Israel

Israel occupies the southwestern tip of Asia along the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea, between 29° and 33° north latitude.[11] Its official area is 22,072 square kilometers—including East Jerusalem as counted from 1967 and the Golan Heights as counted from 1982—with a land area of 21,643 square kilometers.[11] Its land borders total 857 kilometers, its Mediterranean coastline extends 194 kilometers, and it has approximately 12 kilometers of Red Sea coastline.[11]

The principal geographic regions are the Mediterranean coastal plain, the central highlands, the Jordan Rift Valley, and the Negev Desert.[1] Elevations range from the Dead Sea, 421 meters below sea level, to Mount Hermon, at 2,224 meters.[11]

Israel lies at a climatic crossroads between temperate and arid zones. The south and east are largely arid, while most other areas have a Mediterranean climate with dry summers and wet winters.[11] Average annual precipitation ranges from 682 millimeters at Zefat in the north to 29 millimeters at Eilat in the south.[11]

The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel was approved at a festive session of the People's Council in Tel Aviv on May 14, 1948, several hours before the British Mandate ended.[6] David Ben-Gurion read the declaration aloud at 4 p.m.[4] It proclaimed that the council members “HEREBY DECLARE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A JEWISH STATE IN ERETZ-ISRAEL, TO BE KNOWN AS THE STATE OF ISRAEL.”[3] Until elected authorities could be established, the People's Council was designated as the provisional Council of State and the People's Administration as the provisional government.[3]

The declaration identified Eretz-Israel as the birthplace of the Jewish people, where their spiritual, religious, and political identity was formed and where they first achieved statehood. It stated that Jews maintained their connection to the land throughout the Diaspora.[12] It cited the First Zionist Congress convened by Theodor Herzl in Basel in 1897, the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917, and the League of Nations Mandate as recognitions of the Jewish people's right to national rebirth and historic connection to the land.[12]

The declaration also invoked the Holocaust as demonstrating the urgency of reestablishing a Jewish state open to Jews.[3] At the peak of the postwar displacement crisis in 1947, approximately 250,000 Jewish displaced persons lived in Allied occupation zones. Briḥah moved more than 100,000 Jews from eastern Europe into these zones, while Britain intercepted more than 50,000 Jewish refugees and sent them to Cyprus. In 1947, the Exodus 1947 carried approximately 4,500 Holocaust survivors whom Britain forcibly returned to the British-occupied zone of Germany.[13]

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly recommended partitioning Mandatory Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem under international administration. The vote was 33 in favor, 13 against, and 10 abstentions; the United States and Soviet Union both supported the resolution.[14] Jewish leaders accepted the recommendation and Arab leaders rejected it. Britain began withdrawing its forces in April 1948.[13]

The declaration went through several drafts. Mordechai Beham's April 1948 draft drew on the American Declaration of Independence, the English Bill of Rights, biblical language, and UN Resolution 181. A later draft by Tzvi Berenson described a “Jewish, free, independent, and democratic state.” Ben-Gurion and his drafting committee settled the final wording on the night of May 13.[15] Ben-Gurion also changed language saying that the state would “bestow” rights to language saying it would “ensure” them, explaining: “Rights belong to the people.”[15]

Its religious wording represented a compromise. Aharon Zisling objected to language that might require signers to profess belief, while Rabbi Aryeh Leib Fishman sought the phrase “Tzur Yisrael ve-go'alo,” or “Rock of Israel and Redeemer.” Ben-Gurion retained the less explicitly theological “Tzur Yisrael,” or “Rock of Israel.”[15]

The declaration committed Israel to Jewish immigration and the ingathering of exiles; freedom, justice, and peace; complete social and political equality regardless of religion, race, or sex; freedom of religion, conscience, language, education, and culture; protection of holy places; and adherence to the UN Charter.[12] It appealed to Arab inhabitants to preserve peace and help build the state on the basis of full and equal citizenship, while offering peace and cooperation to neighboring states.[12]

President Harry S. Truman recognized Israel's provisional government as the de facto authority of the Jewish state on May 14, 1948, and the United States extended de jure recognition on January 31, 1949.[16]

Israel's independence was immediately tested by war. On May 15, 1948, Arab armies invaded Israel; forces from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and Transjordan joined the conflict.[16][17] Saudi Arabia sent a formation that operated under Egyptian command.[17] Fighting had begun before the declaration, after the partition resolution prompted attacks by irregular Palestinian Arab forces and volunteers associated with the Arab Liberation Army.[17] Jewish forces centered on the Haganah, alongside the smaller Irgun and LEHI organizations, sought control of territory allocated to the Jewish state, while the initial Arab objective was to block partition and prevent its establishment.[17]

The conflict continued into 1949 despite two UN-brokered cease-fires.[17] Israel signed armistice agreements with Egypt on February 24, Lebanon on March 23, Jordan on April 3, and Syria on July 20.[18] Iraq and Saudi Arabia participated in the war but were not parties to those four agreements.[17][19]

The resulting Armistice Demarcation Line, known as the Green Line, left Israel controlling roughly 78 percent of the former Mandate area.[20] Egypt retained the Gaza Strip and Jordan retained the West Bank—known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria.[17] Jerusalem was divided, with Jordan holding the eastern part, including the Old City, and Israel holding the western and southern parts.[18]

Approximately 6,000 Jews were killed in the War of Independence.[18] Between 625,000 and 750,000 Arabs were displaced, with most leaving areas under Israeli control for the West Bank or Gaza and others settling in Transjordan, Syria, and Lebanon. They formed the basis of the Palestinian refugee population.[7] Restrictions on Jewish immigration were lifted at independence, and Holocaust survivors began arriving immediately; many fought and died in the war.[13]

Large-scale immigration from Arab states, North Africa, and Europe roughly doubled Israel's Jewish population from about 650,000 to 1.3 million.[18] More Jewish migrants entered between 1948 and 1950 than during any comparable later period.[7]

Israel was admitted to the United Nations as its 59th member on May 11, 1949.[18] The General Assembly vote was 37 in favor, 12 against, and 9 abstentions, with the United States, Soviet Union, and France voting in favor.[21] Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett stated that Israel claimed no allegiance from Jews abroad and rested on the loyalty of its own citizens, while wishing for the security, dignity, and equal rights of Jews everywhere.[19]

The 1949 armistice agreements ended the War of Independence without establishing permanent peace.[19] The June 1967 Six-Day War left Israel in control of the Sinai Peninsula, Golan Heights, Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem.[22] On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 242, establishing a “land for peace” formula linking Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967 with the end of belligerency, recognition of sovereignty, and secure and recognized boundaries.[22]

The Yom Kippur War of October 1973, in which 2,222 Israelis were killed, was followed by a new diplomatic process.[18] Egyptian President Anwar Sadat visited Jerusalem in 1977, and negotiations convened by U.S. President Jimmy Carter at Camp David led Israel and Egypt to sign a peace treaty on March 26, 1979.[22][23] The treaty ended the state of war, established peace upon ratification, and addressed borders, navigation, security, and bilateral relations. Israel completed its withdrawal from Sinai in 1982.[22][23]

Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty on October 26, 1994, addressing boundaries, water, security, border crossings, environmental matters, and Muslim holy sites.[24][24] Agreements with the Palestine Liberation Organization included the September 13, 1993 Declaration of Principles, the May 4, 1994 Gaza-Jericho Agreement, and the September 28, 1995 Interim Agreement, which broadened Palestinian self-government.[22]

Israel began implementing its Gaza disengagement in August 2005. The Israel Defense Forces completed the withdrawal on September 12, including the dismantling of 17 settlements.[22]

Israel is a multiparty parliamentary democracy with legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Knesset is the legislature, the government headed by the prime minister exercises executive authority, and the courts include the Supreme Court.[2] The president is head of state and is elected by the Knesset for a seven-year term; cabinet members require collective Knesset approval.[2][22]

Israel has no single-document written constitution. Constitutional functions are performed by the Declaration of Establishment, the Basic Laws, and citizenship law.[2][22] The Basic Laws on Human Dignity and Liberty and Freedom of Occupation provide constitutional protection for rights and expressly invoke the spirit of the Declaration of Independence.[6]

The unicameral Knesset has 120 members and sits in Jerusalem.[11] Members are chosen through general, national, direct, equal, secret, and proportional elections. Voters select party lists, and seats are allocated according to each party's national vote share, subject to an electoral threshold.[25] Elections ordinarily occur every four years, although early elections may be called, and the Knesset may dissolve the government and mandate elections.[25][26]

Israeli law bars a party or candidate whose objectives include denying Israel's existence as the state of the Jewish people, denying its democratic character, or inciting racism.[25] Citizens aged 18 or older vote by secret ballot in a single national constituency.[25] The judiciary includes the Supreme Court, district and magistrates courts, religious courts, labor courts, and specialized courts.[11] A state of emergency has remained in effect since 1948 and provides the legal basis for certain laws, orders, and regulations.[26]

Israel's population was estimated at 10.244 million in April 2026, based on the 2022 census.[8] The total included approximately 7.790 million Jews and people classified as “other” (76 percent), 2.157 million Arabs (21.1 percent), and 296,000 foreign nationals (2.9 percent).[8] During the preceding year, the population increased by 146,000, or 1.4 percent, with about 177,000 births, 48,000 deaths, 21,000 immigrants, 5,000 family-reunification arrivals, and a negative balance of 45,000 Israelis staying abroad.[8]

Approximately 27 percent of residents were children aged 0–14 and about 13 percent were aged 65 or older. About 81 percent of Israeli Jews were Sabras, meaning born in Israel.[8] Approximately 45–46 percent of world Jewry lived in Israel.[8][9]

On the eve of independence, the area had approximately 630,000 Jews, about one-third of its population.[7] Since statehood, more than 3.5 million immigrants have arrived, including approximately 1.68 million since 1990.[8] Israel's share of world Jewry rose from approximately 6 percent in May 1948 to about 46 percent.[7]

During the British Mandate from 1922 to 1948, the Jewish population increased eightfold, while the Christian and Muslim populations doubled; the Jewish share rose from 11 to 32 percent.[7] Later immigration included approximately 12,600 Ethiopian Jews between 1983 and 1985 and nearly 30,000 between 1989 and 1992.[7] Operation Solomon airlifted 14,000 Ethiopian Jews in May 1991.[7] Approximately 375,000 Soviet Jews arrived in 1990 and 1991, and more than 1 million arrived from the former Soviet Union between 1990 and 2000.[7]

Israeli society draws on origins in more than 100 countries across five continents.[7] Broad Jewish groupings include Ashkenazim, with European ancestry; Sephardim, associated with Spain, Portugal, southern Europe, and North Africa; and Eastern or Oriental Jews descended from communities in Islamic lands.[7] Older official profiles described Hebrew and Arabic as official languages; Hebrew is the majority language, Arabic is used in Arab society and Arab and Druze schools, and English and Russian are widely spoken.[22]

Jewish fertility in Israel has recently stood at approximately 3.1 children per woman, the highest level among developed countries.[22] The Haredi population, estimated at about 17 percent of Israeli Jews, is projected to reach one-third of the Jewish population by 2050.[22]

Israel has a diversified, technologically advanced economy with substantial but decreasing government ownership and a strong high-technology sector.[1] In 2024, high technology contributed 19.7 percent of gross domestic product—approximately 338.8 billion shekels—and accounted for 53 percent of exports, led primarily by software services.[7] The currency is the New Israeli Sheqel.[11]

Israel's cultural life reflects immigration from more than 100 countries. Its institutions include professional orchestras, dance and theater companies, artist communities, and more than 120 museums, with traditions drawn from the country's varied Jewish and non-Jewish communities.[7]

Jerusalem is Israel's capital and the location of the Knesset and Supreme Court.[11] Israel proclaimed Jerusalem its capital in 1950.[27] The specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem remain subject to international dispute and, under the stated U.S. position, to final-status negotiations.[26]

Tel Aviv is the country's commercial and financial center, while Haifa is a major northern port.[1] Independence Hall in Tel Aviv occupies the former museum hall where Ben-Gurion read the Declaration of Independence at 4 p.m. on May 14, 1948.[4] The Israel Museum in Jerusalem houses the Dead Sea Scrolls and collections of archaeology, art, and Jewish religious and folk material.[7]

Israel's founding realized a longstanding aspiration for Jewish sovereign self-determination. The Declaration of Independence identified Eretz-Israel as the place where the Jewish people first achieved statehood and maintained their attachment throughout the Diaspora.[12] Its commitment to Jewish immigration and the ingathering of exiles made the state a national home and refuge for Holocaust survivors and Jewish communities arriving from the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, Ethiopia, and the former Soviet Union.[12][7]

At statehood, Israel's Jewish population represented approximately 6 percent of world Jewry.[7] By 2025–2026, approximately 46 percent of the world's Jews lived in Israel, making it the largest Jewish population center worldwide.[9] Immigration and a Jewish fertility rate of approximately 3.1 children per woman have both contributed to that demographic growth.[8][22]

At Israel's admission to the United Nations in 1949, Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett said Israel claimed no allegiance from Jews in other countries and rested on the loyalty of its own citizens, while wishing for the security, dignified existence, and equal rights of Jews everywhere.[19] His statement distinguished the political obligations of Israeli citizenship from Israel's concern for Jewish communities abroad.