What country is at war with Israel and why?
The Israel-Palestine conflict began over a dispute between land and borders. After World War II and the Holocaust, Jews seeking their own country were given a large part of Palestine. Arabs already living in the area didn't accept this, so the two parties went to war in 1948. In 1967, after another war, Israel occupied the Palestinian areas.
Which countries support Israel?
What Countries Support Israel?
- United States: The US has been the ally of Israel since 60 years. ...
- Turkey: It is the first Muslim nation to formally recognize the State of Israel, one year after the Declaration of the establishment of the Jewish state. ...
- Arab states: Israel has diplomatic nations with Egypt, Mauritania, Jordan and Qatar.
- Asian nations: These include China and India
What country is halfway between Israel and the US?
Halfway between United States and Israel. For a flight, the straight line geographic midpoint coordinates are 59° 23' 51" N and 26° 5' 53" W. The city at the geographic halfway point from United States to Israel is Grindavik, Iceland. The closest major city that is roughly halfway is Belfast, United Kingdom.
What country was Israel controlled by?
The British controlled the city and surrounding region until Israel became an independent state in 1948. Jerusalem was divided during the first 20 years of Israel’s existence. Israel controlled the Western portions of it, while Jordan controlled East Jerusalem. After the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel seized all of Jerusalem.
Is Israel considered a country?
Israel, the only Jewish nation in the world, is a small country on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. For its relatively small size, the country has played a large role in global affairs.
Why is the country called Israel?
During the British Mandate, Palestine's official name in Hebrew was “Eretz Yisrael.” That was the name that appeared in Hebrew (alongside "Palestine" in English and Arabic) on the local currency, stamps and official documents, lending the name "Israel" official status.
What was the land of Israel called before 1948?
Mandatory PalestineDuring the League of Nations mandate period (1920–1948) the term "Eretz Yisrael" or the "Land of Israel" was part of the official Hebrew name of Mandatory Palestine.
What was Israel called when Jesus was born?
Jewish Palestine at the time of Jesus.
Who changed his name to Israel and why?
Through this wrestle, Jacob proved what was most important to him. He demonstrated that he was willing to let God prevail in his life. In response, God changed Jacob's name to Israel, meaning 'let God prevail.
Who owned Israel before Israel?
The BritishThe British controlled Palestine until Israel, in the years following the end of World War II, became an independent state in 1947.
Why did Britain give Palestine to Israel?
In 1917, in order to win Jewish support for Britain's First World War effort, the British Balfour Declaration promised the establishment of a Jewish national home in Ottoman-controlled Palestine.
How did Jews end up in Israel?
Most of the Jewish population was exiled to Babylon, but some Jews remained. About 150 years later (539 BCE), the Persians conquered Babylon and permitted the Jews in exile to return to Israel and authorized the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.
When was Israel named Israel?
Upon independence in 1948, the country formally adopted the name 'State of Israel' (Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Medīnat Yisrā'el [mediˈnat jisʁaˈʔel]; Arabic: دَوْلَة إِسْرَائِيل, Dawlat Isrāʼīl, [dawlat ʔisraːˈʔiːl]) after other proposed historical and religious names including 'Land of Israel' (Eretz Israel), Ever ( ...
What are the 2 meanings of Israel?
or ˈiz-rəl. : jacob sense 2. : the Jewish people. 3. : a people chosen by God.
When was the name Israel first used?
“Israel” first appears near the end of the 13th century BC within the Egyptian Merneptah Stele, referring apparently to a people (rather than a place) inhabiting what was then “Canaan.” A few centuries later in that region, we find two sister kingdoms: Israel and Judah (the origin of the term “Jew”).
When was Israel called Palestine?
The term "Palestine" first appeared in the 5th century BCE when the ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote of a "district of Syria, called Palaistinê" between Phoenicia and Egypt in The Histories.
Where is Israel located?
Israel, Arabic Isrāʾīl, officially State of Israel or Hebrew Medinat Yisraʾel, country in the Middle East, located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bounded to the north by Lebanon, to the northeast by Syria, to the east and southeast by Jordan, to the southwest by Egypt, and to the west by the Mediterranean Sea.
How many geographical regions does Israel have?
Despite its small size, about 290 miles (470 km) north-to-south and 85 miles (135 km) east-to-west at its widest point, Israel has four geographic regions—the Mediterranean coastal plain, the hill regions of northern and central Israel, the Great Rift Valley, and the Negev—and a wide range of unique physical features and microclimates.
What is the highest mountain in Israel?
In the north of the country, the mountains of Galilee constitute the highest part of Israel, reaching an elevation of 3,963 feet (1,208 metres) at Mount Meron (Arabic: Jebel Jarmaq). These mountains terminate to the east in an escarpment overlooking the Great Rift Valley.
What is the main water source in Israel?
The principal drainage system comprises Lake Tiberias and the Jordan River. Other rivers in Israel are the Yarqon, which empties into the Mediterranean near Tel Aviv; the Qishon, which runs through the western part of the Plain of Esdraelon to drain into the Mediterranean at Haifa; and a small section of the Yarmūk, a tributary of the Jordan that flows west along the Syria-Jordan border. Most of the country’s remaining streams are ephemeral and flow seasonally as wadis. The rivers are supplemented by a spring-fed underground water table that is tapped by wells. Israel has a chronic water shortage, and its hydraulic resources are fully utilized: about three-fourths for irrigation and the remainder for industrial and household water use.
What river flows through Israel?
Other rivers in Israel are the Yarqon, which empties into the Mediterranean near Tel Aviv; the Qishon, which runs through the western part of the Plain of Esdraelon to drain into the Mediterranean at Haifa; and a small section of the Yarmūk, a tributary of the Jordan that flows west along the Syria-Jordan border.
What is the southern half of Israel?
The sparsely populated Negev comprises the southern half of Israel. Arrow-shaped, this flat, sandy desert region narrows toward the south, where it becomes increasingly arid and breaks into sandstone hills cut by wadis, canyons, and cliffs before finally coming to a point where the ʿArava reaches Elat.
What are the physical features of Israel?
Crops and fish farms in the Ḥula Valley, Israel. © Valery Shanin/Fotolia. The coastal plain is a narrow strip about 115 miles (185 km) long that widens to about 25 miles (40 km) in the south. A sandy shoreline with many beaches borders the Mediterranean coast.
What is the land of Israel?
The Land of Israel, also known as the Holy Land or Palestine, is the birthplace of the Jewish people, the place where the final form of the Hebrew Bible is thought to have been compiled , and the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity. It contains sites sacred to Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, Islam, Druze and the Baháʼí Faith.
What is the name of the first instance of the name Israel?
The Merneptah Stele. While alternative translations exist, the majority of biblical archeologists translate a set of hieroglyphs as "Israel," representing the first instance of the name in the historical record.
What was the name of the kingdom that ruled Canaan?
During the 2nd millennium BCE, Canaan, part of which later became known as Israel, was dominated by the New Kingdom of Egypt from c.1550 to c. 1180.
What was the economy of Israel in the 1970s?
In the 1970s and 1980s, the economy underwent a series of free market reforms and was gradually liberalized.
When did humans first appear in Israel?
The oldest evidence of early humans in the territory of modern Israel, dating to 1.5 million years ago , was found in Ubeidiya near the Sea of Galilee.
Who was the prime minister of Israel during the Six Day War?
Following Meir's resignation, Yitzhak Rabin (Chief of Staff during the Six Day War) became prime minister. Modern Orthodox Jews ( Religious Zionist followers of the teachings of Rabbi Kook ), formed the Gush Emunim movement, and began an organized drive to settle the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In November 1975 the United Nations General Assembly, under the guidance of Austrian Secretary General Kurt Waldheim, adopted Resolution 3379, which asserted Zionism to be a form of racism. The General Assembly rescinded this resolution in December 1991 with Resolution 46/86. In March 1976 there was a massive strike by Israeli-Arabs in protest at a government plan to expropriate land in the Galilee.
Who was the first female prime minister of Israel?
In early 1969, Levi Eshkol died in office of a heart attack and Golda Meir became Prime Minister with the largest percentage of the vote ever won by an Israeli party, winning 56 of the 120 seats after the 1969 election. Meir was the first female prime minister of Israel and the first woman to have headed a Middle Eastern state in modern times. Gahal retained its 26 seats, and was the second largest party.
Who declared the state of Israel?
If you ask most Israelis who declared the state, they will answer without hesitation: David Ben-Gurion. But the document itself says otherwise:
When did Israel become a Jewish state?
Ben-Gurion’s reply: The Washington Post writer is perhaps unaware that on May 14, 1948, we proclaimed the establishment of a Jewish state, in accordance with the decisions of the United Nations (which were backed by the United States as well as other countries), and Israel is only the name of the Jewish state.
What did the declaration of Israel do?
One thing the declaration did do for sure: it affirmed the ascendancy of Israel over Zionism, if not the end of Zionism itself.
What was Ben-Gurion's real reason for choosing the name Israel?
By the choice of the name Israel, he was out to create a new identity, building upon Jewish identity but superseding it.
What was the significance of Israel's declaration of independence?
Israel’s declaration of independence was an announcement to the world that, in fact, a new kind of Jew had been (re)born in the Land of Israel, and this new Jew was fundamentally different from the Jews the world had known, persecuted, and repeatedly sought to eliminate during the two millennia of Jewish dispersion.
Who was the Supreme Court Justice who described the declaration as Israel's identity card?
Meir Shamgar, the Israeli Supreme Court justice whom I quoted earlier, had described the declaration as Israel’s “identity card.”. In reality, it was and it remains impossible to reduce to a card the identity even of a single individual, and certainly not of a polity as diverse as the state of Israel.
Who said the birth certificate was the identity card of Israel?
In the words of the late Meir Shamgar, who for twelve years served as president of Israel’s Supreme Court, the declaration of independence was at once “the birth certificate and the identity card of the state as a political, sovereign, and independent entity.”.
Where is the land of Israel?
Part of Land of Israel is situated in Jordan. Before 1948 there was Mandate Palestine and Transjordan. Before it was part of number of Islamic Caliphates and Crusader state. Before that Roman, Hellenic, Median empires provinces, then back to ancient Israel and Judea when the term Land of Israel was established.
What were the Israelites called?
To the north, in modern day Lebanon and the northern coast of the Galilee lived a nation, who also refered to themselves as Canaanites, but were called by the Israelites and Judeans “Tzidonim” or “Sidonites”, after the city of Sidon, which was one of their main cities. These are the “Phoenicias”.
What was the name of the land that the Assyrians conquered?
During the Babylonian and Assyrian rule (8th to 6th centuries), the land didn’t have a specific name, but the province of “Yehud” existed. The Assyrians who conquered the Kingdom of Israel in c. 720 BCE had a province called “Yisrael”, but it was only around the cities of Samaria and Nablus.
What was Palestine called in 1948?
18 Answers. Between 1922 and 1948 the land was legally and officially under the rule of the British. It was officially called “Palestine” in English. In Arabic it was officially called “Falastin”, and in Hebrew it was officially called “Palestina (E.Y)”.
What was the name of the kingdom of Jerusalem?
During the Crusader period, there was kingdom there called the “Kingdom of Jerusalem”, and the land was referred by the Christians as the “Holy Land”. During the Early Arab period (7th to 12th centuries) the land was called “Jund Filastin”.
What was Palestine called before WW1?
From 1920 to 1948, the region was part of the British Empire and was called the British Mandate for Palestine, before WW1 it was part of the Ottoman Empire and was part of the greater Syria province in the Ottoman Empire which was then separated into Syrian province and Palestine province in the Ottoman Empire.
What was the name of the land that the British ruled?
The British rule there was called "British Mandate for Palestine" and the land was called "Mandatory Palestine". Zionist jews (then mainly immigrants from Europe) also used the name Palestine, although they sometimes liked to use a fancy acronym " (א״י)" for Eretz_Yisrael after the word Palestine.
Overview
State of Israel (1948–present)
Immediately following the declaration of the new state, both superpower leaders, US President Harry S. Truman and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, recognized the new state. The Arab League members Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq refused to accept the UN partition plan and proclaimed the right of self-determination for the Arabs across the whole of Palestine. The Arab states ma…
Periodisation
The periodisation is subject to the progress of research, to regional, national, and ideological interpretation, as well as personal preference of the individual researcher. For an overview of a mainstream periodisation system for the wider region, see List of archaeological periods (Levant). Periodisation organized by the seat of the controlling state is shown below:
Prehistory
The oldest evidence of early humans in the territory of modern Israel, dating to 1.5 million years ago, was found in Ubeidiya near the Sea of Galilee. Flint tool artefacts have been discovered at Yiron, the oldest stone tools found anywhere outside Africa. Other groups include 1.4 million years old Acheulean industry, the Bizat Ruhama group and Gesher Bnot Yaakov.
Bronze Age
The Canaanites are archaeologically attested in the Middle Bronze Age (2100–1550 BCE). There were probably independent or semi-independent city-states. Cities were often surrounded by massive earthworks, resulting in the archeological tells common in the region today. In the late Middle Bronze Age, the Nile Delta in Egypt was settled by Canaanites who maintained close conn…
Ancient Israel (Iron Age)
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel (as ysrỉꜣr) occurs in the Egyptian Merneptah Stele, erected for Pharaoh Merneptah (son of Ramesses II) c. 1209 BCE, which states "Israel is laid waste and his seed is not."
Archeological evidence indicates that around 1,000 BCE hundreds of small vill…
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel (as ysrỉꜣr) occurs in the Egyptian Merneptah Stele, erected for Pharaoh Merneptah (son of Ramesses II) c. 1209 BCE, which states "Israel is laid waste and his seed is not."
Archeological evidence indicates that around 1,000 BCE hundreds of small vill…
Second Temple period (6th century BCE–2nd century CE)
In 538 BCE, Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire conquered Babylon and took over its empire. Yehud remained a province of the Achaemenid empire until 332 BCE. According to the Bible, Cyrus issued a proclamation granting subjugated nations their freedom. Jewish exiles in Babylon, including 50,000 Judeans, led by Zerubabel returned to Judah to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem. The Second Temple was subsequently built in Jerusalem, and is said to have been c…
Late Roman and Byzantine periods (2nd century–634 CE)
As a result of the disastrous effects of the Bar Kokhba revolt, Jewish presence in the region significantly dwindled. Over the next centuries, more Jews left to communities in the Diaspora, especially the large, speedily growing Jewish community in Babylonia. Others remained in the Land of Israel, where there was a continuous small Jewish presence and Galilee became its religious center. Jewish communities also continued to reside in the southern Hebron Hills and o…