The number of Jews in the world has remained steady at about 13 million for a long time, but Jews today represent only two out of every 1,000 people in the world, compared to 3.5 out of every 1,000 in 1970, 4.7 out of 1,000 in 1945, and 7.5 out of 1,000 in 1938. Israel is home to 5.4 million Jews. Last year it became the world's largest Jewish community, passing the U.S. with its estimated 5.3 million Jews.
This information was made public at the Jewish Agency's Conference on the Future of the Jewish People, which is being held in Jerusalem. Intermarriage, lack of affordable Jewish education and diluted Jewish identity outside Israel were cited as the leading causes for the decline in Jewish numbers.
Natan Sharansky, a former Israeli Cabinet minister and famed Soviet Jewish dissident, said American Jews and Israelis needed to recognize each other's strengths. "In Israel, we need to have more of an understanding of our Jewish history, and in the Diaspora there has to be a greater recognition that Israel is now the center of the Jewish world," he said.