RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian population in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem grew by 27 percent in a decade, to 4.8 million, according to preliminary census figures released Wednesday.
The findings come at a time of renewed debate in Israel about if and when Arabs could reach numerical parity with Jews in the territory between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River. The area encompasses Israel and war-won lands sought by Palestinians for a future state.
Prominent Israeli demographer Sergio Della Pergola reiterated this week that he expects parity in a generation — a prognosis dismissed by Israeli nationalists as skewed and hailed by supporters of an Israeli-Palestinian partition deal as a call for action. Those calling for a Palestinian state say it’s the only way to keep Israel both Jewish and democratic.
Ola Awad, the head of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, said she expects parity even sooner but used different criteria.