Israel

This article is about the country. For the region, see Land of Israel. For other uses, see Israel (disambiguation).

State of Israel
מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל (Hebrew)
Medīnat Yisrā'el
دولة إسرائيل (Arabic)
Dawlat Isrā'īl
Emblem
Anthem: הַתִּקְוָה (Hatīkvāh; "The Hope")
Israel within internationally recognised borders shown in dark green; Israeli-occupied territories shown in light green.
Capital
and largest city
Jerusalem
(limited recognition)[fn 1][fn 2]
31°47′N 35°13′E / 31.783°N 35.217°E / 31.783; 35.217
Official languageHebrew[8]
Special statusArabic[fn 3]
Ethnic groups
(2025 est.)[12]
  • 71.9% Jews
  • 21% Arabs
  • 7.1% others
Religion
(2023 est.)[13]
  • 73.7% Judaism
  • 18.3% Islam
  • 1.9% Christianity
  • 1.6% Druze faith
  • 4.5% others
Demonym(s)Israeli
GovernmentUnitary parliamentary republic
• President
Isaac Herzog
Benjamin Netanyahu
• Knesset Speaker
Amir Ohana
• Chief Justice
Yitzhak Amit
LegislatureKnesset
Establishment
14 May 1948
Area
• Total
22,072 or 20,770[14][15] km2 (8,522 or 8,019 sq mi)[a] (148th)
• Water (%)
2.71[16]
Population
• 2025 estimate
10,119,400[17] (93rd)
• 2022 census
9,601,720[18][fn 4]
• Density
459/km2 (1,188.8/sq mi) (30th)
GDP (PPP)2025 estimate
• Total
 $569.985 billion[19] (50th)
• Per capita
 $56,435[19] (35th)
GDP (nominal)2025 estimate
• Total
 $583.361 billion[19] (26th)
• Per capita
 $57,760[19] (16th)
Gini (2021) 37.9[20]
medium inequality
HDI (2023) 0.919[21]
very high (27th)
CurrencyNew shekel (₪) (ILS)
Time zoneUTC+2:00 (IST)
• Summer (DST)
UTC+3:00 (IDT)
Calling code+972
ISO 3166 codeIL
Internet TLD.il
  1. ^ 20,770 km2 is Israel within the Green Line. 22,072 km2 includes the occupied Golan Heights (c. 1,200 km2 (460 sq mi)) and East Jerusalem (c. 64 km2 (25 sq mi)).

Israel,[a] officially the State of Israel,[b] is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. It shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. It occupies the Palestinian territories of the West Bank in the east and the Gaza Strip in the south-west, as well as the Syrian Golan Heights in the northeast. Israel also has a small coastline on the Red Sea at its southernmost point, and part of the Dead Sea lies along its eastern border. Its proclaimed capital is Jerusalem,[22] while Tel Aviv is its largest urban area and economic centre.

Israel is located in a region known as the Land of Israel, synonymous with Canaan, the Holy Land, the Palestine region, and Judea. In antiquity it was home to the Canaanite civilisation, followed by the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Situated at a continental crossroad, the region experienced demographic changes under the rule of empires from the Romans to the Ottomans. European antisemitism in the late 19th century galvanised Zionism, a movement which sought to return to Palestine to establish a homeland for the Jewish people. Zionists gained British support with the Balfour Declaration. After World War I, Britain occupied the region and established Mandatory Palestine in 1920. Increased Jewish immigration in the lead-up to the Holocaust and British foreign policy in the Middle East led to intercommunal conflict between Jews and Arabs,[23][24] which escalated into a civil war in 1947 after the United Nations (UN) proposed partitioning the land between them.

Israel declared independence at the end of the British Mandate on 14 May 1948, and neighboring Arab states invaded the next day. A 1949 armistice left Israel with territory beyond the UN plan;[25] no Arab state was created, as the Gaza Strip and the West Bank came under Egyptian and Jordanian control.[25][26][27] Most Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled by Zionist militias in an ethnic cleansing known as the Nakba, with those who stayed becoming Israel's main minority.[28][29][30] The Jewish exodus from the Muslim world increased the country's population in subsequent decades.[31][32] In the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Egyptian Sinai Peninsula and Syrian Golan Heights. Peace was signed with Egypt in 1979 (Sinai returned in 1982) and with Jordan in 1994. The 1993 Oslo Accords with the Palestinians established mutual recognition and limited self-rule, and the 2020 Abraham Accords normalised ties with more Arab states. The Israeli–Palestinian conflict remains unresolved, with wars and clashes with Palestinian militant groups. Settlement expansion in the occupied territories, and the annexations of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, are regarded as violations of international law. Israel's practices in its occupation of the Palestinian territories have drawn sustained international criticism—along with accusations that it has committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against the Palestinians—from experts, human rights organisations and UN officials.

The Basic Laws of Israel establish the Knesset, a parliament elected by proportional representation. It shapes the government, led by the prime minister, and elects the largely ceremonial president.[33] Israel has one of the largest economies in the Middle East,[34] one of the highest standards of living in Asia, the world's 26th-largest economy by nominal GDP and 16th by nominal GDP per capita.[19][35] Technologically advanced, Israel allocates a larger share of its economy to research and development than any other state[36][37] and is believed to possess nuclear weapons. The culture of Israel combines Jewish traditions, including those of the diaspora, with Arab influences.

  1. ^ "Foreign Ministry statement regarding Palestinian-Israeli settlement". mid.ru. 6 April 2017. Archived from the original on 4 January 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  2. ^ "Czech Republic announces it recognizes West Jerusalem as Israel's capital". The Jerusalem Post. 6 December 2017. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2017. The Czech Republic currently, before the peace between Israel and Palestine is signed, recognizes Jerusalem to be in fact the capital of Israel in the borders of the demarcation line from 1967." The Ministry also said that it would only consider relocating its embassy based on "results of negotiations.
  3. ^ "Honduras recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital". The Times of Israel. 29 August 2019. Archived from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  4. ^ "Guatemala se suma a EEUU y también trasladará su embajada en Israel a Jerusalén" [Guatemala joins US, will also move embassy to Jerusalem]. Infobae (in Spanish). 24 December 2017. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2017. Guatemala's embassy was located in Jerusalem until the 1980s, when it was moved to Tel Aviv.
  5. ^ "Nauru recognizes J'lem as capital of Israel". Israel National News. 29 August 2019. Archived from the original on 11 June 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Trump Recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's Capital and Orders U.S. Embassy to Move". The New York Times. 6 December 2017. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  7. ^ The Legal Status of East Jerusalem (PDF), Norwegian Refugee Council, December 2013, pp. 8, 29, archived (PDF) from the original on 10 May 2021, retrieved 26 October 2021
  8. ^ "Constitution for Israel". knesset.gov.il. Archived from the original on 4 August 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  9. ^ "Israel Passes 'National Home' Law, Drawing Ire of Arabs". The New York Times. 19 July 2018. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  10. ^ Lubell, Maayan (19 July 2018). "Israel adopts divisive Jewish nation-state law". Reuters. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  11. ^ "Arabic in Israel: an official language and a cultural bridge". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 18 December 2016. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  12. ^ Population, by Population Group (PDF). Monthly Bulletin of Statistics (Report). Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. 14 August 2025. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  13. ^ Population Of Israelis, by Religion (PDF). Statistical Abstract of Israel (Report). Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. 30 December 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  14. ^ "Israel". Central Intelligence Agency. 27 February 2023. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2023 – via CIA.gov.
  15. ^ "Israel country profile". BBC News. 24 February 2020. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  16. ^ "Surface water and surface water change". OECD.Stat. OECD. Archived from the original on 24 March 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  17. ^ "Time Series DataBank". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  18. ^ "Geographic Areas – Nationwide". 2022 Population Census Data. Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  19. ^ a b c d e "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2025 Edition. (Israel)". www.imf.org. International Monetary Fund. 22 April 2025. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  20. ^ "Gini Index coefficient". The World Factbook. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  21. ^ "Human Development Report 2025" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 6 May 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 May 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  22. ^ Akram, Susan M., Michael Dumper, Michael Lynk, and Iain Scobbie, eds. 2010. International Law and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Rights-Based Approach to Middle East Peace. Routledge. p. 119: "UN General Assembly Resolution 181 recommended the creation of an international zone, or corpus separatum, in Jerusalem to be administered by the UN for a 10-year period, after which there would be a referendum to determine its future. This approach applies equally to West and East Jerusalem and is not affected by the occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967. To a large extent it is this approach that still guides the diplomatic behaviour of states and thus has greater force in international law."
  23. ^ Morris, Benny (1999). Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881–2001 (reprint ed.). Knopf. ISBN 978-0-679-74475-7. Archived from the original on 22 March 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024. The fear of territorial displacement and dispossession was to be the chief motor of Arab antagonism to Zionism down to 1948 (and indeed after 1967 as well). Also quoted, among many, by Mark M. Ayyash (2019). Hermeneutics of Violence: A Four-Dimensional Conception. University of Toronto Press, p. 195 Archived 22 March 2024 at the Wayback Machine, ISBN 978-1-4875-0586-8. Accessed 22 March 2024.
  24. ^ Fildis, Ayse; Nisanci, Ensar (2019). "British Colonial Policy "Divide and Rule": Fanning Arab Rivalry in Palestine" (PDF). International Journal of Islamic and Civilizational Studies. 6 (1). UTM Press. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  25. ^ a b "Zionism | Definition, History, Examples, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 19 October 2023. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  26. ^ Meir-Glitzenstein, Esther (Fall 2018). "Turning Points in the Historiography of Jewish Immigration from Arab Countries to Israel". Israel Studies. 23 (3). Indiana University Press: 114–122. doi:10.2979/israelstudies.23.3.15. JSTOR 10.2979/israelstudies.23.3.15. S2CID 150208821. The mass immigration from Arab countries began in mid-1949 and included three communities that relocated to Israel almost in their entirety: 31,000 Jews from Libya, 50,000 from Yemen, and 125,000 from Iraq. Additional immigrants arrived from Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Iran, India, and elsewhere. Within three years, the Jewish population of Israel doubled. The ethnic composition of the population shifted as well, as immigrants from Muslim counties and their offspring now comprised one third of the Jewish population—an unprecedented phenomenon in global immigration history. From 1952–60, Israel regulated and restricted immigration from Muslim countries with a selective immigration policy based on economic criteria, and sent these immigrants, most of whom were North African, to peripheral Israeli settlements. The selective immigration policy ended in 1961 when, following an agreement between Israel and Morocco, about 100,000 Jews immigrated to the State. From 1952–68 about 600,000 Jews arrived in Israel, three quarters of whom were from Arab countries and the remaining immigrants were largely from Eastern Europe. Today fewer than 30,000 remain in Muslim countries, mostly concentrated in Iran and Turkey.
  27. ^ Fischbach 2008, p. 26–27.
  28. ^ Slater 2020, pp. 81–92, 350, "[p. 350] It is no longer a matter of serious dispute that in the 1947–48 period—beginning well before the Arab invasion in May 1948—some 700,000 to 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from or fled their villages and homes in Israel in fear of their lives—an entirely justifiable fear, in light of massacres carried out by Zionist forces."
  29. ^ Ghanim, Honaida (March 2009). "Poetics of Disaster: Nationalism, Gender, and Social Change Among Palestinian Poets in Israel After Nakba". International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society. 22 (1): 23–39 [25–26]. doi:10.1007/s10767-009-9049-9. ISSN 0891-4486. JSTOR 40608203. S2CID 144148068. Archived from the original on 6 November 2021. Around 750,000–900,000 Palestinians were systematically expelled from their homes and lands and about 531 villages were deliberately destroyed.
  30. ^ Cleveland, William L.; Bunton, Martin (2016). A History of the Modern Middle East. Westview Press. p. 270. ISBN 978-0-429-97513-4. Not only was there no Palestinian Arab state, but the vast majority of the Arab population in the territory that became Israel-over 700,000 people-had become refugees. The Arab flight from Palestine began during the intercommunal war and was at first the normal reaction of a civilian population to nearby fighting-a temporary evacuation from the zone of combat with plans to return once hostilities ceased. However, during spring and early summer 1948, the flight of the Palestinian Arabs was transformed into a permanent mass exodus... .
  31. ^ Beker, Avi (2005). "The Forgotten Narrative: Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries". Jewish Political Studies Review. 17 (3/4): 3–19. ISSN 0792-335X. JSTOR 25834637. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  32. ^ Dinstein, Yoram (11 October 2021). Israel Yearbook on Human Rights, Volume 6 (1976). BRILL. p. 282. ISBN 978-90-04-42287-2. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  33. ^ Cite error: The named reference cnn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  34. ^ "Israel datasets". www.imf.org. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  35. ^ "30 Wealthiest Countries by Per Capita Net Worth". Yahoo Finance. 9 September 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  36. ^ Dutta, Soumitra; Lanvin, Bruno; Wunsch-Vincent, Sacha (2022). Global Innovation Index 2023, 15th Edition. World Intellectual Property Organization. doi:10.34667/tind.46596. ISBN 978-92-805-3432-0. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  37. ^ Getzoff, Marc (9 August 2023). "Most Technologically Advanced Countries In The World 2023". Global Finance Magazine. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.


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