Tag: Israel

DEMOGRAPHIC, GEOGRAPHICAL, AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS AMONG THE GREEK JEWRY, 1919-2019

Nikola YOZGOF-ORBACH

Senior lecturer, Department of Behavioral Sciences, Zefat Academic College, Jerusalem st 11, Zefat, Israel 1320611. Tel: 972-4-692-7866

yozgofo@zefat.ac.il

Abstract

This article discusses demographic, spatial and economic aspects of Greek Jewry in Israel from 1919 to 2019, focusing on its spatial distribution and its demographic processes over the years. This study is based on historicist and interpretive content analysis and on processing and analysis of statistical reports by the Central Bureau of Statistics, as well as analysis of the findings of questionnaires from 2008 and 2019 transmitted among Greek immigrants and their descendants in Israel. The findings show that after the Holocaust, most of the Greek Jews lived in Israel. Many of them settled mainly in urban centers, near the Israeli coastal plain, in the center of the country (Tel Aviv, Bat Yam and Rishon Lezion) or in Haifa. The waves of immigration from Greece to Israel are continuing, but the number of immigrants has diminished greatly over the years. In recent decades, only a few dozen have emigrated to Israel. Demographically Greek Jewry in Israel is characterized by an education rate that is higher than the general average in the country; with a higher level of secularism than the national average; with a low fertility rate compared to other Jewish women in Israel and with a higher  income than the average in Israel. It is also found that among the first generation, only a few hundred are still alive today. It was also revealed that the total number of Greek Jewry today, is 58,238 people and not 10,300 people as shown in the CBS publications of 2018.

Keywords: Jewish Demography, Israel, Greek Jews , Greek immigrants, Jewish Greek Economy

JEL classification:

 pp. 299-313

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THE ROLE OF ENERGY AS A GEOPOLITICAL FACTOR FOR THE CONSOLIDATION OF GREEK-ISRAELI RELATIONS

Ioannis Th. MAZIS

Chair of the Faculty of Turkish and Modern Asian Studies, School of Economics and Political Sciences, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Hellas, www.geo-mazis.gr
mazis@her.forthnet.gr

Ioannis P. SOTIROPOULOS

Research Fellow, Laboratory of Geo-cultural Analyses, of the Greater Middle East and Turkey, Faculty of Turkish Studies and Modern Asian Studies, School of Economics and Political Sciences, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Hellas
ipshellas@hotmail.com

Abstract

During the current historical coincidence, the geostrategic conjunction of Greece-Cyprus-Israel is a reality, in order for the three states to cope in the best possible manner with the contemporary and future challenges in the arena of international and regional relations.  Having a common strategic perception of the geopolitical sub-system of the south-eastern Mediterranean, Athens, Nicosia and Jerusalem strengthen day by day their political, diplomatic, economic and military relations, aiming at the preservation of stability in the area, against any revisionist factor. For the aforementioned strategic alliance, the discovery, extraction and exploitation of the hydrocarbon neo-reserves within the Greek, Cypriot and Israeli consecutive Exclusive Economic Zones, (EEZs), is the dynamic catalyst that reinforces even further the allied cooperation and effectiveness.  Amidst the geopolitical transformation of the wider region of North Africa, Middle and Near East, the construction of the East Mediterranean Pipeline, (East-Med), is a common pursuit of the outmost significance, for the strategic alliance. Indeed, if the East-Med is realized, it will be able to transfer, in the first phase, the Israeli and Cypriot hydrocarbons from the off-shore neo-reserves via Greek sovereign territory and EEZ to Italy and central Europe, signaling EU’s gradual disengagement from the dependence on the Russian natural gas, allowing the EU to make its first steps of energy emancipation.  Despite Ankara’s attempt for rapprochement with Jerusalem, the official Israeli position heavily leans towards an Israel-Greek-Cypriot strategic alignment, as Israel’s national security constitute the ultimate long-term priority for Jerusalem. Above all, such a development will upgrade the geopolitical status of all the three states of the strategic alliance in the regional geopolitical as well as the supra-geopolitical system.

Keywords: East Mediterranean energy neo-reserves, Levantine Basin, natural gas-field Zohr, East Mediterranean pipeline-(East-Med), south-east Mediterranean geopolitical sub-system, Israel, Cyprus, Greece

JEL classification:
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Geopolitics of Energy in the Kastelorizo-Cyprus-Middle East Complex

Professor Ioannis Th. Mazis
Professor of Economic Geography, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Dept of Turkish
and Modern Asian Studies

Dr. Georgios – Alexandros Sgouros
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Laboratory of Marine Geo-environment & Sedimentology, Dept. of Geology and Geo environment

Abstract:
The geophysical and geological submarine features (pockmarks, gas chimneys, salt domes, etc).,identified by multi-beam echosounders and sidescan sonars ,seismic surveys in the region South, South-west and South-east of Cyprus, as well as the corresponding international interest of investors, especially in the marine region of the Levantine Basin, lead to the conclusion that, from a geopolitical standpoint, Greece must be urged to accelerate the consolidation of its sovereign rights and understand anew and in practical terms, that “Cyprus is not far away, not at all actually”. With respect to Kastelorizo and the submarine area of its EEZ, we note that detailed geophysical and bathymetric surveys have confirmed the fact that the region of the submarine Anaximander Mountains presents active mud volcanoes that are linked to the presence of gas hydrates. Samples of gas hydrates were collected by means of indicative samplings in mud volcanoes thoroughly mapped in sub-seabed layers that do not exceed 1.5 m. These “ice-crystal” like features will probably have a significant socioeconomic impact in the near feature as an energy resource. New mud volcanoes were also discovered (“Athens” and “Thessaloniki”). Gas hydrates were found in samplings conducted in the “Thessaloniki” M.V. According to preliminary assessments, the total capacity of the mud volcanoes of the Anaximander mountains complex is estimated between 2.56 – 6.40 c. km. read more

Keywords: Geopolitics of Energy, Cyprus, Israel, Levantine, multi-beam echosounders, side scan sonars, pockmarks, gas chimneys, salt domes, Exclusive Economic Zone/EEZ.