In a report by the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research, Jerusalem is blossoming, and laying the framework for positive growth. As the largest city in Israel housing over 919,000 people, all signs are pointing up. More religious and Arab residents have joined the employment and educational sectors, and less youth are choosing to emigrate. The city holds twice the amount of people as Tel Aviv, including the largest Jewish population of 569,900 and the largest Arab population of 349,600 who live among the most visited city in Israel.
In more good news, the growth in numbers of Arab students is 33% with a 25% increase at Hebrew University and a 52% increase in other academic colleges. Pre coronavirus, unemployment for Arabs was only 3%, an all-time low for all working-age Arabs. As Jerusalem Day approaches, noting 53 years of the reunification of the city, residents will be celebrating differently, but surely there is plenty to celebrate.
Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum shared with JPost that “The report shows us that the positive changes we have been working towards for the last few years are slowly happening. The Arab community in Jerusalem is integrating into higher education and good quality jobs slowly but surely, our hi-tech sector is growing and more and more young people are choosing to stay in our city. We will keep working hard to get the city back on track after the corona crisis and keep the positive momentum and growth moving forward.”
