Israel

מדינת ישראל
Medīnat Yisrā'el دولة إسرائيل
Dawlat Isrā'īl
State of Israel


Flag Emblem

Anthem
Hatikvah
The Hope


Capital
(and largest city) Jerusalem
31°47′N, 35°13′E
Official languages de jure: Hebrew, Arabic
de facto: English[1]
Government Parliamentary democracy
- President Shimon Peres
- Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
Independence from UK-administered League of Nations mandate
- Declaration 14 May 1948 (05 Iyar 5708)
Area
- Total 1 20,770 / 22,072 km² (151st)
8,019 / 8,522 sq mi
- Water (%) ~2%
Population
- 2007 estimate 7,150,0002 (96th)
- 1995 census 5,548,523
- Density 324 /km² (34th)
(787) /sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2006 estimate
- Total $177.3 billion (47th)
- Per capita $26,200 (28th)
HDI (2006) 0.927 (high) (23rd)
Currency New Israeli Sheqel (₪) (NIS)
Time zone IST (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST) (UTC+3)
Internet TLD .il
Calling code +972
1 Excluding / Including the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem; see below.
2 Includes Israeli population in the West Bank.
State of Israel
Geography
Land of Israel · Districts · Cities
Transport · Mediterranean · Red Sea
Judea and Samaria · Sea of Galilee
Jerusalem · Tel Aviv · Haifa

History
Jewish history · Timeline · Zionism · Aliyah
Herzl · Balfour · British Mandate
1947 UN Plan · Independence · Austerity

Arab-Israeli conflict · History
1948 War · 1949 Armistice
Jewish exodus · Suez War · Six-Day War
Attrition War · Yom Kippur War
1982 Lebanon War · 2006 Lebanon War
Peace proposals · Treaties with Egypt, Jordan

Israeli-Palestinian conflict · History
Timeline · Peace process · Peace camp
First Intifada · Oslo · Second Intifada
Barrier · Disengagement

Economy
Science and technology · Companies
Tourism · Wine · Diamonds · Agriculture
Military industry · Aerospace industry

Demographics · Culture
Religion · Israeli Arabs · Kibbutz
Music · Archaeology · Universities
Hebrew · Literature · Sport · Israelis

Laws · Politics
Law of Return · Jerusalem Law
Parties · Elections · PM · President
Knesset · Supreme Court · Courts

Foreign affairs
International law · UN · US · Arab League

Security
Israel Defense Forces
Intelligence Community · Security Council
Police · Border Police · Prison Service

Portal:Israel · Categories · Project
For other uses, see Israel (disambiguation).
מדינת ישראל
Medīnat Yisrā'el دولة إسرائيل
Dawlat Isrā'īl
State of Israel


Flag Emblem

Anthem
Hatikvah
The Hope


Capital
(and largest city) Jerusalem
31°47′N, 35°13′E
Official languages de jure: Hebrew, Arabic
de facto: English[1]
Government Parliamentary democracy
- President Shimon Peres
- Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
Independence from UK-administered League of Nations mandate
- Declaration 14 May 1948 (05 Iyar 5708)
Area
- Total 1 20,770 / 22,072 km² (151st)
8,019 / 8,522 sq mi
- Water (%) ~2%
Population
- 2007 estimate 7,150,0002 (96th)
- 1995 census 5,548,523
- Density 324 /km² (34th)
(787) /sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2006 estimate
- Total $177.3 billion (47th)
- Per capita $26,200 (28th)
HDI (2006) 0.927 (high) (23rd)
Currency New Israeli Sheqel (₪) (NIS)
Time zone IST (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST) (UTC+3)
Internet TLD .il
Calling code +972
1 Excluding / Including the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem; see below.
2 Includes Israeli population in the West Bank.
Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל, Yisra'el), officially the State of Israel (Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל (help·info), Medinat Yisra'el; Arabic: دَوْلَةْ إِسْرَائِيل, Dawlat Isrā'īl), is a country in Asia located on the southeastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. It has borders with Lebanon in the north, Syria and Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area.[2] Also adjacent are the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which are partially administrated by the Palestinian National Authority.

Israel declared its independence in 1948 after the United Nations approved the partition of the British Mandate of Palestine into two states, Jewish and Arab, in November 1947. The Arab countries rejected the plan and attacked the State of Israel the moment it was created. Israel's victory in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War expanded the borders of the Jewish state beyond those envisaged by the UN partition plan. In 1967, the military preparations of the neighboring Arab states precipitated a preemptive strike by Israel. The Six-Day War ended with the capture of the Golan Heights, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Sinai Peninsula. In 1973, Israel repelled a surprise attack by a coalition of Arab states in the Yom Kippur War. In 1979, Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel. Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula in return. Jordan and Israel signed a peace agreement in 1994. In the wake of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the Palestinian National Authority was formed to administer the territories in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israel withdrew completely from the Gaza Strip in 2005.

The population of Israel today is over seven million, with a large Jewish majority. While Israel is home to both Jews and Arabs, as well as a large number of Christian and other minority groups, it is the world's only Jewish state.[3][4] Jerusalem is the capital, seat of government, and largest city.[5] Due to its broad array of political rights and civil liberties, Israel is considered the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.[6] Despite Israel's political problems and the vast sums it spends on military defense, Israel is an active competitor in the global market and is considered the most progressive in the region in terms of freedom of the press,[7] business regulations,[8] economic competition,[9] and overall human development.[10] [11][12]

Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 History
2.1 Ancient history
2.2 Zionism and the British Mandate
2.3 Independence
2.4 The first fifty years, 1950s-1990s
2.5 The 21st century
3 Geography and climate
4 Government and politics
4.1 Administrative districts
4.2 Foreign relations and military
5 Economy
5.1 Science and technology
5.2 Tourism
6 Education
7 Demographics
7.1 Religion
7.2 Language
8 Culture
8.1 Literature
8.2 Music
8.3 Art and theater
8.4 Sports
9 List of Israeli media sources
10 See also
11 Notes and references
11.1 Bibliography
12 External links



Etymology
The name "Israel" has meant in common and liturgical usage over the past 3,000 years, both the Land of Israel and the entire Jewish nation, whether in Israel or the Diaspora. The name originated from a verse in the Bible, Genesis 32:28, where Jacob is renamed Israel (possibly śara + el or struggle with God) after successfully wrestling with an angel of God. Commentators differ on the meaning of the name. Some say the name comes from the verb śarar ("to rule, be strong, have authority over"), thereby making the name mean "God rules" or "God judges".[13] Other possible meanings include "the prince of God" (from the King James Version of the Bible) or "El fights/struggles".[14] Regardless of the precise meaning of the name, the biblical nation fathered by Jacob thus became the "Children of Israel" or the "Israelites".

The first historical mention of the word "Israel" appears on an Egyptian stele documenting military campaigns in Canaan. This stele refers to Israel as a people, rather than a settled nation (the determinative for "country" being absent), and is dated to approximately 1209/1208 BCE.[15] The modern country was named "Medinat Yisrael," or the State of Israel, and its citizens, Israelis. Other name proposals were Eretz Israel, Zion and Judea.[16] The term "Israeli" to denote a citizen of Israel was chosen by the government in the early weeks of independence, and was formally announced by Foreign Minister Moshe Shertok Sharett.[17]


History
Main article: History of the State of Israel
See also: History of the Jews in the Land of Israel
State of Israel
Geography
Land of Israel · Districts · Cities
Transport · Mediterranean · Red Sea
Judea and Samaria · Sea of Galilee
Jerusalem · Tel Aviv · Haifa

History
Jewish history · Timeline · Zionism · Aliyah
Herzl · Balfour · British Mandate
1947 UN Plan · Independence · Austerity

Arab-Israeli conflict · History
1948 War · 1949 Armistice
Jewish exodus · Suez War · Six-Day War
Attrition War · Yom Kippur War
1982 Lebanon War · 2006 Lebanon War
Peace proposals · Treaties with Egypt, Jordan

Israeli-Palestinian conflict · History
Timeline · Peace process · Peace camp
First Intifada · Oslo · Second Intifada
Barrier · Disengagement

Economy
Science and technology · Companies
Tourism · Wine · Diamonds · Agriculture
Military industry · Aerospace industry

Demographics · Culture
Religion · Israeli Arabs · Kibbutz
Music · Archaeology · Universities
Hebrew · Literature · Sport · Israelis

Laws · Politics
Law of Return · Jerusalem Law
Parties · Elections · PM · President
Knesset · Supreme Court · Courts

Foreign affairs
International law · UN · US · Arab League

Security
Israel Defense Forces
Intelligence Community · Security Council
Police · Border Police · Prison Service

Portal:Israel · Categories · Project


v • d • e


Ancient history
See also: History of ancient Israel and Judah
The Land of Israel, known in Hebrew as Eretz Yisrael, has been sacred to the Jewish people for four thousand years, ever since the time of the biblical patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). According to the Bible, it was promised to the Jews as their homeland, and the sites holiest to Judaism are located there, first and foremost the site of the First and Second Temples of Jerusalem. Around the 11th century BCE, the first of a series of Jewish kingdoms and states established rule over the region; these Jewish kingdoms and states ruled intermittently for the following one thousand years.[18][19]


The Menorah sacked from Jerusalem, as seen on the Arch of Titus.Between the time of the Jewish kingdoms and the seventh-century Muslim conquests, the land of Israel would fall under Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Sassanian, and Byzantine rule. Jewish presence in the region dwindled after the failure of Bar Kokhba's revolt against the Roman Empire in 132 CE and the resultant large-scale expulsion of Jews. Nevertheless, the Jewish presence in Palestine remained constant, although the main Jewish population shifted from the Judea region to the Galilee;[20] the Talmud, one of Judaism's most important religious texts, was composed in the region during this period.[21] 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, Crusaders, Khwarezmians, and Mongols over the next six centuries, before falling in the hands of the Mamluk Sultinate, in 1260. In 1517, the land of Israel became a part of the Ottoman Empire, which would rule the region until the 20th century.[22]


Zionism and the British Mandate
Main articles: Zionism, Aliyah, and British Mandate of Palestine
See also: 1922 Text: League of Nations Palestine Mandate, Jewish refugees, and Timeline of Zionism
Jews living in the diaspora have aspired over the ages to return to the Land of Israel and Zion. That aspiration was articulated in the Hebrew Bible in, among other places, the Book of Isaiah[23] and the Book of Ezekiel. The longing for Zion is a major theme in the poetry of Yehuda Halevi, a 12th-century philosopher and poet who urged Jews to "go up" to the Land of Israel.[24] In the centuries that followed, a small but steady stream of Jews left Europe to settle in the Land of Israel. In the 16th century, the pace stepped up, and large communities were established in Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias. In the second half of the 18th century, Hasidic communities from Poland, Galicia and Ukraine settled in the Land of Israel with their rabbis.[25]

The first large wave of modern immigration known in Hebrew as the First Aliyah (Hebrew: עלייה), began in 1881, as Jews fled growing persecution in Eastern Europe.[26] However, it is Theodor Herzl who is usually credited with founding the Zionist movement.[27] In 1896, he published Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State), in which he called for the establishment of a Jewish state. The following year he helped convene the first World Zionist Congress.[28] The establishment of Zionism led to the Second Aliyah (1904–1914) with an influx of around forty thousand Jews.[26] In 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour issued the Balfour Declaration that "view[ed] with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people."[29] Arab opposition instigated riots and pogroms against Jews in 1920, leading to the formation of the defensive organization Haganah, from which later split the Irgun and Lehi.[30]In 1922, the League of Nations granted the United Kingdom a mandate over Palestine the terms of which stipulated "secur[ing] the establishment of the Jewish national home". After World War I, until 1929, waves of Jewish immigration resumed with the Third and Fourth Aliyahs; together they brought over 100,000 Jews to the region, a factor in the massacres of Jews in 1929. The rise of Nazism throughout the 1930s led to the Fifth Aliyah, in which a quarter million Jews emigrated to the Palestine Mandate. The 1936-1939 Arab campaign against the Jews and British led the Yishuv to develop independent infrastructure. In 1939, the British introduced limits on Jewish immigration and land purchases over the course of World War II, but with The Holocaust occurring in Europe, many Jews fled to Israel illegally in a wave of immigration known as Aliyah Bet.[26] By the end of World War II, Jews accounted for 33% of the population of Palestine, up from 11% in 1922.[31][32]


Independence
Main articles: 1948 Arab-Israeli War and Declaration of Independence (Israel)
See also: Israel and the United Nations, Jewish exodus from Arab lands, and Palestinian exodus
In 1947, the British government decided to withdraw from the Mandate of Palestine, stating it was unable to arrive at a solution acceptable to both parties.[33] The newly-created United Nations approved Resolution 181 (the Partition Plan) on November 29, 1947, allocating just over half the land, for a Jewish state and most of the rest for an Arab country. Jerusalem was to be designated as an international city administered by the UN to avoid conflict over its status.[34] The Jewish community accepted the UN Partition Plan,[22] but the Arab League and Arab Higher Committee rejected it.


David Ben-Gurion, later the first Prime Minister of Israel, pronounces the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948 in Tel Aviv.Regardless, the State of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948, one day before the expiry of the British Mandate of Palestine.[35] Not long after, five Arab countries – Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq – attacked Israel, launching the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.[35] After almost a year of fighting, a ceasefire was declared in 1949 and temporary borders, known as the Green Line, were instituted. Jordan annexed what became known as the West Bank and Egypt took control of the Gaza Strip. Israel was admitted as a member of the United Nations on May 11, 1949.[36] In the course of the hostilities, 711,000 Arabs fled from the newly-created Jewish state, according to the UN estimates.[37] Arab persecution of Jewish communities precipitated a similar Jewish exodus from Arab lands.[38]


The first fifty years, 1950s-1990s
Between 1948 and 1951, Israel's Jewish population doubled with more than 600,000 refugees arriving from Europe and the Arab world.[39]. Many were housed in temporary tent cities (refugee camps), known as Ma'abarot. At their peak in 1952 over 200,000 Jewish refugees were housed in such camps. The need to solve the housing crisis eventually forced Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion to sign a reparations agreement with Germany. During the parliamentary debate 15,000 rioters surrounded the Knesset. [40]
In 1956, Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, triggering the Suez Crisis during which Israel joined a secret alliance with the United Kingdom and France aimed at recapturing the Suez. Despite capturing Sinai, Israel was forced to retreat due to pressure from the United States in return for guarantees of Israeli shipping rights in the Red Sea and Suez Canal.[41] In 1967, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria initiated a series of actions that included amassing troops close to Israeli borders and led to the Six-Day War, in which the country captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula, and Golan Heights.[42] The Green Line of 1949 became the administrative boundary between Israel and the occupied territories. East Jerusalem was later annexed into Israel's capital in the 1980 Jerusalem Law, although the law's validity has been contested.

History of the Levant
Stone Age
Kebaran · Natufian culture ·
Halafian culture · Jericho


Ancient History
Sumerians · Ebla · Akkadian Empire ·
Canaan · Phoenicians
Amorites · Aramaeans · Edomites · Hittites
Nabataeans ·Palmyra · Philistines ·Israel and Judah
Assyrian Empire · Babylonian Empire
Persian Empire · Seleucid Empire ·
Hasmonean kingdom
Roman Empire · Byzantine Empire


The Middle Ages
Umayyad · Abbasid · Fatimid
· Mamluks
Ottoman Empire


Modern Times
Jordan · Israel
Palestinian territories
Syria · Lebanon



This box: view • talk • edit
Between 1969 and 1970, in the War of Attrition, numerous clashes erupted along the border between Israel and Egypt.[43] During the early 1970s, Palestinian groups launched a wave of attacks against Israeli targets around the world, including a massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics and in Ma'alot. . Israel responded with Operation Wrath of God, in which Mossad agents assassinated most of those responsible for the Munich massacre.[44] Finally, on October 6, 1973, Yom Kippur, the Egyptian and Syrian armies launched a surprise attack against Israel, which eventually repelled Egyptian and Syrian forces.[45] The 1977 Knesset elections marked a major turning point in Israeli political history as Menachem Begin's Likud party took control.[46] Egyptian President Anwar Al Sadat later that year made a trip to Israel and spoke before the Knesset in what was the first recognition of Israel by an Arab head of state.[47] In the two years that followed, Sadat and then Prime Minister Menachem Begin would sign the Camp David Accords and the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty.[48] Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula and gave autonomy to Palestinians across the Green Line.

In 1982, Israel launched an attack into Lebanon for the stated purpose of defending Israel's northern settlements from terrorism.[49] Though Israel withdrew from most
of Lebanon in 1986, it maintained a borderland buffer zone until 2000. The First Intifada broke out in 1987 with waves of violence occurring in the occupied territories. Over the following six years, more than a thousand people, mostly Palestinians, were killed in the ensuing violence, much of it internal Palestinian violence. During the 1991 Gulf War, the PLO and many Palestinians supported Saddam Hussein and heralded Iraqi missile attacks against Israel.[50][51]


Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shaking hands after signing the Oslo Accords on September 13, 1993, as Bill Clinton looks onIn 1992, Yitzhak Rabin became Prime Minister following an election in which his party promoted compromise with Israel's neighbors.[52][53] The following year, Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas, on behalf of Israel and the PLO, respectively, signed the Oslo Accords, which gave the Palestinian National Authority the right to self-govern parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.[54] Not long after, in 1994, the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace was signed, making Jordan the second Arab country to normalize relations with Israel.[55] Public support for the Accords waned as Israel was struck by a wave of attacks from Palestinians, but recovered under the impact of the November 1995 assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. At the end of the 1990s, Israel, under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu, withdrew from Hebron[56] and signed the Wye River Memorandum, giving greater control to the Palestinian National Authority.[57]


The 21st century
Ehud Barak, elected Prime Minister in 1999, began the new millennium by withdrawing forces from Southern Lebanon and conducting negotiations with U.S. President Bill Clinton at the July 2000 Camp David Summit. During the summit, Barak offered a plan to form a Palestinian state, but Yasser Arafat rejected the deal.[58] After the collapse of the talks, Palestinians began the al-Aqsa Intifada. Amid dismay over the failure of the Summit and the start of the Intifada, Ariel Sharon became the new prime minister in a 2001 special election. During his tenure, Sharon executed his plan to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip and also spearheaded the construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier.[59] In January 2006, after Ariel Sharon suffered a severe hemorrhagic stroke, the powers of the office were passed to Ehud Olmert. That summer, the kidnappings of Israeli soldiers by Hamas and Hezbollah led to Operation Summer Rains and a five-week war in Lebanon and northern Israel, known as the Second Lebanon War. The latter conflict resulted in the deaths of over one thousand people, mostly civilians,[60] and ended only after a ceasefire brokered by the United Nations.


Geography and climate

Sand Mountains in the Negev.Main article: Geography of Israel
Israel is located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, bounded by Lebanon to the north, Syria and 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 km² (8,019 mi²) in area, of which two percent is water.[61] The total area under Israeli law, including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, is 22,072 km² (8,522 mi²).[62] The total area under Israeli control, including the military-controlled and Palestinian-governed territory of the West Bank, is 27,799 km² (10,733 mi²).[63]

Despite its small size, Israel is home to a variety of geographic features. The Negev desert comprises the majority of the country's southern half, the Samarian and Judean Hills dominate central Israel and the West Bank, and the Carmel, Golan, and Galileean heights dominate the North. Low-lying areas include the Israeli Coastal Plain along the Mediterranean, 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, through which the Jordan River runs from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea, the lowest dry point on Earth.[64]

The climate of the coastal areas can be very different from that of the mountainous areas, particularly during the winter months. During the winter, the northern mountains can get cold, wet and often snowy and even Jerusalem experiences snow every few years. The coastal regions, where Tel Aviv and Haifa are located, have a typical Mediterranean climate with cool, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. In the summer months between June and September, Israel's largest population centers rarely receive rain.[65][66]


Government and politics
Main article: Politics of Israel
See also: Human rights in Israel, List of political parties in Israel, and Israeli judicial system

The Knesset building, home of Israel's parliament.Israel operates under a parliamentary system as a democratic republic with universal suffrage.[61] The President of Israel is the country's head of state, but serves as a largely ceremonial figurehead.[67] The President selects the leader of the majority party or ruling coalition in the Knesset as the Prime Minister, who serves as head of government and leads the Cabinet.[67][68]

Israel's unicameral legislative branch is a 120-member parliament known as the Knesset. Membership in the Knesset is allocated to parties based on their proportion of the vote, via a proportional representation voting system. Elections to the Knesset are normally held every four years, but the Knesset can decide to dissolve itself ahead of time by a simple majority, known as a vote of no-confidence. Israel has no written constitution, although the Basic Laws of Israel, passed by the Knesset, function as an unwritten constitution. In 2003, the Knesset began to draft an official constitution based on the Basic Laws.[61][69]


Frontal view of The Supreme Court building.Israel's judicial system is comprised of a three-tier system of courts. 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 as courts of first instance; they are situated in five of Israel's six districts. The third and highest court in Israel is the Supreme Court, seated in Jerusalem. It serves a dual role as both the highest court of appeals and as the body for a separate institution known as the High Court of Justice. As the High Court of Justice, the Supreme Court rules as a court of first instance, primarily in matters regarding the legality of decisions of State authorities. Israel is not a member of the International Criminal Court as it fears the court would be biased due to political pressure.[70]

Israel's legal system mixes influences from English common law, civil law, and Jewish law,[61] as well as the declaration of the State of Israel. As in English law, the Israeli legal system is based on the principle of stare decisis (precedent). It is an adversarial system (as opposed to an inquisitorial system) whereby parties are responsible for bringing evidence before a court. Court cases are decided by professional judges instead of juries in accordance with the practices of civil law. Meanwhile, religious tribunals (Jewish, Muslim, Druze, and Christian) have exclusive jurisdiction on annulment of marriages. A committee composed of Knesset members, Supreme Court Justices, and Israeli Bar members carries out the election of judges.


Districts of IsraelThe Israeli Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty seeks to defend human rights and liberties. Israel is the only country in the region to be ranked "Free" by Freedom House based on the nation's level of civil and political rights, although what Freedom House terms "Israeli Occupied Territories/Palestinian Authority" were ranked "Not Free."[71] Similarly, Reporters Without Borders rated Israel 50th out of 168 countries in terms of freedom of the press, highest among Middle Eastern countries and just ahead of Japan.[72] Nevertheless, groups such as Amnesty International[73] and Human Rights Watch[74] have been highly critical of Israel's human rights record in regards to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Within Israel, its civil liberties allow for self-criticism of government policies from groups such as B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, which is highly critical of some Israeli practices it sees as violent, discriminatory, or in violation of human rights[75], but has also been critical of Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians.[76]


Administrative districts
Main article: Districts of Israel
See also: List of cities in Israel
The State of Israel is divided into six main administrative districts, known in Hebrew as mehozot (מחוזות; singular: mahoz) – Center District, Haifa District, Jerusalem District, Northern District, Southern District, and Tel Aviv District. Districts are further divided into fifteen sub-districts known as nafot (נפות; singular: nafa), which are themselves partitioned into fifty natural regions. The Golan sub-district, coincident with the Golan Heights, is included within the North District, although it is not recognized by the United Nations to be Israeli territory. On the other hand, Judea and Samaria Area, which includes most of the West Bank, maintains a status distinct from administrative districts because Israel has not fully applied its jurisdiction there.

For statistical purposes, the country is divided into three metropolitan areas: Tel Aviv and the Gush Dan (population 3,040,400), Haifa (population 996,000), and Beersheba (population 531,600).[77] However, Israel's largest city, both in population and area,[78] is Jerusalem with 732,100 residents in an area of 126 square kilometers (49 sq mi).[79] 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.


Foreign relations and military
Main articles: Foreign relations of Israel and Israel Defense Forces
See also: Israel and weapons of mass destruction and Israeli Security Forces
The United States, Germany, Turkey and Iran have been at various times among Israel's closest allies. The first two countries provided arms and financial support while the latter two cooperated on regional defence concerns, though relations with both have changed significantly. Relations with India have also gained importance. Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Yemen are termed enemy countries according to Israeli law, and Israeli citizens are prohibited from visiting them. Israel maintains diplomatic relations with 161 countries (not including, among others, the five enemy countries and most Arab countries) and has ninety-four diplomatic missions around the world.[80] Egypt and Jordan are currently the only members of the Arab League to have normalized relations with Israel, having signed peace treaties in 1979 and 1994, respectively. 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 Organisation.[81]


IDF soldiers of the Netzah Yehuda BattalionThe Israel Defense Forces forms Israel's military and consists of the Israeli Army, Air Force and Sea Corps. It was founded during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and derived from paramilitary organizations (chiefly the Haganah) that preceded Israel's founding.[82] Today, the Israel Defense Forces is among the most battle-trained armed forces in the world, having been involved in several major wars and numerous border conflicts. The IDF's main resource is the training quality of its soldiers and expert institutions, rather than sheer numbers of soldiers. It also relies heavily on high-tech weapons systems, some of which are developed and manufactured in Israel for its specific needs and others which are imported (especially from Turkey and the United States).

Most Israelis, male and female, are drafted into the military at age eighteen; men are required to serve for three years, while women are required to serve for two years.[83] Following compulsory service, Israeli men become part of the reserve forces and are usually required to serve several weeks each year as reservists until their forties; women are exempt from doing reserve duty, although some volunteer. Meanwhile, Israeli Arabs and those participating in religious studies full-time remain exempt from conscription, despite surrounding controversy.[84][85] 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.[86]

Israel has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and maintains a policy of deliberate ambiguity toward its nuclear capabilities, though it is widely regarded as possessing nuclear weapons.[87]


Economy
Main article: Economy of Israel
Israel is the most industrially and economically developed country in the Middle East.[9] It has a technologically advanced market economy with substantial government participation. It depends on imports of fossil fuels (crude oil, natural gas, and coal), grains, beef, raw materials, and military equipment. Despite limited natural resources, Israel has intensively developed its agricultural and industrial sectors over the past twenty years. Israel is largely self-sufficient in food production except for grains and beef. Diamonds, high technology, military equipment, software, pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, and agricultural products (fruits, vegetables and flowers) are leading exports. Israel usually posts sizable current account deficits, which are covered by large transfer payments from abroad and by foreign loans (although some economists would say the deficit is a sign of Israel's advancing markets). Israel possesses extensive facilities for oil refining, diamond polishing, and semiconductor fabrication. According to international data reported by the World Bank, Israel has the best regulations for businesses and strongest protections of property rights in the Greater Middle East. In May 2007, Israel was invited to join the OECD.[88]

Roughly half of the government's external debt is owed to the United States, which is its major source of economic and military aid. Israel receives approximately 5.5 billion USD in aid from the United States per year. A relatively large fraction of Israel's external debt is held by individual investors, via the Israel Bonds program. The combination of American loan guarantees and direct sales to individual investors, allow the state to borrow at competitive and sometimes below-market rates.


A main business district in Gush Dan where the diamond stock exchange is located.The influx of Jewish immigrants from the former USSR topped 750,000 during the period 1989–1999, bringing the population of Israel from the former Soviet Union to one million, one-sixth of the total population, many of them highly educated, adding scientific and professional expertise of substantial value for the economy's future. The influx, coupled with the opening of new markets at the end of the Cold War, energized Israel's economy, which grew rapidly in the early 1990s. But growth began slowing in 1996 when the government imposed tighter fiscal and monetary policies and the immigration bonus petered out. Those policies brought inflation down to record low levels in 1999.

Twenty-four percent of Israel's workforce holds university degrees, ranking Israel third in the industrialized world after the United States and Netherlands. Twelve percent hold advanced degrees.[89]

The important diamond industry has been affected by changing industry conditions and shifts of certain industry activities to the Far East.

As Israel has liberalized its economy and reduced taxes and spending, the gap between the rich and poor has grown. As of 2005, 20.5% of Israeli families (and 34% of Israeli children) are living below the poverty line, though around 40% of those are lifted above the poverty line through transfer payments.[90][91]

Israel's nominal GDP per capita, as of 28 July 2005, was $19,248 per person (30th in the world), and its GDP per capita at purchase power parity was $26,200 (26th in the world). Israel's overall productivity was $54,510.40, and the amount of patents granted was 74/1,000,000 people. At the end of September 2006, Israel's population was 7.1 million, of whom 2.6 million were employed during the second quarter of 2006. As of August 2006, average monthly wages per employee were 7,521 Shekels or 1,749 USD, whilst private consumption expenditure per capita (2006, second quarter) was 12,208 Shekels or 2,839 USD. In Israel, 7.6% of people are unemployed (2007, first quarter).[92]


Science and technology

The particle accelerator at the Weizmann Institute of Science, RehovotMain article: Science and technology in Israel
Since the establishment of the State of Israel, Israeli scientists have made important contributions in genetics, computer sciences, electronics, optics, engineering and other high-tech industries. Israeli science is well known for its military technology, as well as innovations in the sphere of agriculture, physics, and medicine.

Four Israelis have won Nobel Prizes in the sciences: Israeli-American psychologist Daniel Kahneman won the 2002 prize in Economics. Biologists Avram Hershko and Aaron Ciechanover of the Technion shared the Chemistry prize in 2004. Robert Aumann of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem won the Economics prize in 2005.

High-tech industries have become central to Israel's economy, particularly over the last decade. With Israel's limited natural resources and emphasis on education, large numbers of young people are joining the high-tech work force. As a result of the country’s success in developing cutting edge technologies in software, communications and the life sciences, Israel is frequently referred to as a second Silicon Valley.[93][94] As of 2004, Israel receives more venture capital investment than any country in Europe,[95] and has the largest VC/GDP rate in the world, seven times that of the United States. Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world after the United States. Outside the United States and Canada, Israel has the largest number of NASDAQ-listed companies.[96] Israel also has one of the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.

Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation: 109 per 10,000 people.[97] It also boasts one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.

Israel is ranked third in research and development (R&D) spending; eighth in technological readiness (companies spending on R&D, the creativity of its scientific community, personal computer and internet penetration rates); eleventh in innovation; sixteenth in high technology exports; and seventeenth in technological achievement in Nation Master's list of countries in the world by economy standards.

Israel is working on alternative energy sources that could make a major contribution in this sphere. Ormat, a Yavneh-based company, is a global leader in geo-thermal energy. (reference: The Jerusalem Report, May 28, 2007, "A Hotter Holy Land," Mitch Ginsburg)


Tourism
Main article: Tourism in Israel

One of the southern beaches of Tel AvivAnother leading industry in Israel is tourism, which benefits from the plethora of important historical sites for Judaism, Christianity and Islam and from Israel's warm climate and access to water resources. Tourism in Israel includes a rich variety of historical and religious sites in the Holy Land, as well as modern beach resorts, archaeological tourism, heritage tourism and ecotourism. Indeed, Israel is known for having the largest number of museums per capita of any country.[98]


Education
Main article: Education in Israel
Israel has the highest school life expectancy in the Greater Middle East and Western Asia, and is tied with South Korea for highest school life expectancy in the entire Asian continent. It is ranked 22 out of 111 nations.[99] Israel also has the highest literacy rate in the Middle East according to the UN.[100]

The education system in Israel, up to secondary education level, consists of three tiers: the primary education (grades 1-6), followed by a middle school (grades 7-9), then high school (grades 10-12). Compulsory education is from grades 1 to 12. The secondary education mostly consists of preparation for the Israeli matriculation exams (bagrut). The exams consist of a multitude of subjects, some of them mandatory (Hebrew language, English language, mathematics, Bible studies, civics and literature), and some optional (e.g. Chemistry, Music, French). In 2003, 56.4% of Israeli grade 12 students received a matriculation certificate: 57.4% in the Hebrew sector and 50.7% in the Arab sector.[101]

Any Israeli with a full matriculation certificate can proceed to higher education, as in any country. Institutions generally require a certain grade average, as well as a good grade in the psychometric exam (similar to the American SAT). As all universities (and some colleges) are subsidized by the state, students pay only a small part of the actual cost as tuition. Israel has eight universities and several dozen colleges. According to Webometrics (2006), of the top ten universities in the Middle East, seven out of ten are in Israel, including the top four.[102] However, as of January 2007, Webometrics ranks Israeli (and Turkish) schools among European universities, boasting four in its top 100. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is the only university in the Middle East ranked in the Webometrics top-200 in the world. Israel is the only country in the Middle East (and one of only two in Asia, the other being Japan) that is home to a university listed in SJTU's Top 100 Academic Ranking of World Universities (Hebrew University, #60).[103][104]

See also: List of universities and colleges in Israel




Demographics

Israeli soldiers chat with Arab civilians in Galilee, 1978.Main article: Demographics of Israel
According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, as of December 2006, of Israel's 7.1 million people, 76% were Jews, 20% Arabs, and 4% "others".[105] Among Jews, 68% were Israeli-born, mostly second or third-generation Israelis, and the rest are foreign-born: 22% from Europe and the Americas, and 10% from Asia and Africa, including the Arab countries.[106]

As of 2004, 224,200 Israeli citizens lived in the West Bank in numerous Israeli settlements, (including cities such as Ma'ale Adummim and Ariel, and a handful of communities that were present long before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and were re-established after the Six-Day War such as Hebron and Gush Etzion). Around 180,000 Israelis lived in East Jerusalem,[107] which came under Israeli control following its capture from Jordan during the Six-Day War. About 8,500 Israelis lived in settlements built in the Gaza Strip, prior to their forcible removal by the government in the summer of 2005 as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan.


Religion
Main article: Religion in Israel

Jewish prayer at the Western WallAccording to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, 76.1% of Israelis are Jewish; 16.2% are Muslim; 2.1% are Christian; 1.6% are Druze; and 3.9% unclassified.[108]

Roughly 8% of Israeli Jews are defined as haredim (ultra-orthodox religious); an additional 17% are Orthodox; 55% consider themselves "traditionalists" (mostly, but not strictly adhering to Halakha); and 20% are "secular" (termed "hiloni"). Among the seculars, 75% follow the most common Jewish religious practices.[109] Israelis tend not to align themselves with any particular movement within Judaism (such as Reform Judaism or Conservative Judaism) but instead tend to define their religious affiliation by degree of their religious practice.

Among Arab Israelis, 82.6% were Muslim, 8.8% were Christian and 8.4% were Druze. There is also a small community of Ahmadi Muslims in the country.[110]

There are fourteen diverse Buddhist groups presently active in Israel, catering to Jewish Buddhists as well as a tiny number of Vietnamese Buddhists who came to Israel as refugees from the crisis in their homeland and were granted citizenship.[111] A small Hindu presence exists in Israel, including Vaishnavite Krishna Consciousness devotees (mainly on the Ariel settlement)[112] Brahma Kumaris, and others. There are also small numbers of Ismailis and Sikhs. The Bahá'í world centre, which includes the Universal House of Justice, is situated in Haifa and attracts pilgrimage from all over the world.[113] Apart from a few hundred staff, Bahá'ís do not live in Israel.

See also: Holidays and events in Israel

Language
Main article: Languages of Israel
Israel has two official languages: Hebrew and Arabic. Hebrew is the major and primary language of the state and is spoken by the majority of the population. Arabic is spoken by the Arab minority and by some members of the Mizrahi Jewish community. English is studied in school and is spoken by the majority of the population as a second language. Other languages spoken in Israel include Russian, Yiddish, Ladino, Romanian, Polish, French, Italian, Dutch, German, Amharic and Persian. American and European popular television shows are commonly presented. Newspapers can be found in all languages listed above as well as others.


Culture
Main article: Culture of Israel

Literature
Main article: Israeli literature
Israeli literature is mostly written in Hebrew and the history of Israeli literature is mostly the product of the revival of the Hebrew language as a spoken language in modern times. Since the middle of the nineteenth century, the Hebrew language was increasingly used for speaking as well as writing modern forms of prose, poetry and drama. Every year thousands of new books are published in Hebrew and most of them are original to the Hebrew language. Shmuel Yosef Agnon won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1966.


Music
Main article: Music of Israel
Israeli music is diverse as it combines elements of both western and eastern music. It tends to lean towards eclecticism and contains a wide variety of influences from today's Jewish Diaspora. It also makes use of modern cultural importation. Hassidic songs, Asian and Arab pop, especially Yemenite singers, hip hop, pop rock and heavy metal are all part of the musical scene.

Israel's canonical folk songs often deal with Zionist hopes and dreams and glorify the life of idealistic Jewish youth who intend on building a home and defending their homeland. These are usually known as Songs of the land of Israel (י ארץ ישראל). Israel is also well-known for its famous classical orchestras and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the management of Zubin Mehta has a worldwide reputation. Dudu Fisher, Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman are some of the more renowned classical musicians from Israel.

Music styles popular in Israel include pop, rock, heavy metal, hip hop and rap, trance (especially Goa trance and psychedelic trance), Oriental Mizrahi music and ethnic music of various sorts. Israel has won the Eurovision Song Contest three times (1978, 1979, 1998).

See also: Hatikvah

Art and theater
Nearly every Israeli city has an art museum. Apart from major museums in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Herzliya and Jerusalem, there are small but high-quality art museums in many towns and kibbutzim. The Israel Museum in Jerusalem houses the Dead Sea Scrolls along with an extensive collection of Jewish and European art, including important Old Masters. Israel's national Holocaust Museum, Yad Vashem, has an art museum with permanent and changing exhibitions of artwork by artists who perished in the Holocaust. There are artist colonies in Old Jaffa, Safed, Ein Hod and other locations around the country. Tel Aviv has numerous art galleries and a lively art scene.

Beit Hatefutsot, also known as the Diaspora Museum, an interactive museum devoted to the history of Jewish communities around the world, is located on the campus of Tel Aviv University.

The Rockefeller Museum and the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem display important archeological collections from excavations around Israel.

Israel's oldest repertory theater company is Habima Theater, founded in 1918.

See also: Archaeology of Israel, Israel Antiquities Authority, Jewish cuisine, Israeli wine, and Kibbutz

Sports

Gal Fridman, winner of Israel's first Olympic gold medal at 2004 Summer OlympicsMain article: Sports in Israel
The most popular sports in Israel are soccer and basketball. The interest in athletics goes back to before the establishment of the state. The World Team Chess Championship was held in Beersheba in 2005. Israeli chess players have won numerous cups and awards. Chess is taught in 20 kindergartens in Beersheba and the city has a large network of chess clubs. (http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=861) To date, Israel has won six Olympic medals. Israeli windsurfer Gal Fridman won Israel's first gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. (http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enZone=Culture&enDispWho=Articles%5El763&enPage=BlankPage)