Israel

Maps of Israel, Palestine, the Wall, and Settlements

Jerusalem is Israel's capital and largest city. This photograph shows West Jerusalem, the more modern section that is home to most of the city's Jewish population.

The Knesset Building, home of the Israeli parliament, glows in floodlights at night. It stands on a low hill in Jerusalem.

Israel's flag shows the Star of David, an ancient Jewish symbol. The colours are those of a tallit (prayer shawl).

Coat of arms shows the Menorah (ancient holy candle-holder) and olive branches. Hebrew letters spell Israel,

Israel is bordered by Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt Its western coast lies on the Mediterranean Sea.

Modern blocks of flats, such as these in Tel Aviv, are common in Israeli cities. Most urban Israelis live in flats.

A moshav in the Galilee region of Israel houses several rural families. Moshavim are cooperative farming communities.

School attendance is required of all Israelis between the ages of 5 and 16, with free education provided to the age of 18. The students above are attending class at a rural high school.

A group of Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem read the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. Orthodox Jews strictly observe the principles of Ju­daism. They make up about one-fifth of Israel's Jewish population.

Olive groves grow north of the Sea of Galilee in the Rift Valley, a long, narrow lowland in far eastern Israel.

The Negev Desert in southern Israel is the nation's driest re­gion, receiving an average yearly rainfall of only 25 millimetres. Irrigation is used to cultivate some parts of the Negev.

A mineral recovery plant removes such compounds as bro­mine, potash, and salt from the waters of the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is Israel's leading source of minerals.

Haifa's deepwater harbor has made this city Israel's chief port and a centre of in­ternational trade.

Jewish immigrants, above, began flocking to Israel after the nation was created in 1948. Israel opened its doors to Jews from anywhere in the world.

In the 1948 war, Israel gained much ter­ritory in addition to the area that had been given to it by the United Nations (UN) Partition Plan of 1947.

The 1967 war resulted in Israel's occupa­tion of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Syria's Golan Heights, and of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Israel withdrew from the Sinai Penin­sula in three stages—in 1975, 1979, and 1982. Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 1994.

Prime Minister Rabin, President Clinton, and King Hussein shake hands after signing a peace treaty between Israel and Jor­dan in 1994.

The gross national product (GNP) is the total value of goods and services produced by a country in a year. The GNP measures a nation's total economic performance and can also be used to compare the economic output and growth of countries. Israel's GNP was 21,290,000,000 U.S. dollars in 1984. (Industry = 29%, Services = 67% and Agriculture = 4%)

Facts in brief about Israel

Capital: Jerusalem.

Official languages: Hebrew and Arabic.

Area: 20,770 km², not including 7,000 km² of Arab territory occu­pied since 1967. Greatest distances— north-south, 420 km; east-west, 110 km. Coastline— 273 km.

Elevation: Highest— Mount Meron, 1,208 m above sea level. Lowest— shore of the Dead Sea, about 399 m below sea level.

Population: Estimated 1996population—5,971,000; distribution, 93 per cent urban, 7 per cent rural; density, 288 people per km^z. 1983 census—4,098,184. Estimated2001 population— 6,420,000. Population figures do not include people living in occupied Arab territories, except for Israeli citizens.

Chief products: Agriculture-citrus and other fruit, cotton, eggs, grains, poultry, vegetables. Manufacturing— chemical products, electronic equipment, fertilizers, finished dia­monds, paper, plastics, processed foods, scientific and optical instruments, textiles and clothing. Mining— potash, bromine, salt, phosphates.

National anthem: "Hatikva" ("The Hope").

Money: Currency unit— shekel. One shekel = 100 agorot.

Important dates in Israel

1917 The United Kingdom issued the Balfour Declaration, ex­pressing its support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

1920 Palestine became a mandated territory of the UK.

19470 The United Nations (UN) divided Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state.

1948 Israel came into existence on May 14.

1948 Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan attacked Israel on May 15, starting the first Arab-lsraeli war. Israel defeated the Arabs and gained much territory before the UN ended the conflict.

1956 After Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, Israel attacked Egypt, initiating the second Arab-lsraeli war. The UK and France also attacked Egypt. The UN ended the fighting.

1967 Israel defeated Egypt, Jordan, and Syria in the Six-Day War. Israel captured the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Golan Heights.

1972 Palestinian terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes at the Sum­mer Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany.

1973 Egypt and Syria attacked Israeli forces along the Suez Canal and in the Golan Heights, starting the Yom Kippur War.

1974 Israel and Egypt signed the Camp David Accords, an agreement to end the dispute between the two countries.

1979 Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty.

1982 Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula.

1993 Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) signed an agreement to work to end their conflicts. The agreement included the start of a plan for Israel's with­drawal from the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

1994 As part of the 1993 PLO agreement, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank city of Jericho. Israel and Jordan agreed to end their disputes.

Industry = 29%, Services = 67% and
Agriculture = 4%

Israel is a small country in southwestern Asia. It occu­pies a narrow strip of land on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Israel was founded in 1948 as a homeland for Jews from all parts of the world, and more than 4 out of 5 of its people are Jews. Even Jews who live elsewhere consider Israel their spiritual home. Almost all the non-Jews in Israel are Arabs. Jerusalem is Israel's capital and largest city.

Israel makes up most of the Biblical Holy Land, the place where the religious and national identity of the Jews developed. According to the Bible, Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, established a Semitic popu­lation in the Holy Land. Many scholars believe this hap­pened sometime between 1800 and 1500 B.C

Eventually this land fell to a series of conquerors, including—in 63 B.C—the Romans. Following unsuc­cessful Jewish revolts against Roman rule in A.D. 66-70 and A.D. 132-135, the Romans forced most of the Jews to leave. The Romans then began to call this region by the word that became Palestine In English. Palestine was ruled by the Roman and then the Byzantine empires until the A.D. 600's, when Arabs conquered the region. From that time until the mid-1900's, the majority of peo­ple in Palestine were Arabs. For more information on the ancient history of Israel, see the Palestine article.

In the late 1800's, European Jews formed a movement called Zionism, which sought to establish a Jewish state in Palestine. Jewish immigrants began arriving in Pales­tine in large numbers, and by the early 1900's friction had developed between the Jewish and Arab popula­tions. In 1947, the United Nations (UN) proposed divid­ing the region into an Arab state and a Jewish state.

On May 14, 1948, the nation of Israel officially came

into being. The surrounding Arab nations immediately attacked the new state, in the first of several Arab-lsraeli wars. In 1967, at the end of one of the wars, Israeli troops occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank—ter­ritories that are home to more than 1 million Palestinian Arabs. Israel's occupation of these territories further in­flamed Arab-lsraeli tensions. In May 1994, the Israeli troops withdrew from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank city of Jericho. The withdrawal was part of a 1993 agree­ment with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which represents the Palestinian Arabs. For more de­tails, see the Recent developments section of this article.

Israel has few natural resources and imports more goods than it exports. Still, it has achieved a relatively high standard of living. More than 90 per cent of its peo­ple can read and write and the level of unemployment is low. Jewish settlers have established new industries, pi­oneered new technology and scientific research, drained swamps, irrigated deserts, and developed a major tourist industry. Israel's first prime minister David Ben-Gurion defined the task of the Israeli people in the following words: "Our job is to harness the sun, sweeten the sea, and thus shall you make the desert blossom."

Although it is a small country, Israel has a diverse ter­rain that includes mountains, deserts, seashores, and valleys. Israel has a pleasant climate, with hot, dry sum­mers, and cool, mild winters.

Government

National government. Israel is a democratic repub­lic with a parliament-cabinet form of government. It has no written constitution. Instead, the government follows several "basic laws" that have been passed by the Knes­set, the Israeli parliament. The Knesset is a one-house body made up of 120 members, each elected to a term not to exceed four years. The Knesset passes legislation, participates in the formation of national policy, and ap­proves budgets and taxes.

All Israeli citizens 18 years or older may vote. Voters do not cast ballots for individual candidates in Knesset elections. Instead, they vote for a party list, which in­cludes all the candidates of a particular political party. The list may range from a single candidate to a full list of 120 candidates. Elections are determined by the per­centage of the vote received by each list. For example, if a particular party list received 33 per cent of the vote, it would get 40 Knesset seats.

The prime minister is the head of Israel's government and normally the leader of the party that controls the most seats in the Knesset. The prime minister must maintain the support of a majority of the Knesset to stay in office. He or she forms and heads the Cabinet, Israel's top policymaking body. The Cabinet is composed of the heads of each government department. Appointments to the Cabinet must be approved by the Knesset. The prime minister determines the topics of Cabinet meet­ings and has the final word in policy decisions.

The president, who functions as the head of state, is elected by the Knesset to a five-year term and may not serve more than two consecutive terms. Most of the president's duties are ceremonial.

Local government Elected councils are the units of local government in Israel. Municipal councils serve the larger cities, and local councils govern the smaller urban areas. Regional councils serve rural areas. Coun­cils are responsible for providing education, health and sanitation services, water, road maintenance, fire pro­tection, and park and recreation facilities. They also set and collect local taxes and fees.

The national government divides the country into 6 administrative districts and 14 subdistricts. The Minister of Interior, one of the Cabinet members, appoints offi­cials to head the districts and subdistricts. These offi­cials oversee and approve the actions of the councils.

Politics. Israel has many political parties, represent­ing a wide range of views. But two parties—the Labour Party and the Likud bloc—dominate national elections.

The Labour Party supports government control of the economy, but also believes in a limited amount of free enterprise. The party favours a negotiated settlement with the Arab states. The Likud bloc is an alliance of a number of smaller parties. It supports limited govern­ment involvement in the economy. Likud favours a hard­line policy toward the Arab states.

Israel also has a number of smaller religious and special-interest parties. Each of these parties focuses on a particular subject or theme. If one of the major parties controls too few seats in the Knesset to form a majority, it usually seeks support from the religious par­ties. These parties thus have considerable power.

Courts. Israel's court system consists of religious and secular (nonreligious) courts. The Supreme Court is the highest secular court. The secular court system also in­cludes magistrate, district, municipal, and specialized courts. The Supreme Court hears appeals from these courts and acts to protect the rights of Israeli citizens.

Religious courts hear cases involving certain personal matters, such as marriage problems, divorces, alimony settlements, and inheritances. Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Druses each have their own religious courts.

Most religious court justices and all secular court jus­tices are appointed by the president. The appointments are based on recommendations made by nomination committees consisting of officials from all branches of the Israeli government. Justices must retire at age 70.

Armed forces. Because of its conflicts with Arab states, Israel has maintained a strong military. The large amount of money Israel spends on defence puts a strain on the nation's economy.

Israel's army, navy, and airforce have about 141,000 members. The country requires almost all Jewish men and most unmarried Jewish women to enter the armed forces at age 18. Men must serve for three years, and women for two years. Annual reserve service is re­quired of both men and women.

People

When Israel was established in 1948, it had about 806,000 people. For Israel's total population today, see the Facts in brief table with this article. Israel's popula­tion is very unevenly distributed—about 90 per cent of the people live in urban areas. The area along the Medi­terranean coast is Israel's most densely populated re­gion. The Negev Desert, in the southwest, is the least densely populated region.

Jews. About 83 per cent of Israel's people are Jews. The modern state of Israel was created as a homeland for the Jewish people. Between 1948 and the late 1980's, about 1.8 million jews migrated to Israel, many to es­cape persecution in their home countries. In 1950, the Knesset passed the Law of the Return, which allows any Jew, with a few minor exceptions, to settle in Israel. A 1970 amendment to this law defined a Jew as "a person who was born of a Jewish mother or has become con­verted to Judaism and who is not a member of another religion." The Israeli government provides temporary housing and job training to immigrants.

Israel's Jewish population shares a common spiritual and historical heritage. But because they have come from many countries, Israel's Jews belong to a number of different ethnic groups, each with its own cultural, political, and recent historical background.

The two main groups in Israel's Jewish population have traditionally been the Ashkenazim and the Sephar­dim, or Orientals. The Ashkenazim, who came to Israel from Europe and North America, are descended from Jewish communities in central and eastern Europe. The Sephardim immigrated from the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Today, the designations Ashkenazim and Sephardim are less important because there are many Jews who immigrated from other areas, or who

grew up in Israel. At the time of independence, most Jews were Ashkenazim. As a result, Israel's political, ed­ucational, and economic systems are primarily Western. The Sephardim have had to adapt to this society.

Arabs make up nearly all of the remaining 17 per cent of the population of Israel. Most are Palestinians whose families remained in Israel after the 1948-1949 Arab-lsraeli war. They usually live in their own farm vil­lages or in the Arab neighbourhoods of Israeli cities.

The nation's Jewish and Arab communities are gener­ally suspicious of one another. Arab and Jewish Israelis have limited contact, in part, because the Arabs have had difficulty adjusting to Israel's Jewish, Western- oriented society. Most Arabs and Jews live in separate areas, attend separate schools, speak different lan­guages, and follow different cultural traditions.

Language. Israel has two official languages—He­brew, the language spoken by most of the Jewish popu­lation, and Arabic, spoken mainly by the Arabs. Many Is­raelis also speak English and many Ashkenazi Jews speak Yiddish, a Germanic language that developed in the Jewish communities of Europe.

Way of life

Israel has a relatively high standard of living, with in­come levels similar to those in such countries as Spain or Greece. Israel’s life expectancy levels rank among the highest in the world. The country has an excellent sys­tem of health and medical care.

City life. About 90 per cent of Israel's people live in urban areas. In fact, the country's three largest cities—Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa—account for about 25 per cent of the nation's population. Many of Israel's cities are built on ancient sites and include historic buildings, but they also have large, modern sections built by Jewish settlers during the mid-190Cys. Many feature high-rise flats and office buildings. Most urban Israelis live in blocks of flats.

Like urban areas in most countries, Israel's major cit­ies face problems brought on by rapid growth. Roads, housing, and municipal services sometimes fail to keep pace with the expanding population. Traffic congestion and, to a lesser degree, pollution have become prob­lems in Israel's larger cities.

Jerusalem, the capital and largest city, is the spiritual centre of the Jewish religion. It is also a holy city of Christians and Muslims. The city is divided into two sec­tions, West Jerusalem and East Jerusalem. West Jerusa­lem, inhabited mainly by Jews, is the newer part of the city. It contains concrete apartment houses and modern public buildings. It also has several ancient holy places. East Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in 1967, is inhabited mainly by Arabs. This older section of the city includes many ancient holy places. See Jerusalem.

Tel Aviv, Israel's second largest city in size and impor­tance, serves as the nation's commercial, financial, and industrial centre. Haifa is Israel's major port city and the administrative and industrial centre of northern Israel. Beersheba is the most important city in the Negev Des­ert region.

In the 1950's, the Israeli government began creating "development towns." These towns, which include Arad and Karmiel, were established to attract industry to lightly populated parts of Israel and to provide homes for new immigrants.

Rural life. Only about 10 per cent of the people of Is­rael live in rural areas. More than half of the rural popu­lation live in collective or cooperative communities. In a collective community, called a kibbutz, members re­ceive food, housing, education, child care, and medical care in exchange for labour. All property is shared. In many kibbutzim, the children live in a separate section. The kibbutz is traditionally agricultural, but many now have industrial activity as well. In a cooperative commu­nity, called a moshav, each family works its land sepa­rately and has its own living quarters. The village admin­istration provides the family's equipment and supplies, and markets its produce.

Clothing. Most Israelis wear Western-style clothing, although styles in Israel are generally less formal than in Western countries. But some Israelis still dress in the traditional clothing of their ethnic or religious group.

Food and drink. Israel's food and drink reflect the ethnic diversity of its population. Traditional European Jewish dishes, such as chopped liver, chicken soup, and gefilte fish, are common. But so also are traditional Mid­dle Eastern foods such as felafel— small, deep-fried pat­ties of ground chickpeas. Raw vegetables and fruits are among the most popular foods.

All government buildings and most hotels and restau­rants serve only kosher foods, which are prepared ac­cording to Jewish dietary laws (see Kosher). But there are nonkosher restaurants as well. Israel also has fast- food restaurants, which serve local dishes in addition to Western foods. Popular beverages in Israel include Turkish coffee, cola, beer, and wine.

Religion. Israeli law guarantees religious freedom and allows members of all faiths to have days of rest on their Sabbath and holy days. Many public facilities are closed on the Jewish Sabbath—from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday.

About one-fifth of Israel's Jewish population strictly observe the principles of Judaism. These people are called Orthodox ]ews. About half of the country's Jews observe some of the principles. The rest are secular, or nonreligious. Israel's Jews disagree on the proper rela­tionship between religion and the state. Orthodox Jews tend to believe that Jewish religious values should play an important role in shaping government policy. But many other members of the Jewish population, includ­ing almost all secular Jews, seek to limit the role of reli­gion in the state.

About 77 per cent of Israel's non-Jewish populace are Arab Muslims, most of whom follow the Sunni sect of Islam (see Islam [Sects]). About 13 per cent of the non- Jews are Arab Christians, mostly Greek Catholic and Greek Orthodox. Most of the remaining 10 per cent are Druses, an Arabic-speaking people who follow a reli­gion that developed out of Islam. A few are members of the Baha'is or other smaller religious communities.

Education. Education is given a high priority in Israel. One of the first laws passed in Israel established free education and required school attendance for all chil­dren between the ages of 5 and 14. Attendance is now required to age 16. Israeli children normally attend one year of nursery school, one year of kindergarten, six years of elementary school, three years of junior high school, and three years of high school. Education is free until the age of 18.

israel has a Jewish school system in which instruction 5 - Hebrew, and an Arab/Druse school system in .•.~ich instruction is in Arabic. The government recog­nizes and funds both systems.

The Jewish system consists of state schools, state- re igious schools, and independent religious schools. State and state-religious schools offer similar academic programmes, but state-religious schools emphasize Jewish studies. Independent religious schools are affili­ated with Orthodox Judaism and offer more intensive re­ligious instruction.

The Arab/Druse school system includes separate schools for Arab and Druse students. These schools em­phasize Arab or Druse history and culture. The Arab schools also provide religious instruction in Islam or Christianity. In Druse schools, community elders choose whether or not to provide religious training.

Israel has a number of well-known institutions of higher education. They include Haifa University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, and the Weizmann Institute of Science.

The arts. In music, dance, theatre, literature, paint­ing, and sculpture, many Israeli artists work within the traditions of their ethnic group. Other artists have blended different cultural art forms to create a uniquely Israeli artistic tradition. The arts in Israel not only reflect the country's immigrant diversity, they also draw upon Jewish history and religion and address the social and political problems of modern Israel.

The number of books published per person in Israel is among the highest in the world. Most Israeli authors write in Hebrew, and some have achieved international fame. Shmuel Yosef Agnon, a novelist and short-story writer, shared the 1966 Nobel Prize for literature. Other prominent Israeli writers include Chaim Nachman Bialik, Shaul Tchernichovsky, Amos Oz, and A. B. Yehoshua.

Israel has several theatrical companies. Habimah, the national theatre, was founded in Moscow in 1917. It moved permanently to Tel Aviv in 1932. The Israel Phil­harmonic Orchestra performs throughout Israel and often tours abroad. Jerusalem has a symphony orches­tra. Israel also has several professional ballet and mod­

ern dance companies. Haifa and Tel Aviv boast a num­ber of outstanding museums.

Land

Israel has four major land regions. They are (1) the Coastal Plain, (2) the Judeo-Galilean Highlands, (3) the Rift Valley, and (4) the Negev Desert.

The Coastal Plain is a narrow strip of fertile land along the Mediterranean Sea. Most Israelis live in the Coastal Plain, and most of the nation's industry and agri­culture are located there. Haifa, Israel's major port, is on the northern coast. The northern part of the Coastal Plain includes part of the fertile Plain of Esdraelon. The Qishon, a broad stream, flows through this plain. Most of Israel's important citrus crop is produced in the Plain of Sharon, which forms part of the central Coastal Plain. Farther south is the city of Tel Aviv.

The Judeo-Galilean Highlands include a series of mountain ranges that run from Galilee—the northern­most part of Israel—to the edge of the Negev Desert in the south. The southern part of the highlands includes the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The mountains of Galilee stretch southward to the Plain of Esdraelon. Galilee is the home of most of Israel's Arabs and includes the city of Nazareth, the largest Arab centre. Galilee also contains the highest mountain in Is­rael, 1,208-metre Mount Meron.

Jerusalem is located in the northern part of the Ju­dean Hills. Rural residents of these hills farm on the hill­sides and in the broad valleys. The land to the south is more rugged and agriculture is limited to grazing.

The Rift Valley is a long, narrow strip of land in far eastern Israel. It makes up a small part of the Great Rift Valley, a series of valleys that extends from Syria to Mo­zambique (see Great Rift Valley).

The edges of the Rift Valley are steep, but the floor is largely flat. Much of the region lies below sea level. The region includes the Dead Sea, a saltwater lake. The shore of the Dead Sea lies about 399 metres below sea level—the lowest land area on earth.

Few areas of the Rift Valley are fertile. The most fertile section is about 16 kilometres north of the Sea of Galilee. There, during the 1950's, Israel drained Lake Hula and nearby swamps to create about 6,100 hectares of fertile farmland.

The River Jordan, the longest of Israel's few rivers, flows through the northern Rift Valley. It travels through the Sea of Galilee and empties into the Dead Sea.

The Negev Desert, Israel's driest region, is an arid area of flatlands and mountains. The Negev has tradi­tionally been used for grazing because its limited rain­fall cannot support crops. But sections of the Negev are being brought under cultivation by means of irrigation. Water from the Sea of Galilee is pumped southward through the National Water Carrier, an extensive system of canals, pipelines, and tunnels. Regional systems con­nect with the carrier and extend to the northern Negev.

Climate

Israel has hot, dry summers and cool, mild winters. The climate varies somewhat from region to region, partly because of altitude. Temperatures are generally cooler at higher altitudes and warmer at lower altitudes. In August, the hottest month, the temperature may reach 37° C in the hilly regions and as high as 49° C near the Dead Sea in the deep Rift Valley. July temperatures average 23° C in Jerusalem and 27° C in Tel Aviv. In Janu­ary, the coldest month, temperatures average 9° C in Je­rusalem and 14° C in Tel Aviv.

Israel has almost continuous sunshine from May through mid-October. A hot, dry, dusty wind called the

The Negev Desert in southern Israel is the nation's driest re­gion, receiving an average yearly rainfall of only 25 millimetres. Irrigation is used to cultivate some parts of the Negev.

khamsin sometimes blows in from deserts to the east, particularly in the spring and fall.

Almost all of Israel's rain falls between November and March, much of it in December. There are great re­gional variations in rainfall. In general, rainfall declines from north to south and from west to east. In the driest area, the southern Negev Desert, the average yearly rainfall is only 25 millimetres. In the wettest area, the hilly parts of Upper Galilee, average annual rainfall is 1,080 millimetres. Brief snowfalls also sometimes occur in the hilly regions.

Economy

At independence, Israel was a poor country with little agricultural or industrial production. But Israel's econ­omy has grown tremendously since 1948. The nation now enjoys a relatively high standard of living, despite having few natural resources and a limited water supply.

Large numbers of immigrants came to Israel in the years immediately after independence. Many of these immigrants were skilled labourers and professionals who greatly aided the nation's economic development. Financial assistance from Western nations, especially the United States, is also vital to Israel's economic well­being.

About half of the businesses in Israel are privately owned, and a fourth are owned by the government The Histadrut(General Federation of Labour), a powerful or­ganization of trade unions, also owns about a fourth of the businesses, farms, and industries.

Service industries—economic activities that pro­duce services, not goods—account for about 67 per cent of Israel's net domestic product (NDP). NDP is basically the value of all goods and services produced yearly within the country. Service industries employ about 65 per cent of all workers. Many of Israel's service industry workers are employed by the government or by busi­nesses owned by the government Government workers provide many of the services needed by Israel's large immigrant population, such as housing, education, and vocational training.

Tourism is a major service industry in Israel. Trade and transportation are also important service industries, in part because the country imports many of its goods.

Manufacturing accounts for about 23 per cent of Is­rael's NDP and employs about 22 per cent of its work force. Israeli factories produce such goods as chemical products, electronic equipment, fertilizers, paper, plas­tics, processed foods, scientific and optical instruments, and textiles and clothing. The cutting of imported dia­monds is a major manufacturing industry. Government- owned plants manufacture equipment used by Israel's large armed forces. Tel Aviv and Haifa are Israel's major manufacturing centres.

Agriculture accounts for about 4 per cent of Israel's NDP and employs about 5 per cent of its workers. Agri­culture formerly employed a much larger percentage of Israel's work force. But much of the work once per­formed by people is now performed by machines. Im­portant agricultural products include citrus and other fruits, cotton, eggs, grain, poultry, and vegetables.

The government develops, helps finance, and con­trols agricultural activity, including fishing and forestry. Israel produces most of the food needed to feed its peo­ple. Agricultural exports provide enough income to pay for any necessary food imports. Most Israeli farmers use modern agricultural methods. Water drawn from the River Jordan irrigates large amounts of land in Israel.

Most Israeli farms are organized as moshavim or kib­butzim (see the Rural life section of this article). Israel also has some private farms, mostly owned by Arabs.

Mining. The Dead Sea, the world's saltiest body of water, is Israel's leading mineral source. Compounds drawn from the sea yield bromine, magnesium, potash, and table salt. Potash, used chiefly in fertilizers, is the most important mineral. Phosphates, copper, clay, and gypsum are mined in the Negev Desert.

Energy sources. Israel is poor in energy sources. It has no coal deposits or hydroelectric power resources

and only small amounts of crude oil and natural gas. As a result, Israel depends primarily on imported crude oil and coal to meet its energy needs.

Trade. Because it has few natural resources, Israel imports more goods than it exports. The country's chief imports include aircraft, chemical products, rough dia­monds, grains, iron and steel, machinery, military equip­ment, oil, ships, and vehicles. Israel's main exports are citrus fruits and other fruits and vegetables, chemical products, cut diamonds, electronic equipment, fertiliz­ers, military equipment, processed foods, and textiles and clothing. The nation's main trading partners include the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

Transportation and communication. Israel has a well-developed transportation system. This system de­veloped in part because of the need to move military troops and equipment quickly to any part of the country.

Most middle-class Israeli families either own a car or have one provided by their employer. Overall, Israel has about one car for every six people. Paved roads reach al­most all parts of the country. Public transportation both in and between cities is provided primarily by bus. Most rail lines in Israel are used to haul freight.

Ben-Gurion Airport, Israel's international terminal, is located at Lod, near Tel Aviv. Smaller airports are lo­cated at Atarot, near Jerusalem, and at Elat. El Al, Israel's international airline, flies regularly to the United States, Canada; Europe, and parts of Africa and Asia. Israel has three major deepwater ports—Haifa, Ashdod, and Elat.

Israel's communication system is one of the best in the Middle East. Israel has more than 20 daily newspa­pers, about half of which are in Hebrew. The rest are in Arabic, Yiddish, or one of several foreign languages.

The Israel Broadcasting Authority, a public corporation set up by the government, runs the TV and nonmilitary radio stations. Israelis own about one TV set for every three people, and one radio for every two people.

History

For detailed information on the early history of what is now Israel, see article on Palestine. See also Zionism.

Beginnings of a new state. European Jews began to settle in Palestine in the mid-180ffs, out of a desire to live in the Holy Land. By 1880, about 24,000 Jews lived in Palestine, which was controlled by the Turkish Ottoman Empire. In the late 1800's, oppression of Jews in eastern Europe triggered the Zionist movement and eventually led to a mass emigration of Jews to Palestine. By 1914, there were about 85,000 Jews in Palestine, out of a total population of about 700,000.

In 1917, during World War I (1914-1918), the United Kingdom (UK) issued the Balfour Declaration, which ex­pressed British support for a national homeland for the Jews in Palestine. The UK was fighting to win control of Palestine from the Ottoman Empire as part of the war. The British hoped the declaration would rally Jewish leaders in the UK and the United States to support the British war efforts. At the same time, however, the UK promised independence to various Arab groups in the Middle East, hoping to gain their support against the Ot­tomans. The promises were vague, but Arab leaders as­sumed they included Palestine.

Following the Ottoman defeat in World War I, the League of Nations made Palestine a mandated territory of the UK (see Mandated territory). According to the mandate, the UK was to help Palestinian Jews build a na­tional home. Many Zionists viewed the mandate as sup­port for increased Jewish immigration to Palestine. But the British, fearful of the hostility of the large Arab pop­ulation, proposed limits on Jewish immigration. These limitations, however, were not enforced.

Large numbers of European Jews came to Palestine in the 1930's to escape persecution by the Nazis. Alarmed by the Jewish immigration, the Palestinian Arabs re­volted against British rule during 1936-1939. In 1937, the UK began attempting to limit Jewish immigration to Pal­estine. Jews strongly opposed this policy.

During World War II (1939-1945), the Nazis killed about 6 million European Jews. This led to increased de­mands for a Jewish state, but the UK continued to limit Jewish immigration to Palestine. In 1947, the UK submit­ted the problem to the United Nations (UN).

Independence and conflict. On Nov. 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly agreed to divide Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state and to place Jerusalem under international control. The Jews in Palestine ac­cepted this plan, but the Arabs rejected it. Fighting broke out immediately.

Israel officially came into existence on May 14,1948, under the leadership of David Ben-Gurion. On May 15, Arab armies, chiefly from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan (called Transjordan until 1949), attacked Is­rael, aiming to destroy the new nation. By early 1949, Is­rael had defeated the Arabs and gained control of about half the land planned for the new Arab state. Egypt and Jordan held the rest of Palestine. Israel controlled the western half of Jerusalem, and Jordan held the eastern half. Israel incorporated the gained territory into the fledgling country, adding about 150,000 resentful Arabs to its population. Other Palestinian Arabs fled, and set­tled as refugees in parts of Palestine not under Israeli control and in neighbouring Arab countries.

By mid-1949, Israel had signed armistice agreements with Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. But formal peace treaties were not signed because the Arab nations re­fused to recognize the existence of Israel.

Israel held its first election in January 1949. In Febru­ary, the Knesset elected Chaim Weizmann president, and he officially appointed Ben-Curion prime minister.

The Sinai invasion. Border clashes between Arab and Israeli troops occurred frequently in the early 1950's. In the mid-1950s, Egypt began giving financial aid and military supplies to Palestinian Arab fedayeen (com­mandos). The fedayeen raided Israel from the Gaza Strip, the Egyptian-occupied part of Palestine. The Israelis raided the Gaza Strip in return. Egypt also blocked Is­raeli ships from using the Suez Canal and stopped Is­raeli ships at the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba. In July 1956, Egypt nationalized the Canal.

In response to the Egyptian actions, on Oct. 29, 1956, Israeli forces invaded Egypt. The United Kingdom and France attacked Egypt two days later. By November 5, the Israelis occupied the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Penin­sula, and the British and French controlled the northern entrance to the Suez Canal. The United Nations—backed by the United States and the Soviet Union—ended the fighting and arranged the withdrawal of Israeli, British, and French troops from Egyptian territory. The UN also established a multinational peacekeeping force in the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula.

The Six-Day War. In late 1966 and early 1967, border clashes took place between Israeli and Syrian forces. In May 1967, the UN removed its peacekeeping force from the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula in response to de­mands by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Nas­ser then sent large numbers of troops into the Sinai. He also announced the closing of the Strait of Tiran to Is­raeli ships, thus blocking the Israeli port of Elat.

Fearing that Arabs would soon attack, Israel launched an air strike against Egypt on June 5, 1967. Syria and Jor­dan, which had signed defence agreements with Egypt, then attacked Israel. Israel responded with air strikes against these nations. In one day, Israeli planes almost completely destroyed the air forces of Egypt and its allies. Israel's ground forces then defeated those of the Arab states. The UN arranged a cease-fire, ending the war after six days.

At the war's conclusion, Israel held the Sinai Penin­sula and Gaza Strip, as well as Syria's Golan Heights. It also occupied the West Bank, which had been con­trolled by Jordan and which included the eastern half of Jerusalem. Israel vowed not to withdraw from these ter­ritories until the Arab states recognized Israel's right to exist. ln June 1967, Israel officially made the eastern half of Jerusalem part of Israel.

The Six-Day War again proved the superiority of Isra­el's military forces, but it also planted the seeds of con­tinued Arab-lsraeli problems. The occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank placed Israel in control of about 1 million hostile Palestinian inhabitants.

The rise of the PLO. Following the Six-Day War, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) became promi­nent in the Middle East. Founded in 1964, the PLO is a confederation of Palestinian Arab groups that work to establish an Arab state in Palestine. It adopted guerrilla tactics, including terrorist attacks and commando raids against military and civilian targets.

After the defeat of the regular Arab armies in the 1967 war, Arab leaders began increasing their support of the PLO's forces. These forces then stepped up guerrilla ac­tivity against Israel. Israel retaliated with raids against PLO bases in neighbouring Arab countries.

The Yom Kippur War. Israeli and Egyptian forces engaged in intense border fighting along the Suez Canal between April 1969 and August 1970. The Soviet Union provided military assistance to Egypt in the conflict, which was ended by a U.S.-sponsored cease-fire. On Oc­tober 6,1973, full-scale war broke out again when Egyp­tian and Syrian forces attacked Israeli positions along the Suez Canal and in the Golan Heights. The attack oc­curred on Yom Kippur, the most sacred Jewish holy day. Despite initial Egyptian and Syrian advances, Israel ulti­mately pushed back the Arab forces. It recaptured the Golan Heights and some additional Syrian territory. A cease-fire was signed on October 24.

The Yom Kippur War had far-reaching effects. The Is­raeli economy suffered severely. Although Israel won the war, it suffered heavy losses of men and equipment.

Many Israelis criticized the government s handling of the conflict. As a result, Prime Minister Golda Meir re­signed in April 1974. Yitzhak Rabin succeeded her in June. The war also greatly increased Israel's dependence on the United States, which supplied Israel with arms.

The Camp David Accords. The Labour Party and the party from which it developed, the Mapai, controlled Is­rael's government from independence until 1977. That year, parliamentary elections transferred control to the Likud bloc. Menachem Begin, leader of the Likud, suc­ceeded Rabin as prime minister.

Israeli-Egyptian tensions eased following the Yom Kippur War. In September 1978, Begin, Egyptian Presi­dent Anwar el-Sadat, and U.S. President Jimmy Carter held discussions at Camp David in the United States at meetings arranged by Carter. The discussions resulted in the Camp David Accords. The Camp David Accords focused on two objectives: (1) achieving peace between Egypt and Israel, and (2) achieving a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

The first objective was met when Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in March 1979. In February 1980, they exchanged diplomats for the first time. Israel also withdrew from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula in 1982. Efforts to­ward meeting the second objective were unsuccessful.

Invasion of Lebanon. Tensions between Israel and the PLO escalated in the late 1970's and early 1980's. In 1978, Israel invaded southern Lebanon in an attempt to drive out Palestinian terrorists who had been attacking Israel for several years. In June 1982, a large Israeli force attacked southern and central Lebanon in retaliation for PLO attacks on northern Israel. The PLO withdrew most of its forces from Lebanon in August 1982. In 1985, Israel withdrew its forces from all of Lebanon except a security zone along the Lebanon-lsraeli border.

Unity government Begin resigned as prime minis­ter in September 1983. Yitzhak Shamir of the Likud bloc succeeded him. Parliamentary elections were held in July 1984. The Labour Party won more seats than the Likud bloc, but neither party won a majority and neither was able to form a coalition government. In September, Labour and Likud agreed to form a unity government for

50 months. Under the agreement, Shimon Peres, leader of the Labour Party, served as prime minister for a term of 25 months. Shamir served as vice prime minister and foreign minister. In addition, the agreement required that the roles of Peres and Shamir were reversed after 25 months—in October 1986.

The unity government included Cabinet members of both parties. One of its major achievements was in re­ducing Israel's high inflation rate, which had soared to more than 400 per cent in 1984. But the government was divided on how to attain peace with the Arabs. The La­bour camp favoured giving up portions of the occupied territories in return for peace agreements. The Likud bloc, however, supported Jewish settlements in the ter­ritories and their retention by Israel.

In late 1987, Arab residents of the Gaza Strip and West Bank began staging widespread—often violent— demonstrations against Israel's occupation. Israeli troops killed a number of protesters in the violence, which became known as the intifada. Intifada is an Ara­bic word meaning uprising. A few Israelis were also killed, and hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis suffered injuries. The violence has continued off and on.

In November 1988, new parliamentary elections were held, but again neither party won a majority. In Decem­ber, Likud and Labour agreed to form a new coalition government with Shamir continuing to serve as prime minister. The other Cabinet ministries were divided equally among members of the Likud bloc and the La­bour Party. In 1990, Shamir refused to compromise on peace plans for the occupied territories. The Labour Party then left the coalition, and the government fell in March. In June 1990, Likud and small conservative par­ties formed a new coalition government with Shamir as prime minister.

Recent developments. Israel has always been a na­tion of immigrants. Immigration slowed during the 1970's and much of the 1980's. However, in the mid- 1980s and early 1990's, thousands of Ethiopian Jews moved to Israel. Also, hundreds of thousands of Jews from the former Soviet Union moved there. The large number of immigrants led to serious problems in hous­ing and employment. Israel continued to build new set­tlements on occupied territories, in part to accommo­date the large influx of immigrants. Despite protests from Palestinians, Shamir and the Likud backed these construction projects.

In August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. In early 1991, the United States and other countries defeated Iraq in the Persian Gulf War. During the war, Iraq fired missiles at Israel. See Persian Gulf War.

In October 1991, peace talks began between Israel, Syria, Lebanon, and a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delega­tion. Israel's Labour Party gained control of the govern­ment in June 1992 parliamentary elections. In July, La­bour Party leader Yitzhak Rabin replaced Shamir as prime minister. Rabin, who had served as prime minis­ter from 1974 to 1977, agreed to limit construction of new Jewish settlements in the occupied territories as a step toward a peace agreement.

The PLO was not a participant in the peace talks that began in October 1991. But in September 1993, Israel and the PLO recognized each other and signed an agreement that included steps to end their conflicts. The

Questions

What percentage of Israel's people live in urban areas?

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What is Israel's parliament called?

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What was the Balfour Declaration?