Israel ( , ; , ) officially
the State of Israel (Hebrew: , ; , ), is a country in Western Asia
located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea
. It borders Lebanon
in the
north, Syria
in the
northeast, Jordan
in the east,
and Egypt
on the
southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its
relatively small area. Also adjacent are the West Bank
to the east and Gaza Strip
to the southwest. Israel is the world's only
predominantly Jewish
state with a population of about 7.5 million people, of whom
approximately 5.62 million are
Jewish. The
largest
ethnic minority group is the segment denominated as
Arab citizens of Israel,
while minority
religious groups include
Muslims,
Christians,
Druze,
Samaritans and others, most of which are found
within the Arab segment.
The modern state of Israel has its historical and religious roots
in the Biblical
Land of Israel
(
Eretz Yisrael), a concept central to
Judaism since ancient times, and the heartland of
the ancient kingdoms of
Israel and
Judah.
Following the birth of
political Zionism in 1897 and the Balfour Declaration, the
League of Nations granted the
United
Kingdom
the British
Mandate of Palestine after World War
I, with responsibility for establishing "...such political,
administrative and economic conditions as will secure the
establishment of the Jewish national home, as laid down in the
preamble, and the development of self-governing institutions, and
also for safeguarding the civil and religious rights of all the
inhabitants of Palestine, irrespective of
race and religion..." In November 1947 the
United Nations decided on
partition of Palestine into a Jewish
state, an
Arab state, and a UN-administered
Jerusalem. Partition was accepted by Zionist leaders but rejected
by Arab leaders leading to the
1947–1948
Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. Israel
declared independence
on 14 May 1948 and neighboring Arab states
attacked the next day. Since then,
Israel has fought
a series of
wars with neighboring Arab states, and in consequence, Israel
controls
territories
beyond those delineated in the
1949 Armistice Agreements. Some
international borders remain in
dispute, however Israel has signed peace treaties with
Egypt and
Jordan, though efforts to
resolve
conflict with the Palestinians have so far only met with
limited success.
Israel is a
representative
democracy with a
parliamentary
system and
universal
suffrage.
The Prime
Minister serves as head of
government and the Knesset
serves as
Israel's legislative body. The economy, based on the nominal
gross domestic product, is
the
44th-largest
in the world. Israel ranks highest among Middle Eastern countries
on the UN
Human Development
Index.
Jerusalem
is the country's capital, seat of government, and
largest city, while Israel's main financial center is Tel Aviv
.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. The United Nations
and all member nations, in accordance with United Nations
Security Council Resolution 478 (Aug. 20, 1980; 14–0, U.S.
abstaining) which declares the Jerusalem Law "null and void" and
calls on member states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from
Jerusalem, refuse to accept the Jerusalem Law (see ) and maintain
their embassies in other cities such as Tel Aviv, Ramat
Gan
, and Herzliya
(see the [428194] CIA Factbook and Map of Israel). The Palestinian Authority sees East Jerusalem as the capital of a future
Palestinian state and the city's
final status awaits future negotiations between Israel and the
Palestinian Authority (see "Negotiating Jerusalem", University of
Maryland). See Positions on
Jerusalem for more information.
Etymology
Over the past three thousand years, the
name "Israel" has meant in common and
religious usage both the
Land of
Israel and the entire
Jewish nation.
According to the
Bible,
Jacob is renamed Israel after successfully wrestling
with an angel of God.
The earliest archaeological artifact to mention "Israel" (other
than as a personal name) is the
Merneptah Stele of
ancient Egypt (dated the late 13th century
BCE) which refers to a
people of that name.
The modern country was named Medinat
Yisrael, or the State of Israel, after other proposed names,
including Eretz Israel ("the
Land of Israel"), Zion, and Judea
, were
rejected. In the early weeks of independence, the government
chose the term "
Israeli" to denote a
citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made by
Minister of Foreign
Affairs Moshe Sharett.
History
Early roots
The
Land of Israel, known in Hebrew
as
Eretz Yisrael, has been sacred to the
Jewish people since
Biblical times.
According to the
Torah, the Land of Israel was
promised to the three
Patriarchs
of the Jewish people, by
God, as
their homeland; scholars have placed this period in the early 2nd
millennium BCE.
According to the traditional view, around the
11th century BCE, the first of a series of Israelite
kingdoms and states
established rule over the region;
these Israelite kingdoms and states ruled intermittently for the
following one thousand years. The sites holiest to
Judaism are located within Israel.
Between the time of the Israelite kingdoms and the 7th-century
Muslim conquests, the Land of
Israel fell under
Assyrian,
Babylonian,
Persian,
Greek,
Roman,
Sassanian, and
Byzantine rule. Jewish presence in the
region dwindled after the failure of the
Bar Kokhba revolt against the
Roman Empire in 132 CE. In 628/9, the
Byzantine Emperor
Heraclius conducted a
massacre and
expulsion of the
Jews, at which point the Jewish population probably reached its
lowest point. Nevertheless, a continuous Jewish presence in the
Land of Israel remained.
Although the main Jewish population shifted
from the Judea region to
the Galilee, the Mishnah and part of the
Talmud, among Judaism's most important religious texts, were
composed in Israel during this period. The Land of Israel
was captured from the
Byzantine
Empire around 636 CE during the initial Muslim conquests.
Control of the region transferred between the
Umayyads,
Abbasids, and
Crusaders over the next six
centuries, before falling in the hands of the
Mamluk Sultanate, in 1260. In 1516, the Land of
Israel became a part of the
Ottoman
Empire, which ruled the region until the 20th century.
Zionism and the British Mandate
Jews living in the
Diaspora have
long aspired to return to Zion and the
Land of Israel. That hope and yearning was
articulated in the
Bible, and is a central
theme in the
Jewish prayer book. Beginning in
the 12th century,
Catholic persecution of
Jews led to a steady stream leaving Europe to settle in the
Holy Land, increasing in numbers after
Jews were
expelled from Spain in
1492. During the 16th century large communities struck roots in the
Four Holy Cities, and in the second
half of the 18th century, entire
Hasidic communities from eastern Europe
settled in the Holy Land.
The first large wave of modern immigration, known as the
First Aliyah (Hebrew: עלייה), began in 1881, as
Jews fled
pogroms in
Eastern Europe. While the Zionist movement
already existed in theory,
Theodor
Herzl is credited with founding political
Zionism, a movement which sought to establish a
Jewish state in the
Land of Israel,
by elevating the
Jewish Question to
the international plane. In 1896, Herzl published
Der Judenstaat (
The Jewish
State), offering his vision of a future state; the following
year he presided over the first
World Zionist Congress.
The
Second Aliyah (1904–1914), began
after the
Kishinev pogrom. Some
40,000 Jews settled in Palestine but nearly half of them left. Both
the first and second waves of migrants were mainly
Orthodox Jews, but those in the Second
Aliyah included
socialist pioneers who
established the
kibbutz movement.
During
World War I, British Foreign
Secretary
Arthur Balfour issued what
became known as the
Balfour
Declaration, which "view[ed] with favour the establishment in
Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people". At the request
of
Edwin Samuel Montagu and
Lord Curzon, a line was also inserted
stating "it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done
which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing
non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political
status enjoyed by Jews in any other country". The
Jewish Legion, a group of battalions composed
primarily of Zionist volunteers, assisted in the British conquest
of Palestine. Arab opposition to the plan led to the
1920 Palestine riots and the formation
of the Jewish organization known as the
Haganah (meaning "The Defense" in Hebrew), from
which the
Irgun and
Lehi split off.
In 1922, the
League of Nations
granted the United Kingdom a
mandate over Palestine under
terms similar to the Balfour Declaration. The population of the
area at this time was predominantly Muslim Arab, while the largest
urban area in the region, Jerusalem, was predominantly
Jewish.
The
Third (1919–1923) and
Fourth Aliyah (1924–1929) brought 100,000 Jews
to Palestine.
From 1921 the British subjected Jewish
immigration to quotas and most of the territory slated for the
Jewish state was allocated to Transjordan
.
The
rise of Nazism in the
1930s led to the
Fifth
Aliyah, with an influx of a quarter of a million Jews. This
caused the
Arab revolt of
1936–1939 and led the British to cap immigration with the
White Paper of 1939. With
countries around the world turning away Jewish refugees fleeing
the Holocaust, a clandestine movement
known as
Aliyah Bet was organized to
bring Jews to Palestine. By the end of
World War II, Jews accounted for 33% of the
population of Palestine, up from 11% in 1922.
Independence and first years
After 1945 the United Kingdom became embroiled in an increasingly
violent
conflict with the
Jews. In 1947, the British government withdrew from commitment
to the
Mandate of
Palestine, stating it was unable to arrive at a solution
acceptable to both Arabs and Jews. The newly created
United Nations approved the
UN Partition Plan (United Nations General
Assembly Resolution 181) on November 29, 1947, dividing the country
into two states, one Arab and one Jewish.
Jerusalem was to be designated an international city — a
corpus separatum —
administered by the UN to avoid conflict over its status.
The
Jewish community accepted the plan, but
the
Arab League and
Arab Higher Committee rejected it. On
December 1, 1947 the Arab Higher Committee proclaimed a three-day
strike, and Arab bands began attacking Jewish targets. Civil war
began with the Jews initially on the defensive but gradually moving
into offence. The Palestinian-Arab economy collapsed and 250,000
Palestinian-Arabs fled or were expelled.
On May 14, 1948, the day before the end of the British Mandate, the
Jewish Agency proclaimed independence,
naming the country Israel; it was not until this day that the world
knew that the new state would be called Israel. The following day
the armies of five Arab countries — Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon
and Iraq — attacked Israel, launching the
1948 Arab-Israeli War. Sudan, Yemen
and Saudi Arabia also sent troops to assist the Arab contingent.
After a
year of fighting, a ceasefire
was declared and temporary borders, known as the Green
Line
, were established. Jordan
annexed what became known as the West Bank and East Jerusalem,
and Egypt took
control of the Gaza
Strip. Israel was admitted as a member of the
United Nations on May 11, 1949.
During the conflict 711,000 Arabs,
according to
UN estimates, or about 80% of the previous Arab population,
were expelled or fled the
country. The fate of the
Palestinian refugees today is a major
point of contention in the
Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.
In the early years of the state, the
Labor
Zionist movement led by Prime Minister
David Ben-Gurion dominated Israeli
politics. These years were marked by
mass immigration of
Holocaust survivors and an
influx of Jews some of
whom were persecuted in Arab lands. The population of Israel rose
from 800,000 to two million between 1948 and 1958. Most arrived as
refugees with no possessions and were housed in temporary camps
known as
ma'abarot. By 1952, over
200,000 immigrants were living in these tent cities. The need to
solve the crisis led Ben-Gurion to sign a
reparations
agreement with West Germany that triggered mass protests by
Jews angered at the idea of Israel "doing business" with
Germany.
During
the 1950s Israel was frequently attacked by Palestinian fedayeen, mainly from the
Egyptian-occupied Gaza
Strip. In 1956, Israel joined a secret alliance with The United
Kingdom
and France
aimed at
recapturing the Suez
Canal
, which the Egyptians had nationalized (see the
Suez Crisis). Despite capturing the
Sinai
Peninsula
, Israel was
forced to retreat due to pressure from the United States and the
Soviet
Union
in return for guarantees of Israeli shipping rights
in the Red
Sea
and the Canal.
At the
start of the following decade, Israel captured Adolf Eichmann, an architect of the Final Solution hiding in Argentina
, and brought him to trial. The trial had a
major impact on public awareness of
the
Holocaust, and to date Eichmann remains the only person ever
executed by civil authorities in Israel.
Conflicts and peace treaties
Arab nationalists led by
Nasser refused to recognize Israel or its
right to exist, calling for its destruction.
In 1967, Egypt,
Syria, and Jordan massed
troops close to Israeli borders, expelled UN peacekeepers and blocked
Israel's access to the Red
Sea. Israel saw these actions as a casus belli for a pre-emptive strike that launched the Six-Day War, Israel achieved a decisive victory
in which it captured the West Bank, Gaza
Strip, Sinai
Peninsula and Golan Heights
. The 1949 Green Line became the administrative boundary between Israel
and the occupied
territories. Jerusalem's boundaries were enlarged, incorporating East Jerusalem. The
Jerusalem Law, passed in 1980, reaffirmed this
measure and
reignited
international controversy over the
status of Jerusalem.
The failure of the Arab states in the 1967 war led to the rise of
Arab non-state actors in the conflict, most importantly the
Palestinian
Liberation Organization (PLO) which was committed to what it
called "armed struggle as the only way to liberate the homeland".
In the
late 1960s and early 1970s, Palestinian groups launched a wave of attacks against
Israeli targets around the world, including a massacre
of Israeli athletes
at the
1972 Summer Olympics.
Israel responded with
Operation
Wrath of God, in which those responsible for the Munich
massacre were tracked down and assassinated. From 1969 to 1970,
Israel fought the
War of Attrition
against Egypt.
On October 6, 1973,
Yom Kippur, the
holiest day in the Jewish calendar, the Egyptian and Syrian armies
launched a surprise attack against
Israel. The war ended on October 26 with Israel successfully
repelling Egyptian and Syrian forces but suffering great losses. An
internal inquiry exonerated the
government of responsibility for the war, but public anger forced
Prime Minister
Golda Meir to
resign.
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.
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. In
the two years that followed, Sadat and
Menachem Begin signed the
Camp David Accords and the
Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. Israel
withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula and agreed to enter negotiations
over an
autonomy for Palestinians
across the Green Line, a plan which was never implemented.
Begin's
government encouraged Israelis to settle in the West Bank, leading to friction with the Palestinians in those
areas.
On June
7, 1981, Israel heavily bombed Iraq
's Osirak
nuclear reactor in Operation Opera,
disabling it. Israeli intelligence had
suspected Iraq was intending to use it for weapons development. In
1982, Israel intervened in the
Lebanese Civil War to destroy the bases
from which the
Palestine Liberation
Organization launched attacks and missiles at northern Israel.
That move developed into the
First
Lebanon War. Israel withdrew from most of Lebanon in 1986, but
maintained a
borderland buffer
zone until 2000. The
First
Intifada, a Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule, broke
out in 1987 with waves of violence occurring in the
occupied territories. Over the
following six years, more than a thousand people were killed in the
ensuing violence, much of which was internal Palestinian violence.
During the 1991
Gulf War, the PLO and many
Palestinians supported
Saddam Hussein
and Iraqi
missile
attacks against Israel.
In 1992,
Yitzhak Rabin became
Prime Minister following
an election in which his
party promoted compromise with Israel's neighbors. The following
year,
Shimon Peres and
Mahmoud Abbas, on behalf of Israel and the
PLO, signed the
Oslo Accords, which
gave the
Palestinian
National Authority the right to self-govern parts of the West
Bank and the Gaza Strip. A declared intent was recognition of
Israel's right to exist and an end to terrorism. In 1994, the
Israel-Jordan Treaty of
Peace was signed, making Jordan the second Arab country to
normalize relations with Israel.
Arab public support for the Accords was damaged by the
Cave of the Patriarchs
massacre, continuation of
settlements, and checkpoints, and the
deterioration of economic conditions. Israeli public support for
the Accords waned as Israel was struck by
Palestinian suicide attacks.
While
leaving a peace rally in November 1995, Yitzhak
Rabin was assassinated
by a far-right-wing Jew who opposed the
Accords. The country was shocked.
At the
end of the 1990s, Israel, under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu, withdrew from
Hebron
, and signed
the Wye River Memorandum,
giving greater control to the Palestinian National
Authority.
Ehud Barak,
elected Prime Minister
in 1999, began the new millennium by
withdrawing forces from Southern Lebanon and conducting
negotiations with Palestinian Authority Chairman
Yasser Arafat and U.S. President
Bill Clinton at the
July 2000 Camp David Summit. During
the summit, Barak offered a plan for the establishment of a
Palestinian state, but Yasser
Arafat rejected it. After the collapse of the talks, the
Second Intifada began.
Ariel Sharon became the new prime
minister in a
2001 special
election. During his tenure, Sharon carried out his plan to
unilaterally
withdraw from the Gaza Strip and also spearheaded the
construction of the
Israeli
West Bank barrier. In July 2006, a
Hezbollah artillery assault on Israel's northern
border communities and a cross border abduction of two Israeli
soldiers sparked the month long
Second Lebanon War.
'Permanent Ceasefire to Be Based on Creation Of Buffer
Zone Free of Armed Personnel Other than UN, Lebanese Forces'
United Nations Security
Council, August 11, 2006
- escalation of hostilities in Lebanon and in Israel since
Hizbollah’s attack on Israel on July 12, 2006
In May
2008, Israel confirmed it had been discussing a peace treaty with
Syria for a year, with Turkey
as a
go-between. At the end of 2008 a ceasefire between
Hamas and Israel collapsed, Israeli troops entered
Gaza marking the start of a ground offensive. In January, Israel
announced a unilateral ceasefire, conditional on elimination of
further rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza, and began withdrawing
over the next several days. Hamas announced its own ceasefire, with
its own conditions of complete withdrawal and opening of border
crossings. Despite neither the Qassam launchings nor Israeli
retaliatory strikes having completely stopped, the fragile
ceasefire remained in order.
Geography and climate
Israel is
located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, bounded by Lebanon to the
north, Syria to the
northeast, Jordan to the east,
and Egypt to the
southwest. The sovereign territory of Israel, excluding all
territories captured by Israel during the 1967
Six-Day War, is approximately 20,770 square
kilometers (8,019 sq mi) in area, of which two percent is water.
The total
area under Israeli law, including East
Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, is 22,072 square kilometers (8,522 sq
mi).
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).
Ein Afek
Despite
its small size, Israel is home to a variety of geographic features,
from the Negev
desert in
the south to the mountain ranges of the Galilee, Carmel
, and the
Golan in the
north. The
Israeli Coastal
Plain on the shores of the Mediterranean is home to seventy
percent of the nation's population.East of the central highlands
lies the
Jordan Rift Valley,
which forms a small part of the 6,500-kilometer (4,040-mi)
Great Rift Valley.
The Jordan River
runs along the Jordan Rift Valley, from Mount Hermon
through the Hulah Valley
and the Sea of Galilee
to the Dead
Sea
, the lowest point on the surface of the
Earth. Further south is the Arabah
, ending
with the Gulf of Eilat, part of the
Red
Sea.
Unique to
Israel and the Sinai
Peninsula are makhteshim, or erosion cirques. The largest makhtesh
in the world is Ramon
Crater
in the Negev, which measures 40 kilometers by
8 kilometers (25 mi by 5 mi). A report on the
environmental status of the Mediterranean basin states that Israel
has the largest number of plant species per square meter of all the
countries in the basin.
Temperatures in Israel vary widely, especially during the winter.
The more
mountainous regions can be windy, cold, and sometimes snowy;
Mount
Hermon's peak is covered with snow most of the year and
Jerusalem usually receives at least one snowfall each
year. Meanwhile, coastal cities, such as Tel Aviv and Haifa
, have a
typical Mediterranean climate
with cool, rainy winters and long, hot summers. The highest
temperature in the continent of Asia (53.7°C or 129°F) was recorded in 1942 at Tirat Zvi
kibbutz in the northern parts of the
Jordan-valley. From May to September, rain in Israel is
rare. With scarce water resources, Israel has developed various
water-saving technologies, including
drip irrigation. Israelis also take
advantage of the considerable sunlight available for
solar energy, making
Israel the leading nation in solar
energy use per capita.
Government and politics
Israel operates under a
parliamentary system as a
democratic republic with
universal suffrage. The
President of Israel is the
head of state, but his duties are limited and
largely ceremonial. A
Parliament
Member supported by a majority in parliament becomes the
Prime Minister, usually the
chairman of the largest party. The Prime Minister is the
head of government and head of the
Cabinet.
Israel is governed by
a 120-member parliament, known as the Knesset.
Membership in the Knesset is based on
proportional representation of
political
parties, with a
2% electoral threshold,
which commonly results in coalition governments. Parliamentary
elections are scheduled every four years, but unstable coalitions
or a
no-confidence vote by
the Knesset often dissolves governments earlier. "The average life
span of an Israeli government is 22 months. The peace process, the
role of religion in the state, and political scandals have caused
coalitions to break apart or produced early elections." The
Basic Laws of Israel function
as an
unwritten constitution.
In 2003, the Knesset began to draft an official constitution based
on these laws.
Israel has a
three-tier court
system. At the lowest level are
magistrate courts, situated in most cities across
the country. Above them are
district
courts, serving both as
appellate courts
and
courts of first instance; they are
situated in five of Israel's six
districts.
The third and highest
tier in Israel is the Supreme Court
, seated in Jerusalem. It serves a dual role
as the highest court of appeals and the
High Court of
Justice. In the latter role, the Supreme Court rules as a court
of first instance, allowing individuals, both citizens and
non-citizens, to petition against decisions of state authorities.
Israel is not a member of the
International Criminal Court
blaming what it sees as the potential for political bias. Israel's
legal system combines
English common law,
civil law, and
Jewish law. It is based on 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.
Marriage and
divorce
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.
Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty seeks to defend
human rights and liberties in Israel.
Israel is the only country in the region ranked "Free" by
Freedom House based on the level of civil
liberties and political rights; the "Israeli Occupied
Territories/Palestinian Authority" was ranked "Not Free."
Similarly,
Reporters Without
Borders rated Israel 93 out of 175 countries in terms of
freedom of the press, lagging
behind countries such as Kuwait (60th), Lebanon (61st) and United
Arab Emirates (86th). Nevertheless, groups such as
Amnesty International and
Human Rights Watch have often disapproved
of Israel's human rights record in regards to the
Arab-Israeli conflict. Israel's civil
liberties also allow for self-criticism, from groups such as
B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights
organization.
Administrative districts
The State
of Israel is divided into six main administrative districts, known
as mehozot (מחוזות; singular: mahoz) –
Center
, Haifa
, Jerusalem
, North
, Southern
, and Tel Aviv
Districts. Districts are further divided
into fifteen sub-districts known as
nafot (נפות; singular:
nafa), which are themselves partitioned into fifty natural
regions.
For statistical purposes, the country is
divided into three metropolitan areas: Tel Aviv and Gush
Dan
(population 3,150,000), Haifa (population
996,000), and Beersheba
(population 531,600). Israel's largest
city, both in population and area, is Jerusalem with 732,100 residents in an area of 126 square
kilometers (49 sq mi). Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Rishon LeZion
rank as Israel's next most populous cities, with
populations of 384,600, 267,000, and 222,300
respectively.
Occupied territories
In 1967,
as a result of the Six-Day War, Israel
gained control of the West
Bank, East Jerusalem, the
Gaza
strip
and the Golan Heights. Israel also took control of the Sinai
Peninsula, but
returned it to Egypt as part of the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace
Treaty.
Following Israel's capture of these territories,
settlements consisting of Israeli
citizens were established within each of them. Israel has applied
civilian law to the
Golan Heights
and
East Jerusalem, incorporating them
into its territory and offering their inhabitants permanent
residency status and the possibility to become full citizen if they
asked it.
In contrast, the West Bank has remained
under military occupation, and it and the Gaza Strip are seen by the Palestinians and most of the
international community as the site of a future Palestinian
state. The UN Security Council has declared the
incorporations of the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem to be "null
and void" and continues to view the territories as occupied. The
status of East Jerusalem in any future peace settlement has at
times been a difficult hurdle in negotiations between Israeli
governments and representatives of the Palestinians. Most
negotiations relating to the territories have been on the basis of
United
Nations Security Council Resolution 242, which calls on Israel
to withdraw from occupied territories in return for normalization
of relations with Arab states, a principle known as "
Land for peace".
The West Bank was annexed by Jordan in 1948, following the Arab
rejection of the UN decision to create two states in Palestine.
Only Britain recognized this annexation and Jordan has since
ceded its
claim to the territory to the
PLO. The West Bank was
occupied by Israel in 1967. The population are mainly
Arab Palestinian,
including
refugees of the
1948 Arab-Israeli War. From
their occupation in 1967 until 1993, the Palestinians living 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 internal jurisdiction of the
Palestinian Authority, and
only partial Israeli military control, although Israel has on
several occasions redeployed its
troops and reinstated full military
administration during periods of unrest. In response to increasing
attacks as part of the
Second
Intifada, the Israeli government started to construct the
Israeli West Bank barrier,
which is partially built within the West Bank.
The
Gaza
strip was occupied by Egypt from 1948 to 1967 and then by
Israel from 1967 to 2005. In 2005, as part of
Israel's unilateral
disengagement plan, Israel removed all of its residents and
forces from the territory. However, Israel still controls Gaza's
airspace and sea access and has on occasion sent troops into the
area. Gaza has a border with Egypt and an agreement between Israel,
the
EU, the
PA and Egypt governed how
border crossing would take place (it was monitored by European
observers), However the election of a Hamas government has led to
problems in implementing it resulting in the border crossing being
closed much of the time. Inner control of Gaza is in the hands of
the Hamas
government.
Foreign relations
Israel maintains diplomatic relations with 161 countries and has 94
diplomatic missions around the
world.
Only three members of the Arab League have normalized relations with
Israel; Egypt and Jordan signed peace treaties in 1979 and 1994, respectively, and
Mauritania
opted for full diplomatic relations with Israel in
1999. Two other members of the Arab League,
Morocco
and Tunisia
, which had some diplomatic relations with Israel,
severed them at the start of the Second Intifada in 2000.
Since 2003, ties with Morocco have been improved, and Israel's
foreign minister has visited the country.
As a result of the
2009 Gaza War, Mauritania, Qatar
, Bolivia
, and Venezuela
suspended political and economical ties with
Israel. Under Israeli law, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia
, Iraq, and
Yemen
are enemy countries and Israeli citizens may not
visit them without permission from the Ministry of the
Interior. Since 1995, Israel has been a member of the
Mediterranean Dialogue, which
fosters cooperation between seven countries in the Mediterranean Basin and the members of
the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization
.
Foreign
relations with United
States, Turkey, Germany, the United Kingdom and India are
among Israel's strongest. The United States was the first country
to recognize the State of Israel, followed by the Soviet Union. The United States may regard Israel as its
primary ally in the
Middle East, based
on "common democratic values, religious affinities, and security
interests". Their bilateral relations are multidimensional and the
United States is the principal proponent of the Arab-Israeli
peace
process. U.S. and Israeli views differ on some issues, such as
the Golan Heights, Jerusalem, and settlements.
Although Turkey and
Israel did not establish full diplomatic relations until 1991,
Turkey has
cooperated with 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 states to
temper its relationship with Israel. Relations between Turkey and
Israel took a downturn, however, after the former's condemnation of
Israel after the 2009 Gaza War.
Germany
's strong ties with Israel include cooperation on
scientific and educational endeavors and the two states remain
strong economic and military partners. India established
full diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992 and has fostered a strong
military and cultural partnership with the country since then.
The
UK has kept
full diplomatic relations with Israel since its formation having
had two visits from heads of state in 2007. Relations
between the two countries were also made stronger by former prime
minister
Tony Blair's efforts for a two
state resolution. The UK is seen as having a "natural" relationship
with Israel on account of the
British Mandate of Palestine.
Iran had diplomatic relations
with Israel under the
Pahlavi
dynasty but withdrew its recognition of Israel during the
Iranian Revolution.
Military
The
Israel Defense Forces
consists of the
Israeli Army,
Israeli Air Force and
Israeli Navy. It was founded during the
1948 Arab-Israeli War by
consolidating
paramilitary
organizations – chiefly the
Haganah – that preceded the establishment of
the state. The IDF also draws upon the resources of the
Military Intelligence
Directorate (
Aman), which works with the
Mossad and
Shabak. The Israel
Defense Forces has been involved in several major wars and border
conflicts in its short history, making it one of the most
battle-trained armed forces in the world.
The majority of Israelis are
drafted
into the military at the age of eighteen. Men serve three years and
women serve two years. Following compulsory service, Israeli men
join the
reserve
forces and do several weeks of 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. An
alternative 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. As a result of its
conscription program, the IDF maintains approximately 168,000
active troops and an additional 408,000 reservists.
The nation's military relies heavily on
high-tech weapons systems
designed and manufactured in Israel as well as some foreign
imports. The United States is a particularly notable foreign
contributor; they are expected to provide the country with $30
billion in military aid between 2008 and 2017. The Israeli- and
U.S.-designed
Arrow missile is one
of the world's only operational
anti-ballistic missile systems. Since
the
Yom Kippur War, Israel has
developed a network of
reconnaissance satellites. The
success of the
Ofeq program has made
Israel one of seven countries capable of launching such satellites.
The country has also developed its own
main battle tank, the
Merkava. Since its establishment, Israel has spent a
significant portion of its
gross
domestic product on defense. In 1984, for example, the country
spent 24% of its GDP on defense. Today, that figure has dropped to
7.3%.
Israel is widely believed to
possess nuclear weapons. However,
Israel has not signed the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty and maintains a
policy of deliberate
ambiguity toward
its nuclear
capabilities.
After the Gulf War in 1991, when Israel was attacked by Iraqi
Scud missiles, a law was passed
requiring all apartments and homes in Israel to have a
mamad, a reinforced security room impermeable to chemical
and biological substances.
Economy
Israel is considered one of the most advanced countries in
Southwest Asia in economic and industrial
development. The country is ranked 3rd in the region on the
World Bank's
Ease of Doing Business Index as
well as in the
World Economic
Forum's Global
Competitiveness Report. It has the second-largest number of
startup companies in the world
(after the United States) and the largest number of
NASDAQ-listed companies outside North America. In
2007, Israel had the 44th-highest
gross domestic product and
22nd-highest gross domestic product
per
capita (at
purchasing power
parity) at US$232.7 billion and US$33, 299, respectively. In
2007, Israel was invited to join the
Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development, which promotes
cooperation between countries that adhere to democratic principles
and operate
free market economies.
Subsequently the
New Israeli
Shekel was announced as one of 17
freely convertible currencies according to
the
CLS list.
Despite limited natural resources, intensive development of the
agricultural and industrial
sectors over the past decades has made Israel largely
self-sufficient in food production, apart from grains and beef.
Other major imports to Israel, totaling
US$47.8 billion in 2006, include
fossil fuels, raw materials, and
military equipment. Leading exports include fruits, vegetables,
pharmaceuticals, software,
chemicals, military technology, and
diamonds; in 2006, Israeli
exports reached US$42.86 billion.
Israel is a global leader in water conservation and geothermal energy, and its development of
cutting-edge technologies in software, communications and the life
sciences have evoked comparisons with
Silicon
Valley
. Intel
and
Microsoft built their first overseas
research and development
centers in Israel, and other high-tech multi-national corporations,
such as IBM, Cisco
Systems, and Motorola, have opened
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. Since the 1970s, Israel has received economic aid
from the United States, whose loans account for the bulk of
Israel's external debt. In 2007, the United States approved another
$30 billion in aid to Israel over the next ten years.
Tourism, especially
religious tourism, is another 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. In 2008, over 3 million tourists
visited Israel.
Transportation
Israel is
served by two international airports, the large Ben Gurion
International Airport
near Tel Aviv-Yafo
, and the significantly smaller Ovda Airport
, in the country's southern region, as well as
several smaller domestic airports. 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. 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.
Science and education
Israel
has the highest school life expectancy in Southwest Asia, and is tied with Japan
for
second-highest school life expectancy on the Asian continent (after
South Korea). Israel similarly has the highest
literacy rate in Southwest Asia, according to the
United Nations. 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 largest school
group, and is attended by the majority of Jewish and non-Arab
pupils in Israel. Most Arabs send their children to schools where
Arabic is the language of instruction.
Education is
compulsory in
Israel for children between the ages of three and eighteen.
Schooling is divided into three tiers –
primary school (grades 1–6),
middle school (grades 7–9), and
high school (grades 10–12) – culminating
with
Bagrut matriculation exams.
Proficiency in core subjects such as mathematics,
Bible,
Hebrew language,
Hebrew and general literature,
English, history, and civics is necessary
to receive a Bagrut certificate. In Arab, Christian and
Druze schools, the exam on Biblical studies is
replaced by an exam in
Islam,
Christianity or Druze heritage. In 2003, over
half of all Israeli twelfth graders earned a matriculation
certificate.
Israel's eight public universities are subsidized by the state.
The
Hebrew
University of Jerusalem
, Israel's oldest university, houses the Jewish National and
University Library, the world's largest repository of books on
Jewish subjects. The Hebrew University is consistently
ranked among world's 100 top universities by the prestigious
ARWU academic ranking.
Other major
universities in the country include the Technion
, the Weizmann Institute of Science
, Tel Aviv University
(TAU), Bar-Ilan University
, the University of Haifa
, and Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev
. Israel's seven research universities
(excluding the Open University
) are consistently ranked among top 500 in the
world. Israel ranks third in the world in the number of
academic degrees per capita (20 percent of the population). Israel
has produced five
Nobel Prize-winning
scientists since 2002 and publishes among the most scientific
papers per capita of any country in the world.
Israel
leads world in stem cell research papers per capita since 2000 In
addition, Israeli universities are among 100 top world universities
in mathematics (TAU, Hebrew University
and Technion), physics (TAU, Hebrew University and Weizmann Institute of Science), chemistry (TAU, Hebrew University and Technion), computer science
(TAU, Hebrew University, Weizmann Institute of Science, BIU
and Technion) and economics (TAU and Hebrew University).
In 2009 Israel was ranked 2nd among 20 top countries in space
sciences by
Thomson Reuters agency.
Since
1988 Israel Aerospace
Industries have indigenously designed and built over 12
commercial and spy satellites, 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. In 2003,
Ilan Ramon became Israel's first astronaut,
serving as payload specialist of
STS-107,
the
fatal mission of
the
Space Shuttle
Columbia.
Israel has embraced
solar energy, its
engineers are on the cutting edge of solar energy technology and
its solar companies work on projects around the world. Over 90% of
Israeli homes use solar energy
for hot water, the highest
per
capita in the world.
According to government figures, the country saves 8% of its electricity consumption per year because of its solar energy use in heating. The high annual incident solar irradiance at its geographic latitude creates ideal conditions for what is an internationally renowned solar research and development industry in the Negev Desert
.
Demographics
As of 2008, Israel's population is 7.28 million. Israel has two
official languages,
Hebrew and
Arabic. Hebrew is the primary
language of the state and spoken by the majority of the population.
Arabic is spoken by the Arab minority and
Jews who immigrated to Israel from
Arab lands (by 2002 these Jews and their descendants
constituted about 40% of Israel's population). As of 2008,
Arab citizens of Israel comprise
just over 20% of the country's total population. Many Israelis can
communicate reasonably well in English, as many television programs
are in English and many schools teach English at early grades (no
later than the 4th grade, according to the official curriculum). As
a country of
immigrants, many languages can
be heard on the streets of Israel. A large influx of people from
the former Soviet Union and
Ethiopia (some 120,000
Ethiopian Jews live in Israel) have made
Russian and
Amharic widely spoken in Israel. Between 1990 and
1994, the
immigration
of Jews from the former Soviet Union increased Israel's
population by twelve percent. Out of more than one million
Russian-speaking immigrants in Israel, about 300,000 are not
Jewish.
Over the last decade, immigration flows have
also included significant numbers of workers from countries such as
Romania
, Thailand
, China, and a number of countries in Africa and
South America; gauging precise numbers is difficult because of the
presence of "undocumented" immigrants, but estimates run in the
region of 200,000. Over 16,000 African asylum seekers have
entered Israel in recent years. Retention of Israel's population
since 1948 is about even or greater, when compared to other
countries with mass immigration. Emigration from Israel (
yerida) to other countries, primarily the United
States and Canada, is described by demographers as modest but is
often cited by Israeli government ministries as a major threat to
Israel's future.
As of
2009 over 300,000 Israeli citizens live in the West Bank settlements 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 the Golan Heights. In 2006, there were 250,000 Jews living in
East Jerusalem. The total number of
Israeli settlers is over 500,000 (6.5 % of the 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.
Religion
Israel was established as a homeland for the
Jewish people and is often referred to as the
Jewish state. The country's
Law of Return grants all
Jews and those of Jewish lineage the right to
Israeli citizenship. Just over three
quarters, or 75.5%, of the population are Jews from a
diversity of Jewish backgrounds.
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). The religious affiliation of Israeli Jews varies
widely: 55% say they are "traditional," while 20% consider
themselves "secular Jews," 17% define themselves as "
Orthodox Jews"; the final 8% define
themselves as "
Haredi Jews."
Making up 16% of the population,
Muslims
constitute Israel's largest religious minority. About 2% of the
population are
Christian and 1.5% are
Druze. The Christian population includes both
Arab Christians and
Messianic Jews. Members of many other
religious groups, including
Buddhists and
Hindus, maintain a presence in Israel, albeit
in small numbers.
The city
of Jerusalem is of special importance to Jews, Muslims and
Christians as it is the home of sites that are pivotal to their
religious beliefs, such as the Israeli-controlled Old
City
that incorporates the Western Wall
and the Temple Mount
, the Al-Aqsa Mosque
and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
. Other landmarks of religious importance 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
in Haifa and the
leader of the faith is buried in Acre
.
Apart from maintenance staff, there is no Bahá'í community in
Israel, although it is a destination for
pilgrimages. Bahá'í staff in
Israel do not teach their faith to Israelis following strict
policy.
Languages
Trilingual road signs
Official languages are Hebrew and Arabic. However, much official
signage is also in English. Since November 2009 it has been debated
whether to allow company filings to be submitted in English in
order to allow the easier promotion of international
business.
Culture
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. Israel is 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. Israel's substantial Arab minority
has also left its imprint on Israeli culture in such spheres as
architecture, music, and cuisine.
Israeli literature is primarily
poetry and prose written in Hebrew, as part of the renaissance of
Hebrew as a spoken language since
the mid-19th century, although a small body of literature is
published in other languages, such as English.
By law, two copies of
all printed matter published in Israel must be deposited in the
Jewish National
and University Library at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem. In 2001, the law was amended to include
audio and video recordings, and other non-print media. In 2006, 85
percent of the 8, 000 books transferred to the library were in
Hebrew. The
Hebrew Book Week
(
He: ) is held each June and
features book fairs, 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.
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.
The nation's canonical
folk songs, known
as "Songs of the Land of Israel," deal with the experiences of the
pioneers in building the Jewish homeland. Among Israel's
world-renowned
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. Israel has also
produced many musicians of note, some achieving international
stardom.
Itzhak Perlman,
Pinchas Zukerman and
Ofra Haza are among the internationally acclaimed
musicians born in Israel. Israel has participated in the
Eurovision Song Contest nearly every
year since 1973, winning the competition three times and hosting it
twice.
Eilat
has hosted
its own international music festival, the Red Sea Jazz Festival, every summer
since 1987.
Continuing the strong
theatrical
traditions of the Yiddish theater in Eastern Europe, Israel
maintains a vibrant theatre scene.
Founded in 1918, Habima
Theatre
in Tel Aviv is Israel's oldest repertory theater company and national
theater.
The
Israel
Museum
in Jerusalem is one of Israel's most important
cultural institutions and houses the Dead Sea scrolls, along with an extensive
collection of Judaica and European art. Israel's national
Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem
, houses the world's largest archive of
Holocaust-related information. Beth
Hatefutsoth
(the Diaspora Museum), on the campus of Tel Aviv
University, is an interactive museum devoted to the history of
Jewish communities around the world. Apart from the major
museums in large cities, there are high-quality artspaces in many
towns and
kibbutzim.
Mishkan
Le'Omanut on Kibbutz Ein Harod Meuhad
is the largest art museum in the north of the
country.
Sports
Sports and physical fitness have not always been paramount in
Jewish culture. Athletic prowess, which was prized by the
ancient Greeks, was looked down upon as an
unwelcome intrusion of
Hellenistic values.
Maimonides, who was both a
rabbi and a
physician,
emphasized the importance of regular exercise in preventing illness
on the authority of
Hippocrates and
Galen. This approach received a boost in the
19th century from the physical culture campaign of
Max Nordau, and in the early 20th century when
the
Chief Rabbi of
Palestine,
Abraham Isaac Kook, declared that "the
body serves the soul, and only a healthy body can ensure a healthy
soul".
The
Maccabiah Games, an
Olympic-style event for Jewish athletes, was inaugurated in the
1930s, and has been held every four years since then. The most
popular spectator sports in Israel today are
association football and
basketball. In 1964
Israel hosted and won the
Asian Nations Cup.
In the Seventies Israel was excluded from the
1978 Asian Games following the organizers'
refusal to invite the country as a result of pressure by
participating middle eastern countries. The exclusion led Israel to
shift from Asia to Europe and cease competing in Asian
competitions. In 1994,
UEFA agreed to admit
Israel and all Israeli sporting organizations now compete in
Europe.
Ligat ha'Al is the country's
premier soccer league, and
Ligat
HaAl is the premier basketball league.
Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. has won the
European
championship in basketball five times.
Beersheba has become a national chess
center and home to many chess champions from the former Soviet Union. The city hosted the World Team Chess
Championship in 2005, and chess is taught in the city's
kindergartens.In 2008, the Israeli chess team won the silver medal
at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany.
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. Israel has won
over 100 gold medals in the
Paralympic
Games and is ranked about 15th in the
all time medal count.
The
1968 Summer Paralympics
were hosted by Israel.
See also
References
Bibliography
External links
- Government
- (Hebrew) Israel
Government Portal (with links to
English, Arabic versions)
- (Hebrew) Prime
Minister's Office, official site (with links to English, Arabic
versions)
- (Hebrew) President of the State of Israel, official site
(with links to English, Arabic
versions)
- The
Knesset, official site of Israel's parliament
- (Hebrew) The
Supreme Court, official site (with
links to English, Arabic versions)
- Ministry
of Construction and Housing
- Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, official site
- Ministry of
Industry Trade & Labor Official Site
- Ministry of
Religion
- Ministry of
Tourism, official site
- Chief of State and Cabinet Members
- (Hebrew) Central Bureau of Statistics, official site
(with links to English, Arabic
versions)
- Official political blog of Israel
- General reference
- Maps
- Media
- Other
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