ISRAEL

The Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. officially State of Israel, Hebrew Medinat Yisra'el, Arabic Isra'il 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. The total area is 7,992 square miles (20,700 square kilometres) excluding East Jerusalem and other territories occupied in the 1967 war. Jerusalem is the capital and the seat of government. Following the United Nations partition of Palestine, Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948. It was the first Jewish state to be established in nearly 2,000 years. Its creation represented a fulfillment of the historic ideal of the Jewish people stemming from the traditional religious belief in God's promise of the land of Israel to the people of Israel. The ideal found practical expression in a desire to forge a nation without dependence on the goodwill of others. The establishment of Israel as a member of the family of nations signified a decisive step in modern Jewish history. Among the population of Israel are hundreds of thousands of immigrants, many of them survivors of Nazi persecution in Europe or victims of anti-Semitism elsewhere. Israeli society has engaged in pioneering activities, including the rehabilitation of neglected agricultural lands. This has led to the creation of a Jewish rural population, which, though it makes up only about one-tenth of the total, also represents something almost unknown in the Diaspora (the historical scattering of the Jews in countries outside of Palestine). The revival of the Hebrew language has helped to make possible the cultural integration of the newcomers. Hostile relations between Israel and its neighbouring Arab states have prevailed from the outset, with Israel obtaining victories over the Arabs after battles fought in 194849, 1956, 1967, 1973, and 1982. Territory that was occupied by Israeli forces after the conflicts that took place in 1967 and 1973including East Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights region of Syriais not treated in this article, although most of it is still held by Israel. either of two political units in the Old Testament: the united kingdom of Israel under the kings Saul, David, and Solomon that lasted from about 1020 to 922 BC; or the northern kingdom of Israel, including the territories of the 10 northern tribes (i.e., all except Judah and part of Benjamin), that was established in 922 BC as the result of a revolt led by Jeroboam I. The southern kingdom, ruled by the Davidic dynasty, was thereafter referred to as Judah. The later kingdom's history was one of dynastic instability, with only two prolonged periods of stable government, under Omri (reigned 876869 or c. 884c. 872 BC) and Ahab (c. 874c. 853 BC) and the Jehu dynasty (c. 842746 BC). In the 8th century BC the northern kingdom was overrun by the Neo-Assyrian Empire, with Samaria, the capital, falling in 722/721. officially State of Israel, Hebrew Medinat Yisra'el, Arabic Isra'il Middle Eastern republic at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. Israel extends for about 250 miles (400 km) from north to south and is about 75 miles (121 km) across at its widest extent from east to west. It is bordered on the north by Lebanon, on the northeast by Syria, on the east and southeast by Jordan, on the southwest by Egypt, and on the west by the Mediterranean Sea. Israel covers an area of 7,992 square miles (20,700 square km), not including 2,887 square miles (7,477 square km) of Israeli-occupied or semiautonomous territory in Syria's Golan Heights (in the northeast), in the West Bank and East Jerusalem (in the east), and in the Gaza Strip (in the southwest). These territories were taken by Israel in the 1967 war and are disputed, as is the de facto capital, Jerusalem, which was formerly divided between Jordan and Israel. Pop. (1993 est.) including East Jerusalem and Golan Heights, 5,451,000. Additional reading Geography Landforms are described in Efraim Orni and Elisha Efrat, Geography of Israel, 4th rev. ed. (1980); and Geography (1973), compiled from material originally published in the Encyclopaedia Judaica and published by Keter Books. Studies in historical geography are Ruth Kark (ed.), The Land That Became Israel (1989); and Elisha Efrat, Geography and Politics in Israel Since 1967 (1988). Leo Picard, Structure and Evolution of Palestine (1943), is an authoritative and comprehensive geologic study. Michael Zohary, Plant Life of Palestine: Israel and Jordan (1962), is a fundamental work. F.S. Bodenheimer, Animal Life in Palestine (1935), and Prodromus Faunae Palestinae (1937), are classic works on Israel's fauna. Economic studies include Nadav Halevi and Ruth Klinov-Malul, The Economic Development of Israel (1968); and, for more recent events, Yair Aharoni, The Israeli Economy (1991). Administrative and political aspects are explored by Don Peretz, The Government and Politics of Israel, 2nd ed., updated (1983); Edward Luttwak and Dan Horowitz, The Israeli Army, 19481973 (1983); William Frankel, Israel Observed (1980); and Gregory S. Mahler, Israel: Government and Politics in a Maturing State (1990). Dov Friedlander and Calvin Goldscheider, The Population of Israel (1979), is a highly useful work on population policy. Raanan Weitz and Avshalom Rokach, Agriculture and Rural Development in Israel: Projection and Planning, trans. from Hebrew (1963), and Agricultural Development: Planning and Implementation (1968), examine economic aspects. Joseph S. Bentwich, Education in Israel (1965), is informative and comprehensive. Two sociological studies summarize the great changes in Israeli life since independence: Amir Ben-Porat, Divided We Stand: Class Structure in Israel from 1948 to the 1980s (1989); and Eliezer Ben-Rafael and Stephen Sharot, Ethnicity, Religion, and Class in Israeli Society (1991). Israeli culture is critically analyzed by Ella Shohat, Israeli Cinema: East/West and the Politics of Representation (1989). History Valuable general surveys of Israel's prehistory may be found in William Foxwell Albright, The Archaeology of Palestine, rev. ed. (1956, reprinted 1971); Kathleen M. Kenyon, Archaeology in the Holy Land, 4th ed. (1979, reprinted 1985); and Archaeological Institute of America, Archaeological Discoveries in the Holy Land (1967). Works describing the Zionist movement and the establishment and subsequent history of Israel include Nahum Sokolow, History of Zionism 16001918, 2 vol. (1919, reprinted 2 vol. in 1, 1969); Leonard Stein, Zionism (1925); Norman Bentwich, Palestine (1934, reissued 1946); Albert M. Hyamson, Palestine Under the Mandate, 19201948 (1950, reprinted 1976); and Barnet Litvinoff, To the House of Their Fathers: A History of Zionism (1965). Valuable new interpretations are contained in Peter Y. Medding, The Founding of Israeli Democracy, 19481967 (1990); and Laurence J. Silberstein, New Perspectives on Israeli History: The Early Years of the State (1991).The material available on the Palestine question, Israel, and Arab-Israeli relations is vast, hardly any of it objective. Some of the few works that are objective include Ian J. Bickerton and Carla L. Klausner, A Concise History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (1991); Fred J. Khouri, The Arab-Israeli Dilemma, 3rd ed. (1985); Conor Cruise O'Brien, The Siege: The Saga of Israel and Zionism (1986); Don Peretz, Intifada: The Palestinian Uprising (1990); Bernard Reich and Gershon R. Kieval, Israel: Land of Tradition and Conflict, 2nd ed. (1993); Howard M. Sachar, A History of Israel, 2 vol. (197987); and Charles D. Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 2nd ed. (1992). Eliahu Elath Hans Kohn William L. Ochsenwald The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica Administration and social conditions Government Constitutional framework Israel is a democratic republic with a parliamentary and presidential system of government. It has a strong cabinet and a multiparty system with two major parties. It also has a marked tendency toward political and administrative centralization. Israel does not have a formal written constitution. The foundation on which the system of government has been built is composed of legislation, administrative acts, and parliamentary practice. The Knesset, or assembly, is a 120-member, single-chamber legislature that is elected every four years. In its internal organization and parliamentary procedure it has followed continental rather than Anglo-Saxon practices. Members exercise important functions in standing committees. Hebrew and Arabic, the country's two official languages, are used in all proceedings. The president, who is the head of state, is elected by the Knesset for a five-year term, which can be renewed only once. The president has no veto powers and exercises only ceremonial functions. The cabinet is the main policy-making body. Its members may be, but need not be, members of the Knesset. The prime minister, who is directly elected, is the leading figure in the government and is entrusted with the task of forming the cabinet. The state controller, an independent officer appointed by and responsible only to the Knesset, is the auditor of the government's financial transactions and is empowered to inquire into the efficiency of its activities. The civil service is gradually becoming a politically neutral and professional body; previously, it tended to support the party in power. The government's extensive functions have tended to enlarge the bureaucracy. Local and regional government Administratively, the country is divided into six districtsthe Central, Jerusalem, Haifa, Northern, Southern, and Tel Aviv districtsand into 15 subdistricts. There are three types of local government councilsmunicipalities, local councils (for smaller settlements), and regional rural councils. The bylaws of the councils, as well as their budgets, are subject to approval by the Ministry of the Interior. Cultural life The cultural milieu The Shrine of the Book, which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls, at the Israel Museum in West Jerusalem. Jews arriving from communities in many parts of the world have brought with them both their own cultural inheritance and aspects of individual majority cultures that they have absorbed over the centuries. The intermingling of the Ashkenazi, Sefardi, and Middle Eastern traditions has been of profound importance, although the arrival of immigrants from Russia and various other former Soviet republics has slowed the trend, common among immigrants from central Europe and America, toward creating a cultural synthesis embracing both East and West. There has been little cultural interchange between the Jewish and Arab sections of Israel's population, and the impact of Arab culture on Israeli cultural life has been insignificant. The revival of the Hebrew language has been of great importance. Jewish tradition, both religious and historical, and the Hebrew language together constitute the foundation of cultural life in Israel. The state of the arts The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra has an international reputation. Folk dancing and popular singing combine foreign elements with original creative manifestations. Different folk traditions, such as folk songs, musical instruments, and other expressions of popular culture, have been preserved mainly among the Oriental Jewish communities and among the rural Arab population. Painting and sculpture are still largely influenced by European schools, but local schools have begun to emerge. In literature and drama a concentration on themes of the Diaspora is giving way to an interest in national themes. Among Israel's most distinguished writers is Shmuel Yosef Agnon (18881970), who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1966.