Israel is a country located in the Middle East that borders Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and others. It has a population of over 7.5 million people and a diverse economy focused on technology. Israel has a parliamentary democracy and was established in 1948. Some of its largest cities are Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Be'er Sheva. Israelis actively use social media like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others to communicate news and information.

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Israel: Country Analysis
#NewhouseIDSM
By Lisa Prywes

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Geography
 Middle east region
 262 miles long, 65 miles at the
widest point
 Bordering
Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt,
the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip
 North: Golan Heights
(mountain regions) Mount
Hermon (8900 ft)
 South: Negev (desert) and the
Dead Sea
 East: Jordan Rift Valley
 West: Mediterranean Sea

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Golan Heights: bordering
Lebanon, Syria and Jordan

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History
 Creation of the state on May 14th, 1948
 Thousands of years of history to create the ‘Jewish State’
 Zionist movement- headed by Theodore Herzl
 Balfour Declaration of 1917, which asserted the British
Government's support for the creation of a Jewish homeland in
Palestine.
 May 14th, 1948-Independence Day War
 Constant struggle to keep the country and keep peace with
other Arab nations

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Culture
 Work Days: Sunday-Thursday 8 AM-5PM
 Friendly atmosphere: Address people by
their first names
 Very laid back style
 Very casual dress code- Western
European dress
 Religious parts of Israel require more
conservative attire
 Most restaurants keep Kosher (even
McDonalds)
 At 18, men and women enter the armed
force

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Jerusalem: capital city

7. + Tel Aviv: named second best high-tech center--
the country's industrial, commercial, financial and
cultural life, founded (1909) as the first Jewish city
in modern times

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Haifa: a major Mediterranean port
and the industrial center of northern
Israel

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Be’erSheva: the largest population
center of the south

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Infrastructure
 Modern, well-developed
housing developments
 To cope with its growing
population and to improve
the functioning of the
economy
 making large investments to
upgrade its infrastructure
 Major project:
 the construction of a new
terminal at Ben Gurion
International Airport
 a tunnel through Mt. Carmel
to provide a bypass route
around Haifa
 the Cross-Israel Highway, a
major north-south artery
 mass transit systems planned
for Jerusalem, Beer
Sheva, and the Tel Aviv
region.

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Political System/Government
 parliamentary democracy
 governmental system is based on several basic laws enacted by its
unicameral parliament, the Knesset
 The president (head of state) is elected by the Knesset for a 5-year
term.
 Knesset-120 members voted by secret ballot for a 4-year term
(though Prime Minister has the ultimately authority)
 The prime minister (head of government) exercises executive
power and has in the past been selected by the president as
the party leader most able to form a government.

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Economy
 Advanced/diversified economy
 Strong high-tech sector
 high-technology electronic
 biomedical equipment
 metal products
 processed foods
 chemicals
 transport equipment
 Israel has 4,000 active tech start-ups. It has more of these firms than any
other country outside of the U.S.
 One of the world’s centers for diamond cutting and polishing
 World leader of software development
 Tourism (was higher pre-war in 2000)

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Economy
 Israel has approximately the same number of companies listed on
NASDAQ as Canada, Japan, and Ireland combined
 Almost 45% of Israel's exports are high tech. Most leading
players, include:
 Intel
 Motorola
 IBM
 Cisco
 In 2012, Israel's population was approximately 7,590,758 with a
count of approximately 9,200,000 cell phones!
 Israel entered the global economic crisis in good
shape, recovering by 2003

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Immigration
 1989- Wave of Jewish immigration from former U.S.S.R
countries
 Brought nearly one million new citizens
 Most were highly educated
 These Jewish immigrants account for 13% of Israel’s 7.5 million
person population
 Key factor is Israel’s high-tech development

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Social Media
 Israelis use many of the same SM platforms as the U.S (some
in English, some in Hebrew, and some in Arabic)
 The IDF used Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, blogs to
make the case for its campaign in Gaza, as well as, to issue a
warning to Hamas.
 Used social media aggressively- hostile voice
 The Power of Social Media:
 Ahmed Jabari’s death was announced first to the ‘twittersphere’
 Many Israeli claims are discussed on Hamas’ (the armed branch
of the Islamic Resistance Movement) social media
(@AlqassamBrigade)

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Social Media- Twitter

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Social Media-Twitter
 Twitter
 Keeps Israel and the
Diaspora involved with
Israeli
communication, updates
(bombings, war, economy),
breaking news, etc.
 Many Israeli news
platforms, including the IDF
and government
agencies, use Twitter
accounts

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Social Media- YouTube
 YouTube
 IDF uses YouTube to publicize military events
 Combined YouTube with Twitter to publicize killing of Hamas
military chief Ahmad Jabari
 Video was entitled: "IDF Pinpoint Strike on Ahmed Jabari, Head of
Hamas Military Wing”
 Description of video read: "On Nov. 14, 2012, the IDF targeted
Ahmed Jabari, the head of Hamas' military wing, in the Gaza
Strip. Jaabriwas a senior Hamas operative who served in the
upper echelon of the Hamas' command and was directly
responsible for executing terror attacks against Israel in the past.”

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Social Media- Facebook

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Other Social Media-Facebook
Brands

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Source List
 https://globaledge.msu.edu/
 http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkantrowitz/2012/11/18/israel-
and-hamas-social-media-battle-goes-from-groundbreaking-to-
bizarre/
 http://rt.com/news/israel-gaza-war-hamas-825/
 http://www.socialbakers.com/all-social-media-
stats/facebook/country/israel/