Israel ELECTRIC HEBREW GLOBE Illuminated POLITICAL GEOGRAPHICAL Jewish JUDAICA

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Seller: judaica-bookstore ✉️ (2,805) 100%, Location: TEL AVIV, IL, Ships to: WORLDWIDE, Item: 276312010339 Israel ELECTRIC HEBREW GLOBE Illuminated POLITICAL GEOGRAPHICAL Jewish JUDAICA. DESCRIPTION :  Up for auction is a very nice electric lighted plastic made 6 " - HEBREW WORLD GLOBE  . Made in Israel pre SIX DAYS WAR 1967 ( Slim historical Israel boundaries ) . The globe diameter is 6" , Yet , With the display it stands 10" high. Very good condition.  Includes an electrical connection and an inner electric bulb ( Perfectly works ). Plastic has retained it's perfect smoth face and vivid colors. This is the perfect globe for any JEWISH and ISRAELI study, classroom or children’s room.  transparent plastic globe ring with black plastic base.  VERY RARE. The globe diameter is 6 " . Works with 220 volt. Very good condition.  Includes an electrical connection and an inner electric bulb ( Checked and perfectly works ). Plastic has retained it's perfect smoth face and vivid colors. ( Pls look at scan for accurate AS IS images ) .Will be sent in a special protective rigid sealed package .   PAYMENTS : Payment method accepted : Paypal & All credit cards.

SHIPPING : Shipp worldwide via registered airmail is  $ 29 . ITEM will be sent in a special protective rigid sealed package . Handling around 5-10 days after payment. 

Israel (/ˈɪzreɪəl/ or /ˈɪzriːəl/; Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל‎ Yisrā'el; Arabic: إِسْرَائِيل‎ Isrāʼīl), officially the State of Israel (Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל‎ Medīnat Yisrā'el [mediˈnat jisʁaˈʔel] ( listen); Arabic: دولة إِسْرَائِيل‎ Dawlat Isrāʼīl [dawlat ʔisraːˈʔiːl]), is a sovereign state in Western Asia. The country is situated in the Middle East at the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Seaand the northern shore of the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea. It shares land borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan on the east, the Palestinian territories (which are claimed by the State of Palestine and are partially controlled by Israel) comprising the West Bank and Gaza Strip[8] to the east and west, respectively, and Egyptto the southwest. It contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area.[9][10] Israel's financial andtechnology center is Tel Aviv[11] while Jerusalem is both the self-designated capital and most populous individual cityunder the country's governmental administration. Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem is internationally unrecognized.[note 1][12][13] On 29 November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly recommended the adoption and implementation of thePartition Plan for Mandatory Palestine. This UN plan specified borders for new Arab and Jewish states and also specified an area of Jerusalem and its environs which was to be administered by the UN under an international regime.[14][15] The end of the British Mandate for Palestine was set for midnight on 14 May 1948. That day, David Ben-Gurion, the executive head of the Zionist Organization and president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, declared "the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel," which would start to function from the termination of the mandate.[16][17][18] The borders of the new state were not specified in the declaration.[15][19]Neighboring Arab armies invaded the former Palestinian mandate on the next day and fought the Israeli forces.[20][21]Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states,[22] in the course of which it has occupied the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula (1956–57, 1967–82), part of Southern Lebanon (1982–2000), Gaza Strip (1967–2005; still considered occupied after 2005 disengagement) and the Golan Heights. It extended its laws to the Golan Heights andEast Jerusalem, but not the West Bank.[23][24][25][26] Efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been signed. Israel's occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem is the world's longest military occupation in modern times.[note 2][28] The population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was estimated in 2016 to be 8,476,600 people. It is the world's only Jewish-majority state, with 6,345,400 citizens, or 74.9%, being designated asJewish. The country's second largest group of citizens are denoted as Arabs, numbering 1,760,400 people (including the Druze and most East Jerusalem Arabs).[1][2] The great majority of Israeli Arabs are settled Sunni Muslims, with smaller but significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins; the rest are Christians and Druze. Other far smaller minorities include Maronites, Samaritans, Dom people and Roma, Black Hebrew Israelites, other Sub-Saharan Africans,[29] Armenians, Circassians, Vietnamese boat people, and others. Israel also hosts a significant population of non-citizen foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia.[30] In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish and democratic state.[31] Israel is a representative democracy[32] with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage.[33][34] The prime minister serves as head of government and the Knesset serves as the legislature. Israel is a developed country and an OECD member,[35] with the35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2015. The country benefits from a highly skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with the one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree.[36][37] The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the fourth highest in Asia,[38][39][40] and has one of the highest life expectancies in the world.[41] Contents  [hide]  1 Etymology 2 History 2.1 Antiquity 2.2 Classical period 2.3 Middle Ages and modern history 2.4 Zionism and British mandate 2.5 After World War II 2.5.1 UN partition resolution 2.5.2 Declaration of Independence and 1948 war 2.6 First years of independence 2.7 Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War 2.8 Further conflict and peace process 3 Geography and environment 3.1 Tectonics and seismicity 3.2 Climate 4 Demographics 4.1 Language 4.2 Religion 4.3 Education 5 Politics 5.1 Legal system 5.2 Religious status 5.3 Administrative divisions 5.4 Israeli-occupied territories 5.5 Foreign relations 5.6 International humanitarian efforts 5.7 Military 6 Economy 6.1 Science and technology 6.2 Transport 6.3 Tourism 6.4 Energy 7 Culture 7.1 Literature 7.2 Music and dance 7.3 Cinema and theatre 7.4 Media 7.5 Museums 7.6 Cuisine 7.7 Sports 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 Bibliography 12 External links Etymology The Merneptah Stele. While alternative translations exist, the majority of biblical archeologists translate a set of hieroglyphs as "Israel," representing the first instance of the name Israel in the historical record. Upon independence in 1948, the country formally adopted the name "State of Israel" (Medinat Yisrael) after other proposed historical and religious names including Eretz Israel ("the Land of Israel"), Zion, and Judea, were considered and rejected.[42] In the early weeks of independence, the government chose the term "Israeli" to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made byMinister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett.[43] The names Land of Israel and Children of Israel have historically been used to refer to the biblical Kingdom of Israel and the entire Jewish people respectively.[44] The name "Israel" (Standard Yisraʾel, Isrāʾīl; Septuagint Greek: Ἰσραήλ Israēl; 'El(God) persists/rules' though, after Hosea 12:4 often interpreted as "struggle with God"[45][46][47][48]) in these phrases refers to the patriarch Jacob who, according to the Hebrew Bible, was given the name after he successfully wrestled with the angel of the Lord.[49] Jacob's twelve sons became the ancestors of the Israelites, also known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel or Children of Israel. Jacob and his sons had lived inCanaan but were forced by famine to go into Egypt for four generations, lasting 430 years,[50] until Moses, a great-great grandson of Jacob,[51] led the Israelites back into Canaan during the "Exodus". The earliest known archaeological artifact to mention the word "Israel" is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt (dated to the late 13th century BCE).[52] The area is also known as the Holy Land, being holy for all Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Bahá'í Faith. From 1920, the whole region was known as Palestine (under British Mandate)[note 3] until the Israeli Declaration of Independence of 1948.[53] Through the centuries, the territory was known by a variety of other names, including Judea, Samaria,Southern Syria, Syria Palaestina, Kingdom of Jerusalem, Iudaea Province, Coele-Syria, Djahy, and Canaan. History Main article: History of Israel Antiquity Main article: History of ancient Israel and Judah Further information: Israelites, Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) and Kingdom of Judah Map of the Kingdom of Israel, 1020 BCE–930 BCE as imagined from the Bible narrative[citation needed] City of David, archaeological site of ancient Jerusalem The notion of the "Land of Israel", known in Hebrew as Eretz Yisrael, has been important and sacred to the Jewish people since Biblical times. According to the Torah, God promised the land to the three Patriarchs of the Jewish people.[54][55] On the basis of scripture, the period of the three Patriarchs has been placed somewhere in the early 2nd millennium BCE,[56] and the first Kingdom of Israel was established around the 11th century BCE. Subsequent Israelite kingdoms and states ruled intermittently over the next four hundred years, and are known from various extra-biblical sources.[57][58][59][60] The first record of the name Israel (as ysrỉꜣr) occurs in the Merneptah stele, erected for Egyptian Pharaoh Merneptah c. 1209 BCE, "Israel is laid waste and his seed is not."[61] This "Israel" was a cultural and probably political entity of the central highlands, well enough established to be perceived by the Egyptians as a possible challenge to their hegemony, but an ethnic group rather than an organised state;[62] Ancestors of the Israelites may have included Semites native to Canaan and the Sea Peoples.[63] McNutt says, "It is probably safe to assume that sometime during Iron Age a population began to identify itself as 'Israelite'", differentiating itself from the Canaanites through such markers as the prohibition of intermarriage, an emphasis on family history and genealogy, and religion.[64] Villages had populations of up to 300 or 400,[65][66] which lived by farming and herding, and were largely self-sufficient;[67] economic interchange was prevalent.[68] Writing was known and available for recording, even in small sites.[69] The archaeological evidence indicates a society of village-like centres, but with more limited resources and a small population.[70] Modern scholars see Israel arising peacefully and internally from existing people in the highlands of Canaan.[71] Around 930 BCE, the kingdom split into a southern Kingdom of Judah and a northern Kingdom of Israel. From the middle of the 8th century BCE Israel came into increasing conflict with the expanding neo-Assyrian empire. Under Tiglath-Pileser III it first split Israel's territory into several smaller units and then destroyed its capital, Samaria (722 BCE). An Israelite revolt (724–722 BCE) was crushed after the siege and capture of Samaria by the Assyrian king Sargon II. Sargon's son, Sennacherib, tried and failed to conquer Judah.Assyrian records say he leveled 46 walled cities and besieged Jerusalem, leaving after receiving extensive tribute.[72] In 586 BCE King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon conquered Judah. According to the Hebrew Bible, he destroyed Solomon's Templeand exiled the Jews to Babylon. The defeat was also recorded by the Babylonians[73][74] (see the Babylonian Chronicles). In 538 BCE, Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon and took over its empire. Cyrus issued a proclamation granting subjugated nations (including the people of Judah) religious freedom (for the original text, which corroborates the biblical narrative only in very broad terms, see the Cyrus Cylinder). According to the Hebrew Bible 50,000 Judeans, led by Zerubabel, returned to Judah and rebuilt the temple. A second group of 5,000, led by Ezra and Nehemiah, returned to Judah in 456 BCE although non-Jews wrote to Cyrus to try to prevent their return. Classical period Main article: Second Temple period Further information: Hasmonean dynasty, Herodian dynasty and Jewish–Roman wars Portion of the Temple Scroll, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls written during the Second Temple period With successive Persian rule, the region, divided between Syria-Coele province and later the autonomous Yehud Medinata, was gradually developing back into urban society, largely dominated by Judeans. The Greek conquests largely skipped the region without any resistance or interest. Incorporated into Ptolemaic and finally Seleucid Empires, the southern Levant was heavily hellenized, building the tensions between Judeans and Greeks. The conflict erupted in 167 BCE with the Maccabean Revolt, which succeeded in establishing an independent Hasmonean Kingdom in Judah, which later expanded over much of modern Israel, as the Seleucids gradually lost control in the region. Masada fortress, location of the final battle in the First Jewish–Roman War The Roman Empire invaded the region in 63 BCE, first taking control of Syria, and then intervening in the Hasmonean civil war. The struggle between pro-Roman and pro-Parthian factions in Judea eventually led to the installation of Herod the Great and consolidation of the Herodian Kingdom as a vassal Judean state of Rome. With the decline of Herodians, Judea, transformed into a Roman province, became the site of a violent struggle of Jews against Greco-Romans, culminating in the Jewish-Roman Wars, ending in wide-scale destruction, expulsions, and genocide. Jewish presence in the region significantly dwindled after the failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire in 132 CE.[75] Nevertheless, there was a continuous small Jewish presence and Galilee became its religious center.[76][77] The Mishnah and part of the Talmud, central Jewish texts, were composed during the 2nd to 4th centuries CE in Tiberias and Jerusalem.[78] The region came to be populated predominantly by Greco-Romans on the coast and Samaritans in the hill-country. Christianity was gradually evolving over Roman paganism, when the area stood under Byzantine rule. Through the 5th and 6th centuries, the dramatic events of the repeated Samaritan revolts reshaped the land, with massive destruction to Byzantine Christian and Samaritan societies and a resulting decrease of the population. After thePersian conquest and the installation of a short-lived Jewish Commonwealth in 614 CE, the Byzantine Empire reconquered the country in 628. Middle Ages and modern history Further information: History of Jerusalem during the Middle Ages, Muslim history in Palestine region, History of the Jews and the Crusades and Old Yishuv Kfar Bar'am, an ancient Jewish village, abandoned some time between the 7th–13th centuries AD.[79] In 634–641 CE, the region, including Jerusalem, was conquered by the Arabs who had just recently adopted Islam. It remained under Muslim control for the next 1300 years under various dynasties.[80] Control of the region transferred between the Rashidun Caliphs, Umayyads,[80] Abbasids,[80] Fatimids, Seljuks, Crusaders, and Ayyubids throughout the next six centuries,[80] before the area was conquered in 1260 by the Mamluk Sultanate.[81] The 15th-century Abuhav synagogue, established by Sephardic Jews in Safed.[82] During the siege of Jerusalem by the First Crusade in 1099, the Jewish inhabitants of the city fought side by side with the Fatimid garrison and the Muslim population who tried in vain to defend the city against the Crusaders. When the city fell, about 60,000 people were massacred, including 6,000 Jews seeking refuge in a synagogue.[83] At this time, a full thousand years after the fall of the Jewish state, there were Jewish communities all over the country. Fifty of them are known and include Jerusalem,Tiberias, Ramleh, Ashkelon, Caesarea, and Gaza.[84] According to Albert of Aachen, the Jewish residents of Haifa were the main fighting force of the city, and "mixed with Saracen [Fatimid] troops", they fought bravely for close to a month until forced into retreat by the Crusader fleet and land army.[85][86] However, Joshua Prawer expressed doubt over the story, noting that Albert did not attend the Crusades and that such a prominent role for the Jews is not mentioned by any other source.[87][undue weight? – discuss] In 1165 Maimonides visited Jerusalem and prayed on the Temple Mount, in the "great, holy house".[88] In 1141 Spanish-Jewish poet, Yehuda Halevi, issued a call to the Jews to emigrate to the Land of Israel, a journey he undertook himself. In 1187 Sultan Saladin, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, defeated the Crusaders in the Battle of Hattin and subsequently captured Jerusalem and almost all of Palestine. In time, Saladin issued a proclamation inviting Jews to return and settle in Jerusalem,[89] and according to Judah al-Harizi, they did: "From the day the Arabs took Jerusalem, the Israelites inhabited it."[90]Al-Harizi compared Saladin's decree allowing Jews to re-establish themselves in Jerusalem to the one issued by the Persian king Cyrus the Great over 1,600 years earlier.[91] In 1211, the Jewish community in the country was strengthened by the arrival of a group headed by over 300 rabbis from France and England,[92] among them RabbiSamson ben Abraham of Sens.[93] Nachmanides, the 13th-century Spanish rabbi and recognised leader of Jewry greatly praised the land of Israel and viewed its settlement as a positive commandment incumbent on all Jews. He wrote "If the gentiles wish to make peace, we shall make peace and leave them on clear terms; but as for the land, we shall not leave it in their hands, nor in the hands of any nation, not in any generation."[94] In 1260, control passed to the Mamluk sultans of Egypt. The country was located between the two centres of Mamluk power, Cairo and Damascus, and only saw some development along the postal road connecting the two cities. Jerusalem, although left without the protection of any city walls since 1219, also saw a flurry of new construction projects centred around the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound (the Temple Mount). In 1266 the Mamluk Sultan Baybars converted the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron into an exclusive Islamic sanctuary and banned Christians and Jews from entering, which previously would be able to enter it for a fee. The ban remained in place until Israel took control of the building in 1967.[95][96] Jews at the Western Wall, 1870s In 1470, Isaac b. Meir Latif arrived from Ancona and counted 150 Jewish families in Jerusalem.[97] Thanks to Joseph Saragossi who had arrived in the closing years of the 15th century, Safed and its environs had developed into the largest concentration of Jews in Palestine. With the help of the Sephardic immigration from Spain, the Jewish population had increased to 10,000 by the early 16th century.[98] In 1516, the region was conquered by the Ottoman Empire; it remained under Turkish rule until the end of the First World War, when Britain defeated the Ottoman forces and set up a military administration across the former Ottoman Syria. In 1920 the territory was divided between Britain and France under the mandate system, and the British-administered area which included modern day Israel was named Mandatory Palestine.[81][99][100] Zionism and British mandate Further information: Zionism, Aliyah, Mandatory Palestine and Balfour Declaration Theodor Herzl, visionary of the Jewish State Since the existence of the earliest Jewish diaspora, many Jews have aspired to return to "Zion" and the "Land of Israel",[101] though the amount of effort that should be spent towards such an aim was a matter of dispute.[102][103] The hopes and yearnings of Jews living in exile are an important theme of the Jewish belief system.[102] After the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, some communities settled in Palestine.[104] During the 16th century, Jewish communities struck roots in the Four Holy Cities—Jerusalem,Tiberias, Hebron, and Safed—and in 1697, Rabbi Yehuda Hachasid led a group of 1,500 Jews to Jerusalem.[105] In the second half of the 18th century, Eastern European opponents of Hasidism, known as the Perushim, settled in Palestine.[106][107][108] "I believe that a wondrous generation of Jews will spring into existence. The Maccabeans will rise again. Let me repeat once more my opening words: The Jews who wish for a State will have it. We shall live at last as free men on our own soil, and die peacefully in our own homes. The world will be freed by our liberty, enriched by our wealth, magnified by our greatness. And whatever we attempt there to accomplish for our own welfare, will react powerfully and beneficially for the good of humanity." Theodore Herzl, concluding words of The Jewish State, 1896[109] The first wave of modern Jewish migration to Ottoman-ruled Palestine, known as theFirst Aliyah, began in 1881, as Jews fled pogroms in Eastern Europe.[110] Although the Zionist movement already existed in practice, Austro-Hungarian journalist Theodor Herzlis credited with founding political Zionism,[111] a movement which sought to establish a Jewish state in the Land of Israel, thus offering a solution to the so-called Jewish Question of the European states, in conformity with the goals and achievements of other national projects of the time.[112] In 1896, Herzl published Der Judenstaat (The State of the Jews), offering his vision of a future Jewish state; the following year he presided over the first Zionist Congress.[113] The Second Aliyah (1904–14), began after the Kishinev pogrom; some 40,000 Jews settled in Palestine, although nearly half of them left eventually.[110] Both the first and second waves of migrants were mainly Orthodox Jews,[114] although the Second Aliyah included socialist groups who established the kibbutz movement.[115] During World War I, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour sent the Balfour Declaration of 1917 to Baron Rothschild (Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild), a leader of the British Jewish community, that stated that Britain intended for the creation of a Jewish "national home" within the Palestinian Mandate.[116][117] The Jewish Legion, a group primarily of Zionist volunteers, assisted, in 1918, in the British conquest of Palestine.[118] Arab opposition to British rule and Jewish immigration led to the 1920 Palestine riots and the formation of a Jewish militia known as the Haganah (meaning "The Defense" in Hebrew), from which the Irgun andLehi, or Stern Gang, paramilitary groups later split off.[119] In 1922, the League of Nations granted Britain a mandate over Palestine under terms which included the Balfour Declaration with its promise to the Jews, and with similar provisions regarding the Arab Palestinians.[120] The population of the area at this time was predominantly Arab and Muslim, with Jews accounting for about 11%,[121] and Arab Christians at about 9.5% of the population.[122] The Third (1919–23) and Fourth Aliyahs (1924–29) brought an additional 100,000 Jews to Palestine.[110] Finally, the rise of Nazism and the increasing persecution of Jews in 1930s Europe led to the Fifth Aliyah, with an influx of a quarter of a million Jews. This was a major cause of the Arab revolt of 1936–39 during which the British Mandate authorities alongside the Zionist militias of Haganah and Irgun killed 5,032 Arabs and wounded 14,760,[123][124] resulting in over ten percent of the adult male Palestinian Arab population killed, wounded, imprisoned or exiled.[125] The British introduced restrictions on Jewish immigration to Palestine 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.[110] By the end of World War II, the Jewish population of Palestine had increased to 33% of the total population.[126] On July 22, 1946, Irgunattacked the British administrative headquarters for Palestine, which was housed in the southern wing[127] of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.[128][129][130] 91 people of various nationalities were killed and 46 were injured.[131] The hotel was the site of the central offices of the British Mandatory authorities of Palestine, principally the Secretariat of the Government of Palestine and the Headquarters of the British Armed Forces in Palestine and Transjordan.[131][132] The attack initially had the approval of the Haganah (the principal Jewish paramilitary group in Palestine). It was conceived as a response to Operation Agatha (a series of widespread raids, including one on the Jewish Agency, conducted by the British authorities) and was the deadliest directed at the British during the Mandate era (1920–1948).[131][132] After World War II UN partition resolution Main article: United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine UN Map, "Palestine plan of partition with economic union" After World War II, Britain found itself in intense conflict with the Jewish community over Jewish immigration limits, as well as continued conflict with the Arab community over limit levels. The Haganah joined Irgun and Lehi in an armed struggle against British rule.[133] At the same time, hundreds of thousands of Jewish Holocaust survivors and refugees sought a new life far from their destroyed communities in Europe. The Yishuv attempted to bring these refugees to Palestine but many were turned away or rounded up and placed in detention camps in Atlit and Cyprus by the British. Escalating violence culminated with the 1946 King David Hotel bombing which Bruce Hoffman characterized as one of the "most lethal terrorist incidents of the twentieth century".[134] In 1947, the British government announced it would withdraw from Mandatory Palestine, stating it was unable to arrive at a solution acceptable to both Arabs and Jews. On 15 May 1947, the General Assembly of the newly formed United Nations resolved that a committee, United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP), be created "to prepare for consideration at the next regular session of the Assembly a report on the question of Palestine".[135] In the Report of the Committee dated 3 September 1947 to the UN General Assembly,[136] the majority of the Committee in Chapter VI proposed a plan to replace the British Mandate with "an independent Arab State, an independent Jewish State, and the City of Jerusalem ... the last to be under an International Trusteeship System".[137] On 29 November 1947, theGeneral Assembly adopted a resolution recommending the adoption and implementation of the Plan of Partition with Economic Unionas Resolution 181 (II).[138] The Plan attached to the resolution was essentially that proposed by the majority of the Committee in the Report of 3 September 1947. The Jewish Agency, which was the recognized representative of the Jewish community, accepted the plan. The Arab League andArab Higher Committee of Palestine rejected it, and indicated that they would reject any other plan of partition.[139][140] Declaration of Independence and 1948 war Further information: Israeli Declaration of Independence and Arab–Israeli conflict On the following day, 1 December 1947, the Arab Higher Committee proclaimed a three-day strike, and Arab gangs began attacking Jewish targets.[141] The Jews were initially on the defensive as civil war broke out, but in early April 1948 moved onto the offensive.[142][143] The Arab Palestinian economy collapsed and 250,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled.[144] Wikisource has original text related to this article: the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel On 14 May 1948, the day before the expiration of the British Mandate, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency,declared "the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel".[145][146] The only reference in the text of the Declaration to the borders of the new state is the use of the term Eretz-Israel ("Land of Israel").[147] The following day, the armies of four Arab countries—Egypt, Syria, Transjordan and Iraq—entered what had been British Mandatory Palestine, launching the 1948 Arab–Israeli War;[148][149] Contingents from Yemen, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Sudan joined the war.[150][151] The apparent purpose of the invasion was to prevent the establishment of the Jewish state at inception, and some Arab leaders talked about driving the Jews into the sea.[152][153][154] According to Benny Morris, Jews felt that the invading Arab armies aimed to slaughter the Jews.[155] The Arab league stated that the invasion was to restore law and order and to prevent further bloodshed.[156] After a year of fighting, a ceasefire was declared and temporary borders, known as the Green Line, were established.[157] Jordan annexed what became known as theWest Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Egypt took control of the Gaza Strip. The United Nations estimated that more than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled by or fled from advancing Israeli forces during the conflict—what would become known in Arabic as the Nakba ("catastrophe").[158] Kibbutznikiyot (female Kibbutz members), during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. TheKibbutzim, or collective farming communities, played a pivotal role in establishing the new state.[159]   Palestinian irregulars near a burnt armored Haganah supply truck, the road to Jerusalem, 1948   A Butterfly improvised armored car brings supply to an isolated Negev kibutz. After the Egyptian invasion, those cars evacuated the children   David Ben-Gurion announcing the creation of the State of Israel on 14 May 1948, below a portrait of Theodor Herzl   A briefing of Palmach soldiers from the Negev Brigade   Raising of the Ink Flag, marking the end of the1948 Arab–Israeli War First years of independence Israel was admitted as a member of the United Nations by majority vote on 11 May 1949.[160] On 1949 both Israel and Jordan were genuinely interested in a peace agreement but the British acted as a brake on the Jordanian effort in order to avoid damaging British interests in Egypt.[161] In the early years of the state, the Labor Zionist movement led by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion dominated Israeli politics.[162][163] The Kibbutzim, or collective farming communities, played a pivotal role in establishing the new state.[159] Yemenite Jews en route from Adento Israel, during the Operation Magic Carpet (1949–1950) Immigration to Israel during the late 1940s and early 1950s was aided by the Israeli Immigration Department and the non-government sponsored Mossad LeAliyah Bet ("Institution for Illegal Immigration"[164]). Both groups facilitated regular immigration logistics like arranging transportation, but the latter also engaged in clandestine operations in countries, particularly in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, where the lives of Jews were believed to be in danger and exit from those places was difficult. Mossad LeAliyah Bet continued to take part in immigration efforts until its disbanding in 1953.[165] An influx of Holocaust survivors and Jews from Arab and Muslim lands immigrated to Israel during the first 3 years and the number of Jews increased from 700,000 to 1,400,000,[166] many of whom faced persecution in their original countries.[167]The immigration was in accordance with the One Million Plan. Consequently, the population of Israel rose from 800,000 to two million between 1948 and 1958.[166] Between 1948 and 1970, approximately 1,150,000 Jewish refugees relocated to Israel.[168] The immigrants came to Israel for differing reasons. Some believed in a Zionist ideology, while others moved to escape persecution. There were others that did it for the promise of a better life in Israel and a small number that were expelled from their homelands, such as British and French Jews in Egypt after the Suez Crisis.[169] Some new immigrants 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.[170] During this period, food, clothes and furniture had to be rationed in what became known as the Austerity Period. 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 that Israel could accept monetary compensation for the Holocaust.[171] In 1950 Egypt closed the Suez Canal to Israeli shipping and tensions mounted as armed clashes took place along Israel's borders. During the 1950s, Israel was frequently attacked by Palestinian fedayeen, nearly always against civilians,[172] mainly from the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip,[173] leading to several Israeli counter-raids. In 1956, Great Britain and France aimed at regaining control of the Suez Canal, which the Egyptians had nationalized (see the Suez Crisis). The continued blockade of the Suez Canal and Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, together with the growing amount of Fedayeen attacks against Israel's southern population, and recent Arab grave and threatening statements, prompted Israel to attack Egypt.[174][175][176][177] Israel joined a secret alliance with Great Britain and France and overran the Sinai Peninsula but was pressured to withdraw by the United Nations in return for guarantees of Israeli shipping rights in the Red Sea via the Straits of Tiran and the Canal[citation needed].[178][179] The war resulted in significant reduction of Israeli border infiltration.[180][181][182][183] U.S. newsreel on the trial of Adolf Eichmann The refugees were often treated differently according to where they had come from. Jews of European background were treated more favorably than Jews from Middle Eastern and North African countries—housing units reserved for the latter were often re-designated for the former, with the result that Jews newly arrived from Arab lands generally ended up staying intransit camps for longer.[184] Tensions that developed between the two groups over such discrimination persist to the present day.[185] In the early 1960s, Israel captured Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Argentina and brought him to Israel for trial.[186] The trial had a major impact on public awareness of the Holocaust.[187] Eichmann remains the only person executed in Israel by conviction by an Israeli civilian court.[188] Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War Further information: Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War Territory held by Israel:   before the Six-Day War   after the war The Sinai Peninsula wasreturned to Egypt in 1982. Since 1964, Arab countries, concerned over Israeli plans to divert waters of the Jordan River into the coastal plain,[189] had been trying to divert the headwaters to deprive Israel of water resources, provoking tensions between Israel on the one hand, and Syria and Lebanon on the other. Arab nationalists led by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser refused to recognize Israel, and called for its destruction.[22][190][191]By 1966, Israeli-Arab relations had deteriorated to the point of actual battles taking place between Israeli and Arab forces.[192] In May 1967, Egypt massed its army near the border with Israel, expelled UN peacekeepers, stationed in the Sinai Peninsula since 1957, and blocked Israel's access to the Red Sea[citation needed]. Other Arab states mobilized their forces.[193] Israel reiterated that these actions were a casus belli. On 5 June 1967, Israel launched a pre-emptive strike against Egypt. Jordan, Syria and Iraq responded and attacked Israel. In a Six-Day War, Israel defeated Jordan and captured the West Bank, defeated Egypt and captured the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula, and defeated Syria and captured the Golan Heights.[194] Jerusalem's boundaries were enlarged, incorporatingEast Jerusalem, and the 1949 Green Line became the administrative boundary between Israel and the occupied territories. Following the 1967 war and the "three nos" resolution of the Arab League, during the 1967–1970 War of Attrition Israel faced attacks from the Egyptians in the Sinai, and from Palestinian groups targeting Israelis in the occupied territories, in Israel proper, and around the world. Most important among the various Palestinian and Arab groups was the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), established in 1964, which initially committed itself to "armed struggle as the only way to liberate the homeland".[195][196] In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Palestinian groups launched a wave of attacks[197][198] against Israeli and Jewish targets around the world,[199] including a massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The Israeli government responded with an assassination campaign against the organizers of the massacre, a bombing and a raid on the PLO headquarters in Lebanon. Operation Gazelle, Israel's ground maneuver, encircles the Egyptian Third Army, October 1973 On 6 October 1973, as Jews were observing Yom Kippur, the Egyptian and Syrian armies launched a surprise attack against Israeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights, that opened the Yom Kippur War. The war ended on 26 October with Israel successfully repelling Egyptian and Syrian forces but having suffered over 2,500 soldiers killed in a war which collectively took 10–35,000 lives in just 20 days.[200] An internal inquiry exonerated the government of responsibility for failures before and during the war, but public anger forced Prime MinisterGolda Meir to resign.[201] Further conflict and peace process Further information: Israeli–Palestinian peace process In July 1976 an airliner was hijacked during its flight to Tel Aviv by Palestinian guerrillas and landed at Entebbe, Uganda. Israeli commandos carried out an operation in which 102 out of 106 Israeli hostages were successfully rescued. The 1977 Knesset elections marked a major turning point in Israeli political history as Menachem Begin's Likudparty took control from the Labor Party.[202] 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.[203] In the two years that followed, Sadat and Begin signed theCamp David Accords (1978) and the Israel–Egypt Peace Treaty (1979).[204] In return, Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula, which Israel had captured during the Six-Day War in 1967, and agreed to enter negotiations over an autonomy for Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.[205] On 11 March 1978, a PLO guerilla raid from Lebanon led to the Coastal Road Massacre. Israel responded by launching an invasion of southern Lebanon to destroy the PLO bases south of the Litani River. Most PLO fighters withdrew, but Israel was able to secure southern Lebanon until a UN force and the Lebanese army could take over. The PLO soon resumed its policy of attacks against Israel. In the next few years, the PLO infiltrated the south and kept up a sporadic shelling across the border. Israel carried out numerous retaliatory attacks by air and on the ground. Israel's 1980 Jerusalem Lawdeclared Jerusalem to be Israel's "eternal and indivisible capital". Meanwhile, Begin's government provided incentives for Israelis to settle in the occupied West Bank, increasing friction with the Palestinians in that area.[206] The Basic Law: Jerusalem, the Capital of Israel, passed in 1980, was believed by some to reaffirm Israel's 1967 annexation of Jerusalem by government decree, and reignited international controversy over the status of the city. No Israeli legislation has defined the territory of Israel and no act specifically included East Jerusalem therein.[207]The position of the majority of UN member states is reflected in numerous resolutions declaring that actions taken by Israel to settle its citizens in the West Bank, and impose its laws and administration on East Jerusalem, are illegal and have no validity.[208] In 1981 Israel annexed the Golan Heights, although annexation was not recognized internationally.[209] On 7 June 1981, the Israeli air force destroyed Iraq's sole nuclear reactor, in order to impede Iraq's nuclear weapons program. The reactor was under construction just outside Baghdad. Following a series of PLO attacks in 1982, Israel invadedLebanon that year to destroy the bases from which the PLO launched attacks and missiles into northern Israel.[210] In the first six days of fighting, the Israelis destroyed the military forces of the PLO in Lebanon and decisively defeated the Syrians. An Israeli government inquiry – the Kahan Commission – would later hold Begin, Sharon and several Israeli generals as indirectly responsible for the Sabra and Shatila massacre. In 1985, Israel responded to a Palestinian terrorist attack in Cyprus by bombing the PLO headquarters in Tunis. Israel withdrew from most of Lebanon in 1986, but maintained a borderland buffer zone in southern Lebanon until 2000, from where Israeli forces engaged in conflict with Hezbollah. Israel's ethnic diversity expanded in the 1980s and 1990s due to immigration. Several waves of Ethiopian Jews immigrated to Israel in the 1980s and 1990s, while between 1990 and 1994, Russian immigration to Israel increased Israel's population by twelve percent.[211] The First Intifada, a Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule,[212] broke out in 1987, with waves of uncoordinated demonstrations and violence occurring in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Over the following six years, the Intifada became more organised and included economic and cultural measures aimed at disrupting the Israeli occupation. More than a thousand people were killed in the violence.[213] During the 1991 Gulf War, the PLO supported Saddam Hussein and Iraqi Scudmissile attacks against Israel. Despite public outrage, Israel heeded US calls to refrain from hitting back and did not participate in that war.[214][215] Yitzhak Rabin, Bill Clinton, andYasser Arafat during the Oslo I Accordsigning ceremony, 13 September 1993 In 1992, Yitzhak Rabin became Prime Minister following an election in which his party called for compromise with Israel's neighbors.[216][217] The following year, Shimon Peres on behalf of Israel, and Mahmoud Abbas for the PLO, signed the Oslo Accords, which gave the Palestinian National Authority the right to govern parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.[218] The PLO also recognized Israel's right to exist and pledged an end to terrorism.[219] In 1994, the Israel–Jordan Treaty of Peacewas signed, making Jordan the second Arab country to normalize relations with Israel.[220] Arab public support for the Accords was damaged by the continuation of Israeli settlements[221] and checkpoints, and the deterioration of economic conditions.[222] Israeli public support for the Accords waned as Israel was struck by Palestinian suicide attacks.[223] Finally, while leaving a peace rally in November 1995, Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a far-right-wing Jew who opposed the Accords.[224] At the end of the 1990s, Israel, under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu, withdrew from Hebron,[225] and signed the Wye River Memorandum, giving greater control to the Palestinian National Authority.[226] 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 2000 Camp David Summit. During the summit, Barak offered a plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state. The proposed state included the entirety of the Gaza Strip and over 90% of the West Bank with Jerusalem as a shared capital,[227] although some argue that the plan was to annex areas which would lead to a cantonization of the West Bank into three blocs, which the Palestinian delegation likened to South African "bantustans", a loaded word that was disputed by the Israeli and American negotiators.[228] Each side blamed the other for the failure of the talks. After the collapse of the talks and a controversial visit by Likud leader Ariel Sharon to the Temple Mount, the Second Intifada began. Some commentators contend that the uprising was pre-planned by Yasser Arafat due to the collapse of peace talks.[229][230][231][232] Sharon became 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,[233]ending the Intifada.[234][235] By this time 1,100 Israelis had been killed, mostly in suicide bombings.[236] The Palestinian fatalities, by 30 April 2008, reached 4,745 killed by Israeli security forces, 44 killed by Israeli civilians, and 577 killed by Palestinians.[237] Iron Dome missile defense system intercepts Gaza rockets duringOperation Protective Edge, 2014 In July 2006, a Hezbollah artillery assault on Israel's northern border communities and a cross-border abduction of two Israeli soldiers precipitated the month-long Second Lebanon War.[238][239] On 6 September 2007, the Israeli Air Force destroyed a nuclear reactor in Syria. In May 2008, Israel confirmed it had been discussing a peace treaty with Syria for a year, with Turkey as a go-between.[240] However, at the end of the year, Israel entered another conflict as a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel collapsed. The Gaza War lasted three weeks and ended after Israel announced a unilateral ceasefire.[241][242] 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.[243] In what Israel described as a response to more than a hundred Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israeli cities,[244] Israel began an operation in Gaza on 14 November 2012, lasting eight days.[245] Israel started another operation in Gaza following an escalation of rocket attacks by Hamas in July 2014.[246] Geography and environment Main articles: Geography of Israel and Wildlife of Israel Satellite images of Israel and neighboring territories during the day (left) and night (right) Israel is at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, bounded by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan and the West Bank to the east, and Egypt and the Gaza Strip to the southwest. It lies between latitudes29° and 34° N, and longitudes 34° and 36° E. The sovereign territory of Israel (according to the demarcation lines of the 1949 Armistice Agreements and 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.[9] However Israel is so narrow that the exclusive economic zone in the Mediterranean is double the land area of the country.[247] The total area under Israeli law, includingEast Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, is 22,072 square kilometers (8,522 sq mi),[248] and the total area under Israeli control, including the military-controlled and partially Palestinian-governed territory of the West Bank, is 27,799 square kilometers (10,733 sq mi).[249] Despite its small size, Israel is home to a variety of geographic features, from the Negev desert in the south to the inland fertile Jezreel Valley, mountain ranges of the Galilee,Carmel and toward the Golan in the north. The Israeli Coastal Plain on the shores of the Mediterranean is home to 57 percent of the nation's population.[250][251][252] East of the central highlands lies the Jordan Rift Valley, which forms a small part of the 6,500-kilometer (4,039 mi) Great Rift Valley. The Jordan River runs along the Jordan Rift Valley, from Mount Hermon through the Hulah Valley and the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the surface of the Earth.[253] 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.[254] The largest makhtesh in the world is Ramon Crater in the Negev,[255] which measures 40 by 8 kilometers (25 by 5 mi).[256] 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.[257] Tectonics and seismicity Main article: Geography of Israel § Seismic activity The Jordan Rift Valley is the result of tectonic movements within the Dead Sea Transform (DSF) fault system. The DSF forms the transform boundary between theAfrican Plate to the west and the Arabian Plate to the east. The Golan Heights and all of Jordan are part of the Arabian Plate, while the Galilee, West Bank, Coastal Plain, and Negev along with the Sinai Peninsula are on the African Plate. This tectonic disposition leads to a relatively high seismic activity in the region. The entire Jordan Valley segment is thought to have ruptured repeatedly, for instance during the last two major earthquakes along this structure in 749 and 1033. The deficit inslip that has built up since the 1033 event is sufficient to cause an earthquake of Mw~7.4.[258] The most catastrophic earthquakes we know of occurred in 31 BCE, 363, 749, and 1033 CE, that is every ca. 400 years on average.[259] Destructive earthquakes leading to serious loss of life strike about every 80 years.[260] While stringent construction regulations are currently in place and recently built structures are earthquake-safe, as of 2007 the majority of the buildings in Israel were older than these regulations and many public buildings as well as 50,000 residential buildings did not meet the new standards and were "expected to collapse" if exposed to a strong quake.[260] Given the fragile political situation of the Middle East region and the presence there of major holy sites, a quake reaching magnitude 7 on the Richter scale could have dire consequences for world peace.[259] Climate Israel map of Köppen climate classification. Temperatures in Israel vary widely, especially during the winter. Coastal areas, such as those of Tel Aviv and Haifa, have a typical Mediterranean climate with cool, rainy winters and long, hot summers. The area of Beersheba and the Northern Negev has a semi-arid climate with hot summers, cool winters and fewer rainy days than the Mediterranean climate. The Southern Negev and the Arava areas have desert climate with very hot and dry summers, and mild winters with few days of rain. The highest temperature in the continent of Asia (54.0 °C or 129.2 °F) was recorded in 1942 at Tirat Zvi kibbutz in the northern Jordan river valley.[261][262] At the other extreme mountainous regions can be windy, cold, and areas at elevation of 750 meters or more (same elevation as Jerusalem) will usually receive at least one snowfall each year.[263] From May to September, rain in Israel is rare.[264][265]With scarce water resources, Israel has developed various water-saving technologies, including drip irrigation.[266] Israelis also take advantage of the considerable sunlight available for solar energy, making Israel the leading nation in solar energyuse per capita (practically every house uses solar panels for water heating).[267] Four different phytogeographic regions exist in Israel, due to the country's location between the temperate and the tropical zones, bordering the Mediterranean Sea in the west and the desert in the east. For this reason the flora and fauna of Israel is extremely diverse. There are 2,867 known species of plants found in Israel. Of these, at least 253 species are introduced and non-native.[268] There are 380 Israeli nature reserves.[269] Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee   Field of Anemone coronaria, national flower of Israel   Ramon Crater, a unique type of crater that can be found only in Israel and the Sinai peninsula   Snow in Galilee   Flowers of Israel Demographics Main articles: Demographics of Israel, Israelis and List of cities in Israel Religion in Israelvte  Note: Until 1995, figures for Christians also included Others.[270] In 2016, Israel's population was an estimated 8,476,600 million people, of whom 6,345,400 (74.9%) were recorded by the civil government as Jews. 1,760,400 Arabs comprised 20.7% of the population, while non-Arab Christians and people who have no religion listed in the civil registry made up 4.4%.[1][2] 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,[271] but estimates run in the region of 203,000.[30] By June 2012, approximately 60,000 African migrants had entered Israel.[272] About 92% of Israelis live in urban areas.[273] Retention of Israel's population since 1948 is about even or greater, when compared to other countries with mass immigration.[274] Jewish emigration from Israel (called yerida in Hebrew), primarily to the United States and Canada, is described by demographers as modest,[275] but is often cited by Israeli government ministries as a major threat to Israel's future.[276][277] In 2009, over 300,000 Israeli citizens lived in West Bank settlements[278] such as Ma'ale Adumim and Ariel, including settlements that predated the establishment of the State of Israel and which were re-established after the Six-Day War, in cities such as Hebron and Gush Etzion. In 2011, there were 250,000 Jews living in East Jerusalem.[279] 20,000 Israelis live in Golan Heights settlements.[209] 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.[280] Immigration to Israel in the years 1948–2008. The two peaks, of at least 200,000 each, were in 1949 and 1990. Israel was established as a homeland for the Jewish people and is often referred to as a Jewish state. The country's Law of Return grants all Jews and those of Jewish ancestry the right to Israeli citizenship.[281] Over three quarters, or 75.5%, of the population are Jews from a diversity of Jewish backgrounds. Around 4% of Israelis (300,000), ethnically defined as "others", are Russian descendants of Jewish origin or family who are not Jewish according to rabbinical law, but were eligible for Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return.[282][283][284]Approximately 75% of Israeli Jews are born in Israel, 17% are immigrants from Europe and the Americas, and 8% are immigrants from Asia and Africa (including the Arab World).[285][286] Jews from Europe and the former Soviet Union and their descendants born in Israel, including Ashkenazi Jews, constitute approximately 50% of Jewish Israelis. Jews who left or fled Arab and Muslim countries and their descendants, including both Mizrahiand Sephardi Jews,[287] form most of the rest of the Jewish population.[288][289][290] Jewish intermarriage rates run at over 35% and recent studies suggest that the percentage of Israelis descended from both Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews increases by 0.5 percent every year, with over 25% of school children now originating from both communities.[291]  vte Largest cities in Israel Israel Central Bureau of Statistics[292] Rank Name District Pop. Rank Name District Pop. Jerusalem Tel Aviv 1 Jerusalem Jerusalem 849,800a 11 Ramat Gan Tel Aviv 150,900 Haifa Rishon LeZion 2 Tel Aviv Tel Aviv 426,100 12 Rehovot Central 128,900 3 Haifa Haifa 277,100 13 Bat Yam Tel Aviv 128,500 4 Rishon LeZion Central 240,700 14 Ashkelon Southern 126,800 5 Petah Tikva Central 225,400 15 Beit Shemesh Jerusalem 98,100 6 Ashdod Southern 218,000 16 Kfar Saba Central 94,200 7 Netanya Central 202,400 17 Herzliya Tel Aviv 90,700 8 Beersheba Southern 201,100 18 Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut Central 87,000 9 Holon Tel Aviv 187,300 19 Hadera Haifa 86,800 10 Bnei Brak Tel Aviv 178,300 20 Nazareth Northern 74,600 ^a This number includes East Jerusalem and West Bank areas. Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem is internationally unrecognized. Language Main article: Languages of Israel Road sign in Hebrew, Arabic, andEnglish Israel has two official languages, Hebrew and Arabic.[9] Hebrew is the primary language of the state and is spoken everyday by the majority of the population, and Arabic is spoken by the Arab minority and Hebrew is taught in Arab schools. Englishwas an official language during the Mandate period; it lost this status after the creation of Israel, but retains a role comparable to that of an official language,[293][294][295] as may be seen in road signs and official documents. Many Israelis communicate reasonably well in English, as many television programs are broadcast in English with subtitles and the language is taught from the early grades in elementary school. In addition, Israeli universities offer courses in the English language on various subjects.[296] As a country of immigrants, many languages can be heard on the streets. Due to mass immigration from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia (some 130,000 Ethiopian Jews live in Israel),[297][298] Russian and Amharic are widely spoken.[299] More than one million Russian-speaking immigrants arrived in Israel from the former Soviet Union states between 1990 and 2004.[300] French is spoken by around 700,000 Israelis,[301] mostly originating from France and North Africa (see Maghrebi Jews). Religion Main articles: Religion in Israel and Abrahamic religions The Dome of the Rock and theWestern Wall, Jerusalem. Israel comprises a major part of the Holy Land, a region of significant importance to all Abrahamic religions – Judaism,Christianity, Islam, Druze and Bahá'í Faith. The religious affiliation of Israeli Jews varies widely: a social survey for those over the age of 20 indicates that 55% say they are "traditional", while 20% consider themselves "secular Jews", 17% define themselves as "Religious Zionists"; 8% define themselves as "Haredi Jews".[302] Haredi Jews are expected to represent more than 20% of Israel's Jewish population by 2028.[303] 9th Station of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa street in Jerusalem. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the background is venerated by Christians as the site of theBurial of Jesus.[304] Making up 16% of the population, Muslims constitute Israel's largest religious minority. About 2% of the population is Christian and 1.5% is Druze.[305] The Christian population primarily comprises Arab Christians, but also includes post-Soviet immigrants, the foreign laborers of multinational origins, and followers of Messianic Judaism, considered by most Christians and Jews to be a form of Christianity.[306] Members of many other religious groups, includingBuddhists and Hindus, maintain a presence in Israel, albeit in small numbers.[307] Out of more than one million immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Israel, about 300,000 are considered not Jewish by the Orthodox rabbinate.[308] 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 Old City that incorporates the Western Wall and the Temple Mount, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.[309] Other locations of religious importance in Israel are Nazareth (holy in Christianity as the site of theAnnunciation of Mary), Tiberias and Safed (two of the Four Holy Cities in Judaism), the White Mosque in Ramla (holy in Islam as the shrine of the prophet Saleh), and the Church of Saint George in Lod (holy in Christianity and Islam as the tomb of Saint George or Al Khidr). A number of other religious landmarks are located in the West Bank, among them Joseph's Tomb in Nablus, 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; 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.[310][311][312] A few miles south of the Bahá'í World Centre is the Middle East centre of the reformistAhmadiyya movement. Its mixed neighbourhood of Jews and Ahmadi Arabs is the only one of its kind in the country.[313][314] Education Main article: Education in Israel Education in Israel is highly valued in the national culture with its historical values dating back to Ancient Israel and was viewed as one fundamental blocks of ancient Israelite life.[315] Israeli culture views higher education as the key to higher mobility and socioeconomic status in Israeli society.[316] The emphasis of education within Israeli society goes to the gulf within the Jewish diaspora from the Renaissance and Enlightenment Movement all the way to the roots of Zionism in the 1880s. Jewish communities in the Levant were the first to introduce compulsory education for which the organized community, not less than the parents, was responsible for the education of the next generation of Jews.[317] With contemporary Jewish culture's strong emphasis, promotion of scholarship and learning and the strong propensity to promote cultivation of intellectual pursuits as well as the nations high university educational attainment rate exemplifies how highly Israeli society values higher education.[318][319][320][321][322][323] The Israeli education system has been praised for various reasons, including its high quality and its major role in spurring Israel's economic development and technological boom.[324] Many international business leaders and organizations such as Microsoft founder Bill Gates have praised Israel for its high quality of education in helping spur Israel's economic development.[325][326] In 2012, the country ranked second among OECD countries (tied with Japan and after Canada) for the percentage of 25- to 64-year-olds that have attained tertiary education with 46 percent compared with the OECD average of 32 percent. In addition, nearly twice as many Israelis aged 55–64 held a higher education degree compared to other OECD countries, with 47 percent holding an academic degree compared with the OECD average of 25%.[36][37] In 2012, the country ranked third in the world in the number of academic degrees per capita (20 percent of the population).[327][328] Israel has a school life expectancy of 15.5 years[329] and a literacy rate of 97.1% according to the United Nations.[330] 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.[331] Education is compulsory in Israel for children between the ages of three and eighteen.[332][333] 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, the Hebrew language, Hebrew and general literature, the English language, history, Biblical scripture and civics is necessary to receive a Bagrut certificate.[334] In Arab, Christian and Druze schools, the exam on Biblical studies is replaced by an exam on Muslim, Christian or Druze heritage.[335] Christian Arabsare one of the most educated groups in Israel.[336] Maariv have describe the Christian Arabs sectors as "the most successful in education system",[336] since Christian Arabs fared the best in terms of education in comparison to any other group receiving an education in Israel.[337] Israeli children from Russian-speaking families have a higher bagrut pass rate at high-school level.[338] Although amongst immigrant children born in the FSU, the bagrut pass rate is highest amongst those families from Western FSU states of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova (at 62.6%), and lower amongst those from Central Asian and Caucasian FSU states.[339] In 2003, over half of all Israeli twelfth graders earned a matriculation certificate.[340] Hebrew University of Jerusalem Israel has nine public universities that are subsidized by the state and 49 private colleges.[334][341][342] The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel's second-oldest university after the Technion,[343][344] houses the National Library of Israel, the world's largest repository of Judaica and Hebraica.[345] The Technion, the Hebrew University, and the Weizmann Institute consistently ranked among world's 100 top universities by the prestigious ARWU academic ranking.[346][347][348] The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University are ranked among the world's top 100 universities by Times Higher Educationmagazine.[349] Other major universities in the country include Bar-Ilan University, the University of Haifa, The Open University, and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Ariel University, in the West Bank, is the newest university institution, upgraded from college status, and the first in over thirty years. Israel's seven research universities (excluding the Open University) are consistently ranked among top 500 in the world.[350] Politics Main articles: Politics of Israel and Israeli system of government See also: Criticism of the Israeli government The Knesset chamber, home to the Israeli parliament Israel operates under a parliamentary system as a democratic republic with universal suffrage.[9] A member of parliament supported by a parliamentary majority becomes the prime minister—usually this is the chair of the largest party. The prime minister is the head of government and head of the cabinet.[351][352] Israel is governed by a 120-member parliament, known as the Knesset. Membership of the Knesset is based on proportional representation of political parties,[353] with a 3.25% electoral threshold, which in practice has resulted in coalition governments. Parliamentary elections are scheduled every four years, but unstable coalitions or a no-confidence vote by the Knesset can dissolve a government earlier. The Basic Laws of Israel function as an uncodified constitution. In 2003, the Knesset began to draft an official constitution based on these laws.[9][354] The president of Israel is head of state, with limited and largely ceremonial duties.[351] Legal system Main articles: Judicial system of Israel and Israeli law Supreme Court of Israel, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 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 as both appellate courts and courts of first instance; they are situated in five of Israel's sixdistricts. The third and highest tier is the Supreme Court, located 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 the decisions of state authorities.[355][356] Although Israel supports the goals of the International Criminal Court, it has not ratified the Rome Statute, citing concerns about the ability of the court to remain free from political impartiality.[357] Israel's legal system combines three legal traditions: English common law, civil law, and Jewish law.[9] 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.[355] 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.[358] Administration of Israel's courts (both the "General" courts and the Labor Courts) is carried by the Administration of Courts, situated in Jerusalem. Both General and Labor courts are paperless courts: the storage of court files, as well as court decisions, are conducted electronically. Israel's Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty seeks to defend human rights and liberties in Israel. Religious status Main article: Status quo (Israel) Israel has no official religion,[359][360][361] but the definition of the state as "Jewish and democratic" creates a strong connection with Judaism, as well as a conflict between state law and religious law. Interaction between the political parties keeps the balance between state and religion largely as it existed during the British Mandate.[362] Administrative divisions Main article: Districts of Israel Districts of Israel Northern Haifa Central Tel Aviv Judea and Samaria Jerusalem Southern vte District Capital Largest city Population[363] Jews Arabs Total Jerusalem Jerusalem 67% 32% 1,034,200 a North Nazareth Illit Nazareth 43% 54% 1,358,600 Haifa Haifa 69% 25% 966,700 Center Ramla Rishon LeZion 88% 8% 2,024,500 Tel Aviv Tel Aviv 93% 1% 1,350,000 South Beersheba Ashdod 74% 20% 1,192,300 Judea and Samaria Ariel Modi'in Illit 98% 0% 370,700 b ^a Including approximately 200,000 Israeli settlers and 208,000 Palestinians.[364][365][366] ^b Israeli citizens only. 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, as well as the Judea and Samaria Area in the West Bank. All of the Judea and Samaria Area and parts of the Jerusalem and North districts are not recognized internationally as part of Israel. Districts are further divided into fifteen sub-districts known as nafot (נפות; singular: nafa), which are themselves partitioned into fifty natural regions.[367] 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).[368] Israel's largest municipality, in population and area,[369] is Jerusalem with 773,800 residents in an area of 126 square kilometres (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.[370] 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.[369] Israeli-occupied territories Main article: Israeli-occupied territories Map of Israel showing the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights In 1967, as a result of the Six-Day War, Israel captured and occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. Israel also captured the Sinai Peninsula, but returned it to Egypt as part of the 1979 Israel–Egypt Peace Treaty.[371] Between 1982 and 2000, Israel occupied part of southern Lebanon, in what was known as the Security Zone. Since Israel's capture of these territories, Israeli settlements and military installations have been built within each of them. Israel has applied civilian law to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem and granted their inhabitants permanent residency status and the ability to apply for citizenship. The West Bank, outside of the Israeli settlements within the territory, has remained under direct military rule, and Palestinians in this area cannot become Israeli citizens. Israel withdrew its military forces and dismantled the Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip as part of its disengagement from Gaza though it continues to maintain control of its airspace and waters. The UN Security Council has declared the annexation of the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem to be "null and void" and continues to view the territories as occupied.[372][373] The International Court of Justice, principal judicial organ of the United Nations, asserted, in its 2004 advisory opinion on the legality of the construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier, that the lands captured by Israel in the Six-Day War, including East Jerusalem, are occupied territory.[374] The status of East Jerusalem in any future peace settlement has at times been a difficult issue in negotiations between Israeli governments and representatives of the Palestinians, as Israel views it as its sovereign territory, as well as part of its capital. Most negotiations relating to the territories have been on the basis of United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, which emphasises "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war", and calls on Israel to withdraw from occupied territories in return for normalization of relations with Arab states, a principle known as "Land for peace".[375][376][377] Israeli West Bank barrier separating Israel and the West Bank The West Bank was annexed by Jordan in 1950, 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 during the Six-Day War. The population are mainly Palestinians, including refugees of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.[378] From their occupation in 1967 until 1993, the Palestinians living in these territories were underIsraeli 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.[379]When completed, approximately 13% of the Barrier will be constructed on the Green Line or in Israel with 87% inside the West Bank.[380][381] The Gaza Strip was occupied by Egypt from 1948 to 1967 and then by Israel after 1967. In 2005, as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan, Israel removed all of its settlers and forces from the territory. Israel does not consider the Gaza Strip to be occupied territory and declared it a "foreign territory". That view has been disputed by numerous international humanitarian organizations and various bodies of the United Nations.[382][383][384][385][386] Following June 2007, when Hamas assumed power in the Gaza Strip,[387] Israel tightened its control of the Gaza crossings along its border, as well as by sea and air, and prevented persons from entering and exiting the area except for isolated cases it deemed humanitarian.[387] Gaza has a border with Egypt and an agreement between Israel, the European Union and the PA governed how border crossing would take place (it was monitored by European observers).[388] Egypt adhered to this agreement under Mubarak and prevented access to Gaza until April 2011 when it announced it was opening its border with Gaza. Foreign relations Main articles: Foreign relations of Israel and International recognition of Israel   Diplomatic relations   Diplomatic relations suspended   Former diplomatic relations   No diplomatic relations, but former trade relations   No diplomatic relations Israel maintains diplomatic relations with 158 countries and has 107 diplomatic missions around the world;[389]countries with whom they have no diplomatic relations include most Muslim countries.[390] Only three members of the Arab League have normalized relations with Israel: Egypt and Jordan signed peace treaties in 1979 and1994, respectively, and Mauritania opted for full diplomatic relations with Israel in 1999. Despite the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, Israel is still widely considered an enemy country among Egyptians.[391] Under Israeli law, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, and Yemen are enemy countries,[392] and Israeli citizens may not visit them without permission from the Ministry of the Interior.[393] Iran had diplomatic relations with Israel under the Pahlavi dynasty[394] but withdrew its recognition of Israel during the Islamic Revolution.[395] As a result of the 2008–09 Gaza War, Mauritania, Qatar, Bolivia, and Venezuela suspended political and economic ties with Israel.[396][397] The United States and the Soviet Union were the first two countries to recognize the State of Israel, having declared recognition roughly simultaneously.[398] The United States regards Israel as its "most reliable partner in the Middle East,"[399] based on "common democratic values, religious affinities, and security interests".[400] Their bilateral relations are multidimensional and the United States is the principal proponent of the Arab-Israeli peace process. The United States and Israeli views differ on some issues, such as the Golan Heights, Jerusalem, and settlements.[401] The United States has provided $68 billion in military assistance and $32 billion in grants to Israel since 1967, under the Foreign Assistance Act (period beginning 1962),[402] more than any other country for that period until 2003.[402][403][404] Germany's strong ties with Israel include cooperation on scientific and educational endeavors and the two states remain strong economic and military partners.[405][406] Under the reparations agreement, by 2007 Germany had paid 25 billion euros in reparations to the Israeli state and individual Israeli Holocaust survivors.[407] The UK has kept full diplomatic relations with Israel since its formation having had two visits from heads of state in 2007. The UK is seen as having a "natural" relationship with Israel on account of the British Mandate for Palestine.[408] Relations between the two countries were also made stronger by former prime minister Tony Blair's efforts for a two state resolution. Israel is included in the European Union's European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), which aims at bringing the EU and its neighbours closer.[409] Although Turkey and Israel did not establish full diplomatic relations until 1991,[410] 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 and Muslim states to temper its relationship with Israel.[411] Relations between Turkey and Israel took a downturn after the 2008–09 Gaza War and Israel's raid of the Gaza flotilla.[412] IHH, which organized the flotilla, is a Turkish charity that has been challenged on ties to Hamas and Al-Qaeda.[396][413][414][415][416] Relations between Israel and Greece have improved since 1995 due to the decline of Israeli-Turkish relations.[417] The two countries have a defense cooperation agreement and in 2010, the Israeli Air Force hosted Greece’sHellenic Air Force in a joint exercise at the Uvda base. Israel is the second largest importer of Greek products in the Middle East.[418] The joint Cyprus-Israel oil and gas explorations centered on the Leviathan gas field are an important factor for Greece, given its strong links with Cyprus.[419] Cooperation in the world's longest sub-sea electric power cable, the EuroAsia Interconnector, has strengthened relations between Cyprus and Israel.[420][421][422] India established full diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992 and has fostered a strong military, technological and cultural partnership with the country since then.[423]According to an international opinion survey conducted in 2009 on behalf of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, India is the most pro-Israel country in the world.[424][425] India is the largest customer of Israeli military equipment and Israel is the second-largest military partner of India after the Russian Federation.[426] India is also the third-largest Asian economic partner of Israel[427] and the two countries have military as well as extensive space technology ties.[428][429] India became the top source market for Israel from Asia in 2010 with 41,000 tourist arrivals in that year.[430] Azerbaijan is one of the few majority Muslim countries to develop bilateral strategic and economic relations with Israel. Azerbaijan supplies Israel with a substantial amount of its oil needs, and Israel has helped modernize the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan. In Africa, Ethiopia is Israel's main and closest ally in the continent due to common political, religious and security interests.[431] Israel provides expertise to Ethiopia on irrigation projects and thousands of Ethiopian Jews (Beta Israel) live in Israel. International humanitarian efforts Israeli foreign aid ranks very low among OECD nations, spending less than 0.1% of its GNI on foreign aid, as opposed to the recommended 0.7%. Individual international charitable donations are also very low, with only 0.1% of charitable donations being sent to foreign causes.[432] However, Israel has a history of providing emergency aid and humanitarian response teams to disasters across the world.[433] Israel's humanitarian efforts officially began in 1958, with the establishment ofMASHAV, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Agency for International Development Cooperation.[434] Between 1985 and 2015, Israel sent 24 delegations of IDF search and rescue unit to 22 countries.[435] In Haiti, immediately following the 2010 earthquake, Israel was the first country to set up a field hospital capable of performing surgical operations.[436] Israel sent over 200 medical doctors and personnel to start treating injured Haitians at the scene.[437] At the conclusion of its humanitarian mission 11 days later,[438] the Israeli delegation had treated more than 1,110 patients, conducted 319 successful surgeries, delivered 16 births and rescued or assisted in the rescue of four individuals.[439][440] Despite radiation concerns, Israel was one of the first countries to send a medical delegation to Japan following the earthquake and tsunami disaster.[441] Israel dispatched a medical team to the tsunami-stricken city ofKurihara in 2011. A medical clinic run by an IDF team of some 50 members featured pediatric, surgical, maternity and gynecological, and otolaryngology wards, together with an optometry department, a laboratory, a pharmacy and an intensive care unit. After treating 200 patients in two weeks, the departing emergency team donated its equipment to the Japanese.[442] There are additional Israeli humanitarian and emergency response groups that work with the Israel government, including IsraAid, a joint programme run by 14 Israeli organizations and North American Jewish groups,[443] The Fast Israeli Rescue and Search Team (FIRST),[444] Israeli Flying Aid (IFA),[445] Save a Child's Heart (SACH)[446] and LATET.[447]   EBAY39 folder 183

  • Condition: Very good condition. Includes an electrical connection and an inner electric bulb ( Checked and perfectly works ). Plastic has retained it's perfect smoth face and vivid colors.( Pls look at scan for accurate AS IS images ) .
  • Original//Reproduction: Original
  • Diameter in Inches: 6 INCHES - 15 CM
  • Date Range: 1960 Pre 1967 June WAR
  • Continent: ISRAEL - MIDDLE EAST
  • Type: Political
  • Year: Ca 1960's
  • Color: COLORFUL - MULTY COLOR
  • Original/Reproduction: Original
  • Features: Foreign Language, Illuminated
  • Diameter (Inches): 6"

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