נישואי קרובים באוכלוסיה הערבית בישראל

תקציר

Consanguinity among Arabs in Israel

Lutfi Jaber, Orli Romano, Mordechai Shohat

Bridge to Peace Community, Taiba Pediatric Center; Schneider Children's Medical Center (Beilinson Campus), Petah Tikva and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University

In a previous nationwide study, we examined the rate of consanguineous matings in the Israeli Arab community. The average inbreeding coefficient was 0.0192, much higher than that reported for the general population of Israel, 0.0038 in 1956-7. The inbreeding coefficients of 69 Arab villages, towns and cities (excluding the Bedouin in the South) were determined. Knowledge of the inbreeding coefficients of the various local populations is of value for geneticists, pediatricians and gynecologists and for planning suitable health programs.