In a video column, Dr. Chana Katan says the Galilee is changing before Israelis' eyes and that its Zionist character is steadily eroding. She warns that the shift should not be hidden or minimized, calling it a matter that affects the future of northern Israel and the country as a whole.
Katan says she is speaking not as a researcher or data analyst, but as an Israeli resident who cares about the country's future. She points to Acre, Karmiel and Nof HaGalil as cities founded on a clear Zionist vision, and says they are now experiencing deep demographic change.
According to her, the Jewish population share in the area is declining consistently while the Arab population is growing rapidly. She says that in Nof HaGalil, a city created to strengthen Jewish settlement in the Galilee, almost half of the residents are now non-Jewish.
She says the trend is visible in Acre and, more quietly, in Karmiel as well. Katan argues that the reality requires genuine discussion, real planning and a real commitment to preserve the Zionist continuity in the Galilee, out of love for the region and faith in the vision that founded it.
