Israel

Introduction & Quick Facts
Land
- Relief
- Drainage
- Soils
- Climate
- Plant and animal life
- Settlement patterns
  - Rural settlement
  - Urban settlement
People
- Religious and ethnic groups
  - Jews
    - Karaites
    - Samaritans
  - Arabs
    - Muslims
    - Christians
    - Druze
  - Other groups
- Demographic trends
Economy
- Resources
  - Mineral resources
  - Power
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
- Industry
  - Mining and quarrying
  - Manufacturing
- Services
  - Finance
  - Tourism
- Trade
- Transportation
Government and society
- Constitutional framework
- Local and regional government
- Political process
- Occupation of Arab territories
- Justice
- The armed forces
- Education
- Health and welfare
Cultural life
- The cultural milieu
- The arts
- Sports
- Cultural institutions
- Press and broadcasting
History
- Origins of a modern Jewish state
  - Zionism
  - Immigration and conflict
- Establishment of Israel
  - The war of 1948
  - Armistice and refugees
- The Ben-Gurion era
  - Emergence of a nation
  - Continuing tensions
  - The Suez War
- Labour rule after Ben-Gurion
  - The Six-Day War
  - Troubled victory
  - The war of attrition
- The decline of Labour dominance
  - The Yom Kippur War
  - Political and social repercussions of the war
  - Diplomatic impasse
- Israel under Likud
  - The beginning of the peace process
  - Camp David
  - A cold peace
  - War in Lebanon
- The national unity government
  - The intifada
  - The question of Palestinian autonomy
  - The Gulf War and the Madrid Conference
- The Rabin government
  - The Oslo Accords
    - The Declaration of Principles and Cairo Agreement
    - Challenges to peace
  - Economic boom
  - Oslo II and Rabin’s assassination
- A new political landscape
  - Netanyahu’s first premiership
    - Crisis in the peace process
    - The Wye River Memorandum
  - The Barak gamble
  - The second intifada
  - Kadima and Olmert
- Netanyahu’s second stint
  - Early challenges
  - Relations with the Palestinians
    - Peace process stalled
    - Palestinian unilateral bid for statehood
    - Conflict in Gaza
  - Domestic politics
    - Socioeconomic protests and the challenge from the center-left
    - Corruption charges and diminishing political support
    - Difficulty in coalition formation, frequent elections, and growing prominence of minority issues
- The Bennett-Lapid government
  - Premiership of Naftali Bennett
  - Premiership of Yair Lapid
- A changing society
Prime ministers of Israel

References & Edit History Facts & Stats

Images, Videos & Interactives

Political map of Israel and surrounding regions, showing international boundaries, major cities, and regions including the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Golan Heights. Neighboring countries Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt are labeled, and a locator map in the corner shows Israel's position in the Middle East. The map notes that the final status of the Gaza Strip and West Bank is to be determined by Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Map highlighting Israel in the Middle East, showing its location along the eastern Mediterranean Sea and marking nearby countries including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. The city of Jerusalem is labeled within Israel. Surrounding bodies of water such as the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, and Arabian Sea are also shown.

Physical map of Israel highlighting major geographic features such as the Negev Desert, Ha-Gadol Depression, Aravah Valley, and hills of Judaea, as well as notable elevations like Mount Meron, Mount Carmel, Mount Tabor, Mount Scopus, and Mount Ramon. The map shows Israel's borders with Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt, includes the Mediterranean Sea to the west, and marks the Dead Sea and Gulf of Aqaba. An inset locator map shows Israel's position in the Middle East.

Israel: Ḥula Valley

Small boats and fishing vessels are docked in the old port of Jaffa, Israel, with historic stone buildings rising up the hillside in the background.

Jerusalem: Damascus Gate

Israel: Urban-rural

At a Glance

default image

Israel: Media

country, Middle East

Videos

Discover a historical milestone in the Israeli-Palestinian relationship with the signing of the Declaration of Principles, 1993

Discover a historical milestone in the Israeli-Palestinian relationship with the signing of the Declaration of Principles, 1993

U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton shaking hands with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and...

Video: CNN ImageSource

Images

Israel

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Political map of Israel and surrounding regions, showing international boundaries, major cities, and regions including the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Golan Heights. Neighboring countries Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt are labeled, and a locator map in the corner shows Israel's position in the Middle East. The map notes that the final status of the Gaza Strip and West Bank is to be determined by Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Israel

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Map highlighting Israel in the Middle East, showing its location along the eastern Mediterranean Sea and marking nearby countries including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. The city of Jerusalem is labeled within Israel. Surrounding bodies of water such as the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, and Arabian Sea are also shown.

Israel

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Physical map of Israel highlighting major geographic features such as the Negev Desert, Ha-Gadol Depression, Aravah Valley, and hills of Judaea, as well as notable elevations like Mount Meron, Mount Carmel, Mount Tabor, Mount Scopus, and Mount Ramon. The map shows Israel's borders with Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt, includes the Mediterranean Sea to the west, and marks the Dead Sea and Gulf of Aqaba. An inset locator map shows Israel's position in the Middle East.

Physical features of Israel

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Israel: Ḥula Valley

Israel: Ḥula Valley

Crops and fish farms in the Ḥula Valley, Israel.

© Valery Shanin/stock.adobe.com

Dead Sea

Dead Sea

Columns of salt rising from the extremely saline waters of the Dead Sea.

Peter Carmichael/ASPECT

Small boats and fishing vessels are docked in the old port of Jaffa, Israel, with historic stone buildings rising up the hillside in the background.

Tel Aviv–Yafo, Israel: Jaffa port

The old city port of Jaffa in Tel Aviv–Yafo, Israel.

© rglinsky—iStock/Getty Images

Jerusalem: Damascus Gate

Jerusalem: Damascus Gate

Damascus Gate, Jerusalem.

GameOfLight (CC-BY-3.0) (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

The Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, with visitors gathered and praying at the base of the large ancient stone wall under a clear sky.

Western Wall

The Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem.

© AbleStock/Getty Images

Dead Sea Scrolls

Dead Sea Scrolls

The Shrine of the Book, which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls, at the Israel Museum in...

© Buddy Mays/Travel Stock

Chaim Weizmann

Chaim Weizmann

Chaim Weizmann, painting by Oswald Birley, 1938.

© The State of Israel Government Press Office

Map showing the British Mandate of Palestine, with the area under direct British administration until 1948 shaded in purple, covering present-day Israel and the Palestinian territories. The area labeled as the Transjordan emirate, east of the Jordan River, is marked with yellow and purple stripes, including cities such as Amman and Ma'an. Surrounding countries-Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Egypt-are labeled, and major cities like Jerusalem, Jaffa, Hebron, and Nablus are indicated within the mandate.

British mandate of Palestine

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

kibbutz

kibbutz

Members of a kibbutz weaving fishnets, 1937.

Zoltan Kluger/© The State of Israel Government Press Office

David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir

David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir

Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion with Foreign Minister Golda Meir at the Knesset in...

Fritz Cohen/© The State Government of Israel

David Ben-Gurion and Shimon Peres

David Ben-Gurion and Shimon Peres

David Ben-Gurion (center) walking with Shimon Peres (left), 1969.

© The State of Israel Government Press Office

Israeli soldiers and armored vehicles enter a city street in Gaza during the Six-Day War, June 6, 1967, with street signs and buildings visible in the background.

Six-Day War in Gaza

Israeli armored troop unit entering Gaza during the Six-Day War, June 6, 1967.

© The State of Israel Government Press Office

Six-Day War in the Golan Heights

Six-Day War in the Golan Heights

Israeli tanks advancing on the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War between Arab...

Assaf Kutin/© The State of Israel Government Press Office

Golda Meir

Golda Meir

Gold Meir, prime minister of Israel from 1969–74

Marion S. Trikosko—US News & World Report/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ppmsc-03265)

Yitzhak Shamir

Yitzhak Shamir

Yitzhak Shamir (left) addressing the Knesset, 1988.

Ya'acov Sa'ar/© The State of Israel Government Press Office

Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu, 1996.

Ya'acov Sa'ar Ya'acov/© The State of Israel Government Press Office

Ehud Barak

Ehud Barak

Ehud Barak, 1999.

Moshe Milner/© The State of Israel Government Press Office

Ehud Olmert

Ehud Olmert

Ehud Olmert, 2006.

Amos Ben Gershom/© The State of Israel Government Press Office

Hula Valley

Hula Valley

Hula Valley, northeastern Israel.

Grauesel

Thematic map showing Israeli and Palestinian settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with areas shaded to indicate Palestinian autonomous areas under varying degrees of control and Israeli-controlled areas. Purple dots and squares mark Israeli settlements and settlement outposts, while major Palestinian cities and the planned West Bank security fence and concrete wall are also indicated. Insets provide a regional locator and close-up of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli and Palestinian settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (1995)

The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (1995),...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Map showing Israel and the surrounding region with a green line marking the pre-1967 borders between Israel and the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Major cities, neighboring countries, and geographic features such as the Mediterranean Sea, Dead Sea, and Sea of Galilee are labeled.

Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip: pre-1967 borders

Map showing Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip along their pre-1967 borders....

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Map of the Old City of Jerusalem divided into four color-coded quarters: Christian Quarter in blue, Muslim Quarter in yellow, Jewish Quarter in pink, and Armenian Quarter in green. Major streets, gates, religious sites, and landmarks such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Western Wall, Dome of the Rock, and Al-Aqsa Mosque are labeled. An inset locator map shows the Old City's position within Jerusalem and the region.

Old City of Jerusalem

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Israel

Israel

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Audio

National anthem of Israel

The instrumental version of the national anthem of Israel.

Interactives

Israel: Urban-rural

Israel: Urban-rural

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Israel: Ethnic composition

Israel: Ethnic composition

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Israel: Religious affiliation

Israel: Religious affiliation

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Israel: Age breakdown

Israel: Age breakdown

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Israel: Major export destinations

Israel: Major export destinations

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Israel: Major import sources

Israel: Major import sources

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Kenny Chmielewski

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