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Israel

The State of Israel was established in 1948 as a homeland for the Jewish people, Israel lies at the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea, it is bordered by Egypt on the southwest. Jordan on the east, Syria on the northeast, and Lebanon on the north until the early 1990s Israel was in conflict with its Arab neighbors, including five wars from 1948 to 1982. Israel also has had to forge a nation from diverse Jewish people from all parts of the world, while trying to integrate a large Arab minority. While striving to perpetuate the religious and cultural traditions that contributed to the Zionist rebirth, the tiny nation was also forced to become a first-rate military power.

Israel has a diversity of landforms. The highest areas are found in the mountainous regions of Galilee in the north, where Har Meron at 3, 963 feet is the highest point in the country. South of Galilee are the rocky limestone terraced hills and valleys of Samaria and Judea. The mountains of Galilee are separated from the hills of Samaria and Judea by the Plain of Esdraelon. Samarias highest mountain is Mount Ebal at 3, 084 feet, while Judeas highest is Tall Asur at 3, 333 feet. The Negev, a partly mountainous triangular desert, makes up 60 percent of Israels land area and extends southward from Judea to the Red Sea and the Sinai Peninsula

In the east the Jordan River flows southward through the Great Rift Valley from the Hula Panhandle through the Sea of Galilee and the central Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea, which is 1, 315 feet below sea level, is the lowest place on Earth.

The climate is Mediterranean is mild, moist winters and hot, dry summers. Its subtropical desert, the Negev, is hot and dries year-round. The northern mountainous areas have great temperature variations with some freezing and even occasional snow.

Parts of the south may receive but 1 inch of rain annually. However, the coastal and Upper Galilee regions receive from 25 to 45 inches.

Israels plant life is among the worlds richest. The hills produce vegetation that includes six kinds of natural forests with pine and oak the most common. Citrus trees are grown along the coast and on the coastal plain. More than 1000 plant species thrive in the Negev and Sinai deserts. In the Jordan Valley there are at least 40 varieties of tropical plants.

Israels animal life includes elements from several geographic regions and thousands of species, among them leopards, hyenas, polecats, wolves, jackals - coneys - ibex, porcupines, antelopes, and wild boars. Reptiles include agamas and gecko lizards and vipers. Birds include partridges, cuckoos, bustards, sand grouse, and desert larks. Eagles ospreys, and vultures nest in the mountain crags. There are more than 500 rare tropical marine species.

Population is unevenly distributed. The central and Tel Aviv coastal districts have 46 percent of the population, the northern hill and valley districts 16 percent, the Haifa district 14 percent, Jerusalem 12 percent, and the south 12 percent. Despite Israels many small rural settlements, almost 90 percent of the people live in cities. In 1909 Jewish immigrants built Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean. In 1950 Tel Aviv and Yafo to the south merged; the 1986 estimate of population was 322800. Haifa, 50 miles to the north with a population of 224600, is a seaport and heavy industrial center.

Jerusalem has had a Jewish majority for the last century. The Jewish population now makes up more than 70 percent of the 1992 estimate of 544200. In 1967 Israel reunited Jerusalem, which had been split into two parts-one controlled by Jordan, the other by Israel. Since then the Jewish population of the eastern section has grown to more than 50, 000, compared to an Arab population of 117, 000. Jerusalem has been proclaimed Israels capital since 1967.

The 1993 population of Israel was 5451000 of which 82 percent was Jewish. The remainder was largely Arab. Although Judaism is the principal religion, Muslim, Christian, Druze, Sunni Muslim, Samaritan, and other religions have freedom of worship

The Chief Rabbinical Council, which is the highest Jewish religious authority, has two chief rabbis-one each for the Ashkenazic, or European, and Sephardic, or Eastern-Oriental, communities. About 77 percent of the non-Jewish population is Arab Muslim. The next largest grouping is Arab Christian, especially Greek Melkite and Greek Orthodox. The Druze, about 1 7 percent of the non-Jewish population, are a 1 11th-century non-Muslim Arab religious sect.

Hebrew is the main language of Israel Arabic is the second language, and English is widely used Israel is a major publisher of books and has a growing motion-picture industry. There are 80 museums, 30 official archaeological and historical sites, 750 public libraries, six major theatrical companies, a number of orchestras and dance groups, and two music academies. Sports are a national pastime, with soccer and basketball the most popular.

A National Insurance system provides old-age pensions and industrial injury, maternity, and other benefits. The Histadrut, or General Federation of Labor, includes most Israeli workers. More than a trade union, its health system, called Kupat Holim, insures 83 percent of the population and, along with the government, runs most of the hospitals. It also owns factories, banks, and construction companies as well as wholesales and retail cooperatives.

Economy

Agriculture

The three types of agricultural settlement systems are the kibbutz, or collective; moshav, or cooperative; and moshava or private farmstead. Kibbutzim, the plural form of the word, total 270, with a population of 130. 000. They are communal settlements with property owned in common, work done without direct payment, and all members needs met from common income. Probably the worlds most successful example of voluntary socialism, the kibbutz has achieved a high standard of living that provides group housing, dining, education, culture, recreation, health, child rearing, and other sends. While the kibbutz began as a Zionist-pioneering instrument of agriculture-and advanced scientific agriculture remains a mainstay-many kibbutzim now owe much of their prosperity to modem high-technology industry and tourism. Approximately 20 percent of Israels industrial exports come from kibbutz-owned production facilities.

The moshav, or cooperative system, consists of 410 moshavim, with a population of 155, 000. Every family has a share of the village but owns its own home, farms its own plot, and manages its own budget. Machinery, purchase of supplies, and marketing are cooperatively organized.

The moshava is a traditional farm village based on individually owned farmsteads. The total population of the moshavot is 10, 600. Many moshavot have developed into towns and even cities.

Israeli agriculture is highly intensive, based on irrigation, water recycling, hothouses, scientific experimentation, crop management, mechanization, and marketing Only 3 percent of the nations population work in agriculture, but yields are very high. Citrus fruits are the leading export. Flowers, subtropical fruits, vegetables, and wines are also exported The country is self-sufficient in cotton-the most extensively grown crop-and dairy products, poultry, potatoes, and olives. It is nearly self-sufficient in meat and fish.

Manufacturing

Israel is a modem industrial country. Nearly 20 percent of its people work in manufacturing. The country is a leading international diamond center, accounting for one quarter of Israels exports. Heavy industry is centered in Haifa: petroleum refining, cement, iron and steel, and petrochemicals. Tel Aviv-Yafo is the center for such industries as food processing, diamond polishing, and printing and publishing, as well as such manufactured goods as clothing, automobiles and transport equipment, and electronic equipment.

Mining and natural resources

Israels mineral deposits include phosphates, potash, clay, glass, sand, sulfur, manganese, and building stone. There are also small deposits of petroleum, natural gas, and copper, but Israel must import most of its raw materials. Dead Sea waters contain potash, bromine, and salt. Potash, the most important mineral, is a major export

Israels petroleum and natural gas production are small. The countrys two large refineries in Haifa and Ashdod depend mostly on imports. One quarter of all import expenditures is for fuel. To reduce dependency on imported oil. a large coal-burning electric power plant was built on the coast at Hadera. Nearly 300, 000 homes have rooftop solar heaters.

The economy is troubled because of war and defense burdens, heavy foreign debt. And an annual trade imbalance. Inflation is rampant, and defense expenditures and foreign debt repayment absorb a large portion of the governments annual budget. Debt per person is among the worlds highest. For years Israel had nearly full employment and provided work for thousands of Arabs from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, but the arrival of thousands of Soviet Jewish immigrants in the late 1980s and the 1990s swelled the labor force and caused widespread unemployment.

Transportation and Communication

National and local governments maintain more than 8, 000 miles of well-developed roads for use by the countrys 1. 013, 000 trucks, buses, and automobiles. Taxis and jitneys, or small buses compete with buses as the major forms of public transportation. Rail lines totaling 323 miles are government-operated.