Israel's Population Nears 6 Million

The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics has published its Statistical Abstract of Israel for 1998, MA'ARIV reported (Sept. 15, 1998). According to the new abstract, Israel’s population is 5,987,000, an increase of 142,000 from last year's census. Out of that number, 4,753,000 are Jews, or 79.4 percent of the population, 886,000 Muslims (14.8 percent), 128,000 Christians (2.1 percent), 98,000 Druze (1.6 percent), and 123,000 other (2 percent).