The State of Israel, an independent nation in southwest Asia, is located between the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea and the head of the Gulf of \TAqaba\t, an arm of the Red Sea. Israel was established on May 14, 1948, as a Jewish state on land that had been part of the British mandate for \TPalestine\t. Historically, it is considered the Holy Land for Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Since 1948, Israel has fought several wars with its Arab neighbors, who refused to recognize the State of Israel. At the end of the first war (1949) Israel occupied substantially more territory than had been allocated in the 1947 United Nations plan that partitioned Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. The eastern and northern quarters of \TJerusalem\t, the \TWest Bank\t of the Jordan River, the \TGaza Strip\t, \TSinai\t, and the GOLAN HEIGHTS were brought under Israeli control as a result of the war of 1967. According to the terms of the peace treaty signed by Egypt and Israel in 1979, Israel returned Sinai over a three-year period. Despite a history dominated by hostilities, in little more than three decades of existence Israel has transformed its land and developed a modern, technologically advanced, and highly urbanized society. LAND Israel's land extends for 420 km (260 mi) from the northern border with Lebanon and Syria in the Golan Heights to \TElat\t (Eilat), the country's port on the Gulf of Aqaba in the south. The territory extends inland from the Mediterranean for 100 km (60 mi)--including the occupied West Bank--to the Rift Valley. The valley is a continuation of Africa's Great Rift Valley and is composed in part, from north to south, of the Hula Valley (Lake Hula was drained in the 1950s); the Sea of \TGalilee\t, which lies 212 m (696 ft) below sea level; the \TJordan River\t; and the \TDead Sea\t, with the world's lowest land elevation (minus 396 m/minus 1,300 ft). The Arava Valley occupies the rift between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea to the south. The Rift Valley is associated with volcanic rocks and hot springs. The southern half of Israel west of the Rift Valley, mostly desert, is known as the \TNegev\t. North of the Negev is a mountainous region. The mountains rise to 1,208 m (3,963 ft) on Mount Meron, located in the far north near Safad, and have an average elevation of 600 m (2,000 ft). The mountains are divided by the northwest-southeast trending Plain of \TEsdraelon\t that extends from \THaifa\t to Beth Shean on the edge of the Rift Valley. North of Esdraelon are the hills of Galilee; to the south are Samaria and Judea (the biblical terms used by Israel for what others call the West Bank). The principal lowland is a narrow coastal plain along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. North of Haifa it is known as the Plain of Zebulun; between Haifa and \TTel Aviv\t it forms the Plain of \TSharon\t; and south of Tel Aviv, the Plain of Judea. Soils The steeper mountain slopes that cover much of Israel have been severely eroded and are mostly barren. The best soils are alluvial, found in the Hula, Jordan, and Kishon valleys and the Plain of Esdraelon. The soils of the coastal plain are fertile but sandy, requiring large quantities of water and fertilizer to be productive. Terra rossa soils, found in many upland limestone areas, tend to be shallow, stony, and suitable only for pasture and nonmechanized farming. Some 20% of the total land area is arable, and 40% of this is irrigated. Climate Israel's climate is Mediterranean in the north and arid in the south. In summer the entire area is dominated by a subtropical high that brings cloudless skies and no precipitation. In winter, the southern half of the country remains under the subtropical high, but weather in the northern half is influenced by cyclonic depressions that pass over the Mediterranean, bringing moderate rainfall. Precipitation in the north averages 700 mm (28 in), falling primarily from October to March. Rainfall amounts diminish rapidly to the south. Beyond \TBeersheba\t and \TGaza\t desert conditions predominate. Average summer temperatures range from 18 deg to 32 deg C (65 deg to 90 deg F) over most of the country. Winters are mild, with temperatures averaging 14 deg C (57 deg F) along the coast and 9 deg C (48 deg F) in the mountains. The Rift Valley is about 9 C degrees (15 F degrees) warmer than the rest of the nation during the winter. The Dead Sea area is one of the hottest regions in the world. Drainage Israel's most important river is the Jordan, 200 km (120 mi) long. Its principal tributary is the Yarmuk. The only other permanent rivers are the 32-km-long (20-mi) Yarkon and part of the 43-km-long (27-mi) Kishon, both of which flow to the Mediterranean. Other watercourses are usually dry and hold water only after heavy rainfall. The waters of the Sea of Galilee are fresh; those of the Dead Sea are saltier than the ocean and rich in minerals. Israel's groundwater resources are being depleted rapidly. The National Water Carrier distributes groundwater and water from the Sea of Galilee by way of the Kinneret-Negev Conduit, as far south as Beersheba. Natural Vegetation and Wildlife Little remains of Israel's natural vegetation and indigenous animal life. The natural forest cover had already disappeared in ancient times, but recent reforestation of the uplands has covered 550 sq km (210 sq mi) with new forests consisting mainly of pine trees. Wildlife, too, is being restored through protective laws and the establishment of animal preserves for migrating birds, deer, and gazelles. Resources Israel has no deposits of coal, only small deposits of petroleum and natural gas, and no rivers suitable for the generation of hydroelectric power. Copper ore mining at Timna has been abandoned. Israel's principal minerals are potash, produced by evaporation of Dead Sea water, and phosphates. PEOPLE Israel was established in 1948 as a homeland for Jews, and the Jewish population now forms 82% of the total within the 1949 frontiers. Immigrants (olim) come from many different national backgrounds, including the urbanized societies of Europe and North America and the predominantly Islamic culture areas of Asia and North Africa. The latter often faced problems of adjustment to Israel's democratic and technologically advanced society. Due to their higher birthrate, Jews from Asia and North Africa (including, most recently, substantial numbers of Ethiopian Jewish immigrants called \TFalashas\t) have formed a growing percentage of the population and have gained in political influence. This trend is being altered by the massive influx of Soviet Jews that began in late 1989. Soviet Jews form the largest wave of migrants in Israeli history; some 200,000 arrived in 1990 alone. It is anticipated that continued Soviet Jewish immigration will ensure a Jewish majority and that Russian Jews will become the largest ethnic grouping in the country. The non-Jewish population consists mainly of Arabs, who make up 13% of the total population, and \TDruzes\t, who account for less than 2%. Both groups are concentrated in Galilee. In the territories occupied since 1967, Arabs constitute by far the majority, although thousands of Jews have settled in the West Bank since 1979. Language The official languages of Israel are Hebrew and Arabic. The great majority of Jews speak Hebrew in public but often use their native tongue in their homes. English is widely used as a second language and Russian has become commonplace. Religion Freedom of religion and the inviolability of the holy places and centers of worship for all religions are guaranteed by law. For the Jewish population, supreme religious authority is vested in the Chief Rabbinate, made up of a chief rabbi from the Ashkenazim and one from the Sephardim, along with the Supreme Rabbinical Council. Small Jewish minorities that reject the rabbinic tradition and law include the Karaites, (near Tel Aviv) and the Samaritans (in Holon and Nablus). Israel's Arab minority is 76% Muslim and 14% Christian. Also followers of Islam are the Circassians, a small group brought to the region in the 19th century from the Caucasus and now concentrated in Galilee. The Druzes broke away from Islam in the 11th century and practice their own religion. Israel is also a center of the \TBaha'i\t faith. Demography Israel is one of the world's most highly urbanized nations. The three largest cities are Jerusalem, Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and Haifa. Jewish rural settlers generally live in cooperative villages called moshavim or collective villages called kibbutzim (singular, \Tkibbutz\t), operated on a communal basis. There are a smaller number of moshavoth, based on private enterprise, and moshavim shitufim, where production is based on a communal effort as in the kibbutz but households remain private units. In 1990, 1,058,122 Arabs and 180,000 Jewish settlers lived in the occupied West Bank area, including East Jerusalem. Education and Health Israel ranks among the world's most highly developed nations in providing educational and health services. Education is free and compulsory through grade 12; parental income determines fees for children attending postprimary schools. Higher education is provided in the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (1912) in Haifa and at six universities, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1918). The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovoth is a major scientific research center. Health-care costs for the overwhelming majority of the population are covered by health-insurance programs. Major communicable diseases are under control, and the death rate is one of the lowest in Asia. The Arts One of Israel's greatest cultural achievements is its revival of the \THebrew language\t, which has been adapted for modern use with the aid of Jerusalem's Academy for the Hebrew Language, founded in 1953. Modern Israeli literature is now written in Hebrew, and all plays performed are either translated into or originally written in Hebrew (see \THebrew and Yiddish literature\t). Israeli architects are working to develop a national style and design. For about 25 years the German Bauhaus style was emulated, but the strongest influence is the style of the Israeli architect Moshe \TSafdie\t, creator of Habitat (in Montreal). The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra enjoys world renown. Other orchestras and many choral and chamber music groups are active in the country. Archaeology is pursued not only by professionals but also by amateurs as a hobby. Many relics are housed in the nation's museums, especially the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. ECONOMIC ACTIVITY In the early years immediately following independence, resources were scarce and rationing was imposed. Real economic growth did not occur until the second half of the 1950s as overseas capital became available for investment. From that time until 1973 the gross national product grew at an annual rate of 10%. After 1973 its growth rate declined sharply, and the economy was adversely affected by inflation, currency devaluations, the world petroleum crisis, and military expenditures. Since the mid-1980s, faced with an inflation rate exceeding 100%, a huge foreign debt, and a severe balance-of-payments deficit, the government has introduced a series of economic austerity measures. By 1988 the inflation rate had been reduced to less than 25%. In the early 1990s, however, the economy faced new strains due to the massive costs of resettling hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews, and unemployment rose. The Histadrut, Israel's labor federation, is the country's largest voluntary organization. A powerful political and economic force, it owns many economic enterprises and supervises health care. Manufacturing and Mining Tel Aviv and Haifa are the principal manufacturing centers, but industrial facilities are dispersed throughout the nation. The major industries are food processing and the manufacture of textiles, chemicals, fertilizers, machinery, electrical goods, armaments, and electronic and precision equipment. Diamond cutting and polishing is the principal export-oriented industry. Mining is not economically significant. The principal mineral product is potash, extracted from the Dead Sea. Small natural-gas deposits are worked at the southern end of the Dead Sea, and small quantities of crude petroleum, supplying less than 1% of national consumption, are produced in the Heletz region southeast of Ashqelon. Energy Israel is heavily dependent on petroleum for its energy needs. Except for the small domestic output, petroleum is imported, and it is refined in Haifa and Ashdod. In 1989 electricity production reached 17.5 billion kW h. Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing The amount of land cultivated and irrigated has steadily increased since 1948, primarily through creation of new communal and collective settlements. Poultry and dairy farming have also expanded, along with increased output of citrus, olives, grapes, cotton, vegetables, and flowers. Citrus, especially Jaffa oranges, and early vegetables are important export items. Forestry is commercially insignificant, but reforestation is actively promoted in the interest of soil and groundwater conservation. Fishing in the immediate area is of minor importance. Transportation All transportation facilities are state controlled. Rail transportation is poorly developed, and none of the country's waterways are navigable. Accordingly, most passenger and freight traffic moves by road. Israel's two ports on the Mediterranean are Haifa and Ashdod; Elat serves as the port for the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. El-Al, the Israeli airline, flies from Ben-Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, the principal international airport. Domestic flights are operated by Arkia Israel Inland Airlines. Communications The Israeli government controls the radio and television broadcasting industry of the country. Publishing is concentrated in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where where all of the daily newspapers are printed. Most newspapers are in Hebrew, and many are subsidized by political parties or religious groups. Trade Israel's imports usually exceed exports in value. The deficit is made up in part by revenues from tourism, financial aid, and foreign investment. Diamonds are the leading export, followed by machinery, electronic equipment, fruit, and textiles. The principal imports are uncut diamonds from South Africa, fuel and lubricants, and consumer goods. Israel enjoys special trading privileges in the European Economic Community (EEC), and most trade takes place with EEC members and the United States. GOVERNMENT Israel is divided into six administrative districts: Central, Haifa, Jerusalem, Northern, Southern, and Tel Aviv. The country is a parliamentary democracy, with legislative powers vested in the Knesset, a unicameral parliament of 120 members elected for 4-year terms, pending dissolution. The cabinet, which holds executive power, is chosen by the prime minister, but must be endorsed by the Knesset. Israel does not have a written constitution. A number of basic laws serve together as the fundamental law. All citizens of age 18 or over are eligible to vote. Votes are cast for national lists of candidates submitted by each of the political parties. Usually more than 10 political parties win seats in an election, and the governments have always been based on coalitions. Until 1968 the Mapai party dominated Israeli politics, led by David \TBen-Gurion\t, Moshe \TSharett\t, and Levi \TEshkol\t. In 1968, Mapai merged with Rafi and Achdut Avoda to form the Labor party. The new party remained dominant under Golda \TMeir\t and Yitzhak \TRabin\t until 1977, when Likud, a coalition of right-wing parties led by the Herut (Freedom) party, came to power under Menachem \TBegin\t. Begin was succeeded in 1983 by Yitzhak \TShamir\t. In a 1984 power-sharing agreement, Labors leader Shimon \TPeres\t became prime minister; Shamir replaced him in 1986. Indecisive results in the 1988 elections led to the formation of another Likud-Labor coalition, with Shamir as prime minister. Disagreements over how to proceed with the Middle East peace process led to the collapse of this coalition in the spring of 1990. Following a loss of a vote of confidence, the government headed by Shamir resigned. After an unsuccessful effort by Peres to form and lead a new coalition, Shamir constructed a Likut-led center-right-religious party coalition government, which was installed in June 1990. The head of state is the president, who is elected by the Knesset for five years. Chaim Herzog, who became the country's sixth president in 1983, was reelected in 1988. HISTORY The modern state of Israel was established in territory that had been granted as a League of Nations mandate to Great Britain following World War I. The creation of a Jewish homeland was an objective of \TZionism\t, a movement that developed politically in the 19th century. In the \TBalfour Declaration\t of 1917 the British government pledged its support for this goal, and the declaration was incorporated into the terms of the British mandate over Palestine, which took effect in 1922. Serious violence soon arose between the Arabs and the Jews, and the British, who had made promises to both groups, were unable to satisfy either. Upheavals brought about by World War II and the decimation of European Jewry stimulated action toward the creation of a Jewish homeland. In November 1947 the United Nations voted to divide Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. The British withdrew from the area on May 13, 1948, conceding failure in achieving peace between the Jews and Arabs. On May 14, Israel proclaimed its independence. On May 15 the Arabs attacked, refusing to recognize both the partition of Palestine and the new nation. Since the partition Israel's boundaries have been redrawn along truce lines established by cease-fire agreements following the several \TArab-Israeli Wars\t. During the first few years of Israel's existence, the state's resources were strained by continued conflict with the Arabs and by an influx of Jewish immigrants that doubled the population from 650,000 in 1948 to 1,300,000 by 1952. Between 1953 and 1956 immigration slowed to 30,000 a year, and funds from overseas, along with restitution money paid by West Germany for Nazi war crimes, financed Israel's planned development of agriculture, irrigation, settlements, and industry. Following the Suez-Sinai War of 1956, Israel enjoyed a period of consolidation and economic growth, although the nation experienced repeated terrorist attacks mounted by Palestinian guerrilla groups that were eventually consolidated under the control of the \TPalestine Liberation Organization\t (\TPLO\t). In the Six Day War of 1967, Israel occupied the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip as well as the Golan Heights and the West Bank of Jordan, and it refused to leave the occupied territories until permanent peace treaties were signed. Another period of economic expansion followed, with new growth in immigration, industry, and trade. Israel held off the surprise Arab attack of October 1973 (the Yom Kippur War). In 1977 a right-wing government under Menachem Begin assumed control, and its signing (Mar. 26, 1979) of a peace treaty with Egypt encouraged hopes for an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Prime Minister Begin, however, formally proclaimed the entire city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 1980, annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, and continued to promote the establishment of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. In 1982, Israel invaded parts of Lebanon, which had become a base for \TPLO\t guerrillas. The Labor-Likud coalition that took office in 1984 withdrew most Israeli troops from Lebanon in 1985. In December 1987 the lack of progress in the Middle East peace process helped to spark an uprising (\Tintifada\t) by Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that continued despite Israeli efforts to end it by military and administrative means. Early in 1989 the government offered to hold elections and grant some form of autonomy to Palestinians in the occupied territories if the uprising ended; the \TPLO\t rejected the proposal. Subsequent efforts to initiate Arab-Israeli peace negotiations failed, and the August 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait raised fears of a new war involving Israel. Israel refrained from direct involvement in the 1991 \TPersian Gulf War\t, despite Iraqi SCUD missile attacks on Israeli civilian targets. After the war there was a renewed U.S.-led effort to inaugurate Arab-Israeli peace talks. At the resulting regional peace conference, which was held in Madrid, Spain, from Oct. 30 to Nov. 4, 1991, Israeli delegates for the first time sat down to negotiate directly with Palestinian (though not the \TPLO\t), Jordanian, and Syrian representatives. Yehuda Karmon Reviewed by Bernard Reich Bibliography: Arian, A., Politics in Israel, rev. ed. (1989); Dan, U., To the Promised Land (1988); Elon, Amos, The Israelis (1985); Friedman, T. L., From Beirut to Jerusalem (1989; repr. 1990); Goldschneider, C., Israel's Changing Society (1990); Grant, M., The History of Ancient Israel (1987); Herzog, Chaim, The Arab-Israeli Wars (1982); Karmon, Yehuda, Israel, a Regional Geography (1971); Medding, P.Y., The Founding of Israeli Democracy, 1948-1967 (1990); Metz, H.C., ed., Israel: A Country Study (1990); O'Brien, C. C., The Siege (1986); Oz, Amos, In the Land of Israel, trans. by M. Goldberg-Bartura (1983); Reich, B., Israel (1985); Reich, B., and Kieval, G.R., eds., Israel Faces the Future (1986) and Israeli National Security Policy (1988); Rivlin, P., The Israeli Economy (1990); Sachar, Howard M., A History of Israel, 2 vols. (1979-87).