What’s the Difference Between ‘Jew’ and ‘Israeli’?

A demographic prediction: by 2032 most ‘Jews’ will again be ‘Israelis’ — and that’s the more original name.

Q. Is there a difference between “Jew” and “Israel/i”?

The “anti-climactic” answer is: it’s an issue of “slang”. Throughout the Bible, we are called Israel or Israeli/s (often translated as Israelite/s). Only after the split (following King Solomon) the term Judah/Jew began to be used to differentiate between Judah and “Israel” (the other 10 tribes). After the latter’s exile, subsequently most of them were lost, so the term “Jew” stayed, despite the fact that G-d’s covenant is with all of the tribes. Priests (kohanim), for example, are from the tribe of Levi (not Judah), nevertheless it’s laughable to consider them “non-Jews”! Similarly, Mordecai is already called “a Yehudi (Jew/Judah) man” even though he’s from the tribe of Benjamin. Between the “ingathering of the exiles” and assimilation (including the return of some of the lost tribes), demographers like Prof. Sergio Della-Pergola figure that by the year 2032/תשצ”ב, most of the “Jews” will actually be “Israelis”. We’re gradually not only returning to our Land, language, army and coin, but to our original and more accurate (!) name, as well: Israel. Although during the exile, many saw “Judaism” just as their religion, the Nazis clarified to them that their nationality isn’t German. It’s clear from the Bible, that Israel’s not only a religion, but also our nationality, and when one converts, he accepts both (Ruth 1, “your nation is my nation, and your G-d is my G-d”). With our historic return to Israel, from now on, Israel and Jew will again be one and the same: religious-nationalism. Accordingly, Martin Luther King already understood 60 years ago what many are only recently realizing: someone who is anti-Israel is really an anti-Semite, and his double-standard speaks for itself.