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Coordinates: 31°N 35°E / 31°N 35°E / 31; 35
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State of Israel
מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל (in Hebrew)
Medīnat Yisrā'el
دَوْلَةُ إِسْرَائِيلَ (in Arabic)
Dawlat Isrā'īl
Anthem: 
Knesset Speaker
Reuven Rivlin
Dorit Beinisch
Independence 
from British Mandate of Palestine
May 14, 1948
Area
• Total 1
20770⁄22072 km2 (0.36333 sq mi) (151st)
• Water (%)
~2%
Population
• 2010 estimate
7,587,000[3] (96th)
• 1995 census
5,612,300[4]
• Density
365.3/km2 (946.1/sq mi) (35th)
GDP (PPP)2009 estimate
• Total
$206.430 billion[5] (49th)
• Per capita
$28,393[5] (29th)
GDP (nominal)2009 estimate
• Total
$194.825 billion[5] (40th)
• Per capita
$26,796[5] (28th)
Gini (2008)39.2[1]
Error: Invalid Gini value
HDI (2007)Increase 0.935[6]
Error: Invalid HDI value (27th)
CurrencyShekel (₪) (ILS or NIS)
Time zoneUTC+2 (IST)
• Summer (DST)
UTC+3 (IDT)
Driving sideright
Calling code972
ISO 3166 codeIL
Internet TLD.il
  1. Excluding / Including the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem; see below.
  2. Includes all permanent residents in Israel proper, the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem. Also includes Israeli population in the West Bank. Excludes non-Israeli population in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
שָׁלוֹם
This page contains Hebrew text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Hebrew letters.

Israel (

Samaritans
.

The modern State of Israel has its historical and religious roots in the Biblical

Balfour Declaration of 1917 formalized British policy preferring the establishment of a Jewish state. Following World War I, the League of Nations granted Great Britain the Mandate for Palestine and the responsibility for establishing "the Jewish national home" within it.[15]

In November 1947, the

resolve conflict with the Palestinians have so far only met with limited success and some of Israel's international borders
remain in dispute.

Israel is a developed country and a representative democracy with a parliamentary system and universal suffrage.[18][19] 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, was the 41st-largest in the world in 2008.[20] Israel ranks highest among Middle Eastern countries on the UN Human Development Index,[21] and has one of the highest life expectancies in the world.[22] Jerusalem is the country's capital, although it is not recognized internationally as such,[a] while Israel's main financial center is Tel Aviv. In 2010, Israel was accepted as member to the OECD.[23]

Etymology

Over the past three thousand years, the

Jewish nation.[24] According to the Bible, Jacob is renamed Israel after successfully wrestling with an angel of God.[25]

The earliest archaeological artifact to mention "Israel" (other than as a personal name) is the

Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett.[28]

History

Main article: History of Israel

Antiquity

Further information: History of ancient Israel and Judah
Ruins on the flat top of a sand colored mountain, surrounded by desert. Other mountains are visible in the background.
Masada in the Judean Desert, a national symbol

The

Jewish people since Biblical times. According to the Torah, God promised the Land of Israel to the three Patriarchs of the Jewish people;[29][30] scholars have placed this period in the early 2nd millennium BCE.[31] Based on the Bible, around the 11th century BCE, the first of a series of Israelite kingdoms and states, the Kingdom of Israel, established rule over the region. Other Israelite kingdoms and states ruled intermittently for the following one thousand years, and are known from various extra-biblical sources.[32][33][34][35]

Between the time of the Israelite kingdoms and the 7th-century

Umayyads,[45] Abbasids,[45] and Crusaders over the next six centuries,[45] before falling in the hands of the Mamluk Sultanate, in 1260.[46] In 1516, the Land of Israel was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, which ruled the region until the 20th century.[46]

Zionism and the British Mandate

Further information: [[:History of Zionism]]

Jews living in the Diaspora have long aspired to return to Zion and the Land of Israel,[47] though the amount of human effort that should be spent towards such aim is a matter of dispute in Judaism.[48][49] That hope and yearning was articulated in the Bible,[50] and is an important theme of the Jewish belief system.[48] After the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, some communities settled in Palestine.[51] During the 16th century, communities struck roots in the Four Holy Cities — Jerusalem, Tiberias, Hebron, and Safed — and in 1697, Rabbi Yehuda Hachasid led a group of 1500 Jews to Jerusalem.[52] In the second half of the 18th century, Eastern European opponents of Hasidism, known as the Perushim, settled in Palestine.[53][54][55]

A long-bearded man in his early forties leaning over a railing with a bridge in the background. Dressed in a black overcoat, he gazes blankly into the distance with his hands clasped.
Theodor Herzl, visionary of the Jewish State, in 1901

The first large wave of "modern" immigration, known as the

Jewish Question to the international plane.[58] In 1896, Herzl published Der Judenstaat (The State of the Jews), offering his vision of a future state; the following year he presided over the first World Zionist Congress.[59]

The

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".[62]

The

Lehi paramilitary groups split off.[63]
In 1922, the League of Nations granted the United Kingdom a mandate over Palestine under terms similar to the Balfour Declaration.[64] The population of the area at that time was predominantly Arab and Muslim, with Jews accounting for about 11% of the population.[65]

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.[56] By the end of World War II, the Jewish population of Palestine had increased to 33% of the total population.[66]

Independence and first years

Main article: 1948 Palestine war

After 1945,

Lehi in armed struggle against British rule.[67] At the same time, thousands of Jewish refugees from Europe sought shelter in Palestine and were turned away or rounded up and placed in detention camps by the British. In 1947, the British government withdrew from the Mandate of Palestine, stating it was unable to arrive at a solution acceptable to both Arabs and Jews.[68] The newly created United Nations approved the Partition Plan for Palestine (United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181) on November 29, 1947, which sought to divide 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.[69]

The Jewish community accepted the plan,[70] but the Arab League and Arab Higher Committee rejected it.[71] On December 1, 1947, the Arab Higher Committee proclaimed a three-day strike, and Arab bands began attacking Jewish targets.[72] Jews were initially on the defensive as civil war broke out, but they gradually moved onto the offensive.[73] The Palestinian Arab economy collapsed and 250,000 Palestinian-Arabs fled or were expelled.[74]


On May 14, 1948, the day before the expiration of the British Mandate, the

Israeli-Palestinian conflict.[81][82]

In the early years of the state, the

reparations agreement with West Germany that triggered mass protests by Jews angered at the idea of Israel accepting financial compensation from Germany for the Holocaust.[88]

In the 1950s, Israel was frequently attacked by Palestinian fedayeen, mainly from the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip.[89] In 1956, Israel joined a secret alliance with Great Britain and France aimed at regaining control of the Suez Canal, which the Egyptians had nationalized (see the Suez Crisis). Israel captured the Sinai Peninsula but was pressured to withdraw by the United States and the Soviet Union in return for guarantees of Israeli shipping rights in the Red Sea and the Canal.[90][91]

In the early 1960s, Israel captured Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, an architect of the Final Solution, in Argentina and brought him to trial.[92] The trial had a major impact on public awareness of the Holocaust,[93] and Eichmann remains the only person ever to be executed by order of an Israeli court.[94]

Conflicts and peace treaties

Further information: [[:
Positions on Jerusalem
]]
See also: List of United Nations resolutions concerning Israel
Three middle-aged, suited men standing in the spotlight, seen from the side. The men are looking away from the camera, with serious expressions. In the background are several other people, out of focus.
Menachem Begin, Carter and Sadat at Camp David, at the signing of the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt

Arab nationalists led by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser refused to recognize Israel or its right to exist, calling for its destruction.[17][95] By 1966, Israeli-Arab relations had deteriorated to the point of actual battles taking place between official Israeli and Arab forces.[96] In 1967, Egypt expelled UN peacekeepers, stationed in the Sinai Peninsula since 1957, and announced a partial blockade of Israel's access to the Red Sea.[97] Israel saw these actions as a casus belli for a pre-emptive strike that launched the Six-Day War, in which Israel achieved a decisive victory and captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights.[98] Jerusalem's boundaries were enlarged, incorporating East Jerusalem, and the 1949 Green Line became the administrative boundary between Israel and the occupied territories.

The failure of the Arab states in the 1967 war led Arab non-state actors to have a more central role in the conflict. Most important among them is the

Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), established in 1964, which initially committed itself to "armed struggle as the only way to liberate the homeland".[99][100] In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Palestinian groups launched a wave of attacks[101][102] against Israeli targets around the world,[103] including a massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich
.

A dignified woman in her seventies sitting on a chair with her hands placed on her lap, staring intently to one side as if speaking to someone out of frame.
Prime Minister Golda Meir, who led Israel in the Yom Kippur War

On October 6, 1973, as Jews were observing Yom Kippur, 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.[104] An internal inquiry exonerated the government of responsibility for failures before and during the war, but public anger forced Prime Minister Golda Meir to resign.[105]

The

settle in the West Bank, leading to friction with the Palestinians in that area.[110]

The

status of the city. The position of the majority of UN member states is reflected in numerous resolutions declaring that actions taken by Israel to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the whole of Jerusalem are illegal and have no validity.[111]

In 1982, Israel intervened in the Lebanese Civil War to destroy the bases from which the PLO launched attacks and missiles at northern Israel; that move developed into the First Lebanon War.[112] 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,[113] 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.[114] During the 1991 Gulf War, the PLO and many Palestinians supported Saddam Hussein and Iraqi missile attacks against Israel.[115][116]

A stolid balding man in a dark suit on the left shakes the hand of a smiling man in traditional Arab headdress on the right. A taller, younger man stands with open arms in the center behind them.
Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shake hands at the signing of the Oslo Accords, with Bill Clinton behind them, 1993

In 1992,

Palestinian suicide attacks. Finally, while leaving a peace rally in November 1995, Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated
by a far-right-wing Jew who opposed the Accords.

At the end of the 1990s, Israel, under the leadership of

unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip and also spearheaded the construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier.[126]

In July 2006, a

Second Lebanon War.[127][128] Two years later, in May 2008, Israel confirmed it had been discussing a peace treaty with Syria for a year, with Turkey as a go-between.[129] However, at the end of the year, Israel entered another conflict as a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel collapsed. The Gaza War lasted weeks and ended after Israel announced a unilateral ceasefire.[130][131] Hamas announced its own ceasefire, with its own conditions of complete withdrawal and opening of border crossings. Despite neither the rocket launchings nor Israeli retaliatory strikes having completely stopped, the fragile ceasefire remained in order.[132]

Geography and climate

Main article: Geography of Israel
Jerusalem Mountains

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.[1] The total area under Israeli law, including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, is 22,072 square kilometers (8,522 sq mi).[133] 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).[134]

Despite its small size, Israel is home to a variety of geographic features, from the

Hulah Valley and the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the surface of the Earth.[135] Further south is the Arabah, ending with the Gulf of Eilat, part of the Red Sea
.

Negev Desert

Unique to Israel and the

Ramon Crater in the Negev,[137] which measures 40 by 8 kilometers (25 by 5 mi).[138] 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.[139]

Temperatures in Israel vary widely, especially during the winter. The more mountainous regions can be windy, cold, and sometimes snowy; Jerusalem usually receives at least one snowfall each year.[140] 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 (128.7 °F)*) was recorded in 1942 at Tirat Zvi kibbutz in the northern Jordan river valley.[141] From May to September, rain in Israel is rare.[142][143] With scarce water resources, Israel has developed various water-saving technologies, including drip irrigation.[144] Israelis also take advantage of the considerable sunlight available for solar energy, making Israel the leading nation in solar energy use per capita.[145]

Government and politics

Main article: Politics of Israel
A short box-like building topped with Israeli flags and supported by modern concrete columns
The Knesset building, home of the Israeli parliament
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Israel operates under 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.[146][147] Israel is governed by a 120-member parliament, known as the Knesset. Membership of the Knesset is based on proportional representation of political parties,[148] with a 2% electoral threshold
, which commonly results in coalition governments.

Parliamentary elections are scheduled every four years, but unstable coalitions or a

unwritten constitution. In 2003, the Knesset began to draft an official constitution based on these laws.[1][150]

A low-rise T-shaped building with small, slit-like windows, with a small park in front, and a hilly, inhabited terrain in the background
Israeli Supreme Court, Givat Ram, Jerusalem

Israel has a

Rome Statute, citing concerns about the ability of the court to remain free from political impartiality.[153]

Israel's legal system combines

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.[151] 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.[154] Israel's 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."[155][156] However, in 2009 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).[157][158] Groups such as Amnesty International[159] and Human Rights Watch[160] 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.[161]

Administrative districts

Main article: Districts of Israel
Northern, (2) Haifa, (3) Center, (4) Tel Aviv, (5) Jerusalem, (6) Southern

The State of Israel is divided into six main administrative districts, known as mehozot (מחוזות; singular: mahoz) –

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.[162]

For statistical purposes, the country is divided into three metropolitan areas:

Tel Aviv metropolitan area (population 3,206,400), Haifa metropolitan area (population 1,021,000), and Beer Sheva metropolitan area (population 559,700).[163] Israel's largest municipality, both in population and area,[164] is Jerusalem with 773,800 residents in an area of 126 square kilometers (49 sq mi) (in 2009). Israeli government statistics on Jerusalem include the population and area of East Jerusalem, which is widely recognized as part of the Palestinian territories under Israeli occupation.[165] Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Rishon LeZion rank as Israel's next most populous cities, with populations of 393,900, 265,600, and 227,600 respectively.[164]

Occupied territories

Main article: Israeli-occupied territories

In 1967, as a result of the

Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty
.

Map of Israel showing the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights

Following Israel's capture of these territories,

future Palestinian state.[166][167] The UN Security Council has declared the incorporation of the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem to be "null and void" and continues to view the territories as occupied.[168][169]

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".[170][171][172]

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

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,[174] which is partially built within the West Bank.[175]

The

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.[176] 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),[177] 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.[178] Internal control of Gaza is in the hands of the Hamas government
.

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Israel

Israel maintains diplomatic relations with 161 countries and has 94

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.[180] Since 2003, ties with Morocco have been improved, and Israel's foreign minister has visited the country.[181]

As a result of the 2009 Gaza War, Mauritania, Qatar, Bolivia, and Venezuela suspended political and economical ties with Israel.[182][183] Under Israeli law, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Yemen are enemy countries[184] and Israeli citizens may not visit them without permission from the Ministry of the Interior.[185] 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.[186]

Shimon Peres, current President of Israel, greeted by U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House

Foreign relations with

peace process. U.S. and Israeli views differ on some issues, such as the Golan Heights, Jerusalem, and settlements.[188]

India established full diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992 and has fostered a strong military and cultural partnership with the country since then.[189] One study revealed that India was the most pro-Israel nation in the world followed by the United States.[190]

Iran had diplomatic relations with Israel under the Pahlavi dynasty[194] but withdrew its recognition of Israel during the Iranian Revolution.[195]

Although Turkey and Israel did not establish full diplomatic relations until 1991,[196] 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.[197] Relations between Turkey and Israel took a downturn, however, after the former's condemnation of Israel after the 2009 Gaza War.[182]

In Africa, Ethiopia is Israel's main and closest ally in the continent due to common political, religious and security interests.[198] Many towns in Ethiopia are named after biblical Israel settlements, including Ethiopia's third largest city of Nazret Adama. Israel also provides expertise to Ethiopia on irrigation projects. Thousands of Ethiopian Jews (Beta Israel) live in Israel.

Defense

F-15I
Ra'am.
Main articles: Israel Defense Forces and Israeli security forces

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.[199] The IDF also draws upon the resources of the Military Intelligence Directorate (Aman), which works with the Mossad and Shabak.[200] The Israel Defense Forces have 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.[201][202]

Merkava IV

The majority of Israelis are

exemption of yeshiva students has been a source of contention in Israeli society for many years.[204][205] 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.[206] As a result of its conscription program, the IDF maintains approximately 168,000 active troops and an additional 408,000 reservists.[207]

The nation's military relies heavily on

reconnaissance satellites.[210] The success of the Ofeq program has made Israel one of seven countries capable of launching such satellites.[211] 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%[212] of its GDP on defense. Today, that figure has dropped to 7.3%.[1]

Israel is widely believed to

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.[214]

Economy

Main article: Economy of Israel
See also: Tourism in Israel


Israel is considered one of the most advanced countries in

NASDAQ-listed companies outside North America.[219]

Israel Aircraft Industries.[220]

In 2009, Israel had the 49th-highest

CLS list.[221][222]

Despite limited natural resources, intensive development of the

pharmaceuticals, software, chemicals, military technology, and diamonds; in 2006, Israeli exports reached $42.86 billion.[1]

Israel is a global leader in

Iscar, its first non-U.S. acquisition, for $4 billion.[228] Since the 1970s, Israel has received economic and military aid from the United States, whose loans account for the bulk of Israel's external debt.[1]

Tourism

Tourism, especially religious tourism, is an important industry in Israel, with the country's temperate climate, beaches, archaeological and historical sites, and unique geography also drawing tourists. Israel's security problems have taken their toll on the industry, but the number of incoming tourists is on the rebound.[229] In 2008, over 3 million tourists visited Israel.[230]

Transportation

Main article: Transport in Israel
Ben Gurion International Airport

Israel has 18,096 kilometers (11,244 mi) of paved roads,[231] and 2.4 million motor vehicles.[232] The number of motor vehicles per 1,000 persons was 324, relatively low with respect to developed countries.[232] Israel has 5,715 buses on scheduled routes,[233] operated by several carriers, the largest of which is Egged, serving most of the country. Railways stretch across 949 kilometers (590 mi) and are operated solely by government-owner Israel Railways[234] (All figures are for 2008). Following major investments beginning in the early-to-mid 1990s, the number of train passengers per year has grown from 2.5 million in 1990, to 35 million in 2008; railways are also used to transport 6.8 million tons of cargo, per year.[234]

Israel is served by two international airports,

Tel Aviv-Yafo, Ovda Airport in the south, as well as several small domestic airports.[235] Airports served 11.1 million passengers (entries and departures) in 2008, 11 million passing through Ben Gurion airport.[236][237]

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.[235] 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.[235]

Science, technology and education

Main articles:
List of universities and colleges in Israel
See also:
List of universities and colleges in Israel
A night-time image of a gray windowless tower, with an egg-shaped windowed observation deck on top. Next to it is a low building, grass, and many trees and bushes.
The particle accelerator at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot

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).[238] Israel similarly has the highest literacy rate in Southwest Asia, according to the United Nations.[239] 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.[240]

Education is

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.[243] In Arab, Christian and Druze schools, the exam on Biblical studies is replaced by an exam in Islam, Christianity or Druze heritage.[244] In 2003, over half of all Israeli twelfth graders earned a matriculation certificate.[245]

Israel's eight public universities are subsidized by the state.

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.[250] Israel ranks third in the world in the number of academic degrees per capita (20 percent of the population).[251][252] Israel has produced five Nobel Prize-winning scientists since 2002[253] and publishes among the most scientific papers per capita of any country in the world.[254][255]

A horizontal parabolic dish, with a triangular structure on its top. Around it is a flat sandy area, with desert in the background. It's a sunny day, with a few white clouds in the blue skies.
The world's largest solar parabolic dish at the Ben-Gurion National Solar Energy Center.[256]

Israel leads world in stem cell research papers per capita since 2000

Technion) and economics (TAU and Hebrew University).[258]

In 2009 Israel was ranked 2nd among 20 top countries in space sciences by Thomson Reuters agency.[259] Since 1988 Israel Aerospace Industries have indigenously designed and built at least 13 commercial, research and spy satellites.[260] 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.[261] 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

Negev Desert.[262][263][264]

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of Israel and Languages of Israel
A road sign with three lines of black text on white background, each with the name "Be'er Sheva" in a different language (from the top) – Hebrew, Arabic, and English.
Trilingual road signs

As of 2010, Israel's population is 7.5 million.

Arabic.[1] Hebrew is the primary language of the state and is spoken by the majority of the population, and Arabic is spoken by the Arab minority. As of 2008, Arab citizens of Israel comprise just over 20% of the country's total population.[268]

Many Israelis communicate reasonably well in English, as many television programs are in English and English is taught from the early grades in elementary school. As a country of

Russian immigration increased Israel's population by twelve percent.[271] Out of more than one million Russian-speaking immigrants in Israel,[272] about 300,000 are considered gentile by the Orthodox rabbinate, because, under the Orthodox interpretation, only children to Jewish mothers are considered Jews.[273][274] Over the last decade, large numbers of migrant workers from Romania, Thailand, China, Africa and South America have settled in Israel. Exact figures are unknown as many of them are living in the country illegally,[275] but estimates run in the region of 200,000.[276] Over 16,000 African asylum seekers have entered Israel in recent years.[277] The main language amongst deaf Israelis is Israeli Sign Language (ISL).[278]

Retention of Israel's population since 1948 is about even or greater, when compared to other countries with mass immigration.[279] Emigration from Israel (yerida) to other countries, primarily the United States and Canada, is described by demographers as modest,[280] but is often cited by Israeli government ministries as a major threat to Israel's future.[281][282]

As of 2009 over 300,000 Israeli citizens live in

disengagement plan.[286]

Israel was established as a homeland for the

Jews who immigrated to Israel from Arab lands and their descendants constitute about 40% of Jewish Israelis.[290]

Religion

Main article: Religion in Israel
A large open area with hundreds of people, bounded by old stone walls. Beyond it are houses and a few trees, to the right is a mosque with large golden dome, and to the left – a minaret
The Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem

The religious affiliation of Israeli Jews varies widely: 55% say they are "traditional," while 20% consider themselves "secular Jews," 17% define themselves as "Religious Zionists"; the final 8% define themselves as "Haredi Jews."[291]

Making up 16% of the population,

Christian and 1.5% are Druze.[292]

A light colored stone church with a triangular roof, with two towers flanking the entrance, in the background. In the foreground are low stone walls, a tree and some bushes
Church of Transfiguration, Mount Tabor

The Christian population includes both

Hindus, maintain a presence in Israel, albeit in small numbers.[294]

The city of

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

pilgrimages. Bahá'í staff in Israel do not teach their faith to Israelis following strict policy.[296][297]

Culture

Main article: Culture of Israel
An outdoor book fair at dusk. Vendors are in booths along both sides of a walkway crowded with people.
Hebrew Book Week in Jerusalem

Israel's diverse culture stems from the diversity of the population:

Jewish holidays, and the official day of rest is Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath.[299] Israel's substantial Arab minority has also left its imprint on Israeli culture in such spheres as architecture,[300] music,[301] and cuisine.[302]

Several dozen musicians in formal dress, holding their instruments, behind a conductor
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta

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.[303] In 2006, 85 percent of the 8,000 books transferred to the library were in Hebrew.[304] The Hebrew Book Week (He: שבוע הספר‎) 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.[305]

A gray semi-hemispherical structure with a protruding top, standing in the middle of a fountain, with several jets of water falling on the structure
Shrine of the Book, repository of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Jerusalem

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.[306][307] 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.[308] Among Israel's world-renowned[309][310] 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.[311] 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.[312] Eilat has hosted its own international music festival, the Red Sea Jazz Festival, every summer since 1987.[313]

Academy Awards since the establishment of Israel. The 2009 movie Ajami was the third consecutive nomination of an Israeli film.[314]

Continuing the strong

repertory theater company and national theater.[315]

The

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.[319] 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

An all-seated roofless stadium with a football pitch.
Ramat Gan Stadium, Israel's largest stadium
Main article:
Sports in Israel

Sports and physical fitness have not always been paramount in Jewish culture. Athletic prowess, which was prized by the

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.[320] 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".[321] The Maccabiah Games, an Olympic-style event for Jewish athletes and Israeli athletes, was inaugurated in the 1930s, and has been held every four years since then. In 1964 Israel hosted and won the Asian Nations Cup; in 1970 the Israel national football team managed to qualify to the FIFA World Cup
, which is still considered the biggest achievement of Israeli football.

A young man surfing on a windsurf board in the sea, with another surfer in the background
Windsurfer Gal Fridman, winner of Israel's first Olympic gold medal

Israel was excluded from the 1978 Asian Games due to Arab pressure on the organizers. The exclusion left Israel in limbo and it ceased competing in Asian competitions.[322] In 1994, UEFA agreed to admit Israel and all Israeli sporting organizations now compete in Europe.

The most popular spectator sports in Israel are

European championship in basketball five times.[325]
Israeli tennis champion Shahar Pe'er ranked 19th in the world after competing in Dubai.[326]

Beersheba has become a national chess center; thanks to Soviet immigration, it is home to the largest number of chess grandmasters of any city in the world.[327] The city hosted the World Team Chess Championship in 2005, and chess is taught in the city's kindergartens.[328] In 2008, the Israeli chess team won the silver medal at the Chess Olympiad.[329] Israeli grandmaster Boris Gelfand is the current Chess World Cup holder.[330]

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.[331] 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.[332]

See also

References and notes

a.  
Positions on Jerusalem
for more information.
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