Israel was established in 1948 after the UN partitioned the British mandate of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. The Arabs rejected this plan and Israel fought wars with its Arab neighbors. Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan but remains in conflict with Palestinians and other Arab states over borders and Israeli settlements. Israel has a parliamentary democracy and recognizes Jerusalem as its capital, though this is not recognized internationally. The population is mostly Jewish with Arab and other minorities.

1. ISRAEL

2. ISRAEL: BACKGROUND
 After the end of World War II, Britain pulled out of its mandate of Palestine.
 The UN recommended dividing the territory into two states, one Arab and one Jewish.
 The Arabs were opposed to this agreement, but the State of Israel was declared in May 1948.
 Israel subsequently fought and defeated the armies of its Arab neighbors in numerous wars (the
territories currently under Israeli occupation since June 1967 are not included in the Israel country
profile, except if otherwise noted).
 On 25 April 1982, Israel extracted its troops from the Sinai Peninsula in accordance with its 1979
peace treaty with Egypt.

3. UN PALESTINE PARTITION PLAN, 29
NOVEMBER 1947

4. DAVID BE N -GURION DE CL ARING
INDE PE NDE NCE OF ISRAE L , 14 MAY 1948

5. CHANGES TO ISRAEL’S BORDERS
BETWEEN 1949 -1967

6. M E N A C H E M B E G I N A N D A N W A R S A D A T W I T H J I M M Y
C A R T E R A T T H E I S R A E L - E G Y P T P E A C E T R E A T Y S I G N I N G
C E R E M O N Y, 2 6 M A R C H 1 9 7 9

7. MAP OF ISRAE L AFTE R APRIL 1982
WITHDRAWAL FROM SINAI PE NINSUL A

8. ISRAEL: BACKGROUND – CONT.
 Consistent with the charter inaugurated at the Madrid Conference in October 1991, Israel oversaw
joint talks with Palestinian representatives and Syria to reach a permanent resolution with each.
 Israeli and Palestinian officials signed a Declaration of Principles (also known as the Oslo Accords)
on 13 September 1993, protecting the idea of a two-state solution to their conflict and guiding a
temporary period of Palestinian self-governance.
 The parties accomplished six other major provisional treaties between 1994 and 1999 intended to
fulfill the circumstances for a two-state solution, but most were never fully attained.
 Unresolved territorial and other disputes with Jordan were settled in the 26 October 1994 Israel-
Jordan Peace Treaty.

9. YA S S E R A R A F A T A N D Y I T Z H A K R A B I N W I T H B I L L
C L I N T O N A T T H E O S L O A C C O R D S S I G N I N G , 1 3
S E P T E M B E R 1 9 9 3

10. K I N G H U S S E I N A N D Y I T Z H A K R A B I N W I T H B I L L
C L I N T O N A T T H E I S R A E L - J O R D A N P E A C E T R E A T Y
S I G N I N G , 2 6 O C T O B E R 1 9 9 4

11. ISRAEL: BACKGROUND – CONT.
 Progress toward a final status settlement with the Palestinians was damaged by Israeli-
Palestinian fighting between 2001 and February 2005.
 In 2005, Israel separately removed its forces from the Gaza Strip, evacuating settlers and its
military while keeping control over most points of entrance into the Gaza Strip.
 The election of Hamas in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election briefly froze relations
between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).
 Israel was involved in a thirty-four-day war with Hizballah in Lebanon from July-August
2006 and a twenty-three-day war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip from December 2008-January
2009.

12. I S R A E L I S E T T L E R S A N D T O R A H S C R O L L S A R E
E VA C UA T E D F R O M T H E G A Z A S T R I P, 2 1 A U G U S T 2 0 0 5

13. S M O K E C L O U D S A F T E R A N I S R A E L I A I R A S S A U LT
O N T H E S U B U R B S O F B E I R U T, 7 A U G U S T 2 0 0 6

14. EXPLOSION IN GAZA, 12 JANUARY 2009

15. ISRAEL: BACKGROUND – CONT.
 In November 2012, Israel fought a seven-day conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
 Direct negotiations with the Palestinians most recently began in July 2013 but were halted in
April 2014.
 The meetings signified the fourth mutual attempt to settle final status concerns between the
sides since they were first addressed at Camp David in 2000.
 Three months later, Hamas and other belligerent groups launched rockets into Israel, which
led to a fifty-one-day conflict between Israel and belligerents in Gaza.

16. J O H N K E R R Y W I T H I S R A E L I J U S T I C E M I N I S T E R T Z I P I
L I V N I ( R I G H T , S E C O N D F R O M E N D ) A N D P A L E S T I N I A N
C H I E F N E G O T I A T O R S A E B E R A K A T ( T H I R D ) , J U L Y 2 0 1 3

17.  Location: Middle East, bordering the
Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Lebanon
 Geographic coordinates: 31 30 N, 34 45 E
 Map references: Middle East
 Area:
• Total: 20,770 sq km
• Land: 20,330 sq km
• Water: 440 sq km
• Country comparison to the world:
154
 Area – comparative: slightly bigger than
New Jersey
ISRAEL: GEOGRAPHY

18.  Land boundaries: 1,068 km
 Border countries (six): Egypt 208 km, Gaza Strip 59
km, Jordan 307 km, Lebanon 81 km, Syria 83 km, West
Bank 330 km
 Coastline: 273 km
 Maritime claims:
• Territorial sea: twelve nautical miles
• Continental shelf: to distance of utilization
 Climate: moderate hot and dry in southern and
eastern desert areas
 Terrain: Negev desert in the south; low coastal plain;
central mountains; Jordan Rift Valley
ISRAEL: GEOGRAPHY – CONT.

19. ISRAEL: GEOGRAPHY – CONT.
 Elevation:
• Mean elevation: 508 m
• Elevation extremes: lowest point is Dead Sea (-431 m); highest point is Har Meron (1,208
m)
 Natural resources: timber, potash, copper ore, natural gas, phosphate rock, magnesium
bromide, clays, sand
 Land use:
• Agricultural land: 23.8% (arable land 13.7%; permanent crops 3.8%; permeant pasture
6.3%)
• Forest: 7.1%
• Other: 69.1% (2011 est.)
 Irrigated land: 2,250 sq km (2012)

20. DEAD SEA

21. HAR MERON

22. ISRAEL: GEOGRAPHY – CONT.
 Population – distribution: population mainly in and around Tel-Aviv, as well as around the Sea of
Galilee; the south remains sparingly populated with the exclusion of the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba
 Natural hazards: sandstorms may happen during spring and summer; famines; intervallic
earthquakes
 Environment – current issues: inadequate arable land and limited natural freshwater resources;
desertification; air contamination from industrial and vehicle discharges; groundwater pollution from
industrial and domestic waste, chemical stimulants, and insecticides
 Environment – international agreements:
• Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
• Signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation

23. ISRAEL: GEOGRAPHY – CONT.
 Geography – note: Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee) is a vital freshwater source; the Dead Sea
is the second-saltiest body of water in the world (after Lake Assal in Djibouti); in 2017, there
were 422 settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories – forty-two settlements in the Golan
Heights, 380 sites in the occupied Palestinian territories to include 213 settlements and 132
outposts in the West Bank, and thirty-five settlements in East Jerusalem; there are no Israeli
settlements in the Gaza Strip, as all were evacuated in 2005 (2017)

24. M A P O F I S R A E L I S E T T L E M E N T S I N W E S T B A N K

25. N E W A P A R T M E N T S U N D E R C O N S T R U C T I O N I N I S R A E L I
S E T T L E M E N T O F H A R H O M A , 2 6 J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 7

26. ISRAEL: PEOPLE AND SOCIETY
 Population: 8,299,706 (comprises inhabitants of the Golan Heights of Golan Sub-District
and also East Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel after 1967) (July 2016 est.)
• Note: almost 22,000 Israeli settlers live in the Golan Heights (2016); nearly 201,000
Israeli settlers live in East Jerusalem (2014) (July 2017 est.)
 Country comparison to the world: 97
 Nationality:
• Noun: Israeli(s)
• Adjective: Israeli
 Ethnic groups: Jewish 74.8% (Israel-born 75.6%, Europe/America/Oceania-born 16.6%,
Africa-born 4.9%, Asia-born 2.9%), non-Jewish 25.2% (mostly Arab) (2015 est.)

27.  Languages: Hebrew (official), Arabic (used
formally for Arab minority), English (most
commonly used foreign language; spoken as a
second language by the majority of Israelis),
Russian (spoken by the substantial immigrant
population from the former Soviet Union)
 Religions: Jewish 74.8%, Muslim 17.6%,
Christian 2%, Druze 1.6%, other 4% (2015 est.)
ISRAE L : PE OPL E AND SOCIE TY – CON T.

28. ISRAE L : PE OPL E AND SOCIE TY – CON T.
 Age structure (2017 est.):
• 0-14 years: 27.51% (male 1,168,351/female 1,114,902)
• 15-24 years: 15.53% (male 658,572/female 630,675)
• 25-54 years: 37.17% (male 1,577,187/female 1,507,793)
• 55-64 years: 8.46% (male 344,922/female 357,301)
• 65 years and over: 11.33% (male 421,660/female 518,343)

29.  Official name: State of Israel ( ‫ַת‬‫נ‬‫י‬ ִ‫ד‬ ְ‫מ‬
‫ל‬ ֵ‫א‬ ָ‫ר‬ ְ‫ש‬ִ‫י‬ in Hebrew, ‫ة‬َ‫ل‬ ْ‫و‬َ‫د‬‫يل‬ِ‫ئ‬‫ا‬َ‫ْر‬‫س‬ِ‫إ‬ in Arabic)
 Etymology: named after the ancient
Kingdom of Israel; according to Biblical
tradition, the Jewish patriarch Jacob was
given the name Israel ("He who struggles with
God") after he wrestled an entire night with
an angel of the Lord; Jacob's twelve sons
became the forefathers of the Israelites, also
known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel, who
founded the Kingdom of Israel
ISRAEL: GOVERNMENT

30. KNESSET ASSEMBLY CHAMBER

31.  Government type: Parliamentary democracy
 Capital: Jerusalem (even though Israel declared
Jerusalem its capital in 1950, the international
community does not recognize it as such; all
embassies are in Tel Aviv)
• Geographic coordinates: 31 46 N, 35 14
E
• Time difference: UTC plus two (seven
hours ahead of Washington, D.C., during
Standard Time)
• Daylight savings time: plus one hour;
begins Friday before last Sunday in March
and ends last Sunday in October
 Administrative divisions: six districts (mehozot,
singular: mehoz): Central, Haifa, Jerusalem, Northern,
Southern, Tel Aviv
ISRAEL: GOVERNMENT – CONT.

32. ISRAEL: GOVERNMENT – CONT.
 Independence: 14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)
 Nation holiday: Independence Day, 14 May (note: while Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, the
Jewish calendar is lunar; the holiday can thus be celebrated in April as well)
 Constitution: no official constitution; some tasks of a constitution are carried out by the Declaration of
Independence (1948), the Basic Laws, and the Law of Return (as revised)
 Amendments: offered by Government of Israel ministers or by the Knesset; a majority vote of Knesset
members is required for passage and answerable to Supreme Court judicial review; eleven of the thirteen Basic
Laws have been modified at least once, most recently in 2014 (2016)
 Legal system: diverse legal system of English common law, British Mandate regulations, and Jewish,
Christian, and Muslim religious laws
 International law organization participation: no ICJ jurisdiction declaration; revoked recognition of
International Criminal Court jurisdiction in 2002

33. ISRAEL: GOVERNMENT – CONT.
 Citizenship:
• Citizenship by birth: no
• Citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Israel
• Dual citizenship recognized: yes (does not apply to naturalized citizens)
• Residency requirement for naturalization: three of the five years before the application
for naturalization
• Note: Israeli law (Law of Return, 5 July 1950) provides for permitting citizenship to any Jew
– characterized as a person being born to a Jewish mother or having converted to Judaism
while leaving any other religion – who migrates to and conveys an inclination to establish
residence in Israel based on the Right of Aliyah (“ascent”, i.e., Jewish immigration from the
diaspora to the Land of Israel); the 1970 amendment of this act expanded the right to
family members including the spouse of a Jew, any child or grandchild, and the spouses of
children and grandchildren
• Suffrage: eighteen years of age; seventeen years of age for municipal elections

34. ISRAEL: GOVERNMENT – CONT.
 Executive branch:
• Chief of state: President Reuven Rivlin (since 27 July 2014)
• Head of government: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (since 31
March 2009)
• Cabinet: chosen by PM and approved by Knesset
• Elections/appointments: president indirectly elected by the Knesset for
a seven-year term (limited to one term); most recent election held on 10
June 2014 (next election scheduled for 2021, but can happen earlier);
following legislative elections, the president, in discussion with party
leaders, assigns a Knesset member (generally the member of the
dominant party) the task of forming a government

35. ISRAEL: GOVERNMENT – CONT.
 International organization participation: BIS, BSEC (observer), CE (observer), CERN,
CICA, EBRD, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD,
IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs),
MIGA, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW (signatory), OSCE (partner), Pacific Alliance (observer),
Paris Club, PCA, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO,
UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
 Israeli ambassador to the U.S.: Ron Dermer (since 3 December 2013)
 U.S. ambassador to Israel: David Friedman (since 23 May 2017)

36. ISRAEL: GOVERNMENT – CONT.
 Flag description: white with a blue hexagram (six-pointed rectilinear star) known as the Magen David (Star of
David or Shield of David) placed between two equal horizontal blue bands near the top and bottom edges of the
flag; the simple design resembles a customary Jewish prayer scarf (tallit), which is white with blue stripes; the
hexagram as a Jewish symbol traces its origins as far back as medieval times (note: the Israeli flag decree states that
the flag colors are sky blue and white, but the precise tone of blue has never been specified and can therefore differ
from a light to a dark blue)
 National symbols(s): Star of David (Magen David, Māḡēn Dāwīḏ), menorah (seven-branched lampstand);
national colors: blue, white
 National anthem: "Hatikvah" (The Hope)
 Lyrics/music: Naftali Herz Imber/traditional, orchestrated by Samuel Cohen
 Note: adopted 2004, unofficial since 1948; used as the anthem of the Zionist movement since 1897; the 1888
arrangement by Samuel Cohen is believed to have its origins in the Romanian folk song "Carul cu boi" (The Ox
Driven Cart)

37. REFERENCES
 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/is.html
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Israel
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliyah

38. THE END