Israel (; Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל; Arabic: إِسْرَائِيل), also known as the State of Israel, is a country in Western Asia, located on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. It has land borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan on the east, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the east and west, respectively, and Egypt to the southwest. The country contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. Israel's economic and technological center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, although the state's sovereignty over Jerusalem has only partial recognition.
Israel has evidence of the earliest migration of hominids out of Africa. Canaanite tribes are archaeologically attested since the Middle Bronze Age, while the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah emerged during the Iron Age. The Neo-Assyrian Empire destroyed Israel around 720 BCE. Judah was later conquered by the Babylonian, Persian and Hellenistic empires and had existed as Jewish autonomous provinces. The successful Maccabean Revolt led to an independent Hasmonean kingdom by 110 BCE, which in 63 BCE however became a client state of the Roman Republic that subsequently installed the Herodian dynasty in 37 BCE, and in 6 CE created the Roman province of Judea. Judea lasted as a Roman province until the failed Jewish revolts resulted in widespread destruction, the expulsion of the Jewish population and the renaming of the region from Iudaea to Syria Palaestina. Jewish presence in the region has persisted to a certain extent over the centuries. In the 7th century CE, the Levant was taken from the Byzantine Empire by the Arabs and remained in Muslim control until the First Crusade of 1099, followed by the Ayyubid conquest of 1187. The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt extended its control over the Levant in the 13th century until its defeat by the Ottoman Empire in 1517. During the 19th century, national awakening among Jews led to the establishment of the Zionist movement in the diaspora followed by waves of immigration to Ottoman Syria and later Mandatory Palestine.
 The 69 "Hammers" Squadron is an Israeli Air Force squadron operating the F-15I Thunder out of Hatzerim. It was formed in July 1948 to operate three B-17 Flying Fortresses which the fledgling Israeli Air Force had acquired in the United States. The squadron flew the Flying Fortress, a type credited with propelling the IAF into the realm of modern aerial warfare, during both the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and 1956 Suez Crisis. Disbanded in early 1957, 69 Squadron reformed in 1969 to fly the F-4 Phantom II. 69 Squadron operated the Kurnass (Sledgehammer), as the Phantom was known in Israel, for 25 years and its Phantoms saw extensive action during the War of Attrition, Yom Kippur War, First Lebanon War and numerous engagements in between. The squadron often played a central role in IAF Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) efforts and took part in repeated battles against Egyptian and Syrian air defense arrays. The squadron retired its Phantoms in 1994 but reformed shortly thereafter to operate the F-15I Thunder. Described as the "long-range, heavy bombing element of Israeli air power", 69 Squadron is reputed to have carried out Operation Orchard, the 6 September 2007 airstrike on a nuclear site in Syria.
'History, people, places'
Operation Entebbe, also known as the Entebbe Raid or Operation Thunderbolt, was a counter-terrorism hostage-rescue mission carried out by the Israel Defense Force (IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on the night of July 3 and early morning of July 4, 1976. In the wake of the hijacking of Air France flight 139 and the hijackers' threats to kill the hostages if their prisoner release demands were not met, a plan was drawn up to airlift the hostages to safety. These plans took into account the likelihood of armed resistance from Ugandan military troops.
Originally codenamed Operation Thunderbolt (or Operation Thunderball) by the IDF, the operation was retroactively renamed Operation Yonatan in memory of the Sayeret Matkal commander Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu who was killed in action. Three hostages were killed and five Israeli commandos were wounded. A fourth hostage was murdered by Ugandan army officers at a nearby hospital. (more...)
Archive – More Israeli history
Matza (also Matzah, Matzoh, or Matsah) Hebrew מַצָּה, in Ashkenazi matzo or matzoh, and, in Yiddish, matze) is a cracker-like flatbread made of white plain flour and water. The dough is pricked in several places and not allowed to rise before or during baking, thereby producing a hard, flat bread. It is similar in preparation to the Southwest Asian lavash and the Indian chapati
Matza is the substitute for bread during the Jewish holiday of Passover, when eating chametz—bread and leavened products—is forbidden. Eating matza on the night of the seder is considered a positive mitzvah, i.e., a commandment. In the context of the Passover Seder meal, certain restrictions additional to the chametz prohibitions are to be met for the matza to be considered "mitzva matza", that is, matza that meets the requirements of the positive commandment to eat matza at the seder. (more...)
Archive – More Israeli culture
"America’s commitment to Israel’s security flows from a deeper place -- and that’s the values we share." - Barack Obama [1]
Illustration for the Song of Songs. Along with the Book of Esther, the ancient poem is an example of an ancient Israeli literature with no mention of God, and is traditionally read as an allegory of the relationship between God and Israel
Squad commanders exercise at Eliakim training base in 2012
Shrine of the Báb, built between 1949 and 1953, is an example of the architecture in Israel
Makhtesh Ramon, a type of crater unique to Israel and the Sinai Peninsula
UN Map, Palestine plan of partition with economic union
Map of Israel showing the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights
David dictating the Psalms. The practice of psalms is referred to as a philosophical and theological problem
Intel core i7-940. Intel developed its dual-core Core Duo processor at its Israel Development Center in Haifa.
Territory held by Israel: after the war The Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt in 1982.
A Bookplate done for Martin Buber; The plate is adorned with the walls of Jerusalem in the shape of a Shield of David, viewed from above
Immigration to Israel in the years 1948–2015. The two peaks were in 1949 and 1990.
A portion of the Isaiah scroll. One of the earliest known manuscripts of biblical literature
Habimah Theater in Tel Aviv
Diplomatic relations Diplomatic relations suspended Former diplomatic relations No diplomatic relations, but former trade relations No diplomatic relations
Matam high-tech park in Haifa
Israel's 1980 law declared that "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel."
Kfar Bar'am, an ancient Jewish village, abandoned some time between the 7th–13th centuries CE.
Tzofim Israeli scout movement fire ceremony in Tel Aviv
The Knesset chamber, home to the Israeli parliament
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Its building is optimized for computer trading, with systems located in an underground bunker to keep the exchange active during emergencies.
Gal Fridman, winner of Israel's first Olympic gold medal
Wikinews Israel portal
- 16 August 2019 – Israel–United States relations
- According to Israel's Interior ministry, U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib sends a letter to Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, asking for permission to visit her elderly grandmother in the West Bank. Tlaib's request was approved on the condition that she "not advance boycott activities for the duration of her visit". Tlaib later declines to come, saying she won't let Israel impose "oppressive conditions" on her. (CNN)
- 15 August 2019 – Israel–United States relations
- Two American Muslim congresswomen, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, are barred from entering Israel before a planned visit to the country due to their support of the BDS movement, a decision which was encouraged by U.S. President Donald Trump. (CNN)
- 11 August 2019 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Israeli riot police clash with Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Temple Mount site in East Jerusalem. With holidays coincidentally falling on the same day (11 August) this year for both Judaism and Islam, some Palestinians began protesting the admittance of Jewish visitors to the site, despite a longstanding agreement barring Jewish visitors. Following the agreement, the Al-Aqsa police barred Jews from the site. Israeli forces then fired rubber bullets and tear gas at people inside. The Jews were then admitted, which caused further tensions on both sides of the dispute. (Al Jazeera)
- 10 August 2019 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Israeli forces shoot dead four Palestinian militants near the border with Gaza, the Israeli military say. Israel Defense Forces say the men were armed with assault rifles, anti-tank missiles and hand grenades. (The Guardian)
- ...That Israel has the 8th longest life expectancy in the world: 82.0 years. More than the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany.
- ...That there are 26 official Muslim States, 18 official Christian States, but there is only 1 Jewish State - Israel.
- ...That relative to its size, Israel is the largest immigrant absorbing nation on Earth, it has absorbed 350% of its population in 60 years.
- ...That Israel has more Nobel Prizes per capita than the United States, France and Germany. It has more laureates, in real numbers, than India, Spain and China.[1]
- ...That Israel's capital city, Jerusalem, is a holy city for Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
- ...That Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain of trees, made more remarkable by the fact that it is 60% desert.[1]
- ...That 93% of Israeli homes use Solar energy for water heating, the highest percentage in the world.[1]
- ...That Israeli scientific research institutions are ranked 3rd in the world.[1]
- ...That Israel is ranked 2nd in space sciences.[1]
- ...That Israel is one of the ten countries in the world capable of launching its own satellites.[2][3]
- ...That Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin -109 per 10,000 people - as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.[1]
- ...That Israel has the 3rd highest rate of entrepreneurship amongst women in the world.[1]
- ...That Israel has attracted the most venture capital investment per capita in the world, 30 times more than Europe.[1]
- ...That Israel leads the world in patents for medical equipment.[1]
- ...That Israel has more NASDAQ listed companies than any other country, besides the US. More than all of Europe, India, China and Japan combined.[1]
- ...That in proportion to its population Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute numbers Israel has more startup companies than any other country besides the US.[1]
- ...That Israel has the highest number of museums per capita in the world.[4]
- ...That Israel is the 8th happiest country on Earth.[5]
- ...That Israel has one of the best healthcare systems in the world according to OECD.[6]
- ...That Israel is ranked 16th in the Human Development Index. It's the highest standard of living in the Middle East, and the third highest in Asia.[7]
- ...That Israel is among the top three countries in cyber attack defense.[9]
- ...That Israel is the country which offers the best conditions for clean technology startup companies after Denmark.[10]
- ...That Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to population in the world.[11]
- ...That Israeli universities are among the best of the world.[12][13]
- ...That Israel is the second-most educated country after Canada.[14]
- ...That Israel is the Middle East’s only "free" state, according to Freedom House annual report.[15]
- ...That Israel's $300 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined.[17]
- ...That Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.[17]
- ...That Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as "conflict free."[17]
- ...That Israel has the largest fleet of F-16 aircraft outside of the US, numbering 250.[17]
- ...That the proportion of women among R&D workers in Israel is approximately 23.4%. This puts Israel in second place behind Denmark. Women earned 37% of all degrees granted in science and engineering in Israel, one of the highest proportions in the world.[18]
- ...That the military of Israel is ranked the 11th most powerful military in the world. [19]
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