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| Anthem | "Hatikvah" (Hebrew) for "The Hope" | ||||||
| Capital | Jerusalem (internationally unrecognized), Tel Aviv | ||||||
| Largest city | Jerusalem | ||||||
| Other cities | Haifa, Nazareth | ||||||
| Language official |
Hebrew | ||||||
| others | Arabic | ||||||
| Religion main |
Judaism | ||||||
| others | Druze, Christianty, Muslim | ||||||
| Ethnic Groups main |
Jewish | ||||||
| others | Arabs | ||||||
| Demonym | Israeli | ||||||
| Government | Unitary parliamentary republic | ||||||
| legislature | Knesset | ||||||
| President | Rueven Revlin | ||||||
| Prime Minister | Benjamin Netanyahu | ||||||
| Area | 20,770 / 22,072 km² | ||||||
| Population | 8,502,900 (2016) 8,718,000 (2020) | ||||||
| Independence | from United Kingdom (British Mandate) | ||||||
| declared | 14 May 1948 | ||||||
| recognized | 11 May 1948 | ||||||
| Currency | Israeli new Shekel (₪) | ||||||
| Time Zone | IST (UTC +2) | ||||||
| summer | IDT (UTC +3) | ||||||
| Internet TLD | .il | ||||||
| Calling Code | +972 | ||||||
| Organizations | United Nations Union for the Mediterranean | ||||||
Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל Yisrā'el; Arabic: إِسْرَائِيل, Isrāʼīl), officially the State of Israel (Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Medīnat Yisrā'el; Arabic: دولة إِسْرَائِيل , Dawlat Isrāʼīl), is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. It has land borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan on the east, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the east and west, respectively, and Egypt to the southwest. It contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. Israel's financial center and technology hub is Tel Aviv. Jerusalem is the proclaimed capital, although Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem is internationally unrecognized.
History[]
1948 Arab-Israeli War[]
On 14 May 1948, the day before the expiration of the British Mandate, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, declared "the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel". The only reference in the text of the Declaration to the borders of the new state is the use of the term Eretz-Israel ("Land of Israel").
The following day, the armies of four Arab countries—Egypt, Syria, Transjordan and Iraq—entered what had been British Mandatory Palestine, launching the 1948 Arab–Israeli War; Contingents from Yemen, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Sudan joined the war. The apparent purpose of the invasion was to prevent the establishment of the Jewish state at inception, and some Arab leaders talked about driving the Jews into the sea. According to Benny Morris, Jews felt that the invading Arab armies aimed to slaughter the Jews. The Arab league stated that the invasion was to restore law and order and to prevent further bloodshed.