Israel

State of Israel

(Hebrew) מדינת ישראל

(Arabic) دولة إسرائيل

Flag Emblem

Anthem: Hatikvah (The Hope; התקוה)

Capitaland largest city

Jerusalem[a]

31°47′N 35°13′E

Official languages Hebrew · Arabic[1]

Ethnic groups

(2012[2])

75.4% Jewish20.6% Arab4.0% other

Demonym Israeli

Government Parliamentary

democracy[1]

- President Shimon Peres

- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

- Speaker of theKnesset

Reuven Rivlin

- President of theSupreme Court

Asher Grunis

Legislature Knesset

Independence from Mandatory Palestine

- Declaration 14 May 1948

Area

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Israel (pron.: /ˈɪzriːəl/ or /ˈɪzreɪəl/), officially the State ofIsrael (Hebrew: מדינת ישראל, Medīnat Yisrā'el,IPA: [mediˈnat jisʁaˈʔel] ( listen); Arabic: دولة إسرائيل, DawlatIsrāʼīl, IPA: [dawlat ʔisraːˈʔiːl]), is a parliamentary democracyin the Middle East, on the south-eastern shore of theMediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria inthe northeast, Jordan and the West Bank in the east, Egyptand the Gaza Strip on the southwest, and the Gulf of Aqabain the Red Sea to the south, and it contains geographically

diverse features within its relatively small area.[1][6] In itsBasic Laws Israel defines itself as a Jewish and Democratic

State; it is the world's only Jewish-majority state.[7] Howeverless that half of the population in areas under its control are

Jewish.[8]

On 29 November 1947, the United Nations General Assemblyrecommended the adoption and implementation of the UnitedNations partition plan of Mandatory Palestine. On 14 May1948 David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World

Zionist Organization[9] and president of the Jewish Agencyfor Palestine, declared "the establishment of a Jewish state inEretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel," a stateindependent upon the termination of the British Mandate for

Palestine, 15 May 1948.[10][11][12] Neighboring Arab statesinvaded the next day in support of the Palestinian Arabs.Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab

states,[13] in the course of which it has occupied the WestBank, Sinai Peninsula (between 1967 and 1982), Gaza Stripand the Golan Heights. Portions of these territories, includingEast Jerusalem, have been annexed by Israel, but the borderwith the neighboring West Bank has not yet been

permanently defined.[14][15][16][17][18] Israel has signedpeace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, but efforts to resolvethe Israeli–Palestinian conflict have so far not resulted inpeace.

Israel's financial center is Tel Aviv,[19] while Jerusalem is thecountry's most populous city and its capital (although notrecognized internationally as such). The population of Israel,as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, wasestimated in 2013 to be 7,980,900 people, of whom6,014,400 are Jewish. Arabs form the country's second-largest ethnic group with 1,648,000 people (including Druze

and Bedouins).[2][3] The great majority of Israeli Arabs are

Coordinates: 31°N 35°E

0:00 MENU

- Total 20,770 /

22,072 km2 [a]

(153rd)8,019 / 8,522 sq mi

- Water (%) 2

Population - 2013 estimate 7,980,900

[b][2][3] (97th)

- 2008 census 7,412,200[b][4]

- Density 359/km2 (35th)930/sq mi

GDP (PPP) 2011[5] estimate

- Total $236.994 billion (50th)

- Per capita $31,467 (26th)

GDP (nominal) 2011[5] estimate

- Total $243.654 billion (41st)

- Per capita $32,351 (27th)

Gini (2008) 39.2[1]

medium · 65th

HDI (2011) 0.888very high · 17th

Currency New shekel (₪) (ILS)

Time zone IST (UTC+2)

- Summer (DST) IDT (UTC+3)

Date format dd/mm/yyyy (AD)

Drives on the right

Calling code +972

ISO 3166 code IL

Internet TLD .il

^ Excluding / including the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem (see

below).

^ Includes all permanent residents in Israel, the Golan Heights and East

Jerusalem. Also includes Israeli citizens living in the West Bank. Excludes

non-Israeli population in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

settled-Muslims, with smaller but significant numbers ofsemi-settled Negev Bedouins and Arab Christians. Otherminorities include various ethnic and ethno-religiousdenominations such as Druze, Circassians, African Hebrew

Israelites of Jerusalem,[20] Samaritans, Maronites and others.

Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentarysystem, proportional representation and universal suffrage.[21][22] The Prime Minister serves as head of government andthe Knesset serves as Israel's unicameral legislative body.Israel has one of the highest life expectancies in the

world.[23] It is a developed country, an OECD member,[24]

and its economy, based on the nominal gross domesticproduct, was the 40th-largest in the world in 2011. Israel hasthe highest standard of living in the Middle East, and the third

highest in Asia.[25]

1 Etymology2 History

2.1 Antiquity2.2 Classical period2.3 Muslim rule2.4 Zionism and the British mandate2.5 Independence and first years2.6 Conflicts and peace treaties

3 Geography and climate4 Politics

4.1 Legal system4.2 Administrative divisions4.3 Israeli-occupied territories4.4 Foreign relations4.5 Military

5 Economy5.1 Science and technology5.2 Transport5.3 Tourism

6 Demographics6.1 Language6.2 Religion6.3 Education

7 Culture7.1 Literature7.2 Music and dance7.3 Cinema and theatre7.4 Museums

a.

b.

The Star of David in the

Leningrad Codex, 1008 CE

7.5 Cuisine7.6 Sports

8 See also9 Notes10 References11 Bibliography12 External links

Upon independence in 1948, the new Jewish state was formally named MedinatYisrael, or the State of Israel, after other proposed historical and religious namesincluding Eretz Israel ("the Land of Israel"), Zion, and Judea, were considered

and rejected.[26] In the early weeks of independence, the government chose theterm "Israeli" to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made

by Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett.[27]

The name Israel has historically been used, in common and religious usage, to

refer to the biblical Kingdom of Israel or the entire Jewish nation.[28] Accordingto the Hebrew Bible the name "Israel" was given to the patriarch Jacob(Standard Yisraʾel, Isrāʾīl; Septuagint Greek: Ἰσραήλ Israēl; "struggle with

God"[29]) after he successfully wrestled with the angel of the Lord.[30] Jacob'stwelve sons became the ancestors of the Israelites, also known as the TwelveTribes of Israel or Children of Israel. Jacob and his sons had lived in Canaan

but were forced by famine to go into Egypt for four generations until Moses, a great-great grandson of Jacob,[31]

led the Israelites back into Canaan during the "Exodus". The earliest archaeological artifact to mention the word

"Israel" is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt (dated to the late 13th century BCE).[32]

The area is also known as the Holy Land, being holy for all Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity,Islam and the Bahá'í Faith. Prior to the Israeli Declaration of Independence of 1948, the whole region wasknown by various other names including Southern Syria, Syria Palestina, Kingdom of Jerusalem, IudaeaProvince, Coele-Syria, Retjenu, Canaan and, particularly, Palestine.

Main article: History of Israel

Antiquity

Further information: History of ancient Israel and Judah

The notion of the "Land of Israel", known in Hebrew as Eretz Yisrael (or Eretz Yisroel), has been important andsacred to the Jewish people since Biblical times. According to the Torah, God promised the land to the three

Patriarchs of the Jewish people.[33][34] On the basis of scripture, the period of the three Patriarchs has been

placed somewhere in the early 2nd millennium BCE,[35] and the first Kingdom of Israel was established aroundthe 11th century BCE. Subsequent Israelite kingdoms and states ruled intermittently over the next four hundred

Masada, a national symbol

Treasures, including the Menorah,

carried in a Roman triumph after the

70 CE Siege of Jerusalem.

years, and are known from various extra-biblical sources.[36][37][38][39]

The northern Kingdom of Israel, as well as Philistine city-states, fell in 722 BCE,though the southern Kingdom of Judah and several Phoenician city-statescontinued their existence as the region came under Assyrian rule. With theemergence of Babylonians, Judah was eventually conquered as well.

Classical period

With successive Persian rule, the region, divided between Syria-Coele provinceand later the autonomous Yehud Medinata, was gradually developing back into urban society, largely dominatedby Judeans. The Greek conquests largely skipped the region without any resistance or interest. Incorporated intoPtolemaic and finally Seleucid Empires, southern Levant was heavily hellenized, building the tensions betweenJudeans and Greeks. The conflict erupted in 167 BCE with the Maccabean Revolt, which succeeded inestablishing an independent Hasmonean Kingdom in Judah, which later expanded over much of modern Israel,as the Seleucids gradually lost control in the region.

The Roman Empire invaded the region in 63 BCE, first taking control ofSyria, and then intervening in the Hasmonean civil war. The strugglebetween pro-Roman and pro-Parthian factions in Judea eventually led tothe installation of Herod the Great and consolidation of the HerodianKingdom as a vassal Judean state of Rome. With the decline ofHerodians, Judea, transformed into a Roman province, became the siteof a violent struggle of Jews against Greco-Romans, culminating in theJewish-Roman Wars, ending in wide-scale destruction and genocide.Jewish presence in the region significantly dwindled after the failure of

the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire in 132 CE.[40]

Nevertheless, there was a continuous small Jewish presence and Galilee

became its religious center.[41][42] The Mishnah and part of the Talmud,

central Jewish texts, were composed during the 2nd to 4th centuries CE in Tiberias and Jerusalem.[43] Theregion came to be populated predominantly by Greco-Romans on the coast and Samaritans in the hill-country.Christianity was gradually evolving over Roman paganism, when the area under Byzantine rule was transformedinto Deocese of the East, as Palaestina Prima and Palaestina Secunda provinces. Through the 5th and 6thcenturies, dramatic events of Samaritan Revolts reshaped the land, with massive destruction to ByzantineChristian and Samaritan societies and a resulting decrease of the population. After the Persian conquest and theinstallation of a short-lived Jewish Commonwealth in 614 CE, the Byzantine Empire reinstalled its rule in 625CE, resulting in further decline and destruction.

Muslim rule

In 635 CE, the region, including Jerusalem, was conquered by the Arabs and was to remain under Muslim

control for the next 1300 years.[44] Control of the region transferred between the Umayyads,[44] Abbasids,[44]

and Crusaders throughout the next six centuries,[44] before being conquered by the Mamluk Sultanate, in

1260.[45] In 1516, the region was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, and remained under Turkish rule until theend of the First World War when Britain defeated the Ottoman forces and set up a military administration acrossthe former Ottoman Syria. The territory was divided under the mandate system and the area which included

modern day Israel named Mandatory Palestine.[45][46][47]

Theodor Herzl, visionary of

the Jewish State, in 1901

Zionism and the British mandate

Further information: History of Zionism

Since the Diaspora, some Jews have aspired to return to "Zion" and the "Land of

Israel",[48] though the amount of effort that should be spent towards such an aim

was a matter of dispute.[49][50] The hopes and yearnings of Jews living in exile

were articulated in the Hebrew Bible,[51] and are an important theme of the

Jewish belief system.[49] After the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, some

communities settled in Palestine.[52] During the 16th century, Jewishcommunities struck roots in the Four Holy Cities—Jerusalem, Tiberias, Hebron,and Safed—and in 1697, Rabbi Yehuda Hachasid led a group of 1,500 Jews to

Jerusalem.[53] In the second half of the 18th century, Eastern European

opponents of Hasidism, known as the Perushim, settled in Palestine.[54][55][56]

The first wave of modern Jewish migration to Ottoman-ruled Palestine, known

as the First Aliyah, began in 1881, as Jews fled pogroms in Eastern Europe.[57]

Although the Zionist movement already existed in practice, Austro-Hungarian

journalist Theodor Herzl is credited with founding political Zionism,[58] a movement which sought to establish a

Jewish state in the Land of Israel, by elevating the Jewish Question to the international plane.[59] In 1896, Herzlpublished Der Judenstaat (The State of the Jews), offering his vision of a future Jewish state; the following year

he presided over the first World Zionist Congress.[60]

The Second Aliyah (1904–14), began after the Kishinev pogrom; some 40,000 Jews settled in Palestine,

although nearly half of them left at a later point in time.[57] Both the first and second waves of migrants were

mainly Orthodox Jews,[61] although the Second Aliyah included socialist groups who established the kibbutz

movement.[62] During World War I, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour sent a letter that stated:[63]

His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home forthe Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, itbeing clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religiousrights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by

Jews in any other country."[64]

The Jewish Legion, a group primarily of Zionist volunteers, assisted in the British conquest of Palestine in 1917.Arab opposition to British rule and Jewish immigration led to the 1920 Palestine riots and the formation of aJewish militia known as the Haganah (meaning "The Defense" in Hebrew), from which the Irgun and Lehi, or

Stern Gang, paramilitary groups later split off.[65] In 1922, the League of Nations granted Britain a mandate

over Palestine under terms similar to the Balfour Declaration.[66] The population of the area at this time was

predominantly Arab and Muslim, with Jews accounting for about 11%.[67]

The Third (1919–1923) and Fourth Aliyahs (1924–1929) brought an additional 100,000 Jews to Palestine.[57]

Finally, the rise of Nazism and the increasing persecution of Jews in the 1930s led to the Fifth Aliyah, with aninflux of a quarter of a million Jews. This was a major cause of the Arab revolt of 1936–1939 and led the Britishto introduce restrictions on Jewish immigration to Palestine with the White Paper of 1939. With countriesaround the world turning away Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust, a clandestine movement known as Aliyah

Bet was organized to bring Jews to Palestine.[57] By the end of World War II, the Jewish population of Palestine

David Ben-Gurion proclaiming Israeli

independence on 14 May 1948, below

a portrait of Theodor Herzl

Avraham Adan raising the Ink

Flag marking the end of the

1948 Arab–Israeli War

had increased to 33% of the total population.[68]

Independence and first years

Further information: Israeli Declaration of Independence

After World War II, Britain found itself in fierce conflict with the Jewishcommunity, as the Haganah joined Irgun and Lehi in an armed struggle

against British rule.[69] At the same time, hundreds of thousands ofJewish Holocaust survivors and refugees sought a new life far from theirdestroyed communities in Europe. The Yishuv attempted to bring theserefugees to Palestine but many were turned away or rounded up andplaced in detention camps in Atlit and Cyprus by the British. In 1947,the British government announced it would withdraw from MandatoryPalestine, stating it was unable to arrive at a solution acceptable to bothArabs and Jews.

On 15 May 1947, the General Assembly of the newly formed UnitedNations resolved that a committee, United Nations Special Committee on

Palestine (UNSCOP), be created "to prepare for consideration at the next regular session of the Assembly a

report on the question of Palestine".[70] In the Report of the Committee dated 3 September 1947 to the UN

General Assembly,[71] the majority of the Committee in Chapter VI proposed a plan to replace the BritishMandate with "an independent Arab State, an independent Jewish State, and the City of Jerusalem..., the last to

be under an International Trusteeship System".[72] On 29 November 1947, the General Assembly adopted aresolution recommending the adoption and implementation of the Plan of Partition with Economic Union as

Resolution 181 (II).[73] The Plan attached to the resolution was essentially that proposed by the majority of theCommittee in the Report of 3 September 1947.

The Jewish Agency, which was the recognized representative of the Jewishcommunity, accepted the plan, but the Arab League and Arab Higher Committee

of Palestine rejected it.[74] On 1 December 1947, the Arab Higher Committeeproclaimed a three-day strike, and Arab bands began attacking Jewish

targets.[75] The Jews were initially on the defensive as civil war broke out, but

gradually moved onto the offensive.[76] The Palestinian Arab economy

collapsed and 250,000 Palestinian-Arabs fled or were expelled.[77]

On 14 May 1948, the day before the expiration of the British Mandate, DavidBen-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, declared "the establishment of a

Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel".[78][79] The onlyreference in the text of the Declaration to the borders of the new state is the use

of the term, Eretz-Israel.[80][citation needed]

The following day, the armies of four Arab countries—Egypt, Syria, Transjordanand Iraq—entered what had been British Mandate Palestine, launching the 1948

Arab–Israeli War;[81][82] Saudi Arabia sent a military contingent to operate under Egyptian command; Yemen

declared war but did not take military action.[83] In a cablegram of the same day from the Secretary-General ofthe League of Arab States to the UN Secretary-General, the Arab states gave a justification for this"intervention". After a year of fighting, a ceasefire was declared and temporary borders, known as the Green

Israeli paratroopers dig in during the

1956 Sinai War

Line, were established.[84] Jordan annexed what became known as the West Bank and East Jerusalem, andEgypt took control of the Gaza Strip. The United Nations estimated that more than 700,000 Palestinians were

expelled or fled during the conflict from what would become Israel.[85]

Israel was admitted as a member of the United Nations by majority vote

on 11 May 1949.[86] In the early years of the state, the Labor Zionistmovement led by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion dominated Israeli

politics.[87][88] These years were marked by an influx of Holocaustsurvivors and Jews from Arab lands, many of whom faced persecution

and expulsion from their original countries.[89] Consequently, thepopulation of Israel rose from 800,000 to two million between 1948 and

1958.[90] During this period, food, clothes and furniture had to berationed in what became known as the Austerity Period. Between1948–1970, approximately 1,151,029 Jewish refugees relocated to

Israel.[91] Some arrived as refugees with no possessions and were housedin temporary camps known as ma'abarot; by 1952, over 200,000

immigrants were living in these tent cities.[92] The need to solve the crisis led Ben-Gurion to sign a reparationsagreement with West Germany that triggered mass protests by Jews angered at the idea that Israel could accept

monetary compensation for the Holocaust.[93]

In the 1950s, Israel was frequently attacked by Palestinian fedayeen, mainly from the Egyptian-occupied Gaza

Strip,[94] leading to several Israeli counter-raids. In 1950 Egypt closed the Suez Canal to Israeli shipping andtensions mounted as armed clashes took place along Israel's borders. In 1956, Israel joined a secret alliance withGreat Britain and France aimed at regaining control of the Suez Canal, which the Egyptians had nationalized(see the Suez Crisis). Israel overran the Sinai Peninsula but was pressured to withdraw by the United Nations in

return for guarantees of Israeli shipping rights in the Red Sea and the Canal.[95][96]

In the early 1960s, Israel captured Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Argentina and brought him to Israel for

trial.[97] The trial had a major impact on public awareness of the Holocaust.[98] Eichmann remains the only

person ever to be executed by an Israeli court.[99]

Conflicts and peace treaties

Further information: Arab–Israeli conflict and Peace process in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Since 1964 Arab countries, concerned over Israeli plans to divert waters of the Jordan River over into the

coastal plain,[100] had been trying to divert the headwaters to deprive Israel of water resources, provokingtensions between Israel on the one hand, and Syria and Lebanon on the other. On the other hand, waterresources were confiscated for the benefit of the Israeli settlements in the Ghor. Palestinian irrigation pumps onthe Jordan River were destroyed or confiscated after the 1967 war and Palestinians are not allowed to use waterfrom the Jordan River system. Furthermore, the authorities did not allow any new irrigation wells to be drilledby Palestinian farmers, while it provided fresh water and allowed drilling wells for irrigation purposes at the

Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.[101] Arab nationalists led by Egyptian President Gamal

Abdel Nasser refused to recognize Israel, and called for its destruction.[13][102][103] By 1966, Israeli-Arab

relations had deteriorated to the point of actual battles taking place between Israeli and Arab forces.[104] In1967, Egypt expelled UN peacekeepers, stationed in the Sinai Peninsula since 1957, and announced a partialblockade of Israel's access to the Red Sea. In May 1967 a number of Arab states began to mobilize their

Territory held by Israel before and after the

1967 Six Day War. The Sinai Peninsula was

returned to Egypt in 1982.

forces.[105] Israel saw these actions as a casus belli. On 5 June1967, Israel launched a pre-emptive strike against Egypt, Jordan,Syria and Iraq. In a Six-Day War, Israeli military superiority wasclearly demonstrated against their more numerous Arab foes.Israel succeeded in capturing the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Sinai

Peninsula and the Golan Heights.[106] Jerusalem's boundaries wereenlarged, incorporating East Jerusalem, and the 1949 Green Linebecame the administrative boundary between Israel and theoccupied territories.

Following the war, Israel faced much internal resistance from theArab Palestinians and Egyptian hostilities in the Sinai. Mostimportant among the various Palestinian and Arab groups was thePalestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), established in 1964,which initially committed itself to "armed struggle as the only way

to liberate the homeland".[107][108] In the late 1960s and early

1970s, Palestinian groups launched a wave of attacks[109][110]

against Israeli and Jewish targets around the world,[111] including amassacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics inMunich. The Israeli government responded with an assassinationcampaign against the organizers of the massacre, a bombing and araid on the PLO headquarters in Lebanon.

On 6 October 1973, as Jews were observing Yom Kippur, theEgyptian and Syrian armies launched a surprise attack againstIsraeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights. The war ended on 26 October with Israel successfully

repelling Egyptian and Syrian forces but suffering significant losses.[112] An internal inquiry exonerated thegovernment of responsibility for failures before and during the war, but public anger forced Prime Minister

Golda Meir to resign.[113]

In July 1976 Israeli commandos carried out a rescue mission which succeeded in rescuing 102 hostages whowere being held by Palestinian guerillas at Entebbe International Airport close to Kampala, Uganda.

The 1977 Knesset elections marked a major turning point in Israeli political history as Menachem Begin's Likud

party took control from the Labor Party.[114] Later that year, Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat made a trip to

Israel and spoke before the Knesset in what was the first recognition of Israel by an Arab head of state.[115] Inthe two years that followed, Sadat and Begin signed the Camp David Accords (1978) and the Israel–Egypt

Peace Treaty (1979).[116] Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula and agreed to enter negotiations over an

autonomy for Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.[117]

On 11 March 1978, a PLO guerilla raid from Lebanon led to the Coastal Road Massacre, in which 38 Israelicivilians were killed and 71 injured. Israel responded by launching an invasion of southern Lebanon to destroythe PLO bases south of the Litani River. Most PLO fighters withdrew, but Israel was able to secure southernLebanon until a UN force and the Lebanese army could take over. However, the PLO soon resumed its policy ofattacks against Israel. In the next few years the PLO infiltrated back south and kept up a sporadic shellingacross the border. Israel carried out numerous retaliatory attacks by air and on the ground.

Meanwhile, Begin's government actively encouraged Israelis to settle in the occupied West Bank, leading to

Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shake

hands at the signing of the Oslo

Accords in 1993

increasing friction with the Palestinians in that area.[118] The Basic Law: Jerusalem, the Capital of Israel, passedin 1980, was believed by some to reaffirm Israel's 1967 annexation of Jerusalem by government decree andreignited international controversy over the status of the city. However, there has never been an Israeligovernment act which defined what it considers to be the extent of the territory of Israel and no act which

specifically included East Jerusalem therein.[119] The position of the majority of UN member states is reflectedin numerous resolutions declaring that actions taken by Israel to settle its citizens in the West Bank, and impose

its laws and administration on East Jerusalem are illegal and have no validity.[120]

On 7 June 1981, the Israeli air force destroyed Iraq's sole nuclear reactor, which was under construction justoutside Baghdad.

Following a series of PLO attacks in 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon once again to destroy the bases from which

the PLO launched attacks and missiles into northern Israel.[121] In the first six days of fighting, the Israelisdestroyed the military forces of the PLO in Lebanon and decisively defeated the Syrians. An Israeli governmentinquiry – the Kahan Commission – would later hold Begin, Sharon and several Israeli generals as indirectlyresponsible for the Sabra and Shatila massacres. In 1985 Israel responded to a Palestinian terrorist attack inCyprus by bombing the PLO headquarters in Tunis. Israel withdrew from most of Lebanon in 1986, butmaintained a borderland buffer zone in southern Lebanon until 2000. The First Intifada, a Palestinian uprising

against Israeli rule,[122] broke out in 1987 with waves of uncoordinated demonstrations and violence occurringin the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Over the following six years, the Intifada became more organised andincluded economic and cultural measures aimed at disrupting the Israeli occupation. More than a thousand

people were killed in the violence, many of them stone-throwing youths.[123] Responding to continuing PLOguerilla raids into northern Israel, Israel launched another punitive raid into southern Lebanon in 1988. Amidrising tensions over the Kuwait crisis, Israeli border guards fired into a rioting Palestinian crowd near theAl-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. 20 people were killed and some 150 injured. During the 1991 Gulf War, the PLOsupported Saddam Hussein and Iraqi Scud missile attacks against Israel. Despite public outrage, Israel heeded

US calls to refrain from hitting back and did not participate in that war.[124][125]

In 1992, Yitzhak Rabin became Prime Minister following an election in

which his party called for compromise with Israel's neighbors.[126][127]

The following year, Shimon Peres on behalf of Israel, and MahmoudAbbas for the PLO, signed the Oslo Accords, which gave the PalestinianNational Authority the right to govern parts of the West Bank and the

Gaza Strip.[128] The PLO also recognized Israel's right to exist and

pledged an end to terrorism.[129] In 1994, the Israel–Jordan Treaty ofPeace was signed, making Jordan the second Arab country to normalize

relations with Israel.[130] Arab public support for the Accords was

damaged by the continuation of Israeli settlements[131] and checkpoints,

and the deterioration of economic conditions.[132] Israeli public supportfor the Accords waned as Israel was struck by Palestinian suicide

attacks.[133] Finally, while leaving a peace rally in November 1995, Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a

far-right-wing Jew who opposed the Accords.[134]

At the end of the 1990s, Israel, under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu, withdrew from Hebron,[135] and

signed the Wye River Memorandum, giving greater control to the Palestinian National Authority.[136] EhudBarak, elected Prime Minister in 1999, began the new millennium by withdrawing forces from SouthernLebanon and conducting negotiations with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and U.S. President Bill

The Sea of Galilee and Tiberias.

A satellite image of Israel

Clinton at the 2000 Camp David Summit. During the summit, Barak offered a plan for the establishment of a

Palestinian state, but Yasser Arafat rejected it.[137] After the collapse of the talks and a controversial visit byLikud leader Ariel Sharon to the Temple Mount, the Second Intifada began, which was allegedly pre-planned by

Yasser Arafat.[138][139][140] Sharon became prime minister in a 2001 special election. During his tenure, Sharoncarried out his plan to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip and also spearheaded the construction of the

Israeli West Bank barrier,[141] defeating the Intifada.[142][143][144][145][146][147][148][149][150][151][152][153]

In July 2006, a Hezbollah artillery assault on Israel's northern border communities and a cross-border abduction

of two Israeli soldiers precipitated the month-long Second Lebanon War.[154][155] On 6 September 2007, IsraeliAir Force destroyed a nuclear reactor in Syria. In May 2008, Israel confirmed it had been discussing a peace

treaty with Syria for a year, with Turkey as a go-between.[156] However, at the end of the year, Israel enteredanother conflict as a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel collapsed. The Gaza War lasted three weeks and

ended after Israel announced a unilateral ceasefire.[157][158] Hamas announced its own ceasefire, with its ownconditions of complete withdrawal and opening of border crossings. Despite neither the rocket launchings nor

Israeli retaliatory strikes having completely stopped, the fragile ceasefire remained in order.[159] In what it said

was a response to more than a hundred Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israeli cities,[160] Israel began an

operation in Gaza on November 14, 2012, lasting eight days.[161][162][163]

Main articles: Geography of Israel and Wildlife of Israel

Israel is at the eastern end of theMediterranean Sea, bounded by Lebanonto the north, Syria to the northeast,Jordan to the east, and Egypt to thesouthwest. It lies between latitudes 29°and 34° N, and longitudes 34° and 36° E.

The sovereign territory of Israel,excluding all territories captured byIsrael during the 1967 Six-Day War, isapproximately 20,770 square kilometers (8,019 sq mi) in area, of which

two percent is water.[1] However Israel is so narrow that the exclusive economic

zone in the Mediterranean is double the land area of the country.[164] The totalarea under Israeli law, including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, is 22,072

square kilometers (8,522 sq mi),[165] and the total area under Israeli control,including the military-controlled and partially Palestinian-governed territory of

the West Bank, is 27,799 square kilometers (10,733 sq mi).[166] Despite its smallsize, Israel is home to a variety of geographic features, from the Negev desert inthe south to the inland fertile Jezreel Valley, mountain ranges of the Galilee,Carmel and toward the Golan in the north. The Israeli Coastal Plain on theshores of the Mediterranean is home to seventy percent of the nation'spopulation. East of the central highlands lies the Jordan Rift Valley, which formsa small part of the 6,500-kilometer (4,039 mi) Great Rift Valley.

The Jordan River runs along the Jordan Rift Valley, from Mount Hermon through

Ramon Crater, a unique type of crater

that can be found only in Israel and the

Sinai peninsula

The Knesset chamber, home to the

Israeli parliament

the Hulah Valley and the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea, the lowest point

on the surface of the Earth.[167] Further south is the Arabah, ending withthe Gulf of Eilat, part of the Red Sea. Unique to Israel and the Sinai

Peninsula are makhteshim, or erosion cirques.[168] The largest makhtesh

in the world is Ramon Crater in the Negev,[169] which measures 40 by 8

kilometers (25 by 5 mi).[170] A report on the environmental status of theMediterranean basin states that Israel has the largest number of plant

species per square meter of all the countries in the basin.[171]

Temperatures in Israel vary widely, especially during the winter. Themore mountainous regions can be windy, cold, and sometimes snowy;

Jerusalem usually receives at least one snowfall each year.[172]

Meanwhile, coastal cities, such as Tel Aviv and Haifa, have a typicalMediterranean climate with cool, rainy winters and long, hot summers. The area of Beersheba and the NorthernNegev has a semi-arid climate with hot summers, cool winters and fewer rainy days than the Mediterraneanclimate. The Southern Negev and the Arava areas have desert climate with very hot and dry summers, and mildwinters with few days of rain. The highest temperature in the continent of Asia (53.7 °C/128.7 °F) was recorded

in 1942 at Tirat Zvi kibbutz in the northern Jordan river valley.[173]

From May to September, rain in Israel is rare.[174][175] With scarce water resources, Israel has developed

various water-saving technologies, including drip irrigation.[176] Israelis also take advantage of the considerablesunlight available for solar energy, making Israel the leading nation in solar energy use per capita (practically

every house uses solar panels for water heating).[177]

Four different phytogeographic regions exist in Israel, due to the country's location between the temperate andthe tropical zones, bordering the Mediterranean Sea in the west and the desert in the east. For this reason theflora and fauna of Israel is extremely diverse. There are 2,867 known species of plants found in Israel. Of these,

at least 253 species are introduced and non-native.[178] There are 380 Israeli nature reserves.[179]

Main article: Politics of Israel

See also: Criticism of the Israeli government

Israel operates under a parliamentary system as a democratic republic

with universal suffrage.[1] A member of parliament supported by aparliamentary majority becomes the prime minister—usually this is thechair of the largest party. The prime minister is the head of government

and head of the cabinet.[180][181] Israel is governed by a 120-memberparliament, known as the Knesset. Membership of the Knesset is based

on proportional representation of political parties,[182] with a 2%electoral threshold, which in practice has resulted in coalitiongovernments.

Parliamentary elections are scheduled every four years, but unstablecoalitions or a no-confidence vote by the Knesset can dissolve a government earlier. The Basic Laws of Israelfunction as an uncodified constitution. In 2003, the Knesset began to draft an official constitution based on

Supreme Court of Israel, Givat Ram,

Jerusalem

these laws.[1][183] The president of Israel is head of state, with limited and largely ceremonial duties.[180]

The 2013 Freedom in the World annual survey and report by U.S.-based Freedom House, which attempts tomeasure the degree of democracy and political freedom in every nation, ranked Israel as the Middle East and

North Africa's only free country.[184]

Legal system

Main article: Israeli judicial system

Israel has a three-tier court system. At the lowest level are magistratecourts, situated in most cities across the country. Above them are districtcourts, serving both as appellate courts and courts of first instance; theyare situated in five of Israel's six districts. The third and highest tier is theSupreme Court, located in Jerusalem; it serves a dual role as the highestcourt of appeals and the High Court of Justice. In the latter role, theSupreme Court rules as a court of first instance, allowing individuals,both citizens and non-citizens, to petition against the decisions of state

authorities.[185][186] Although Israel supports the goals of theInternational Criminal Court, it has not ratified the Rome Statute, citingconcerns about the ability of the court to remain free from political

impartiality.[187]

Israel's legal system combines three legal traditions: English common law, civil law, and Jewish law.[1] It is basedon the principle of stare decisis (precedent) and is an adversarial system, where the parties in the suit bring

evidence before the court. Court cases are decided by professional judges rather than juries.[185] Marriage anddivorce are under the jurisdiction of the religious courts: Jewish, Muslim, Druze, and Christian. A committee of

Knesset members, Supreme Court justices, and Israeli Bar members carries out the election of judges.[188]

Administration of Israel's courts (both the "General" courts and the Labor Courts) is carried by theAdministration of Courts, situated in Jerusalem. Both General and Labor courts are paperless courts: the storageof court files, as well as court decisions, are conducted electronically.

Israel's Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty seeks to defend human rights and liberties in Israel. Israel is theonly country in the region ranked "Free" by Freedom House based on the level of civil liberties and political

rights; the "Palestinian Authority-Administered Territories" was ranked "Not Free."[7][189] In 2012, Israelproper was ranked 92nd according to Reporters Without Borders' Press Freedom Index – the highest ranking in

the region.[190]

Administrative divisions

Main article: Districts of Israel

The State of Israel is divided into six main administrative districts, knownas mehozot (מחוזות; singular: mahoz) – Center, Haifa, Jerusalem, North,Southern, and Tel Aviv Districts, as well as the Judea and Samaria Area inthe West Bank. Districts are further divided into fifteen sub-districtsknown as nafot (נפות; singular: nafa), which are themselves partitioned

into fifty natural regions.[191]

DistrictMaincity

Sub-district Population

North NazarethKinneret, Safed, Acre,Golan, Jezreel Valley

1,242,100

Haifa Haifa Haifa, Hadera 880,000

Center RamlaRishon Lezion, Sharon(Netanya), Petah Tikva,

Ramla, Rehovot1,770,200

Tel Aviv Tel AvivBat Yam, Bnei Brak,

Giv'atayim, Holon, RamatGan, Tel Aviv

1,227,000

Jerusalem Jerusalem Jerusalem 910,300

South Beersheba Ashkelon, Beersheba 1,053,600

Judea andSamaria

Modi'inIllit

Judea and Samaria2,592,555[192]

(350,143 Jewish

settlers) ]193 ]

For statistical purposes, the country is divided into three metropolitanareas: Tel Aviv metropolitan area (population 3,206,400), Haifametropolitan area (population 1,021,000), and Beer Sheva metropolitan

area (population 559,700).[194] Israel's largest municipality, both in

population and area,[195] is Jerusalem with 773,800 residents in an area of126 square kilometers (49 sq mi) (in 2009).

Israeli government statistics on Jerusalem include the population and area of East Jerusalem, which is widely

recognized as part of the Palestinian territories under Israeli occupation.[196] Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Rishon LeZion

rank as Israel's next most populous cities, with populations of 393,900, 265,600, and 227,600 respectively.[195]

Israeli-occupied territories

Main article: Israeli-occupied territories

In 1967, as a result of the Six-Day War, Israel gained control of the West Bank (Judaea and Samaria), EastJerusalem, the Gaza strip and the Golan Heights. Israel also took control of the Sinai Peninsula, but returned it toEgypt as part of the 1979 Israel–Egypt Peace Treaty.

Following Israel's capture of these territories, settlements consisting of Israeli citizens were established withineach of them. Israel applied civilian law to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, incorporating them into itssovereign territory and granting their inhabitants permanent residency status and the choice to apply forcitizenship. In contrast, the West Bank has remained under military occupation, and Palestinians in this areacannot become citizens. The Gaza Strip is independent of Israel with no Israeli military or civilian presence, butIsrael continues to maintain control of its airspace and waters. The Gaza Strip and the West Bank are seen by

the Palestinians and most of the international community as the site of a future Palestinian state.[197][198] TheUN Security Council has declared the annexation of the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem to be "null and void"

and continues to view the territories as occupied.[199][200] The International Court of Justice, principal judicialorgan of the United Nations, asserted, in its 2004 advisory opinion on the legality of the construction of the

Map of Israel showing the

West Bank, the Gaza Strip,

and the Golan Heights

Israeli West Bank barrier, that the lands captured by Israel in the Six-Day War,

including East Jerusalem, are occupied territory.[201]

The status of East Jerusalem in any future peace settlement has at times been adifficult hurdle in negotiations between Israeli governments and representativesof the Palestinians, as Israel views it as its sovereign territory, as well as part ofits capital. Most negotiations relating to the territories have been on the basis ofUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 242, which emphasises "theinadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war", and calls on Israel towithdraw from occupied territories in return for normalization of relations with

Arab states, a principle known as "Land for peace".[202][203][204]

The West Bank was annexed by Jordan in 1948, following the Arab rejection ofthe UN decision to create two states in Palestine. Only Britain recognized thisannexation and Jordan has since ceded its claim to the territory to the PLO. TheWest Bank was occupied by Israel in 1967 during the Six-Day War. Thepopulation are mainly Arab Palestinians, including refugees of the 1948

Arab-Israeli War.[205] From their occupation in 1967 until 1993, the Palestiniansliving in these territories were under Israeli military administration. Since the

Israel–PLO letters of recognition, most of the Palestinian population and cities have been under the internaljurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, and only partial Israeli military control, although Israel has on severaloccasions redeployed its troops and reinstated full military administration during periods of unrest. In responseto increasing attacks as part of the Second Intifada, the Israeli government started to construct the Israeli West

Bank barrier.[206] When completed, approximately 13% of the Barrier will be constructed on the Green Line or

in Israel with 87% inside the West Bank.[207][208]

The Gaza Strip was occupied by Egypt from 1948 to 1967 and then by Israel after 1967. In 2005, as part ofIsrael's unilateral disengagement plan, Israel removed all of its settlers and forces from the territory. Israel doesnot consider the Gaza Strip to be occupied territory and declared it a "foreign territory". That view has beendisputed by numerous international humanitarian organizations and various bodies of the United Nations.[209][210][211][212][213] Following June 2007, when Hamas assumed power in the Gaza Strip,[214] Israeltightened its control of the Gaza crossings along its border, as well as by sea and air, and prevented persons from

entering and exiting the area except for isolated cases it deemed humanitarian.[214] Gaza has a border withEgypt and an agreement between Israel, the European Union and the PA governed how border crossing would

take place (it was monitored by European observers).[215] Egypt adhered to this agreement under Mubarak andprevented access to Gaza until April 2011 when it announced it was opening its border with Gaza.

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Israel

Israel maintains diplomatic relations with 157 countries and has 100 diplomatic missions around the world.[216]

Only three members of the Arab League have normalized relations with Israel: Egypt and Jordan signed peacetreaties in 1979 and 1994, respectively, and Mauritania opted for full diplomatic relations with Israel in 1999.Despite the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, Israel is still widely considered an enemy country among

Egyptians.[217] Under Israeli law, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, and Yemen are enemy

countries[218] and Israeli citizens may not visit them without permission from the Ministry of the Interior.[219]

The Israeli Foreign Ministry in

Jerusalem

The Soviet Union and the United States were the first two countries torecognize the State of Israel, having declared recognition roughlysimultaneously, although to be strictly correct the initial recognition bythe United States on 14 May 1948 was only to recognise the provisional

government as the de facto authority of the new State of Israel.[220] TheUnited States may regard Israel as its primary ally in the Middle East,based on "common democratic values, religious affinities, and security

interests".[221] The United States has provided $68 billion in militaryassistance and $32 billion in grants to Israel since 1967, under the

Foreign Assistance Act (period beginning 1962),[222] more than any

other country for that period until 2003.[222][223][224] Their bilateralrelations are multidimensional and the United States is the principalproponent of the Arab-Israeli peace process. The United States and Israeli views differ on some issues, such as

the Golan Heights, Jerusalem, and settlements.[225]

India established full diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992 and has fostered a strong military, technological and

cultural partnership with the country since then.[226] According to an international opinion survey conducted in

2009 on behalf of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, India is the most pro-Israel country in the world.[227][228] India isthe largest customer of Israeli military equipment and Israel is the second-largest military partner of India after

the Russian Federation.[229] India is also the third-largest Asian economic partner of Israel[230] and the two

countries enjoy extensive space technology ties.[231][232] India became the top source market for Israel from

Asia in 2010 with 41,000 tourist arrivals in that year.[233]

Germany's strong ties with Israel include cooperation on scientific and educational endeavors and the two states

remain strong economic and military partners.[234][235] Under the reparations agreement, as of 2007 Germany

had paid 25 billion euros in reparations to the Israeli state and individual Israeli holocaust survivors.[236] TheUK has kept full diplomatic relations with Israel since its formation having had two visits from heads of state in2007. Relations between the two countries were also made stronger by former prime minister Tony Blair'sefforts for a two state resolution. The UK is seen as having a "natural" relationship with Israel on account of the

British Mandate for Palestine.[237] Iran had diplomatic relations with Israel under the Pahlavi dynasty[238] but

withdrew its recognition of Israel during the Islamic Revolution.[239]

Although Turkey and Israel did not establish full diplomatic relations until 1991,[240] Turkey has cooperatedwith the State since its recognition of Israel in 1949. Turkey's ties to the other Muslim-majority nations in the

region have at times resulted in pressure from Arab and Muslim states to temper its relationship with Israel.[241]

Relations between Turkey and Israel took a downturn after the Gaza War and Israel's raid of the Gaza

flotilla.[242] IHH, which organized the flotilla, is a Turkish charity that some believe has ties to Hamas and

Al-Qaeda.[243][244][245][246][247]

Relation between Israel and Greece have improved since 1995 due to the decline of Israeli-Turkish

relations.[248] The two countries have a defense cooperation agreement and in 2010, the Israeli Air Force hostedGreece’s Hellenic Air Force in a joint exercise at the Uvda base. The joint Cyprus-Israel oil and gas explorationscentered on the Leviathan gas field are also an important factor for Greece, given its strong links with

Cyprus.[249] Israel is the second largest importer of Greek products in the Middle East.[250] In 2010, the GreekPrime minister George Papandreou made an official visit to Israel after many years, in order to improve bilateral

relations between the two countries.[251]

IDF Kirya Compound, Tel

Aviv

IAI Lavi, military technology

demonstrator

Israel and Cyprus have a number of bilateral agreements and many official visits have taken place between thetwo countries. The countries have ties on energy, agricultural, military and tourism matters. The prospects ofjoint exploitation of oil and gas fields off Cyprus, as well as cooperation in the world's longest sub-sea electric

power cable has strengthened relations between the countries.[252][253][254]

Azerbaijan is one of the few majority Muslim countries to develop bilateral strategic and economic relationswith Israel. The relationship includes cooperation in trade and security matters and cultural and educationalexchanges. Azerbaijan supplies Israel with a substantial amount of its oil needs, and Israel has helped modernizethe Armed Forces of Azerbaijan. In the spring of 2012, the two countries reportedly concluded an arms deal

worth $1.6 billion.[255][256] In 2005, Azerbaijan was Israel's fifth largest trading partner.[257][258]

In Africa, Ethiopia is Israel's main and closest ally in the continent due to common political, religious and

security interests.[259] Israel provides expertise to Ethiopia on irrigation projects and thousands of EthiopianJews (Beta Israel) live in Israel.

As a result of the 2009 Gaza War, Mauritania, Qatar, Bolivia, and Venezuela suspended political and economic

ties with Israel.[243][260]

Military

Main articles: Israel Defense Forces and Israeli security forces

Further information: IDF military operations and Israel and weapons of mass destruction

Israel has the highest ratio of defensespending to GDP and as a percentage ofthe budget of all developed countries.[261][262] The Israel Defense Forces isthe sole military wing of the Israelisecurity forces, and is headed by itsChief of General Staff, the Ramatkal,subordinate to the Cabinet. The IDFconsist of the army, air force and navy. Itwas founded during the 1948

Arab–Israeli War by consolidating paramilitary organizations—chiefly the

Haganah—that preceded the establishment of the state.[263] The IDF also drawsupon the resources of the Military Intelligence Directorate (Aman), which works

with the Mossad and Shabak.[264] The Israel Defense Forces have been involvedin several major wars and border conflicts in its short history, making it one of

the most battle-trained armed forces in the world.[265][266]

Most Israelis are drafted into the military at the age of 18. Men serve three years and women two to three

years.[267] Following mandatory service, Israeli men join the reserve forces and usually do up to several weeksof reserve duty every year until their forties. Most women are exempt from reserve duty. Arab citizens of Israel(except the Druze) and those engaged in full-time religious studies are exempt from military service, although

the exemption of yeshiva students has been a source of contention in Israeli society for many years.[268][269] Analternative for those who receive exemptions on various grounds is Sherut Leumi, or national service, which

involves a program of service in hospitals, schools and other social welfare frameworks.[270] As a result of itsconscription program, the IDF maintains approximately 176,500 active troops and an additional 445,000

Israeli and Greek navies in a joint

military exercise in the Aegean Sea

reservists.[271]

The nation's military relies heavily on high-tech weapons systems designed and manufactured in Israel as well assome foreign imports. Since 1967, the United States has been a particularly notable foreign contributor ofmilitary aid to Israel: the US is expected to provide the country with $3.15 billion per year from 2013–2018.[272][273] The Arrow missile is one of the world's few operational anti-ballistic missile systems.[274] Israel's IronDome anti-missile air defense system gained worldwide acclaim after intercepting hundreds of Qassam, 122 mm

(5 in) Grad and Fajr-5 artillery rockets fire by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip.[275][276]

Since the Yom Kippur War, Israel has developed a network of

reconnaissance satellites.[277] The success of the Ofeq program hasmade Israel one of seven countries capable of launching such

satellites.[278] Since its establishment, Israel has spent a significantportion of its gross domestic product on defense. In 1984, for example,

the country spent 24%[279] of its GDP on defense. By 2006, that figure

had dropped to 7.3%.[1]

Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons[280] as well as

chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction.[281] Israel has not

signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons[282] and

maintains a policy of deliberate ambiguity toward its nuclear capabilities.[283] Since the Gulf War in 1991, whenIsrael was attacked by Iraqi Scud missiles, all homes in Israel are required to have a reinforced security room

impermeable to chemical and biological substances.[284]

The IDF has also been deployed on humanitarian missions, usually involving rescue workers and medicalpersonnel, along with relief workers and body identifiers from ZAKA and the Israel Police. After the 2010 Haitiearthquake, a rescue team was dispatched to Haiti, which consisted of 40 doctors, 20 nurses and rescue workers,and two rescue planes loaded with medical equipment and a field hospital with X-ray equipment, intensive careunits, and operating rooms. Other recent recipients of aid include Japan (a medical team after the 2011 tsunami),Congo 2008, Sri Lanka 2005 (tsunami), India and El Salvador 2001 (earthquakes), Ethiopia 2000, Turkey 1998

(earthquake), Kosovo 1999 (refugees) and Rwanda 1994 (refugees).[285]

Israel is consistently rated very low in the Global Peace Index, ranking 145th out of 153 nations for

peacefulness in 2011.[286]

Main article: Economy of Israel

Israel is considered one of the most advanced countries in Southwest Asia in economic and industrial

development. In 2010, it joined the OECD.[24][287] The country is ranked 3rd in the region and 38th worldwide

on the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index[288] as well as in the World Economic Forum's Global

Competitiveness Report.[289] It has the second-largest number of startup companies in the world (after the

United States)[290] and the largest number of NASDAQ-listed companies outside North America.[291]

In 2010, Israel ranked 17th among the world's most economically developed nations, according to IMD's WorldCompetitiveness Yearbook. The Israeli economy was ranked as the world's most durable economy in the face of

Aerial view of Tel Aviv Metropolitan

Area

1 Israeli new shekel coin

Gulfstream G200 transcontinental

business jet was designed and is

currently produced for Gulfstream

Aerospace by Israel Aerospace

Industries (IAI)

crises, and was also ranked first in therate of research and development center

investments.[292]

The Bank of Israel was ranked firstamong central banks for its efficientfunctioning, up from 8th place in 2009.Israel was also ranked as the worldwideleader in its supply of skilled

manpower.[292] The Bank of Israel holds$78 billion of foreign-exchange

reserves.[293]

Despite limited natural resources,intensive development of the agriculturaland industrial sectors over the pastdecades has made Israel largelyself-sufficient in food production, apartfrom grains and beef. Other majorimports to Israel, totaling $47.8 billion in2006, include fossil fuels, raw materials,

and military equipment.[1] Leading exports include electronics, software,computerized systems, communications technology, medical equipment,pharmaceuticals, fruits, chemicals, military technology, and cut

diamonds;[294] in 2006, Israeli exports reached $42.86 billion,[1] and by

2010 they had reached $80.5 billion a year.[294]

Israel is a leading country in the development of solar energy.[295][296]

Israel is a global leader in water conservation and geothermal

energy,[297] and its development of cutting-edge technologies in

software, communications and the life sciences have evoked comparisons with Silicon Valley.[298][299]

According to the OECD, Israel is also ranked 1st in the world in expenditure on Research and Development

(R&D) as a percentage of GDP.[300] Intel[301] and Microsoft[302] built their first overseas research anddevelopment centers in Israel, and other high-tech multi-national corporations, such as IBM, Google, Apple, HP,Cisco Systems, and Motorola, have opened R&D facilities in the country. In July 2007, U.S. billionaire Warren

Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway bought an Israeli company, Iscar, its first non-U.S. acquisition, for $4 billion.[303]

Since the 1970s, Israel has received military aid from the United States, as well as economic assistance in theform of loan guarantees, which now account for roughly half of Israel's external debt. Israel has one of thelowest external debts in the developed world, and is a net lender in terms of net external debt (the total value ofassets vs. liabilities in debt instruments owed abroad), which as of June 2012 stood at a surplus of

US$60 billion.[304]

Days of working time in Israel are Sunday through Thursday (for a five-day workweek), or Friday (for a six-dayworkweek). In observance of Shabbat, in places where Friday is a work day and the majority of population isJewish, Friday is a "short day", usually lasting till 14:00 in the winter, or 16:00 in the summer. Several proposalshave been raised to adjust the work week with the majority of the world, and make Sunday a non-working day,

while extending working time of other days, and/or replacing Friday with Sunday as a work day.[305]

The particle accelerator at

the Weizmann Institute of

Science, Rehovot

The world's largest solar

parabolic dish at the

Ben-Gurion National Solar

Energy Center.[315]

Israel's most recent Nobel

laureate: Dan Shechtman

won the 2011 Nobel Prize

in Chemistry.[312]

Science and technology

Main articles: Science and technology in Israel and List of Israeli universities and colleges

Israel's eight public universities are subsidized by the state.[306][307] The HebrewUniversity of Jerusalem, Israel's oldest university, houses the Jewish National and

University Library, the world's largest repository of books on Jewish subjects.[308]

The Hebrew University is consistently ranked among world's 100 top universities by

the prestigious ARWU academic ranking.[309] Other major universities in thecountry include the Technion, the Weizmann Institute of Science, Tel AvivUniversity (TAU), Bar-Ilan University, the University of Haifa, The Open Universityand Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Israel's seven research universities(excluding the Open University) are consistently ranked among top 500 in the

world.[310] Israel has produced six Nobel Prize-winning scientists since 2002[311]

[311][312] and publishes among the most scientific papers per capita of any country

in the world.[313][314]

Israel has embraced solar energy; its engineers are

on the cutting edge of solar energy technology[296]

and its solar companies work on projects around the

world.[295][316] Over 90% of Israeli homes use solar energy for hot water, the

highest per capita in the world.[177][317] According to government figures, thecountry saves 8% of its electricity consumption per year because of its solar

energy use in heating.[318] The high annual incident solar irradiance at itsgeographic latitude creates ideal conditions for what is an internationallyrenowned solar research and development industry in the Negev Desert.[295][296][316]

Israel is one of the world's technological leaders inwater technology. In 2011, its water technology industry was worth around $2billion a year with annual exports of products and services in the tens of millions ofdollars. The ongoing shortage of water in the country has spurred innovation inwater conservation techniques, and a substantial agricultural modernization, dripirrigation, was invented in Israel. Israel is also at the technological forefront ofdesalination and water recycling. The Ashkelon seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO)plant, the largest in the world, was voted 'Desalination Plant of the Year' in theGlobal Water Awards in 2006. Israel hosts an annual Water Technology Exhibitionand Conference (WaTec) that attracts thousands of people from across the world.[319][320] By the end of 2013, 85 percent of the country's water consumption will befrom reverse osmosis. As a result of innovations in reverse osmosis technology,

Israel is set to become a net exporter of water in the coming years.[321]

Israel has led the world in stem-cell research papers per capita since 2000.[322] In addition, Israeli universitiesare among 100 top world universities in mathematics (Hebrew University, TAU and Technion), physics (TAU,Hebrew University and Weizmann Institute of Science), chemistry (Technion and Weizmann Institute ofScience), computer science (Weizmann Institute of Science, Technion, Hebrew University, TAU and BIU) and

economics (Hebrew University and TAU).[323]

Duty Free at Ben Gurion International

Airport

Israel has a modern electric car infrastructure involving a countrywide network of recharging stations tofacilitate the charging and exchange of car batteries. It is thought that this will lower Israel's oil dependency andlower the fuel costs of hundreds of Israel's motorists that use cars powered only by electric batteries.[324][325][326] The Israeli model is being studied by several countries and being implemented in Denmark and

Australia.[327]

In 2009, Israel was ranked second among 20 top countries in space sciences by Thomson Reuters agency.[328]

Since 1988 Israel Aerospace Industries have indigenously designed and built at least 13 commercial, research

and spy satellites.[329] Most were launched to orbit from Israeli air force base "Palmachim" by the Shavit space

launch vehicle. Some of Israel's satellites are ranked among the world's most advanced space systems.[330] In2003, Ilan Ramon became Israel's first astronaut, serving as payload specialist of STS-107, the fatal mission ofthe Space Shuttle Columbia.

Transport

Main article: Transport in Israel

Israel has 18,096 kilometers (11,244 mi) of paved roads,[331] and

2.4 million motor vehicles.[332] The number of motor vehicles per 1,000

persons was 324, relatively low with respect to developed countries.[332]

Israel has 5,715 buses on scheduled routes,[333] operated by severalcarriers, the largest of which is Egged, serving most of the country.Railways stretch across 949 kilometers (590 mi) and are operated solely

by government-owned Israel Railways[334] (All figures are for 2008).Following major investments beginning in the early to mid-1990s, thenumber of train passengers per year has grown from 2.5 million in 1990,to 35 million in 2008; railways are also used to transport 6.8 million tons

of cargo, per year.[334]

Israel is served by two international airports, Ben Gurion International Airport, the country's main hub forinternational air travel near Tel Aviv-Yafo, Ovda Airport in the south, as well as several small domestic

airports.[335] Ben Gurion, Israel's largest airport, handled over 12.1 million passengers in 2010.[336]

On the Mediterranean coast, Haifa Port is the country's oldest and largest port, while Ashdod Port is one of the

few deep water ports in the world built on the open sea.[335] In addition to these, the smaller Port of Eilat is

situated on the Red Sea, and is used mainly for trading with Far East countries.[335]

Tourism

Main article: Tourism in Israel

Tourism, especially religious tourism, is an important industry in Israel, with the country's temperate climate,beaches, archaeological and historical sites, and unique geography also drawing tourists. Israel's security

problems have taken their toll on the industry, but the number of incoming tourists is on the rebound.[337] In

2008, over 3 million tourists visited Israel.[338] Israel has the highest number of museums per capita in the

world.[339]

Percentage changes of the main

religious groups in the years

1949–2008

Main article: Demographics of Israel

In 2013, Israel's population was an estimated 7,980,900 people, of whom

6,014,400 are Jews.[3] Arab citizens of Israel comprise 20.6% of the

country's total population.[2] Over the last decade, large numbers ofmigrant workers from Romania, Thailand, China, Africa and SouthAmerica have settled in Israel. Exact figures are unknown, as many of

them are living in the country illegally,[340] but estimates run in the

region of 203,000.[341] As of June 2012, approximately 60,000 African

migrants have entered Israel.[342]

Retention of Israel's population since 1948 is about even or greater,

when compared to other countries with mass immigration.[343]

Emigration from Israel (yerida) to other countries, primarily the United

States and Canada, is described by demographers as modest,[344] but isoften cited by Israeli government ministries as a major threat to Israel's

future.[345][346]

As of 2009, over 300,000 Israeli citizens live in West Bank settlements[347] such as Ma'ale Adumim and Ariel,and communities that predated the establishment of the State but were re-established after the Six-Day War, in

cities such as Hebron and Gush Etzion. 18,000 Israelis live in Golan Heights settlements.[348] In 2011, there

were 250,000 Jews living in East Jerusalem.[349] The total number of Israeli settlers is over 500,000 (6.5% ofthe Israeli population). Approximately 7,800 Israelis lived in settlements in the Gaza Strip, until they were

evacuated by the government as part of its 2005 disengagement plan.[350]

Israel was established as a homeland for the Jewish people and is often referred to as a Jewish state. The

country's Law of Return grants all Jews and those of Jewish lineage the right to Israeli citizenship.[351] Overthree quarters, or 75.5%, of the population are Jews from a diversity of Jewish backgrounds. Around 4% ofIsraelis (300,000), ethnically defined as "others", are Russian-descendants of Jewish origin or family who arenot Jewish according to rabbinical law, but were eligible for Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return.[352][353] Approximately 68% of Israeli Jews are Israeli-born, 22% are immigrants from Europe and the

Americas, and 10% are immigrants from Asia and Africa (including the Arab World).[354][355] Jews who left or

fled Arab and Muslim countries and their descendants, known as Mizrahi and Sephardi Jews,[356] constitute

approximately 50% of Jewish Israelis.[357][358][359] Jews from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union andtheir Israeli-born descendants, or Ashkenazi Jews, form most of the rest of the Jewish population.

Language

Main article: Languages of Israel

Israel has two official languages, Hebrew and Arabic.[1] Hebrew is the primary language of the state and isspoken by the majority of the population, and Arabic is spoken by the Arab minority. Many Israeliscommunicate reasonably well in English, as many television programs are broadcast in this language and Englishis taught from the early grades in elementary school. As a country of immigrants, many languages can be heardon the streets. Due to mass immigration from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia (some 130,000 Ethiopian

Road sign in Hebrew,

Arabic, and English

The Western Wall and the

Dome of the Rock,

Jerusalem

The ancient synagogue of

Kfar Bar'am[367][368]

The Church of the Holy

Sepulchre, venerated by

Christians as the site of

the Crucifixion of

Jesus.[369]

International Bahá'í

Archives building at

Bahá'í World Centre,

overlooking the Shrine of

the Báb and the Port of

Haifa.

Jews live in Israel),[361][362] Russian and Amharic are widely spoken.[363] Between1990 and 1994, the Russian immigration increased Israel's population by twelve

percent.[364] More than one million Russian-speaking immigrants arrived in Israel

from the former Soviet Union states between 1990 and 2004.[365] French is spoken

by around 700,000 Israelis,[366] mostly originating from France and North Africa(see Maghrebi Jews).

Religion

Main article: Religion in Israel

Israel and the Palestinian territories comprise the majorpart of the Holy Land, a region of significantimportances to all Abrahamic religions – Jews,Christians, Muslims and Baha'is.

The religious affiliation of Israeli Jews varies widely: asocial survey for those over the age of 20 indicates that55% say they are "traditional", while 20% considerthemselves "secular Jews", 17% define themselves as"Religious Zionists"; 8% define themselves as "Haredi

Jews".[370] While the ultra-Orthodox, or Haredim,

represented only 5% of Israel's population in 1990,[371]

they are expected to represent more than one-fifth of

Israel's Jewish population by 2028.[372]

Making up 16% of the population, Muslims constituteIsrael's largest religious minority. About 2% of the

population are Christian and 1.5% are Druze.[373] TheChristian population primarily comprises ArabChristians, but also includes post-Soviet immigrantsand the Foreign Laborers of multinational origins andfollowers of Messianic Judaism, considered by most

Christians and Jews to be a form of Christianity.[374]

Members of many other religious groups, including

Buddhists and Hindus, maintain a presence in Israel, albeit in small numbers.[375]

Out of more than one million immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Israel,

about 300,000 are considered not Jewish by the Orthodox rabbinate.[376]

The city of Jerusalem is of special importance to Jews, Muslims and Christians as itis the home of sites that are pivotal to their religious beliefs, such as the Israeli-controlled Old City thatincorporates the Western Wall and the Temple Mount, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy

Sepulchre.[377]

Other locations of religious importance in Israel are Nazareth (holy in Christianity as the site of theAnnunciation of Mary), Tiberias and Safed (two of the Four Holy Cities in Judaism), the White Mosque inRamla (holy in Islam as the shrine of the prophet Saleh), and the Church of Saint George in Lod (holy inChristianity and Islam as the tomb of Saint George or Al Khidr).

The Brain Research

Centre at Bar-Ilan

University

A number of other religious landmarks are located in the West Bank, among them Joseph's tomb in Shechem,the birthplace of Jesus and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem, and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.

The administrative center of the Bahá'í Faith and the Shrine of the Báb are located at the Bahá'í World Centre inHaifa and the leader of the faith is buried in Acre. Apart from maintenance staff, there is no Bahá'í communityin Israel, although it is a destination for pilgrimages. Bahá'í staff in Israel do not teach their faith to Israelis

following strict policy.[378][379][380]

Education

Main article: Education in Israel

Israel has a school life expectancy of 15.5 years[381] and a literacy rate of 97.1%

according to the United Nations.[382] The State Education Law, passed in 1953,established five types of schools: state secular, state religious, ultra orthodox,communal settlement schools, and Arab schools. The public secular is the largestschool group, and is attended by the majority of Jewish and non-Arab pupils inIsrael. Most Arabs send their children to schools where Arabic is the language of

instruction.[383]

Education is compulsory in Israel for children between the ages of three and

eighteen.[384][385] Schooling is divided into three tiers – primary school (grades1–6), middle school (grades 7–9), and high school (grades 10–12) – culminating with Bagrut matriculationexams. Proficiency in core subjects such as mathematics, the Hebrew language, Hebrew and general literature,

the English language, history, Biblical scripture and civics is necessary to receive a Bagrut certificate.[306] InArab, Christian and Druze schools, the exam on Biblical studies is replaced by an exam on Muslim, Christian or

Druze heritage.[386] In 2003, over half of all Israeli twelfth graders earned a matriculation certificate.[387] TheHebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University are ranked among the world's top 100 universities by

Times Higher Education magazine.[388] Israel ranks third in the world in the number of academic degrees per

capita (20 percent of the population).[389][390]

Main article: Culture of Israel

Israel's diverse culture stems from the diversity of the population: Jews from around the world have brought

their cultural and religious traditions with them, creating a melting pot of Jewish customs and beliefs.[391] Israelis the only country in the world where life revolves around the Hebrew calendar. Work and school holidays are

determined by the Jewish holidays, and the official day of rest is Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath.[392] Israel's

substantial Arab minority has also left its imprint on Israeli culture in such spheres as architecture,[393]

music,[394] and cuisine.[395]

Literature

Main article: Israeli literature

Israeli literature is primarily poetry and prose written in Hebrew, as part of the renaissance of Hebrew as a

Amos Oz's works have been

translated into 36 languages,

more than any other Israeli

writer.[396]

Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center.

spoken language since the mid-19th century, although a small body of literatureis published in other languages, such as English. By law, two copies of all printedmatter published in Israel must be deposited in the Jewish National andUniversity Library at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 2001, the law was

amended to include audio and video recordings, and other non-print media.[397]

In 2006, 85 percent of the 8,000 books transferred to the library were in

Hebrew.[398]

The Hebrew Book Week (He: שבוע הספר) is held each June and features bookfairs, public readings, and appearances by Israeli authors around the country.During the week, Israel's top literary award, the Sapir Prize, is presented.

In 1966, Shmuel Yosef Agnon shared the Nobel Prize in Literature with German

Jewish author Nelly Sachs.[399] Leading Israeli poets have been YehudaAmichai, Nathan Alterman and Rachel Bluwstein. Internationally famouscontemporary Israeli novelists include Amos Oz, Etgar Keret and DavidGrossman. The Israeli-Arab satirist Sayed Kashua (who writes in Hebrew) is alsointernationally known.

Israel has also been the home of two leading Palestinian poets and writers: Emile Habibi, whose novel TheSecret Life of Saeed the Pessoptimist, and other writings, won him the Israel prize for Arabic literature; and

Mahmoud Darwish, considered by many to be "the Palestinian national poet."[400] Darwish was born and raisedin northern Israel, but lived his adult life abroad after joining the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Music and dance

Main article: Music of Israel

Israeli music contains musical influences from all over the world;Sephardic music, Hasidic melodies, Belly dancing music, Greek music,

jazz, and pop rock are all part of the music scene.[401][402]

The nation's canonical folk songs, known as "Songs of the Land ofIsrael," deal with the experiences of the pioneers in building the Jewish

homeland.[403] The Hora (הורה) circle dance introduced by early Jewishsettlers was originally popular in the Kibbutzim and outlyingcommunities. It became a symbol of the Zionist reconstruction and of theability to experience joy amidst austerity. It now plays a significant role

in modern Israeli folk dancing and is regularly performed at weddings and other celebrations, and in groupdances throughout Israel.

Modern dance in Israel is a flourishing field, and several Israeli choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, RamiBeer, Barak Marshall and many others, are considered to be among the most versatile and original internationalcreators working today. Famous Israeli companies include the Batsheva Dance Company and the KibbutzContemporary Dance Company.

Among Israel's world-renowned[404][405] orchestras is the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, which has been in

operation for over seventy years and today performs more than two hundred concerts each year.[406] Israel hasalso produced many musicians of note, some achieving international stardom. Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

conducted by Zubin Mehta

Shrine of the Book, repository

of the Dead Sea Scrolls in

Jerusalem

Zukerman and Ofra Haza are among the internationally acclaimed musiciansborn in Israel.

Israel has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest nearly every year since

1973, winning the competition three times and hosting it twice.[407] Eilat hashosted its own international music festival, the Red Sea Jazz Festival, every

summer since 1987.[408]

Israel is home to many Palestinian musicians, including internationally acclaimedoud and violin virtuoso Taiseer Elias, singer Amal Murkus, and brothers Samirand Wissam Joubran. Israeli Arab musicians have achieved fame beyond Israel'sborders: Elias and Murkus frequently play to audiences in Europe and America, and oud player DarwishDarwish (Prof. Elias's student) was awarded first prize in the all-Arab oud contest in Egypt in 2003. TheJerusalem Academy of Music and Dance has an advanced degree program, headed by Taiseer Elias, in Arabicmusic.

Cinema and theatre

Main article: Cinema of Israel

Ten Israeli films have been final nominees for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards since the

establishment of Israel. The 2009 movie Ajami was the third consecutive nomination of an Israeli film.[409]

Continuing the strong theatrical traditions of the Yiddish theater in Eastern Europe, Israel maintains a vibranttheatre scene. Founded in 1918, Habima Theatre in Tel Aviv is Israel's oldest repertory theater company and

national theater.[410] Palestinian Israeli filmmakers have made a number of films dealing with the Arab-Israelconflict and the status of Palestinians within Israel, such as Mohammed Bakri's 2002 film Jenin, Jenin and TheSyrian Bride.

Museums

Main article: List of museums in Israel

The Israel Museum in Jerusalem is one of Israel's most important cultural

institutions[411] and houses the Dead Sea scrolls,[412] along with an extensive

collection of Judaica and European art.[411] Israel's national Holocaustmuseum, Yad Vashem, is the world central archive of Holocaust-related

information.[413] Beth Hatefutsoth (the Diaspora Museum), on the campus ofTel Aviv University, is an interactive museum devoted to the history of Jewish

communities around the world.[414]

Apart from the major museums in large cities, there are high-quality artspacesin many towns and kibbutzim. Mishkan Le'Omanut on Kibbutz Ein Harod

Meuhad is the largest art museum in the north of the country.[415]

Several museums are devoted to Islamic culture, including the Rockefeller Museum, which specializes inarchaeological remains from the Ottoman and other periods of Middle East history, and the L. A. MayerInstitute for Islamic Art, also in Jerusalem.

Cuisine

Sufganiyot served on

Hanukkah

Ramat Gan Stadium, Israel's largest

stadium

Main article: Israeli cuisine

Israeli cuisine includes local dishes as well as dishes brought to the country byJewish immigrants from around the world. Since the establishment of the Statein 1948, and particularly since the late 1970s, an Israeli fusion cuisine hasdeveloped.

Israeli cuisine has adopted, and continues to adapt, elements of various stylesof Jewish cuisine, particularly the Mizrahi, Sephardic, and Ashkenazi styles ofcooking, along with Moroccan Jewish, Iraqi Jewish, Ethiopian Jewish, IndianJewish, Iranian Jewish and Yemeni Jewish influences. It incorporates manyfoods traditionally eaten in the Arab, Middle Eastern and Mediterraneancuisines, such as falafel, hummus, shakshouka, couscous, and za'atar, whichhave become common ingredients in Israeli cuisine.

Sports

Main article: Sports in Israel

The Maccabiah Games, an Olympic-style event for Jewish athletes andIsraeli athletes, was inaugurated in the 1930s, and has been held everyfour years since then. In 1964 Israel hosted and won the Asian NationsCup; in 1970 the Israel national football team managed to qualify to theFIFA World Cup, which is still considered the biggest achievement ofIsraeli football.

Israel was excluded from the 1978 Asian Games due to Arab pressure onthe organizers. The exclusion left Israel in limbo and it ceased competing

in Asian competitions.[416] In 1994, UEFA agreed to admit Israel and allIsraeli sporting organizations now compete in Europe.

The most popular spectator sports in Israel are association football and

basketball.[417] The Israeli Premier League is the country's premier football league, and the Israeli Basketball

Super League is the premier basketball league.[418] Maccabi Haifa, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv andBeitar Jerusalem are the largest sports clubs. Maccabi Tel Aviv, Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Tel Aviv havecompeted in the UEFA Champions League and Hapoel Tel Aviv reached the UEFA Cup quarter-finals. Maccabi

Tel Aviv B.C. has won the European championship in basketball five times.[419] Israeli tennis champion ShaharPe'er ranked 11th in the world on 31 January 2011.

Chess is a leading sport in Israel and is enjoyed by people of all ages. There are many Israeli grandmasters and

Israeli chess players have won a number of youth world championships.[420] Israel stages an annualinternational championship and hosted the World Team Chess Championship in 2005. The Ministry ofEducation and the World Chess Federation agreed upon a project of teaching chess within Israeli schools, and it

has been introduced into the curriculum of some schools.[421][422][423] The city of Beersheba has become anational chess center, with the game being taught in the city's kindergartens. Owing partly to Soviet immigration,

it is home to the largest number of chess grandmasters of any city in the world.[424][425] The Israeli chess team

won the silver medal at the 2008 Chess Olympiad[426] and the bronze, coming in third among 148 teams, at the

2010 Olympiad. Israeli grandmaster Boris Gelfand won the Chess World Cup in 2009[427] and the 2011Candidates Tournament for the right to challenge the world champion. He only lost the World Chess

Chess players in Ein HaHoresh, 1930s

Championship 2012 to reigning world champion Anand after aspeed-chess tie breaker.

Krav Maga, a martial art developed by Jewish ghetto defenders duringthe struggle against fascism in Europe, is used by the Israeli securityforces and police. Its effectiveness and practical approach toself-defense, have won it widespread admiration and adherence roundthe world.

To date, Israel has won seven Olympic medals since its first win in 1992,including a gold medal in windsurfing at the 2004 Summer

Olympics.[428] Israel has won over 100 gold medals in the ParalympicGames and is ranked about 15th in the all-time medal count. The 1968 Summer Paralympics were hosted by

Israel.[429]

Outline of IsraelIndex of Israel-related articlesInternational rankings of IsraelJews

a. ^ The Jerusalem Law states that "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel" and the city

serves as the seat of the government, home to the President's residence, government offices, supreme

court, and parliament. United Nations Security Council Resolution 478 (20 August 1980; 14–0, U.S.

abstaining) declared the Jerusalem Law "null and void" and called on member states to withdraw their

diplomatic missions from Jerusalem. The United Nations and all member nations refuse to accept the

Jerusalem Law (see Kellerman 1993, p. 140) and maintain their embassies in other cities such as Tel Aviv,

Ramat Gan, and Herzliya (see the CIA Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook

/geos/is.html) and Map of Israel (http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/israel.pdf) ). The U.S. Congress

subsequently adopted the Jerusalem Embassy Act, which said that the U.S. embassy should be relocated

to Jerusalem and that it should be recognized as the capital of Israel. However, the US Justice Department

Office of Legal Counsel concluded that the provisions of the act "invade exclusive presidential authorities

in the field of foreign affairs and are unconstitutional". Since passage of the act, all Presidents serving in

office have determined that moving forward with the relocation would be detrimental to U.S. national

security concerns and opted to issue waivers suspending any action on this front. The Palestinian

Authority sees East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. The city's final status awaits

future negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (see "Negotiating Jerusalem," Palestine–Israel

Journal (http://www.pij.org/details.php?id=460) ). See Positions on Jerusalem for more information.

^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Israel" (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/is.html) . The WorldFactbook (Central Intelligence Agency). 20 November 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2012.

1.

^ a b c d "Latest Population Statistics for Israel" (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/newpop.html) . Jewish Virtual Library. September 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.

2.

^ a b c "Population, by Population Group" (http://www1.cbs.gov.il/publications13/yarhon0113/pdf/b1.pdf) . MonthlyBulletin of Statistics (Israel Central Bureau of Statistics). 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2013.

3.

^ "Population Census 2008" (http://www1.cbs.gov.il/www/mifkad/mifkad_2008/profiles/rep_e_000000.pdf) (PDF).Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 17 February 2012.

4.

^ a b "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects" (http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2012/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2011&ssd=1&c=436&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC) . World EconomicOutlook (International Monetary Fund). 9 October 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2012.

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^ Skolnik 2007, pp. 132–2326.^ a b "Israel" (http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2008/israel) . Freedom in the World (FreedomHouse). 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2012.

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^ "Israel's Dreaded Tipping Point Has Finally Arrived." (http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/03/israels-dreaded-tipping-point-has-finally-arrived/273830/)

8.

^ Then known as the Zionist Organization9.^ "Declaration of Establishment of State of Israel" (http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Declaration+of+Establishment+of+State+of+Israel.htm) . Israel Ministry of ForeignAffairs. 14 May 1948. Retrieved 8 April 2012.

10.

^ Brenner, Michael; Frisch, Shelley (April 2003). Zionism: A Brief History. Markus Wiener Publishers. p. 184.Retrieved 13 July 2011.

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^ "Zionist Leaders: David Ben-Gurion 1886–1973" (http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Modern+History/Centenary+of+Zionism/Zionist+Leaders-+David+Ben-Gurion.htm) . Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved13 July 2011.

12.

^ a b Gilbert 2005, p. 113.^ "The status of Jerusalem". The Question of Palestine & the United Nations. United Nations Department ofPublic Information. "East Jerusalem has been considered, by both the General Assembly and the Security Council,as part of the occupied Palestinian territory."

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^ BBC News (29 March 2006). "Analysis: Kadima's big plans" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4856762.stm) . Retrieved 10 October 2010.

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^ Kessner, BC (2 April 2006). "Israel’s Hard-Learned Lessons" (http://www.hstoday.us/index.php?id=483&cHash=081010&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=873) . Homeland Security Today. Retrieved 26 April 2012.

16.

^ The Institute for National Security Studies. "The Legacy of Undefined Borders, Tel Aviv Notes No. 40, June 5,2002" (http://www.inss.org.il/publications.php?cat=21&incat=&read=203) . Retrieved 7 October 2010.

17.

^ "Israel Journal: A Land Without Borders" (http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/israel-journal-a-land-without-borders-34590.html) . The Epoch Times. Retrieved 20 March 2012.

18.

^ "GaWC – The World According to GaWC 2008" (http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/world2008t.html) . Globalizationand World Cities Research Network. Retrieved 1 March 2009.

19.

^ Rice, Stephanie (4 May 2009). "The Black Hebrews of Israel" (http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/israel-and-palestine/090430/israels-black-hebrews) . GlobalPost. Retrieved 12 August 2012.

20.

^ Rummel 1997, p. 257. "A current list of liberal democracies includes: Andorra, Argentina, ... , Cyprus, ... , Israel,..."

21.

^ "Global Survey 2006: Middle East Progress Amid Global Gains in Freedom" (http://www.freedomhouse.org/article/global-survey-2006-middle-east-progress-amid-global-gains-freedom) . Freedom House. 19 December 2005.Retrieved 20 March 2012.

22.

^ "WHO: Life expectancy in Israel among highest in the world" (http://www.haaretz.com/news/who-life-expectancy-in-israel-among-highest-in-the-world-1.276618) . Haaretz. 24 May 2009.

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^ a b "Israel's accession to the OECD" (http://www.oecd.org/israel/israelsaccessiontotheoecd.htm) . Organisation forEconomic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 12 August 2012.

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^ "Human development indices" (http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2010_EN_Table1.pdf) . United NationsDevelopment Programme. Retrieved 4 November 2010.

25.

^ "Popular Opinion" (http://www.jpress.org.il/Repository26.

/getFiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:LowLevelEntityToSaveGifMSIE_TAUEN&Type=text/html&Locale=english-skin-custom&Path=PLS/1947/12/07&ChunkNum=-1&ID=Ar00105&PageLabel=1) . The Palestine Post(Jerusalem). 7 December 1947. p. 1.^ "On the Move" (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,798687-2,00.html) . Time (New York). 31May 1948. Retrieved 6 August 2007.

27.

^ Levine, Robert A. (7 November 2000). "See Israel as a Jewish Nation-State, More or Less Democratic"(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/07/opinion/07iht-edlevine.t.html) . The New York Times. Retrieved 19 January2011.

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^ Wells, John C. (1990). Longman pronunciation dictionary. Harlow, England: Longman. p. 381.ISBN 0-582-05383-8. entry "Jacob".

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^ "And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God andwith men, and hast prevailed." (Genesis, 32:28, 35:10). See also Hosea 12:5 (http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1312.htm) .

30.

^ Exodus 6:16–20 (http://bibref.hebtools.com/?book=%20Exodus&verse=6:16–20&src=HE)31.^ Barton & Bowden 2004, p. 126. "The Merneptah Stele... is arguably the oldest evidence outside the Bible for theexistence of Israel as early as the 13th century BCE."

32.

^ "And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and hewill do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers." (Deuteronomy 30:5 (http://bibref.hebtools.com/?book=%20Deuteronomy&verse=30:5&src=HE) ).

33.

^ "But if ye return unto me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your dispersed were in the uttermostpart of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to causemy name to dwell there." (Nehemiah 1:9 (http://bibref.hebtools.com/?book=%20Nehemiah&verse=1:9&src=HE) ).

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^ "Walking the Bible Timeline" (http://www.pbs.org/walkingthebible/timeline.html) . Walking the Bible (PublicBroadcast Television). Retrieved 29 September 2007.

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^ Friedland & Hecht 2000, p. 8. "For a thousand years Jerusalem was the seat of Jewish sovereignty, the householdsite of kings, the location of its legislative councils and courts."

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^ Ben-Sasson 198537.^ Matthews, Victor H. (2002). A Brief History of Ancient Israel. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 192.ISBN 978-0-664-22436-3.

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^ Miller, J. Maxwell; Hayes, John Haralson (1986). A History of Ancient Israel and Judah. Westminster John KnoxPress. p. 523. ISBN 978-0-664-21262-9.

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^ Oppenheimer, A'haron and Oppenheimer, Nili. Between Rome and Babylon: Studies in Jewish Leadership andSociety. Mohr Siebeck, 2005, p. 2.

40.

^ Cohn-Sherbok, Dan (1996). Atlas of Jewish History. Routledge. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-415-08800-8.41.^ Lehmann, Clayton Miles (18 January 2007). "Palestine" (http://sunburst.usd.edu/~clehmann/erp/Palestine/palestin.htm) . Encyclopedia of the Roman Provinces (University of South Dakota). Retrieved 9 February 2013.

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^ Morçöl 2006, p. 30443.^ a b c d Gil, Moshe (1997). A History of Palestine, 634–1099. Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0-521-59984-9.

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^ a b Kramer, Gudrun (2008). A History of Palestine: From the Ottoman Conquest to the Founding of the State ofIsrael. Princeton University Press. p. 376. ISBN 978-0-691-11897-0.

45.

^ "The Covenant of the League of Nations" (http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/leagcov.asp#art22) . Article22. Retrieved 18 October 2012.

46.

^ "Mandate for Palestine," Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol. 11, p. 862, Keter Publishing House, Jerusalem, 197247.^ Rosenzweig 1997, p. 1 (http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=wKuU3ZBS7gEC&pg=PA1) "Zionism, the urge ofthe Jewish people to return to Palestine, is almost as ancient as the Jewish diaspora itself. Some Talmudicstatements ... Almost a millennium later, the poet and philosopher Yehuda Halevi ... In the 19th century ..."

48.

^ a b Geoffrey Wigoder, G.G. (ed.). "Return to Zion" (http://www.answers.com/topic/return-to-zion) . The NewEncyclopedia of Judaism (via Answers.Com) (The Jerusalem Publishing House). Retrieved 8 March 2010.

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^ "An invention called 'the Jewish people'" (http://web.archive.org/web/20100418192523/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/959229.html) . Haaretz. Archived from the original (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/959229.html) on 18 April 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2010.

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^ From the King James Version of the Bible: "the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity ... and gatheryou again from all the peoples ... and will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed and you shall

51.

possess it" (Deut. 30:1–5).^ Gilbert 2005, p. 2. "Jews sought a new homeland here after their expulsions from Spain (1492)..."52.^ Eisen, Yosef (2004). Miraculous journey: a complete history of the Jewish people from creation to the present.Targum Press. p. 700. ISBN 1-56871-323-1.

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^ Morgenstern, Arie (2006). Hastening redemption: Messianism and the resettlement of the land of Israel. USA:Oxford University Press. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-19-530578-4.

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^ "Jewish and Non-Jewish Population of Palestine-Israel (1517–2004)" (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/israel_palestine_pop.html) . Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 29 March 2010.

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^ Barnai, Jacob (1992). The Jews in Palestine in the Eighteenth Century: Under the Patronage of the Istanbulcommittee of Officials for Palestine. University Alabama Press. p. 320. ISBN 978-0-8173-0572-7.

56.

^ a b c d "Immigration to Israel" (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Immigration/immigtoc.html) . JewishVirtual Library. Retrieved 29 March 2012. The source provides information on the First, Second, Third, Fourth andFifth Aliyot in their respective articles. The White Paper leading to Aliyah Bet is discussed "Aliyah During WorldWar II and its Aftermath" (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Immigration/Aliyah_during_war.html) .

57.

^ Kornberg 1993 "How did Theodor Herzl, an assimilated German nationalist in the 1880s, suddenly in the 1890sbecome the founder of Zionism?"

58.

^ Herzl 1946, p. 1159.^ "Chapter One: The Heralders of Zionism" (http://www.jewishagency.org/JewishAgency/English/Jewish+Education/Compelling+Content/Eye+on+Israel/120/Chapter+One+The+Heralders+of+Zionism.htm) . Jewish Agency forIsrael. Retrieved 12 July 2007.

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^ Stein 2003, p. 88. "As with the First Aliyah, most Second Aliyah migrants were non-Zionist orthodox Jews..."61.^ Romano 2003, p. 3062.^ Macintyre, Donald (26 May 2005). "The birth of modern Israel: A scrap of paper that changed history"(http://maof.rjews.net/english/37-english/19351-the-birth-of-modern-israel-a-scrap-of-paper-that-changed-history) .The Independent. Retrieved 20 March 2012.

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^ Yapp, M.E. (1987). The Making of the Modern Near East 1792–1923. Harlow, England: Longman. p. 290.ISBN 0-582-49380-3.

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^ Scharfstein 1996, p. 269. "During the First and Second Aliyot, there were many Arab attacks against Jewishsettlements... In 1920, Hashomer was disbanded and Haganah ("The Defense") was established."

65.

^ "League of Nations: The Mandate for Palestine, July 24, 1922" (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1922mandate.html) . Modern History Sourcebook (Fordham University). 24 July 1922. Retrieved 27 August2007.

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^ Shaw, J. V. W. (January 1991). "Chapter VI: Population". A Survey of Palestine. Washington, D.C.: Institute forPalestine Studies. Volume I: Prepared in December 1945 and January 1946 for the information of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry (Reprint ed.). p. 148. ISBN 978-0-88728-213-3.

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^ "The Population of Palestine Prior to 1948" (http://www.mideastweb.org/palpop.htm) . MidEastWeb. Retrieved19 March 2012.

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ISBN 0-253-33203-6.Liebreich, Fritz (2005). Britain's Naval and Political Reaction to the Illegal Immigration of Jews to Palestine,1945–1948. Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-5637-2.Lustick, Ian (1988). For the Land and the Lord: Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel. Council on Foreign RelationsPress. ISBN 0-87609-036-6.Mazie, Steven (2006). Israel's Higher Law: Religion and Liberal Democracy in the Jewish State. LexingtonBooks. ISBN 0-7391-1485-9.Morçöl, Göktuğ (2006). Handbook of Decision Making. CRC Press. ISBN 1-57444-548-0.Mowlana, Hamid; Gerbner, George; Schiller, Herbert I. (1992). Triumph of the File: The Media's War in thePersian Gulf — A Global Perspective. Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-1610-3.Roberts, Adam (1990). "Prolonged Military Occupation: The Israeli-Occupied Territories Since 1967". TheAmerican Journal of International Law (American Society of International Law) 84 (1): 44–103.doi:10.2307/2203016 (http://dx.doi.org/10.2307%2F2203016) . JSTOR 2203016 (http://www.jstor.org/stable/2203016) .Romano, Amy (2003). A Historical Atlas of Israel. The Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8239-3978-2.Reveron, Derek S.; Murer, Jeffrey Stevenson (2006). Flashpoints in the War on Terrorism. Routledge.ISBN 0-415-95490-8.Rosenzweig, Rafael (1997). The Economic Consequences of Zionism. T Brill Academic Publishers.ISBN 90-04-09147-5.Rummel, Rudolph J. (1997). Power Kills: Democracy As a Method of Nonviolence. Transaction Publishers.ISBN 0-7658-0523-5.Sampter, Jessie (2007). "Jewish Colonization Before 1917" (http://books.google.com/?id=3QZ8wqJUfgEC&printsec=frontcover&q=) . Modern Palestine – A Symposium. READ BOOKS. p. 444. ISBN 978-1-4067-3834-6.Scharfstein, Sol (1996). Understanding Jewish History. KTAV Publishing House. ISBN 0-88125-545-9.Shindler, Colin (2002). The Land Beyond Promise: Israel, Likud and the Zionist Dream. I.B.Tauris Publishers.ISBN 1-86064-774-X.Skolnik, Fred (2007). Encyclopedia Judaica. 9 (2nd ed.). Macmillian. ISBN 0-02-865928-7.Smith, Derek (2006). Deterring America: Rogue States and the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-86465-8.Stein, Leslie (2003). The Hope Fulfilled: The Rise of Modern Israel. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-275-97141-4.Stendel, Ori (1997). The Arabs in Israel. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 1-898723-23-0.Stone, Russell A.; Zenner, Walter P. (1994). Critical Essays on Israeli Social Issues and Scholarship. SUNY Press.ISBN 0-7914-1959-2.Torstrick, Rebecca L. (2004). Culture and Customs of Israel. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-32091-8.Wenham, Gordon J. (1994). Word Biblical Commentary. 2. (Genesis 16–50). Dallas, Texas: Word Books.ISBN 0-8499-0201-0.

Government

Israel Government Portal (http://www.gov.il/firstgov/english)Israel Information Center Catalogue (http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFA+Publications/Printed+material/Israel+Information+Center+Catalogue+2003.htm) at the Israel Ministry of Foreign AffairsOfficial website (http://www.pmo.gov.il/English/Pages/default.aspx) of the Office of the Prime Minister ofIsraelOfficial website (http://www.goisrael.com/Tourism_Eng/Pages/home.aspx) of the Israel Tourism Ministry

General information

Israel (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/is.html) entry at The WorldFactbook

Key Development Forecasts for Israel (http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=IL)from International Futures

Maps

Wikimedia Atlas of Israel Geographic data related to Israel (http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/relation/1473946) at

OpenStreetMap

Link directories

Israel (http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/israel.htm) web resources provided by GovPubs at theUniversity of Colorado–Boulder LibrariesIsrael (http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/Middle_East/Israel/) at the Open Directory Project

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Israel&oldid=542861714"Categories: Israel 1948 establishments in Israel Arabic-speaking countries and territoriesCountries bordering the Red Sea Eastern Mediterranean countries Hebrew words and phrases LevantLiberal democracies Member states of the Union for the MediterraneanMember states of the United Nations Middle Eastern countries RepublicsStates and territories established in 1948

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