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Jews living in the Diaspora have long aspired to return to Zion and the Land of Israel.[32] That hope and yearning was articulated in the Bible[33] and is a central theme in the Jewish prayer book. Beginning in the twelfth century, a small but steady stream of Jews began to leave Europe to settle in the Holy Land. After Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, some made their way to the Land of Israel.[34] During the 16th century, the pace stepped up, and large communities struck roots in Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias. In the second half of the 18th century, entire Hasidic communities from Poland, Galicia and Ukraine settled in the Holy Land with their rabbis.[35] The first large wave of modern immigration, known as the First Aliyah (Hebrew: עלייה), began in 1881, as Jews fled pogroms in Eastern Europe.[36] While the Zionist movement already existed in theory, Theodor Herzl is credited with founding political Zionism,[37] a movement which sought to establish a Jewish state in the Land of Israel, by elevating the Jewish question to the international plane.[38] In 1896, Herzl published Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State), offering his vision of a future state; the following year he presided over the first World Zionist Congress.[39] During the Second Aliyah (1904–1914), some 40,000 Jews settled in Palestine.<ref name="aliyot" /> Both the first and second waves of migrants were mainly Orthodox Jews,[40] but those in the Second Aliyah included socialist pioneers who established the kibbutz movement.[41] During World War I, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour issued what became known as the Balfour Declaration, which "view[ed] with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people."[42] The Jewish Legion, a group of battalions composed primarily of Zionist volunteers, assisted in the British conquest of Israel. Arab opposition to the plan led to the 1920 Palestine riots and the formation of the Jewish defense organization known as the Haganah, from which the Irgun and Lehi split off.[43] In 1922, the League of Nations granted Great Britain, a mandate over Palestine for the express purpose of "placing the country under such political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish national home".[44] Jewish immigration continued with the Third Aliyah (1919–1923) and Fourth Aliyah (1924–1929), which together brought 100,000 Jews to Palestine.<ref name="aliyot" /> In the wake of the Jaffa riots in the early days of the Mandate, the British restricted Jewish immigration and territory slated for the Jewish state was allocated to Transjordan.[45] The rise of Nazism in the 1930s led to the Fifth Aliyah, with an influx of a quarter of a million Jews. This influx resulted in the Arab revolt of 1936–1939 and led the British to cap immigration with the White Paper of 1939. With countries around the world turning away Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust, a clandestine movement known as Aliyah Bet was organized to bring Jews to Palestine.<ref name="aliyot" /> By the end of World War II, Jews accounted for 33% of the population of Palestine, up from 11% in 1922.[46][47] Independence and first years
) Regardless, the State of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948, one day before the expiry of the British Mandate of Palestine.[52] Not long after, five Arab countries – Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq – attacked Israel, launching the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.<ref name="npr" /> After almost a year of fighting, a ceasefire was declared 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.[53] During the course of the hostilities, 711,000 Arabs, according to UN estimates, fled from Israel.[54] Arab persecution of Jewish communities precipitated a similar Jewish exodus from Arab lands.[55] The fate of the Palestinian refugees today is a major point of contention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.[56][57] In the early years of the state, the Labor Zionist movement led by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion dominated Israeli politics.[58][59] These years were marked by mass immigration of Holocaust survivors and Jews fleeing Arab lands;<ref name="persecution" /> the population rose from 800,000 to two million between 1948 and 1958.[60] 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.[61] )
During the 1950s, Israel was frequently attacked by Arab fedayeen, mainly from the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip.[62] In 1956, Israel joined a secret alliance with 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.[63] At the start of the following decade, Israel captured Adolf Eichmann, an implementer of the Final Solution hiding in Argentina, and brought him to trial.[64] The trial had a major impact on public awareness of the Holocaust[65] and to date Eichmann remains the only person sentenced to death by Israeli courts.[66]
Series of conflictsIn 1967, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria massed troops close to Israeli borders, expelled UN peacekeepers and blocked Israel's access to the Red Sea. Israel saw these actions as a casus belli for a pre-emptive strike that launched the Six-Day War, during which it captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights.[67] The 1949 Green Line became the administrative boundary between Israel and the occupied territories. Jerusalem's boundaries were enlarged, incorporating East Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Law, passed in 1980, reaffirmed this measure and reignited international controversy over the status of Jerusalem.) Prime Minister Golda Meir, who resigned following the Yom Kippur War 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.[70] 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.[71] In the two years that followed, Sadat and Menachem Begin signed the Camp David Accords and the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty.[72] Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula and agreed to enter negotiations over an autonomy for Palestinians across the Green Line, a plan which was never implemented. In 1982, Israel intervened in the Lebanese Civil War to destroy the bases from which the Palestine Liberation Organization launched attacks and missiles at northern Israel. That move developed into the First Lebanon War.[73] Israel withdrew from most of Lebanon in 1986, but maintained a borderland buffer zone until 2000. The First Intifada, a Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule,[74] broke out in 1987 with waves of violence occurring in the occupied territories. Over the following six years, more than a thousand people were killed in the ensuing violence, much of which was internal Palestinian violence.[75] During the 1991 Gulf War, the PLO and many Palestinians supported Saddam Hussein and Iraqi missile attacks against Israel.[76][77] Peace negotiations) Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shake hands, presided over by Bill Clinton, at the signing of the Oslo Accords, September 13, 1993 Ehud Barak, elected Prime Minister in 1999, began the new millennium by and conducting negotiations with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and 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.[84] After the collapse of the talks, Palestinians began the al-Aqsa Intifada. Ariel Sharon soon after 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.[85] 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. 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 end by a ceasefire brokered by the United Nations. After the war, Israel's Chief of Staff, Dan Halutz, resigned.[86] Geography and climate) Negev Desert landscape Despite its small size, Israel is home to a variety of geographic features, from the Negev desert in the south to the mountain ranges of the Galilee, Carmel, and the 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. 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.[89] Unique to Israel and the Sinai Peninsula are makhteshim, similar to craters.[90] The largest one, Ramon Crater, is located in the Negev and is the world's largest natural crater[91] at approximately 40 kilometers by 8 kilometers (25 mi by 5 mi).[92] Temperatures in Israel vary widely, especially during the winter. The more mountainous regions can be windy, cold, and sometimes snowy; Mount Hermon's peak is covered with snow most of the year and Jerusalem usually receives at least one snowfall each year.[93] Meanwhile, coastal cities, such as 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.[94][95] Government and politics
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 both as appellate courts and courts of first instance; they are situated in five of Israel's six districts. The third and highest tier in Israel is the Supreme Court, seated 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 decisions of state authorities.[100][101] Israel is not a member of the International Criminal Court as it fears the court would be biased against it due to political pressure.[102] Israel's legal system combines English common law, civil law, and Jewish law.<ref name="cia" /> 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.<ref name="judiciary" /> 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.[103] ) The Israeli seeks to defend human rights and liberties. Israel is the only country in the region ranked "Free" by Freedom House based on the level of civil and political rights; the "Israeli Occupied Territories/Palestinian Authority" was ranked "Not Free."[104] Similarly, Reporters Without Borders rated Israel 50th out of 168 countries in terms of freedom of the press and highest among Middle Eastern countries.[105] Nevertheless, groups such as Amnesty International[106] and Human Rights Watch[107] have often disapproved of Israel's human rights record in regards to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Israel's civil liberties also allow for self-criticism, from groups such as B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization.[108]
Administrative districts
Occupied territories
) A road crossing the Israeli West Bank barrier in Bethlehem The West Bank and the Gaza Strip both have populations consisting primarily of Arab Palestinians, including historic residents of the territories and refugees of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.[116] From their occupation in 1967 until 1993, the Palestinians living in these territories were under Israeli military administration. Since the Israel-Palestine 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,[117] which opponents note is partially built within the West Bank.[118] In 2005, Israel removed all of its residents and forces in the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the West Bank as part of its unilateral disengagement plan. Foreign relations)
Israel maintains diplomatic relations with 161 countries and has 94 diplomatic missions around the world.[119] Only three members of the Arab League have normalized relations with Israel; Egypt and Jordan signed peace treaties in 1979 and 1994, respectively, and Mauritania opted for full diplomatic relations with Israel in 1999. Two other members of the Arab League, Morocco and Tunisia, which had some diplomatic relations with Israel, severed them at the start of the Second Intifada in 2000.[120] Since 2003, however, ties with Morocco have been on the upswing, and Israel's foreign minister has visited the country.[121] Under Israeli law, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Yemen are enemy countries[122] and Israeli citizens may not visit them without permission from the Ministry of the Interior.[123] Since 1995, Israel has been a member of the Mediterranean Dialogue, which fosters cooperation between seven countries in the Mediterranean Basin and the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.[124]
The United States, Turkey, Germany, and India are among Israel's closest allies. The United States was the first country to recognize the State of Israel, followed by the Soviet Union. It may regard Israel as its primary ally in the Middle East, based on shared political and religious values.[125] Although Turkey and Israel did not establish full diplomatic relations until 1991,[126] Turkey has cooperated with the State since its recognition of Israel in 1949. However, Turkey's ties to the other Muslim-majority nations in the region have at times resulted in pressure from Arab states to temper its relationship with Israel.[127] Germany's strong ties with Israel may stem from a desire to make amends for the Holocaust. The two countries have cooperated on scientific and educational endeavors and remain strong economic partners.[128] India established full diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992 and has fostered a strong military and cultural partnership with the country since then.[129] Iran had diplomatic relations with Israel under the Pahlavi dynasty[130] but withdrew its recognition of Israel during the Iranian Revolution.[131] Military
) Arrow missile test launch The majority of Israelis are drafted into the military at the age of eighteen. Men serve three years and women serve two years.[136] Following compulsory service, Israeli men join the reserve forces and do several weeks of reserve duty every year until their forties. Most women are exempt from reserve duty. Israeli Arabs and those engaged in full-time religious studies are exempt from military service, although the exemption of yeshiva students has been a source of contention in Israeli society for many years.[137][138] 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.[139] As a result of its conscription program, the IDF maintains approximately 168,000 active troops and an additional 408,000 reservists.[140] The nation's military relies heavily on high-tech weapons systems designed and manufactured in Israel as well as some foreign imports. The United States is a particularly notable foreign contributor; they are expected to provide the country with $30 billion in military aid between 2008 and 2017.[141] The Israeli- and U.S.-designed Arrow missile is one of the world's only operational anti-ballistic missile systems.[142] Since the Yom Kippur War, Israel has developed a network of reconnaissance satellites.[143] The success of the Ofeq program has made Israel one of seven countries capable of launching such satellites.[144] The country has also developed its own main battle tank, the Merkava. Since its establishment, Israel has had to spend a significant portion of its gross domestic product on defense. In 1984, for example, the country spent 24%[145] of its GDP on defense. Today, that figure has dropped to 7.3%.<ref name="cia" /> 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.[146] Economy
) A main business district in Ramat Gan outside Tel Aviv, where the diamond stock exchange is located Israel is considered one of the most advanced countries in the Middle East in economic and industrial development. The country has been ranked highest in the region on the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index[147] as well as in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report.<ref name="wef" /> It 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.[148] 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<ref name="cia-gdp" /> and US$26,800,<ref name="cia-gdpc" /> respectively. In 2007, Israel was invited to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,[149] which promotes cooperation between countries that adhere to democratic principles and operate free-market economies.[150] Despite limited natural resources, intensive development of the agricultural and industrial sectors over the past decades has made Israel largely self-sufficient in food production, apart from grains and beef. Other major imports to Israel, totaling US$47.8 billion in 2006, include fossil fuels, raw materials, and military equipment.<ref name="cia" /> Leading exports include fruits, vegetables, pharmaceuticals, software, chemicals, military technology, and diamonds; in 2006, Israeli exports reached US$42.86 billion.<ref name="cia" /> Israel is a global leader in water conservation and geo-thermal energy,[151] and its development of cutting-edge technologies in software, communications and the life sciences have evoked comparisons with Silicon Valley.[152][153] Intel[154] and Microsoft[155] built their first overseas research and development centers in Israel, and other high-tech multi-national corporations, such as IBM, Cisco Systems, and Motorola, have opened facilities in the country. In July 2007, U.S. billionaire Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway bought an Israeli company Iscar, its first non-U.S. acquisition, for $4 billion. [156] Since the 1970's, Israel has received economic aid from the United States, whose loans account for the bulk of Israel's external debt,<ref name="cia" /> although that aid is expected to end in 2008.<ref name="nyt" /> Tourism, especially religious tourism, is another important industry in Israel, with the country's temperate climate, beaches, archaeological and historical sites, and unique geography also drawing tourists. Israel's security problems have taken their toll on the industry, but the number of incoming tourists is on the rebound.[157] Science and education
) Education is compulsory in Israel for children between the ages of three and eighteen.[161][162] 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.[163] In Arab, Christian and Druze schools, the exam on Biblical studies is replaced by an exam in Islam, Christianity or Druze heritage.[164] In 2003, over half of all Israeli twelfth graders earned a matriculation certificate.[165] Israel's eight public universities are subsidized by the state.<ref name="moia" />[166] The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel's oldest university, houses the Jewish National and University Library, the world's largest repository of books on Jewish subjects.[167] In 2006, the Hebrew University was ranked 60th[168] and 119th[169] in two surveys of the world's top universities. 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. Israel ranks third in the world in the number of citizens who hold university degrees (20 percent of the population).[170][171] During the 1990s, an influx of a million immigrants from the former Soviet Union (forty percent of whom were university graduates) helped boost Israel's high-tech sector.<ref name="consulate" /> Israel has produced four Nobel Prize-winning scientists[172] and publishes among the most scientific papers per capita of any country in the world.[173][174] 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
Israel's population, as of 2007, is 7.2 million.<ref name="cbs0709" /> Of those, over 267,000 Israeli citizens lived in the West Bank[175] 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. In 2002, there were 180,000 Jews living in East Jerusalem.[176] 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.<ref name="cia" /> 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. A large influx of people from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia have made Russian and Amharic widely spoken in Israel. Between 1990 and 1994, the immigration of Jews from the former Soviet Union increased Israel's population by twelve percent.[177] Religion) The Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem ) Bahá'í World Centre in Haifa 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 religious importance are located in the West Bank, among them 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 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.[183][184] Culture
) Hebrew Book Week 2005 in Jerusalem Israeli literature is primarily poetry and prose written in Hebrew, as part of the renaissance of Hebrew as a spoken language since the mid-19th century, although a small body of literature is published in other languages, such as Arabic and English. By law, two copies of all printed matter published in Israel must be deposited in the Jewish National and University Library at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 2001, the law was amended to include audio and video recordings, and other non-print media.[190] In 2006, eighty-five percent of the eight thousand books transferred to the library were in Hebrew.[191] Hebrew Book Week is held each June and features book fairs, public readings, and appearances by Israeli authors around the country. During the week, Israel's top literary award, the Sapir Prize, is presented. In 1966, Shmuel Yosef Agnon shared the Nobel Prize in Literature with German Jewish author Nelly Sachs.[192] 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.[193][194] 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.[195] Among Israel's world-renowned[196] 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.[197] 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.[198] Eilat has hosted its own international music festival, the Red Sea Jazz Festival, every summer since 1987.[199] Continuing the strong theatrical traditions of the Yiddish theater in Eastern Europe, Israel maintains a vibrant theatre scene. Founded in 1918, Habima Theatre in Tel Aviv is Israel's oldest repertory theater company and national theater.[200] The Israel Museum in Jerusalem is one of Israel's most important cultural institutions.[201] and houses the Dead Sea Scrolls,[202] along with an extensive collection of Judaica and European art.<ref name="imj" /> Israel's national Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, houses the world's largest archive of Holocaust-related information.[203] 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.[204] Apart from the major museums in large cities, there are also small but high-quality artspaces in many towns and kibbutzim. Sports) Fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. before a match The Maccabiah, an Olympics for Jewish athletes, was inaugurated in the 1930s, and has been held every four years since then. The most popular spectator sports in Israel today are football (soccer) and basketball.[206] Ligat ha'Al is the country's premier soccer league, and Ligat Winner is the premier basketball league.[207] Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. has won the European championship in basketball five times.[208] 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 taught in the city's kindergartens..[209] Two years later, in 2007, an Israeli tied for second place in the World Chess Championship.[210] To date, Israel has won six Olympic medals, including a gold medal in windsurfing at the 2004 Summer Olympics.[211] See alsoNotes1. ^ [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/is.html Israel]. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency (2007-06-19). Retrieved on 2007-07-20. 2. ^ Main Indicators. Central Bureau of Statistics (2007-09-12). Retrieved on 2007-09-18. 3. ^ [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2001rank.html Rank Order - GDP (purchasing power parity)]. World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency (2007-08-16). Retrieved on 2007-08-21. 4. ^ Israel's per capita GDP adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP). Bank of Israel. Moran Dahan (2007-08-28). Retrieved on 2007-09-29. 5. ^ 6. ^ Israel. Country Report. Freedom House (2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-15. 7. ^ Jerusalem is the capital city and seat of government of Israel: it is home to the President's residence, government offices, supreme court, and parliament. The Jerusalem Law states that "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel" although the Palestinian Authority sees East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian State (see "Negotiating Jerusalem", University of Maryland) and the United Nations and most countries do not accept the Jerusalem Law (see ), arguing that Jerusalem's final status must await future negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Most countries maintain their embassies in other cities such as Tel Aviv, Ramat-Gan, and Herzliya(see the [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/is.html CIA Factbook] and Map of Israel) See Positions on Jerusalem for more information. 8. ^ The Palestine Mandate. The Avalon Project. Yale University (1922-07-24). Retrieved on 2007-09-06. 9. ^ United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181. The Avalon Project. Yale University (1947-11-29). Retrieved on 2007-08-21. 10. ^ . "A current list of liberal democracies includes: Andorra, Argentina, ... , Cyprus, ... , Israel, ..." 11. ^ 12. ^ World Factbook.">[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/appendix/appendix-b.html CIA. (19 June, 2007). International Organizations and Groups. World Factbook.]. Retrieved on 2007-10-17. 13. ^ Israel. Annual Report 2007. Reporters Without Borders. Retrieved on 2007-07-15. 14. ^ Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007. World Economic Forum (2007-02-14). Retrieved on 2007-07-15. 15. ^ Human Development Report 2006. United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved on 2007-07-15. 16. ^ From the King James Version of the Bible: "And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." (Genesis, 32:28) 17. ^ 18. ^ 19. ^ . "The Merneptah Stele... is arguably the oldest evidence outside the Bible for the existence of Israel as early as the 13th century BCE." 20. ^ "Popular Opinion", The Palestine Post, 1947-12-07, pp. 1. 21. ^ "On the Move", TIME Magazine, 1948-05-31. Retrieved on 2007-08-06. 22. ^ Walking the Bible Timeline. Walking the Bible. Public Broadcast Television. Retrieved on 2007-09-29. 23. ^ From the King James Version of the Bible: "And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers." (Deuteronomy, 30:5) 24. ^ From the King James Version of the Bible: "But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there." (Nehemiah, 1:9) 25. ^ . "For a thousand years Jerusalem was the seat of Jewish sovereignty, the household site of kings, the location of its legislative councils and courts." 26. ^ "Ancient Palestine". Encarta. (2007). Microsoft. Retrieved on 2007-09-30. 27. ^ Palestine: History. The Online Encyclopedia of the Roman Provinces. The University of South Dakota (2007-02-22). Retrieved on 2007-07-05. 28. ^ 29. ^ "Palestine: The Rise of Islam". Encyclopedia Britannica. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-19. 30. ^ "Palestine: 'Abbasid rule". Encyclopedia Britannica. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-19. 31. ^ "Palestine: The Crusades". Encyclopedia Britannica. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-19. 32. ^ . "Zionism, the urge of the Jewish people to return to Palestine, is almost as ancient as the Jewish diaspora itself. Some Talmudic statements... Almost a millennium later, the poet and philosopher Yehuda Halevi... In the 19th century..." 33. ^ From the King James Version of the Bible: "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." (Isaiah, 2:3) 34. ^ . "Jews sought a new homeland here after their expulsions from Spain (1492)..." 35. ^ 36. ^ Immigration. Jewish Virtual Library. The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. Retrieved on 2007-07-12. The source provides information on the First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Aliyot in their respective articles. The White Paper leading to Aliyah Bet is discussed here. 37. ^ "How did Theodor Herzl, an assimilated German nationalist in the 1880s, suddenly in the 1890s become the founder of Zionism?" 38. ^ 39. ^ Chapter One: The Heralders of Zionism. Jewish Agency for Israel. Retrieved on 2007-07-12. 40. ^ . "As with the First Aliyah, most Second Aliyah migrants were non-Zionist orthodox Jews..." 41. ^ 42. ^ Balfour Declaration 1917. The Avalon Project at Yale Law School. Yale University (1917-11-02). Retrieved on 2007-07-12. 43. ^ . "During the First and Second Aliyot, there were many Arab attacks against Jewish settlements... In 1920, Hashomer was disbanded and Haganah ("The Defense") was established." 44. < | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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