On May 21, 2006, at 6:23 AM, Bryan Atinsky wrote:
> Trying to keep Israel Jewish
>
> http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3253226,00.html
>
> Efrat, an anti-abortion organization that pays women to carry
> pregnancies through to term, says it is in forefront against so-called
> 'demographic threat'
>
> Reuters
>
> In the 58 years since its founding, few issues have stalked the
> state of
> Israel like demographics - the fear that Arabs may some day
> outnumber Jews.
>
> Responding to an issue that Israelis often refer to as "the
> demographic
> threat", a non-profit Jewish group is encouraging poor, pregnant
> Jewish
> women who might be considering having an abortion to go ahead and
> have a
> child instead.
>
> Set up 29 years ago by Eli Schussheim, a surgeon, the Efrat
> organization
> offers women USD 1,000 (NIS 4,500) of support for a year, including
> diapers, a crib and baby clothes, if they decide to give birth rather
> than terminate their pregnancies.
>
> It is one of a range of groups whose guiding principle is to prop up
> Israel's Jewish population amid statistics showing that the Arab
> birthrate is twice that of Jewish families.
>
> According to government figures, Israel's population is just over
> seven
> million people, three-quarters of whom are Jewish.
>
> But the Arab minority, about a fifth of the population, is growing
> rapidly, as are Palestinian communities under Israeli occupation. Some
> projections say Arabs will be a majority in Israel and the West
> Bank by
> 2020 unless action is taken.
>
> "The demographic situation is getting worse all the time," says
> Schussheim, 64, who was born and raised in Argentina. "Every child we
> can save makes a difference."
>
> Schussheim says he started the organization shortly after changes were
> made to Israel's abortion laws in the late 1970s.
>
> While he considers himself "pro-choice", he says too many Jewish women
> end up making the wrong choice because of economic hardship and
> terminate their pregnancies.
>
> 'No regrets'
>
> According to government figures, about 22,000 abortions are
> performed in
> Israel each year but Efrat believes the numbers are more than double
> that if unofficial terminations are included.
>
> "Since the founding of the state of Israel, more than one million
> Jewish
> children have been lost," says Tzvi Binn, a spokesman who helps raise
> funds for Efrat in the United States.
>
> "It's a constant struggle to maintain the Jewishness of the state, but
> saving Jewish lives helps us in that struggle."
>
> Whereas terrorist attacks killed an average of one person a week in
> Israel last year, and car crashes nine people every seven days, Efrat
> says 900 babies a week were destroyed.
>
> "Imagine how much stronger Israel would have been demographically
> today
> with one million more Jews," the organization says on its website.
> "Supporting Efrat is the most direct way one can strengthen Israel and
> the Jewish people."
>
> US support
>
> The group, which last year gave financial support to 1,806 women,
> received more than half its funding now from the United States.
> Most of
> the money comes from synagogues, but there is growing support from
> evangelical Christian groups and others opposed to abortion.
>
> Schussheim says he is not so concerned about where the money comes
> from,
> just as long as Jewish babies are born.
>
> "Even if we had 10 million Jews here and there wasn't a demographic
> problem, I would still do it," he says.
>
> "In 29 years, I haven't had one case where a woman said she
> regretted it."
>
>
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