THE SPINE NOVEMBER 14, 2010
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The U.N. is not a particularly honest source for data. But its annual Development Program Report does have a reputation for probity.
According to a very distinguished Israeli intellectual--a former minister of education and now a professor of law at the interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya--Amnon Rubinstein, writing in today's Jerusalem Post, "Unexpected Expectancy," apprizes of the fact that "life expectancy in violence-ridden, tense Israel (is) the 10th highest in the world." This includes all denizens in the country: that is, Jews, Christian Arabs, Muslim Arabs, Druze. The datum is
81.2 years.
"Below France, Italy, Sweden and Spain," Rubinstein tells us, "but above Norway, Canada and New Zealand." And, counter-intuitively, "much above the United Kingdom (79.8 years) and the United States (79.6)." These statistics are general averages. Jewish women on average live to be 83.9 and Jewish men to 80.5.
The author parses out explanations for the differentials between Israel's Arab citizens and its Jewish ones.
Furthermore, Israel is a divided society, and its Arab minority, although enjoying a standard of living superior even to that of the oil-rich Arab states, is poorer than the Jewish majority. Indeed, there is an average discrepancy of 3.8 years in life expectancy between the two communities.
Here is a desolating comparison in comparisons:
A recent survey in the UK showed that life expectancy in London’s Kensington-Chelsea neighborhood is 17 years (!) higher than that which prevails a few miles away in Tottenham Green; and in the US the discrepancy between whites and blacks is five years.
Demography always intrigues me, not only intrinsically but for evaluative purposes. The first scholars whom I read who predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union (and were ridiculed for it) were Nicholas Eberstadt and Emmanuel Todd.
Rubinstein's analysis of the statistics of life are extremely optimistic for Israel. And here's why:
There is a further fact which has to be noted: Israelis not only live longer but, as sociologist Oz Almog notes, they lead a longer active life than their peers in other countries. Perhaps this is why Israelis accepted with equanimity the postponement of the right to pension by two years from 65 to 67 for men and 60 to 62 for women, and why they cannot comprehend the French rage against the postponement of the retirement age to 62.
Needless to say, the gaps in society are very troubling, and there should be a national effort (absent in the proposed budget) to shrink them. An added result of such shrinkage would be greater clarity as to whether noneconomic factors play a role in the life expectancy of different sectors.
But in the meantime we may sit back and take pride in this unique achievement: It is totally unexpected that our violence-ridden, tense, relatively poor country should precede rich welfare states such as Norway, Canada and Germany in this important criterion measuring human development and quality of life.
Let’s leave the reasons for this miracle aside – perhaps the reason is that we prefer humous to hamburgers, or the ever-summery weather we complain about – and just gloat.
12 comments
There is another reason or at least a factor explaining the observation that Israeli Arabs have a slightly shorter average life span than Israeli Jews. Marriage between close relatives (e.g., first cousins or uncle-niece) has been far more common among Arabs from all over the middle east that it has been among Jews for many many years. As any population geneticist will tell you, generations of consanguineous marriages will greatly increase the probability of genetic defects surfacing most of which will contribute directly or indirectly to a shorter lifespan, be it in the form of greater infant mortality or in the form of greater susceptibility to heart disease, diabetes etc. By way of example, an acquaintance of mine who is a podiatrist tells me that there is great demand and great need throughout the Arab world for quality podiatric care to save feet ravaged by the chronic circulation deficiency in extremities that is often a complication of diabetes. Given that there is a significant genetic component to diabetes, a higher rate of inbreeding will increase the likelihood of diabetes in a population. In recent years, some Arab states (I believe the Saudis in particular) have launched advertising campaigns aimed at reducing the incidence of consanguineous marriages. I don't know how successful they have been or even if there is enough data in to judge the campaigns' success but clearly the Arab health authorities take the problem seriously. Hershel Ginsburg Jerusalem / Efrata P.S. Until recently consanguineous used to be more frequent among the Hassidic branches of ultra-orthodox Jews but in recent decades this has been discouraged, if not forbidden outright by most if not all Hassidic rabbis, for the reasons I outlined above. My paternal grandparents were first cousins and we often joke (but half seriously) in the family that some of the "family diseases" stem from that consanguineous match. Also many Amish now recognize that this is a source of their higher incidence of birth defects and I believe (although I could be wrong) that they have come around to discouraging the practice.
- ginzy
November 14, 2010 at 12:25pm
Let’s leave the reasons for this miracle aside – perhaps the reason is that we prefer humous to hamburgers, or the ever-summery weather we complain about – and just gloat. Diet, climate, exercise, even prayer all make a difference. But why would you gloat? You are aware that it is predicated on a lifetime of living there, not a short time. Ginzy, I make it a point to joke how my marriage to an Asian is better than if I married just another Irish Catholic for the reasons you outline. What is interesting is how diverse the Jewish genetic pool actually is, from black Ethiopians to blond hair, blue eyed Nordic types (there was even a group of Chinese Jews). I guess the only benefit of the diaspora was an infusion of the world's DNA into the collective gene pool.
- blackton
November 14, 2010 at 5:01pm
"(there was even a group of Chinese Jews). " I recently read that one of the IDF's senior military brass was half-Chinese. Much to my surprise. He actually looks Chinese, a Chinese sabra:) But I can't recall his name. Perhaps Ginzy can help.
- noga1
November 14, 2010 at 5:56pm
Marty, talking about hummus instead of hamburgers, there's a lively hummus lunch-counter sort of place called Ali Caravan on Dolphin St in Jaffa. It was the new Lonely Planet that brought me there, I have to admit, but it was worth a visit.
- ironyroad
November 14, 2010 at 6:21pm
Admiral Eli Marom -- nicknamed "Chiney" -- took over as navy chief this month after his predecessor, David Ben-Bassat, quit amid criticism of his conduct during the Lebanon war. - Marom's mother was a member of the Chinese Jewish community, born to a local man and a Russian emigre woman. She married Marom's father after he fled his native Germany for China during World War Two. In 1955, the couple moved to Israel, where Marom was born. - Marom's asiatic appearance may have helped him advance in the Israel Navy. "The fact that Chiney looked different forced him constantly to show that he was better. He became one of the very best very quickly," one former comrade told the weekend Yediot Acharonot, which ran a profile of the new admiral. -
- rmakover@swbell.net-OLD
November 14, 2010 at 6:28pm
irony: The best hummus in Israel is considered to be the Hummus Givataim, kind of unusual for this type of Middle Eastern food since Givataim is a very yuppy, Ashkenazi town. I ate hummus all over the world, including West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem and Jaffa. I must say that Hummus Givataim is the best. Their Hummus with warm Phoul, (I guess its fayva beans in English) is heaven.
- rmakover@swbell.net-OLD
November 14, 2010 at 6:34pm
This isn't the point of the article, but can anyone provide a justification for letting women retire five years earlier than men? Women are more likely to be in good health at ages 62-67 and less likely to do physically demanding work anyway. And it's not like 62 year old women have newborn children to take care of. What is the rationale for this policy?
- WillPastor
November 14, 2010 at 7:01pm
makover (and Noga) -- what's that T.S. Eliot line in "The Love Song of J. Afred Prufrock"? "Almost, at times, the Phoul."
- ironyroad
November 14, 2010 at 7:37pm
Here is the Phoul waltz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UlEJXkxnSc&feature=related
- noga1
November 14, 2010 at 9:25pm
Blackie, the Jewish genetic situation is far more complicated. While Jews did pick up their share of "foreign" DNA throughout the years of diaspora, the individual communities were relatively isolated and small in size. These two factors combined to both encourage a greater degree of inbreeding (consanguineous in the broader sense as well as in the "cousins" sense) and also enabled another population genetic phenomenon known as the "founder effect". The net result is that Jews have a "wealth" of genetic diseases, although most of them tend to be restricted to specific communities. For example, Tay-Sachs is largely found among Ashkenazi Jews from eastern Europe while beta-thalassemia is far more common among Sephardic / Mediterranean Jews. I vaguely remember from my graduate school days (a long, long time ago) coming across an ad for a biomedical textbook on Jewish genetic diseases and it was on the hefty side. What is interesting in Israel (outside of the Hareidi, especially Hassidic communities) is the increasing prevalence of marriages of kids from historically (and genetically) separate communities. We are about as Ashkenazi as they come, but my son-in-law is of Moroccan Jewish ancestry from a family that traces its roots to a specific town in Spain. Over time (and it probably will take a number of generations) this phenomenon should have at least some effect on the frequency of various disease alleles in the Jewish population. hg
- ginzy
November 15, 2010 at 5:52am
"Almost, at times, the Phoul." Irony: That's what I said, the Phoul is Cool! Long live the Hummus with Phoul!
- rmakover@swbell.net-OLD
November 15, 2010 at 7:17am
"What is interesting in Israel (outside of the Hareidi, especially Hassidic communities) is the increasing prevalence of marriages of kids from historically (and genetically) separate communities. We are about as Ashkenazi as they come, but my son-in-law is of Moroccan Jewish ancestry from a family that traces its roots to a specific town in Spain. Over time (and it probably will take a number of generations) this phenomenon should have at least some effect on the frequency of various disease alleles in the Jewish population." A perfect description of heterosis, also known as hybrid vigor. Take two inbred populations and cross them, and the result is superior to both. Unfortunately, the boost fades in subsequent generations. Also, I don't believe cross breeding in this way directly reduces the frequency of any given Mendelian recessive. Recruitment factors and whether the population is stable, growing, or shrinking have large effects in that respect.
- IowaBeauty
November 19, 2010 at 4:39pm