Israel
Increased Jewish immigration in the leadup to the Holocaust and British colonial policy led to intercommunal conflict between Jews and Arabs,[24][25] which escalated into a civil war in 1947 after the United Nations (UN) proposed partitioning the land between them.[78] In 587/6 BCE, following a revolt in Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar II besieged and destroyed Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple,[79][80] dissolved the kingdom and exiled much of the Judean elite to Babylon.The civil unrest weakened Seleucid rule, and in the late 2nd century the semi-autonomous Hasmonean Kingdom of Judea arose, eventually attaining full independence and expanding into neighboring regions.[88] A second uprising known as the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136 CE) initially allowed the Jews to form an independent state, but the Romans brutally crushed the rebellion, devastating and depopulating Judea's countryside.[144] In 1922, the League of Nations granted Britain the Mandate for Palestine under terms which included the Balfour Declaration with its promise to the Jews and with similar provisions regarding the Arab Palestinians.The need to solve the crisis led Ben-Gurion to sign a reparations agreement with West Germany that triggered mass protests by Jews angered at the idea that Israel could accept monetary compensation for the Holocaust.[200][201][202] Israel joined a secret alliance with the UK and France and overran the Sinai Peninsula in the Suez Crisis but was pressured to withdraw by the UN in return for guarantees of Israeli shipping rights.In the Six-Day War, Israel captured and occupied the West Bank from Jordan, the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and the Golan Heights from Syria.On 6 October 1973, the Egyptian and Syrian armies launched a surprise attack against Israeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights, opening the Yom Kippur War.[245][246] The following year, Shimon Peres on behalf of Israel and Yasser Arafat for the PLO signed the Oslo Accords, which gave the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) the right to govern parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.[256][257] Ehud Barak, elected prime minister in 1999, withdrew forces from southern Lebanon and conducted negotiations with PNA Chairman Yasser Arafat and U.S. President Bill Clinton at the 2000 Camp David Summit.[261][262][263][264] Sharon became prime minister in a 2001 election; he carried out his plan to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip and spearheaded the construction of the West Bank barrier,[265] ending the intifada.[277][278][279] After clearing militants from its territory, Israel launched one of the most destructive bombing campaigns in modern history[280][281] and invaded Gaza on 27 October with the stated objectives of destroying Hamas and freeing hostages.Israel is accused of carrying out a genocide against the Palestinian people by a United Nations agency, experts, governments, and non-governmental organisations during its invasion of the Gaza Strip in the ongoing Israel–Hamas war.At the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, it is bounded by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan and the West Bank to the east, and Egypt and the Gaza Strip to the southwest.[291] Despite its small size, Israel is home to a variety of geographic features, from the Negev desert in the south to the inland fertile Jezreel Valley, with mountain ranges of the Galilee, Carmel and towards the Golan in the north.[365] Amnesty International and other NGOs have documented mass arbitrary arrests, torture, unlawful killings, systemic abuses and impunity[366][367][368][369] in tandem with a denial of the right to Palestinian self-determination.[370][371][372][373][374] Prime Minister Netanyahu has defended the country's security forces for protecting the innocent from terrorists[375] and expressed contempt for what he describes as a lack of concern about the human rights violations committed by "criminal killers".[388] Amnesty's claim was criticised by politicians and representatives from Israel and its closest allies such as, the US,[389] the UK,[390] the European Commission,[391] Australia,[392] Netherlands[393] and Germany,[394] while said accusations were welcomed by Palestinians[395] and the Arab League.[397][398] Subsequent reports from his successor, Francesca Albanese and from Permanent United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Israel Palestine conflict chair Navi Pillay echoed the opinion.[399][400] In February 2024, The ICJ held public hearings in regards to the legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory including East Jerusalem.[459] As a result of its conscription programme, the IDF maintains approximately 176,500 active troops and 465,000 reservists, giving Israel one of the world's highest percentage of citizens with military training.[463] Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile air defence system gained worldwide acclaim after intercepting hundreds of rockets fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip.[338] Despite limited natural resources, intensive development of the agricultural and industrial sectors over the past decades has made Israel largely self-sufficient in food production, apart from grains and beef.[567] 90% of Palestinian Israelis reside in 139 densely populated towns and villages concentrated in the Galilee, Triangle and Negev regions, with the remaining 10% in mixed cities and neighbourhoods.[581] Jewish intermarriage rates run at over 35% and recent studies suggest that the percentage of Israelis descended from both Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews increases by 0.5 percent yearly, with over 25% of schoolchildren now originating from both.[586] In 2016[update], 399,300 Israelis lived in West Bank settlements,[329] including those that predated the establishment of the State of Israel and which were re-established after the Six-Day War, in cities such as Hebron and Gush Etzion bloc.Jerusalem is of special importance to Jews, Muslims, and Christians, as it is the home of sites that are pivotal to their religious beliefs, such as the Old City that incorporates the Western Wall and the Temple Mount (Al-Aqsa Mosque compound) and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.[664][666][667] Common themes in art are the mystical cities of Safed and Jerusalem, the bohemian café culture of Tel Aviv, agricultural landscapes, biblical stories and war.[671] Following independence, multiple government projects were commissioned, a grand part built in a brutalist style with heavy emphasis on the use of concrete and acclimatisation to the desert climate.
before the
Six-Day War
after the war
The
Sinai Peninsula
was returned to Egypt in 1982.
Countries that recognise Israel
Countries that have withdrawn their recognition of Israel
Countries that have suspended/cut bilateral ties with Israel, but maintain recognition
Countries that have never recognised Israel
Israel (disambiguation)HebrewArabic EmblemHatīkvāhGreen LineIsraeli-occupied territoriesJerusalemlimited recognitionEthnic groupsothersJudaismChristianityDruze FaithDemonym(s)IsraeliGovernmentUnitary parliamentary republicPresidentIsaac HerzogPrime MinisterBenjamin NetanyahuKnesset SpeakerAmir OhanaChief JusticeYitzhak AmitKnessetDeclaration of independencePopulationNew shekelDrives onCalling codeISO 3166 codeInternet TLDGolan HeightsEast JerusalemWestern AsiaSouthern LevantMiddle Eastshares bordersLebanonWest BankJordanGaza StripMediterranean SeaRed SeaDead Seaproclaimed capitalTel Avivlargest urban areaeconomic centerLand of IsraelPalestine regionHoly LandCanaanite civilisationkingdoms of Israel and Judahcontinental crossroaddemographic changesRomansOttomansZionismJewish homelandBritish supportWorld War IMandatory PalestineJewish immigrationthe Holocaustintercommunal conflictcivil warproposed partitioningUN's 1947 partition planend of the British Mandate for Palestinedeclared independenceFirst Arab–Israeli Wararmistice agreements77 percentPalestinian Arabsexpelled or fledthose remainingSix-Day WarSinai Peninsulasettlementsillegally occupied territoriescontraryYom Kippur WarOslo Accordsnormalised relationsefforts to resolveIsraeli–Palestinian conflictseveral warsmilitant groupswar crimesBasic Lawsparliamentproportional representationrevivedIts cultureJewishJewish diasporaeconomies in the Middle Eaststandards of living in Asiatechnologically advanced and developedspends proportionallynuclear weaponsIsrael (name)Merneptah Stelebiblical archaeologistsBritish Mandateestablishment in 1948David Ben-GurionChildren of IsraelKingdom of Israelentire Jewish peoplename IsraelSeptuagintAncient GreekEl (God)Hebrew BibleAngel of the Lordancient EgyptHistory of IsraelTimeline of Israeli historyPrehistory of the LevantEarly hominin presenceLevantUbeidiya prehistoric site