MDG: I noticed that. But those are the figures on the Israeli government (Central Bureau of Statistics) website. I assume they have an ‘other’ category. Perhaps things like non-halachic Jews or Teimanim, Romaniotes, Italkim, etc. and the like fall into that category.
besalel: I don’t know where the JMP pulls out that number other than thin air, but the statistics I presented you come directly from the Israeli Census and from scholarly studies by demographers at Bar Ilan University. The current breakdown is 80/20 Ashkenazic/Sefardic.
Furthermore, 50% of Sefardim converted to Christianity during the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions 500 years ago. That seriously stunted Sefardic growth — resulting in over 500 years of lost Sefardic generations. And even today most Sefardim, like most Ashkenazim, are not religious. This, in large part, is a result of the zionist secularization programs and mostly occurred since the founding of the State of Israel.