Israel

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Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל, Yisra'el), officially the State of Israel (Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל (help·info), Medinat Yisra'el; Arabic: دَوْلَةْ إِسْرَائِيل, Dawlat Isrā'īl), is a country in Asia located on the southeastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. It has borders with Lebanon in the north, Syria and Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area.^[4] Also adjacent are the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which are partially administrated by the Palestinian National Authority.

The modern state of Israel has its roots in the land of Israel, which has been central to Judaism for over three thousand years and, more recently, significant to other Abrahamic religions. In 1948, after the United Nations approved the partition of the British Mandate of Palestine into two states, Jewish and Arab, Israel declared its independence. The new country's victory in the subsequent Arab-Israeli War expanded the borders of the Jewish state beyond those conceived by the UN Partition Plan. Since then, Israel has been in conflict with many of the neighboring Arab countries, with confrontations including the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War.
In recent year Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, and there have been efforts to resolve the conflict with the Palestinian-Arab population.

The population of Israel today is about 7.1 million, with a large Jewish majority. While Israel is home to both Jews and Arabs, as well as a large number of Christian and other minority groups, it is the world's only Jewish state.^[5][6] Jerusalem is the capital, seat of government, and largest city.^[7] Due to its broad array of political rights and civil liberties, Israel is considered the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.^[8] Despite Israel's political problems and the vast sums it spends on military defense, Israel is an active competitor in the global market and is considered the most progressive in the region in terms of freedom of the press,^[9] business regulations,^[10] economic competition,^[11] and overall human development.^{[12] [13][14]}

Etymology

Over the past three thousand years, the name "Israel" has meant in common and religious usage both the Land of Israel and the entire Jewish nation, both in Israel and the diaspora. The name originated from a verse in the Bible (Genesis, 32:28) where Jacob is renamed Israel (possibly śara + el or struggle with God) after successfully wrestling with an angel of God.^[15] Commentators differ on the meaning of the name. Some say the name comes from the verb śarar ("to rule, be strong, have authority over"), thereby making the name mean "God rules" or "God judges".^[16] Other possible meanings include "the prince of God" (from the King James Version of the Bible) or "El fights/struggles".^[17] Regardless of the precise meaning of the name, the biblical nation fathered by Jacob thus became the "Children of Israel" or the "Israelites".

The first historical mention of the word "Israel" comes from the Merneptah Stele of Ancient Egypt (dated the late 13th century BCE), although experts have not been able to agree on whether the term was being used to refer to a people or a homeland.^[18] The modern country was named Medinat Yisrael, or the State of Israel, after other proposed names, including Eretz Israel, Zion, and Judea, were rejected.^[19] In the early weeks of independence, the government chose the term "Israeli" to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made by the minister of foreign affairs Moshe Sharett.^[20]

History

Main article: History of the State of Israel

Further information: History of the Jews in the Land of Israel

Ancient history

Further information: History of ancient Israel and Judah

The Land of Israel, known in Hebrew as Eretz Yisrael, has been sacred to the Jewish people for four thousand years, ever since the time of the biblical patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. According to the Torah, it was promised to the Jews as their homeland,^[21][22] and the sites holiest to Judaism (particularly the site of the First and Second Temples of Jerusalem) are located there. Around the 11th century BCE, the first of a series of Jewish kingdoms and states established rule over the region; these Jewish kingdoms and states ruled intermittently for the following one thousand years.^[23][24]

Between the time of the Jewish kingdoms and the seventh-century Muslim conquests, the land of Israel would fall under Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Sassanian, and Byzantine rule. Jewish presence in the region dwindled after the failure of Bar Kokhba's revolt against the Roman Empire in 132 CE and the resultant large-scale expulsion of Jews. Nevertheless, the Jewish presence in Palestine remained constant, although the main Jewish population shifted from the Judea region to the Galilee;^[25] the Talmud, one of Judaism's most important religious texts, was composed in the region during this period.^[26] The land of Israel was captured from the Byzantine Empire around 636 CE during the initial Muslim conquests. Control of the region transferred between the Umayyads, Abbasids, Crusaders, Khwarezmians, and Mongols over the next six centuries, before falling in the hands of the Mamluk Sultanate, in 1260. In 1517, the land of Israel became a part of the Ottoman Empire, which would rule the region until the 20th century.^[27]

Zionism and the British Mandate

Main articles: Zionism, Aliyah, and British Mandate of Palestine

See also: 1922 Text: League of Nations Palestine Mandate, Jewish refugees, and Timeline of Zionism

Jews living in the Diaspora have aspired over the ages to return to the Land of Israel and Zion. That aspiration was articulated in the Hebrew Bible in, among other places, the Book of Isaiah^[28] and the Book of Ezekiel. The longing for Zion is a major theme in the poetry of Yehuda Halevi, a 12th-century philosopher and poet who urged Jews to "go up" to the Land of Israel.^[29] In the centuries that followed, a small but steady stream of Jews left Europe to settle in the Land of Israel. In the 16th century, the pace stepped up, and large communities were established in Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias. In the second half of the 18th century, Hasidic communities from Poland, Galicia and Ukraine settled in the Land of Israel with their rabbis.^[30]

The first large wave of modern immigration, known in Hebrew as the First Aliyah (Hebrew: עלייה), began in 1881, as Jews fled growing persecution in Eastern Europe.^[31] However, it is Theodor Herzl who is usually credited with founding the Zionist movement.^[32] In 1896, he published Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State), in which he called for the establishment of a national home for the Jews. The following year he helped convene the first World Zionist Congress.^[33] During the period later known as the Second Aliyah (1904–1914) some forty thousand Jews settled in Palestine.^[31] The first wave of immigration consisted mainly of Orthodox Jews, but the members of the second wave were secular pioneers who established the kibbutz movement.
In 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour issued the Balfour Declaration that "view[ed] with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people."^[34] Arab opposition instigated riots and pogroms against Jews in 1920, leading to the formation of the defense organization Hashomer, from which the Irgun and Lehi later split off.^[35] In 1922, the League of Nations granted Great Britain the mandate over Palestine the terms of which stipulated "secur[ing] the establishment of the Jewish national home". The Arab riots caused the British Colonial Secretary (Winston Churchill) to restrict Jewish migration according to an annual quota dependent on the economic stability of the country. Jews possessing 500 pounds in cash could immigrate freely.

After World War I, until 1929, waves of Jewish immigration resumed with the Third and Fourth Aliyahs; together they brought over 100,000 Jews to the region.^[31] The rise of Nazism throughout the 1930s led to the Fifth Aliyah, in which a quarter million Jews immigrated to the Mandatory Palestine. The 1936-1939 Arab campaign against the Jews and British led the Yishuv to develop independent infrastructure.
In 1939, the British introduced severe restrictions on Jewish immigration and land purchases shortly after the Nazis assumed control of what remained of Czechoslovakia making 100,000 Jews stateless.
During World War II, as Jews fled the Holocaust in Europe and countries around the world refused to take them in or allow ships of refugees to enter their ports, a clandestine immigration movement known as Aliyah Bet was organized to bring Jews to Palestine.^[31] By the end of World War II, Jews accounted for 33% of the population of Palestine, up from 11% in 1922.^[36][37]

Independence

Main articles: 1948 Arab-Israeli War and Declaration of Independence (Israel)

See also: Israel and the United Nations, Jewish exodus from Arab lands, and Palestinian exodus

In 1947, the British government decided to withdraw from the Mandate of Palestine, stating it was unable to arrive at a solution acceptable to both parties.^[38] The newly-created United Nations approved Resolution 181 (the Partition Plan) on November 29, 1947, allocating just over half the land, for a Jewish state and most of the rest for an Arab country. Jerusalem was to be designated as an international city administered by the UN to avoid conflict over its status.^[39] The Jewish community accepted the UN Partition Plan,^[27] but the Arab League and Arab Higher Committee rejected it.^[40]

Regardless, the State of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948, one day before the expiry of the British Mandate of Palestine.^[41] Not long after, five Arab countries – Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq – attacked Israel, launching the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.^[41] After almost a year of fighting, a ceasefire was declared in 1949 and temporary borders, known as the Green Line, were instituted. Jordan annexed what became known as the West Bank and Egypt took control of the Gaza Strip. Israel was admitted as a member of the United Nations on May 11, 1949.^[42] In the course of the hostilities, 711,000 Arabs fled from the newly-created Jewish state, according to the UN estimates.^[43] Arab persecution of Jewish communities precipitated a similar Jewish exodus from Arab lands.^[44]

The first fifty years, 1950s-1990s

In the early years of the state, the Labor Zionist movement led by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion dominated Israeli politics.^[45][46] These years were marked by mass immigration of Holocaust survivors, mostly from Europe, and Jews fleeing persecution in Arab lands^[44]. The population rose from eight hundred thousand to two million between 1948 and 1958.^[47] Most arrived as refugees with no possessions and were housed in temporary camps known as ma'abarot. By 1952, over two hundred thousand immigrants were living in these tent cities. The need to solve the crisis led Ben-Gurion to sign a reparations agreement with West Germany that triggered mass protests by Jews angered at the idea of Israel "doing business" with Germany.^[48]

During the 1950s, Israel was frequently attacked by Arab fedayeen, mainly from the (Egyptian-occupied) Gaza Strip.^[49] In 1956, Israel joined a secret alliance with the Great Britain and France aimed at recapturing the Suez Canal, which the Egyptians had nationalized (see the Suez Crisis). Despite capturing the Sinai Peninsula, Israel was forced to retreat due to pressure from the United States and the Soviet Union in return for guarantees of Israeli shipping rights in the Red Sea and the Canal.^[50] On May 23, 1960, Israel captured Adolf Eichmann, chief of the Jewish Office of the Gestapo and implementer of the Final Solution, who was hiding in Argentina, and brought him to trial. ^[51]The trial had a major impact on public awareness of the Holocaust^[52] and to date Eichmann remains the only person sentenced to death by Israeli courts.^[53] In 1967, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria amassed troops close to Israeli borders, expelled UN peacekeepers and blocked the Straits of Tiran, leading to the Six-Day War. In the course of the war, the eastern part of Jerusalem, West Bank, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights were captured by Israel.^[54] The 1949 Green Line became the administrative boundary between Israel and the occupied territories. East Jerusalem was later annexed as Israel's capital in the 1980 Jerusalem Law, although the validity of the law has been contested.

Between 1969 and 1970, numerous clashes erupted along Israel's border with Egypt in what became known as the War of Attrition.^[55] In the early 1970s, Palestinian groups launched a wave of attacks against Israeli targets around the world, including a massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Israel responded with Operation Wrath of God, in which those responsible for the Munich massacre were hunted down and assassinated.^[56] On October 6, 1973, Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calender, the Egyptian and Syrian armies launched a surprise attack against Israel. The war ended on October 26, 1973, with Israel successfully repelling Egyptian and Syrian forces but suffering great losses.^[57] The 1977 Knesset elections marked a major turning point in Israeli political history as Menachem Begin's Likud party took control from the Labor Party.^[58] Later that year, Egyptian President Anwar Al 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.^[59] In the two years that followed, Sadat and Menachem Begin signed the Camp David Accords and the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty.^[60] Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula and gave autonomy to Palestinians across the Green Line.

In 1982, Israel intervened in the Lebanese Civil War to destroy the bases from which the Palestine Liberation Organization launched terror attacks against the northern part of Israel.^[61] Though Israel withdrew from most of Lebanon in 1986, it maintained a borderland buffer zone until 2000. The First Intifada broke out in 1987 with waves of violence occurring in the occupied territories. Over the following six years, more than a thousand people, mostly Palestinians, were killed in the ensuing violence, much of it internal Palestinian violence. During the 1991 Gulf War, the PLO and many Palestinians supported Saddam Hussein and Iraqi missile attacks against Israel.^[62][63]

In 1992, Yitzhak Rabin became Prime Minister following an election in which his party promoted compromise with Israel's neighbors.^[64][65] The following year, Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas, on behalf of Israel and the PLO, respectively, signed the Oslo Accords, which gave the Palestinian National Authority the right to self-govern parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.^[66] In 1994, the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace was signed, making Jordan the second Arab country to normalize relations with Israel.^[67] Public support for the Accords waned as Israel was struck by a wave of attacks from Palestinians. The November 1995 assassination of Yitzhak Rabin by a right-wing Jew, while Rabin was leaving a peace rally, came as a great shock to the country. At the end of the 1990s, Israel, under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu, withdrew from Hebron^[68] and signed the Wye River Memorandum, giving greater control to the Palestinian National Authority.^[69]

The 21st century

Ehud Barak, elected Prime Minister in 1999, began the new millennium by withdrawing forces from Southern Lebanon and conducting negotiations with U.S. President Bill Clinton at the July 2000 Camp David Summit. During the summit, Barak offered a plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state, but Yasser Arafat rejected it.^[70] After the collapse of the talks, Palestinians began the al-Aqsa Intifada. Amid dismay over the failure of the Summit and the start of the Intifada, Ariel Sharon became the new prime minister in a 2001 special election. During his tenure, Sharon carried out his plan to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip and also spearheaded the construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier.^[71] In January 2006, after Ariel Sharon suffered a severe hemorrhagic stroke which left him in a coma, the powers of office were transferred to Ehud Olmert. That summer, the kidnappings of Israeli soldiers by Hamas and Hezbollah, and the shelling of settlements on Israel's northern border led to a five-week war, known in Israel as the Second Lebanon War. The conflict was brought to an end by a ceasefire brokered by the United Nations. After the war, the Israeli chief of staff, Dan Halutz resigned. ^[72].

Geography and climate

Main article: Geography of Israel

Israel is located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, bounded by Lebanon to the north, Syria and Jordan to the east, and Egypt to the southwest. The sovereign territory of Israel, excluding all territories captured by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War, is approximately 20,770 km² (8,019 mi²) in area, of which two percent is water.^[2] The total area under Israeli law, including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, is 22,072 km² (8,522 mi²).^[73] The total area under Israeli control, including the military-controlled and Palestinian-governed territory of the West Bank, is 27,799 km² (10,733 mi²).^[74]

Despite its small size, Israel is home to a variety of geographic features, with the Negev desert in the south and the mountain ranges of the Carmel, Golan in the north. The Israeli Coastal Plain on the shores of the Mediterranean, is home to seventy percent of the nation's population. East of the central highlands lies the Jordan Rift Valley, which forms a small part of the 6,500-kilometer (4,040-mi.) Great Rift Valley, through which the Jordan River runs from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea, the lowest dry point on Earth.^[75]

Temperatures in Israel vary widely, especially during the winter, when mountainous areas can be windy and cold. Jerusalem has at least one snowfall a year,^[76] and snow on Mount Hermon is sufficient for skiing. Coastal regions like Tel Aviv and Haifa have a typical Mediterranean climate with cool, rainy winters and long, hot summers. From May to September, rain in Israel is rare.^[77][78]

Government and politics

Main article: Politics of Israel

See also: Human rights in Israel, List of political parties in Israel, and Israeli judicial system

Israel operates under a parliamentary system as a democratic republic with universal suffrage.^[2] The President of Israel is the country's head of state, but serves as a largely ceremonial figurehead.^[79] The President selects the leader of the majority party or ruling coalition in the Knesset as the Prime Minister, who serves as head of government and leads the Cabinet.^[79][80]

Israel's unicameral legislative branch is a 120-member parliament known as the Knesset. Membership in the Knesset is allocated to parties through proportional representation (i.e. based on their proportion of the vote).^[81] Elections to the Knesset are normally held every four years, but the Knesset can decide to dissolve itself ahead of time by a simple majority, known as a vote of no confidence. Israel has no written constitution, although the Basic Laws of Israel, passed by the Knesset, function as an unwritten constitution. In 2003, the Knesset began to draft an official constitution based on the Basic Laws.^[2][82] Israel's judicial system is comprised of a three-tier system of courts. At the lowest level are magistrate courts, situated in most cities across the country. Above them are district courts, serving both as appellate courts and as courts of first instance; they are situated in five of Israel's six districts. The third and highest court in Israel is the Supreme Court, seated in Jerusalem. It serves a dual role as both the highest court of appeals and as the High Court of Justice. In its role as the High Court of Justice, the Supreme Court rules as a court of first instance, primarily in matters regarding the legality of decisions of State authorities.^[83] Israel is not a member of the International Criminal Court as it fears the court would be biased due to political pressure.^[84]

Israel's legal system mixes influences from English common law, civil law, and Jewish law,^[2] as well as the declaration of the State of Israel. As in English law, the Israeli legal system is based on the principle of stare decisis (precedent). It is an adversarial system (as opposed to an inquisitorial system) whereby parties are responsible for bringing evidence before a court. Court cases are decided by professional judges instead of juries^[83] in accordance with the practices of civil law. Meanwhile, religious tribunals (Jewish, Muslim, Druze, and Christian) have exclusive jurisdiction on annulment of marriages. A committee composed of Knesset members, Supreme Court Justices, and Israeli Bar members carries out the election of judges.^[85]

The Israeli Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty seeks to defend human rights and liberties. Israel is the only country in the region to be ranked "Free" by Freedom House based on the nation's level of civil and political rights, although what Freedom House terms "Israeli Occupied Territories/Palestinian Authority" were ranked "Not Free."^[86] Similarly, Reporters Without Borders rated Israel 50th out of 168 countries in terms of freedom of the press, highest among Middle Eastern countries and just ahead of Japan.^[87] Nevertheless, groups such as Amnesty International^[88] and Human Rights Watch^[89] have often disapproved of Israel's human rights record in regards to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Within Israel, its civil liberties allow for self-criticism of government policies from groups such as B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization highly critical of Israeli practices in the occupied territories.^[90]

Administrative districts

Main article: Districts of Israel

See also: List of cities in Israel

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

For statistical purposes, the country is divided into three metropolitan areas: Tel Aviv and Gush Dan (population 3,040,400), Haifa (population 996,000), and Beersheba (population 531,600).^[91] However, Israel's largest city, both in population and area,^[92] is Jerusalem with 732,100 residents in an area of 126 square kilometers (49 sq mi). Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Rishon LeZion rank as Israel's next most populous cities, with populations of 384,600, 267,000, and 222,300 respectively.^[93]

Foreign relations and military

Main articles: Foreign relations of Israel and Israel Defense Forces

See also: Israel and weapons of mass destruction and Israeli Security Forces

The United States, Germany, Turkey and Iran have been at various times among Israel's closest allies. The first two countries provided arms and financial support while the latter two cooperated on regional defence concerns, though relations with both have changed significantly. Relations with India have also gained importance. Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Yemen are termed enemy countries^[94] according to Israeli law, and Israeli citizens may not visit them without permission from the Ministry of the Interior.^[95] Israel maintains diplomatic relations with 161 countries (not including, among others, the five enemy countries and most Arab countries) and has ninety-four diplomatic missions around the world.^[96] Egypt, Jordan, and Mauritania are currently the only members of the Arab League to have normalized relations with Israel, having signed peace treaties in 1979, 1994, and 1999, respectively.^[97] Since 1995, Israel has been a member of the Mediterranean Dialogue, which fosters cooperation between seven countries in the Mediterranean Basin and the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.^[98]

The Israel Defense Forces forms Israel's military and consists of the Israeli Army, Israeli Air Force and Israeli Navy. It was founded during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and derived from paramilitary organizations (chiefly the Haganah) that preceded Israel's founding.^[99] Today, the Israel Defense Forces is among the most battle-trained armed forces in the world, having been involved in several major wars and numerous border conflicts.^[100] The IDF's main resource is the training quality of its soldiers and expert institutions, rather than sheer numbers of soldiers. It also relies heavily on high-tech weapons systems, some of which are developed and manufactured in Israel for its specific needs and others which are imported (especially from Turkey and the United States).

Most Israelis, male and female, are drafted into the military at age eighteen; men are required to serve for three years, while women are required to serve for two years.^[101] Following compulsory service, Israeli men become part of the reserve forces and are usually required to serve several weeks each year as reservists until their forties; women are exempt from doing reserve duty, although some volunteer. Meanwhile, Israeli Arabs and those participating in religious studies full-time remain exempt from conscription, despite surrounding controversy.^[102][103] 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.^[104]

Israel has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and maintains a policy of deliberate ambiguity toward its nuclear capabilities, though it is widely regarded as possessing nuclear weapons.^[105]

Economy

Main article: Economy of Israel

See also: Tourism in Israel, Science and technology in Israel, and Silicon Wadi

Israel is considered one of the most — if not the most — industrially- and economically-developed country in the Middle East.^[11] The World Bank ranks Israel as having the best regulations for businesses and strongest protections of property rights in the region.^[10] The country has the second-largest number of startup companies in the world (after the United States) and the largest number of NASDAQ-listed companies outside North America.^[106] Israel has the 53rd-highest gross domestic product and 37th-highest gross domestic product per capita (at purchasing power parity) at US$170.3 billion^[107] and US$26,800,^[108] respectively. Although Israel's gross domestic product is lower than that of most Western European countries, it is still higher than that of Eastern European countries and close to the gross domestic product of the European Union as a whole. In 2007, Israel was invited to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,^[109] which strives to unite countries that adhere to the ideals of a democracy and free-market economy.^[110]

Despite limited natural resources, Israel has intensively developed its agricultural and industrial sectors over the past twenty years. As a result, the country is largely self-sufficient in food production, except for grains and beef. Other major imports to Israel, which totaled US$47.8 billion in 2006, include fossil fuels, raw materials, and military equipment.^[2] The United States is the source of half of the government's external debt as it provides the nation with US$5.5 billion annually. Israel's leading exports include fruits, vegetables, pharmaceuticals, software, chemicals, military equipment, and diamonds; in 2006, Israel exported an estimated US$42.86 billion.^[2]

As a result of the country's success in developing cutting-edge technologies in software, communications and the life sciences, Israel is often compared to Silicon Valley.^[111][112] Intel^[113] and Microsoft^[114] built their first research and development centers outside the United States in Israel and other high-tech multi-national corporations, including IBM, Cisco Systems, and Motorola, have opened facilities in the country.

Another leading industry in Israel is tourism. Apart from important sites related to Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Bahá'í Faith, which constitute the country's main attractions, Israel's temperate climate, beaches, archaeological and historical sites, and unique geography also draw tourists.

Science and education

Main article: Education in Israel

See also: List of universities and colleges in Israel

Israel has the highest school life expectancy in the Greater Middle East and Southwest Asia, and is tied with Japan for second-highest school life expectancy on the entire Asian continent (after South Korea).^[115] Israel similarly has the highest literacy rate in the Middle East, according to the United Nations.^[116]

Education is compulsory in Israel for children between the ages of three and eighteen.^[117][118] Schooling is divided into three tiers – primary school (grades 1-6), middle school (grades 7-9), and high school (grades 10-12) – culminating with Bagrut matriculation exams. Proficiency in core subjects such as mathematics, Bible, Hebrew language and literature, English, history, and civics is necessary to receive a Bagrut certificate.^[119] In Arab, Christian and Druze schools, the exam on Biblical studies is replaced by an exam in Islam, Christianity or Druze heritage.^[120] In 2003, over half of all Israeli twelfth graders earned a matriculation certificate.^[121]

Any Israeli with a full matriculation certificate can proceed to higher education, with admission to universities and colleges based on Bagrut scores and a psychometric exam. As all eight^[119] universities (and some colleges) are subsidized by the state, students pay only a small part of the actual cost as tuition. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel's top university, is home to the country's national library and the world's largest repository of books on Jewish subjects.^[122] In 2006, the Hebrew University was ranked 60th^[123] and 119th^[124] in two global surveys. Other major universities in the country include the Technion, the Weizmann Institute of Science, Tel Aviv University, Bar-Ilan University, the University of Haifa, and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Twenty percent of Israelis hold university degrees, putting Israel among the top three countries in the world by this measure.^[125][126] During the 1990s, an influx of a million immigrants from the former Soviet Union (forty percent of whom were university graduates)^[125]boosted this figure.

Since the establishment of the state, Israeli scientists have made important contributions to the sciences; Israel has produced four Nobel Prize-winning scientists^[127] and publishes more scientific papers per capita than any other nation.^[128] In 2003, Ilan Ramon became Israel's first astronaut, serving as payload specialist of STS-107, the fatal mission of the Space Shuttle Columbia.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Israel

Further information: Languages of Israel

According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, Israel's population in 2007 was 7.1 million.^[129] Of those, over 267,000 Israeli citizens lived in the West Bank^[130] in Israeli cities such as Ma'ale Adumim and Ariel, and communities that predated the establishment of the State but were re-established after the Six-Day War, such as Hebron and Gush Etzion. Between 1990-1994, the immigration of Jews from the former Soviet Union increased Israel's population by 12 percent. ^[131] In 2002, there were 180,000 Jews living in East Jerusalem^[132]. Approximately 8,500 Israelis lived in settlements in the Gaza Strip until they were evacuated by the government as part of its 2005 disengagement plan.

Israel's two official languages are Hebrew and Arabic. Hebrew is the primary language of the state and spoken by the majority of the population. Arabic is spoken by the Arab minority and Jews who immigrated to Israel from Arab lands. Most Israelis can communicate reasonably well in English, as many television programs are in English and many schools begin to teach English in the early grades. As a country of immigrants, dozens of languages can be heard on the streets of Israel. Since the large influx of immigration from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union, Russian and Amharic are widely spoken.

Religion

Main article: Religion in Israel

Israel was established as a homeland for the Jewish people and is often referred to as the Jewish state. The country's Law of Return grants all Jews and those of Jewish lineage the right to Israeli citizenship.^[133] Just over three quarters (76.1%) of the population is Jewish, of which approximately sixty-eight percent are Israeli-born, twenty-two percent are immigrants from Europe and the Americas, and ten percent are immigrants from Asia and Africa (including the Arab world).^[134] The religious affiliation of Israeli Jews varies widely: eight percent define themselves as Haredi Jews (ultra-Orthodox), and twenty percent as "secular Jews." The majority of Israeli Jews, fifty-five percent, say they are "mesorati," i.e., observers of tradition. The remaining seventeen percent define themselves as Orthodox Jews.^[135]

Making up 16.2% of the population, Muslims constitute Israel's largest religious minority. Israeli Arabs contribute significantly to that figure: Over four fifths (82.6%) of the Israeli Arab population is Muslim. The remainder is mostly Christian (8.8%) or Druze (8.4%).^[136]

The city of Jerusalem enjoys a special place in the hearts of Jews, Muslims, and Christians as the home of sites that are pivotal to their religious beliefs, such as the Western Wall, the Temple Mount, the Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Other landmarks of great religious importance are located in the West Bank and include the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and the birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem.

The Bahá'í temple, archive and administrative center are located on Mt. Carmel in Haifa, and the leader of the faith is buried in Acre. Apart from maintenance staff, there is no Bahá'í community in Israel, although it is a destination for pilgrimages.^[137][138] Members of many other religious groups, including Buddhists and Hindus, maintain a presence in Israel, albeit in small numbers.^[139]

Culture

Main article: Culture of Israel

Further information: Israeli literature, Music of Israel, and Sports in Israel

See also: Archaeology of Israel and Jewish cuisine

Israel's diverse culture stems from the diversity of the population: Jews from around the world have brought their cultural and religious traditions with them, creating a melting pot of Jewish customs and beliefs. Israel's large Arab minority has also left its imprint in many spheres of life, from architecture to local cuisine.

Israeli literature is a body of poetry and prose written in Hebrew as part of its renaissance as a spoken language in the mid-nineteenth century. By law, the Jewish National and University Library on the Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem receives two copies of all printed matter published in Israel. In 2006, 85 percent of the eight thousand books transferred to the library were in Hebrew.^[140] Hebrew Book Week is an annual event in June, featuring book fairs, public readings, and appearances by Israeli authors around the country. The Sapir Prize, Israel's top literary award, is presented during Hebrew Book Week. Shmuel Yosef Agnon won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1966.^[141]

Israeli music contains musical influences from all over the world; Yemenite music, Hasidic melodies, Arabic music, Greek music, jazz, and pop rock are all part of the music scene.^[142][143] 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.^[144] Among Israel's world-renowned^[145] 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.^[146] Israel has also produced many musicians of note, some achieving international stardom. Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman 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.^[147] Eilat has hosted its own international music festival, the Red Sea Jazz Festival, each summer since 1987.^[148] Founded in 1918, Habima Theatre in Tel Aviv is Israel's oldest repertory theater company and national theater.^[149]

Apart from major museums in large cities such as Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa, there are small but high-quality artspaces in many towns and kibbutzim. The Israel Museum in Jerusalem is one of Israel's most important cultural institutions^[150] and houses the Dead Sea Scrolls,^[151] along with an extensive collection of Jewish and European art.^[150] Israel's national Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, houses the world's largest library of Holocaust-related information.^[152] On the campus of Tel Aviv University is Beth Hatefutsoth (the Diaspora Museum), an interactive museum devoted to the history of Jewish communities around the world.^[153]

Sports and physical fitness have not always been paramount in Jewish culture. Athletic prowess, which was prized by the Ancient Greeks, was looked down upon as an unwelcome intrusion of Hellenistic values. Maimonides, however, who was both a rabbi and a physician, emphasized the importance of physical activity and keeping the body in shape. This approach received a boost 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".^[154] The most popular spectator sports in Israel today are football (soccer) and basketball.^[155] Ligat ha'Al is the country's premier soccer league, and Ligat Winner is the premier basketball league.^[156]. Israel has won the European championship in basketball five times.^[157] Beersheba has become a national chess center and home to many chess champions from the former Soviet Union. The city hosted the World Team Chess Championship in 2005 and chess is even taught in kindergartens.^[158] To date, Israel has won six Olympic medals, including a gold medal in windsurfing at the 2004 Summer Olympics.^[159]