. high  public school in Safed.   Everyone had a choice of studying French or Arabic and all had to study English. In Haifa there was a Jewish-Arab school as well as a large center for joint Jewish-Arab sports groups, art groups, meetings and exhibitions.  The study of Arab history and culture was an integral part of the curriculum in Jewish schools.   .

The country then had 24 daily papers.  4 were in Arabic.  Many Arabic books and some 20 Arabic magazines were published.  The TV and radio featured daily programs in Arabic.  Besides that, in Safed we were able to get TV from Egypt, Lebanon and Syria, of course all in Arabic.  The only censoring going on was on matters involving military security.

There were Arab-Jewish cultural centers, usually privately run, was increased and fostering creativeness of Israeli Arabs in Drama, literature and painting.  After Jews from Europe or the USA came to live in Israel, they became more conscious of Arab culture and tradition, so interaction was increasing.  Since 1962, a Jewish-Arab summer camp for youth had been held in Akko "Acre." Jews who came to Israel via Arab countries had been kicked out and had to leave penniless. 850,000 Jews had been living in Arab lands before Israel's statehood.   Most all are now living in either Israel or the USA.   They were 2nd class citizens there, called Dhimmis.  Those Jews were very used to living with Arabs.  I find it's the Arabs who have a hard time accepting Jews who in their eyes were always lower classes than themselves.  They have a hard time accepting the fact that they now have their own country.
                                                                     

Mosque of Omar in Jerusalem

Israel treated religious groups as private associations but also as entities with official standing.  They took care of marriage and divorce of the groups.  Each one has its own system of courts to deal with these according to its religious law; the Rabbinical, Muslim, Druze, Roman Catholic, etc.  Members of the Muslim clergy of about 200 in 1972 were paid by the State, like the clergy of other faiths.  Regular services were held in some 90 mosques, and Muslim Friday prayers were broadcast on the national radio.

Though Saturday is the official Jewish Sabbath and is the official day of rest in Israel like Sunday used to be in the USA, Muslims and Christians have the option, under law, to close their places of work instead on either Friday or Sunday, respectively.

In 1972, public service and public office by Arabs was fairly low but growing because now Arabs are able to finish high school.  There were about 5,000 Arabs among the nation's civil service employees who number around 70,000.  Arabs and Druzes served routinely as magistrates.  About 50,000 Druze were living in Israel as of 1992 and were concentrated in 18 villages in the western Galilee and on Mt. Carmel.  They cooperated with the Israel forces during and since 1948's War of Independence and they now sit in the Knesset.

The Knesset has 120 members.  In 1972,  4 were Arabs and 1 was a Druze.  The Minister of Health, Abdul Aziz Zuabi, is an Arab .  Seif Aldin Alzuabi was a former Speaker of the Knesset. Jaber Muadi, former Deputy of communications, is a Druze.
                                                                   

Police needed at Mosque where they do not allow Jews to pray

Israel's Police Force has Bedouin Arabs, Druzes and other minority groups as members.  The Police force performs ordinary police duties and also works with the Army in guarding the borders against infiltrators.  In 1973 there were 1,287 Arabs and Druzes in a total force of 13,882 Police.
                                                           

Black Ethiopian in IDF

Christian, Arab and Female IDF

Druze in IDF

Israel is understanding of people's emotions.  To avoid one's conscience conflicting, exemptions to serve in the IDF (Israel Defense Force)  is given to certain ethnic and religious groups.  The Druze, Circassians (Muslim sect)  decided they do not want to be exempted from the draft.  Most Arabs, however, both Muslims and Christians, do make use of the exemptions.  Individuals are free to volunteer for service and some do each year.

Political Parties are many in this multiparty system.  The Mapam party and communist Party have Arabs on their slates of candidates.  Israel's Labor Party (Golda Meier) offers special slates of Arab candidates.  There are also exclusive Arab parties.  Many people do cross ethnic lines so many Arabs voted for the Labor Party in  1972.  Before Israel was created, pre 1948 days, there was almost no Arab local government.  Only 3 towns had local councils.  By 1972 there were 2 local council and 46 local councils that were Arab or Druze.  Another 27 Arab villages had representation in council with mixed Arab-Jewish membership.  More than 82% of Israeli Arabs lived in places with home rule.
                                                                               

Subarus were popular in Israel.  We had one.  

All citizens could travel in Israel without licenses or permits.  They were also free to leave and return with just passport requirements.  One catch, Arab states do not allow Israelis entrance.  Israel allowed citizens of Arab states entrance, however, even places like Syria who were hostile to her.  They could enter for pilgrimages, family visits and other peaceful purposes.  By 1974, about 250,000 persons entered Israel on that basis.

No matter who you were, all received the same wages for the same work.
                                                                     

Synagogue in Israel built in 1906-Knesseth Israel

Then came Yom Kippur and the  October 6, 1973 War.  This was the holiest day of the year, every year.  Egypt and Syria attacked Israel and were on Israel's borders. At least 9 Arab states, including 4 non-Middle Eastern nations, actively aided the war effort.  The least enthusiastic one was Jordan and king Hussein who must have been kept uninformed of Egyptian and Syrian war plans.  He sent his 40th and 60th armored Brigades---to Syria.  They were stationed on the Amman-Damascus route and attacked Israeli positions along the Kuneitra-Sassa road on October 16th.  3 Jordanian artillery batteries also were in the fight carried out by almost 100 tanks.
                                                                       

On the Golan Heights where so many Druze lived, about 180 Israeli tanks faced 1,400 Syrian tanks.  Along the Suez Canal, less than 500 Israeli IDF wee attacked by 80,000 Egyptians.  Russians put their money on the Arabs winning the war.  So did the UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim who had served in the German army and was even guilty of war crimes in the Balkans.  He had such a record that he was barred from the USA when he became president of Austria.  I tell you this because it was then the UN who then voted to end all military activity when Israel had cut off and isolated the Egyptian 3rd Army and could have destroyed it.  Note that at this time, the Arabs and Jews were doing remarkably  well in Israel, but the Arab nations could not abide this.

North African countries responded to Arab and Soviet calls to help Egypt and Syria.  Algeria sent 3 aircraft squadrons of fighters and bombers, an armored brigade and 150 tanks.  About 1,000-2,000 Tunisian soldiers were stationed in the Nile Delta.  Sudan had 3,500 troops in southern Egypt, and Morocco sent 3 brigades to the front lines including 2,500 men to Syria.  Lebanon had radar units that Syria used.  They also allowed Palestinian terrorists to shell Israeli civilian villages and towns from its territory.  Oh yes, the Palestinians were right in there on the Southern Front with the Egyptians and Kuwaitis.  Another miracle happened.  Israel won.

Thus, Europe has been condemning Israel since then as an apartheid state when it has never treated Arabs in such a manner.  We follow the Golden Rule:  Don't do to others what you don't want done to you, something that was never followed for them while living in the Arab states.  24 years after living through Arab attacks and wars from 1947-1949, 1956, 1967, and then again in 1973, and by 1972 they were getting along well. Actually, it was Apartheid that was enacted against the Jews living in Arab lands up until 1948.  All during the 2,000 years of living outside of Eretz Yisrael, a form of Apartheid was practiced on the Jews of Europe, and yes, even in the USA.  When a people are not allowed jobs, clubs, etc, this is apartheid and it happened to Jews for a long time.  It's another reason Jews need their own state.
                                                                                                   

Amidst fighting wars, Israel managed to bring in 1,400,000 immigrant Jews in 24 years from conception.  Starting with a core of 650,000 tired Jews in May 1948 fresh out of the holocaust and mixed in with the Sabras, they grew to 3,164,000 by May 1972 and out of these, 1,400,000 were immigrants which are called olim.  They came in 4 major waves of immigration, with the first wave from Poland, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia.  Then came the immigrants from the Arab countries from Iraq, Yemen, and Libya.  Thirdly came Jews from Morocco, Tunisia, Poland and other countries.  Romanian Jews came under a family reunification plan, so in the 60's came eastern Europeans and North Africans.  After the 6 Day War of 1967 came Jews from North and South america, Western Europe and Russia.  by late 1972, 200,000 immigrants had arrived.  Lastly, I made aliyah in 1980, with others, of course.  Israel has never known real peace.  Neighboring states have refused to accept her very existence, causing 4 major wars on this tiny state.  It's taken all this time to have 2 peaceful neighbors now, Jordan and Egypt.  May they keep the peace.

Resource: Jewish Digest, January 1976, p 22-Israel:  A Pluralistic Democracy:  the status of Arabs in the Jewish State
From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters
Myths and Facts-a concise record of the Arab-Israeli conflict by Mitchell G. Bard, Joel Himelfarb p. 77.