Israel is a country in West Asia, located in the Southern Levant of the Middle East. It borders Lebanon and Syria to the north, the West Bank and Jordan to the east, the Gaza Strip and Egypt to the southwest, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. It also has a small coastline on the Red Sea. Jerusalem is its proclaimed capital, while Tel Aviv serves as the country's largest urban area and economic center.
The Second Aliyah (1904–1914) began after the Kishinev pogrom; some 40,000 Jews settled in Palestine, although nearly half left eventually.
In 1907, Jewish armed militias emerged, the first being Bar-Giora.
Antisemitism, pogroms and official policies, in tsarist Russia led to the emigration of three million Jews in the years between 1882 and 1914.
The Second Aliyah (1904–1914) began after the Kishinev pogrom; some 40,000 Jews settled in Palestine, although nearly half left eventually.
In 1917, Chaim Weizmann secured the Balfour Declaration, stating Britain's support for the creation of a Jewish "national home" in Palestine.
Founded in 1918, Habima Theatre in Tel Aviv is Israel's oldest repertory theater company and national theater.
In 1918, the Jewish Legion assisted in the British conquest of Palestine.
The Third Aliyah (1919–1923) brought an additional Jews to Palestine.
In 1920 the territory was divided between Britain and France under the mandate system, and the British-administered area (including modern Israel) was named Mandatory Palestine.
In 1920, Britain occupied the region after World War I and established Mandatory Palestine.
Under the British Mandate (1920–1948), the entire region was known as Palestine.
In 1922, the League of Nations granted Britain the Mandate for Palestine, including the Balfour Declaration.
The Third Aliyah (1919–1923) brought an additional Jews to Palestine.
The Fourth Aliyah (1924–1929) brought an additional Jews to Palestine.
The Fourth Aliyah (1924–1929) brought an additional Jews to Palestine.
In 1936, the increasing persecution of Jews in 1930s Europe led to the Fifth Aliyah and was a major cause of the Arab revolt of 1936–39.
In 1939, the British introduced restrictions on Jewish immigration to Palestine with the White Paper of 1939.
In 1942, the highest temperature ever recorded in Israel, 54 °C (129 °F), was measured in the Tirat Zvi kibbutz.
On 22 July 1946, Irgun bombed the British administrative headquarters for Palestine, killing 91.
In February 1947, the British referred the Palestine issue to the newly formed United Nations.
On 15 May 1947, the UN General Assembly resolved that a Special Committee be created "to prepare ... a report on the question of Palestine".
In July 1947, the Jewish insurgency continued and peaked in July 1947, with a series of widespread guerrilla raids culminating in the Sergeants affair.
In September 1947, the British cabinet decided to evacuate Palestine as the Mandate was no longer tenable.
On 29 November 1947, the General Assembly adopted Resolution 181 (II), which proposed a plan to partition Palestine.
On 1 December 1947, the Arab Higher Committee proclaimed a three-day strike, and riots broke out in Jerusalem.
In 1947, intercommunal conflict between Jews and Arabs escalated into a civil war after a proposed partition by the United Nations was rejected by the Palestinians.
In April 1948, the Haganah moved onto the offensive.
Colonial Secretary Arthur Creech Jones announced that the British Mandate would end on 15 May 1948, at which point the British would evacuate.
In May 1948, Israel declared independence after the end of the British Mandate for Palestine.
On 14 May 1948, David Ben-Gurion declared "the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel", and the 1948 Arab-Israeli War began the next day.
In 1948, a massive influx of Holocaust survivors and Jews from Arab and Muslim countries started, greatly increasing Israel's Jewish population.
In 1948, forests in Israel only accounted for 2% of the total area.
Israel remains formally in a state of war with Syria, dating back uninterrupted to 1948.
Prior to 1948, opposition to Yiddish, the historical language of the Ashkenazi Jews, was common among supporters of the Zionist movement who sought to promote Hebrew's revival as a unifying national language.
Retention of Israel's population since 1948 is about even or greater, when compared to other countries with mass immigration.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) was founded during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War by consolidating paramilitary organisations.
Upon establishment in 1948, the country formally adopted the name State of Israel.
By United Nations General Assembly Resolution 273, Israel was admitted as a member of the UN on 11 May 1949.
In 1949, the Green Line became the administrative boundary between Israel and the occupied territories.
In 1949, the sovereign territory of Israel was defined by the demarcation lines of the Armistice Agreements.
In 1950, Israel enacted the Law of Return, granting Jews the right to immigrate to Israel and obtain citizenship.
By 1952, over 200,000 people were living in temporary camps known as ma'abarot.
Mossad LeAliyah Bet was disbanded in 1953.
The State Education Law was established in 1953 and defined five types of schools: state secular, state religious, ultra orthodox, communal settlement schools, and Arab schools.
In 1955, Israel began its foreign aid program in Burma.
In 1956, Israel, in alliance with the UK and France, attacked Egypt in the Suez Crisis due to the continued blockade and increasing fedayeen attacks. Israel overran the Sinai Peninsula but was pressured to withdraw by the UN in return for guarantees of Israeli shipping rights. The war resulted in significant reduction of Israeli border infiltration.
In 1957, Mashav, the Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation, was established, marking the official start of Israel's humanitarian efforts.
Since 1957 UN peacekeepers were stationed in the Sinai Peninsula, until Egypt expelled them in May 1967.
By 1958, Israel's population had risen to two million.
The period beginning in 1962 marks the start of the Foreign Assistance Act, under which the United States has provided significant aid to Israel.
In 1963, Israel was engaged in a diplomatic standoff with the United States in relation to the Israeli nuclear programme.
In 1964, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) was established, initially committing itself to armed struggle as the only way to liberate the homeland.
Israel hosted and won the 1964 AFC Asian Cup.
By 1966 Israeli-Arab relations had deteriorated to the point of battles taking place between Israeli and Arab forces.
In 1966, Shmuel Yosef Agnon shared the Nobel Prize in Literature with German Jewish author Nelly Sachs.
In May 1967, Egypt massed its army near the border with Israel, expelled UN peacekeepers stationed in the Sinai Peninsula since 1957, and blocked Israel's access to the Red Sea.
Following the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Egyptian Sinai Peninsula and Syrian Golan Heights.
Following the 1967 war, Israel faced attacks from the Egyptians in the Sinai Peninsula during the 1967-1970 War of Attrition.
Following the 1967 war, Israel's relations with some countries soured.
From their occupation in 1967 until 1993, the Palestinians living in these territories were under Israeli military administration.
In 1967, as a result of the Six-Day War, Israel captured and occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights. Israel also captured the Sinai Peninsula but returned it to Egypt as part of the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty.
In 1967, diplomatic relations between Israel and the Soviet Union were broken following the Six-Day War.
The 1980 Jerusalem Law was believed by some to reaffirm Israel's 1967 annexation of Jerusalem.
The sovereign territory of Israel excludes all territories captured by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War.
In 1968, the Summer Paralympics were hosted by Israel.
By 1970, approximately 1,150,000 Jewish refugees had relocated to Israel since 1948.
In 1970 the Israel national football team qualified for the FIFA World Cup, the only time it participated.
Israel faced attacks from the Egyptians in the Sinai Peninsula during the 1967-1970 War of Attrition.
In 1972, Palestinian groups committed a massacre of Israeli athletes at the Summer Olympics in Munich.
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.
After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan.
Israel has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest nearly every year since 1973.
The fifth war of the Gaza-Israel conflict since 2008 was the most significant military engagement in the region since the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
Since 1974, the United States has been a notable contributor of military aid to Israel.
The 1974 Asian Games, held in Tehran, were the last Asian Games in which Israel participated, plagued by Arab countries that refused to compete with Israel.
In 1975, military expenditure in Israel peaked at 30.3% of GDP.
In July 1976, Israeli commandos rescued 102 of 106 Israeli hostages from an airliner hijacked in flight from Israel to France by Palestinian guerrillas.
The 1977 Knesset elections marked a major turning point as Menachem Begin's Likud party took control from the Labour Party. Later that year, Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat made a trip to Israel and spoke before the Knesset.
On 11 March 1978, a PLO guerilla raid from Lebanon led to the Coastal Road massacre. Israel responded by launching an invasion of southern Lebanon to destroy PLO bases.
Israel was excluded from the 1978 Asian Games and since then has not competed in Asian sport events.
On 1 October 2024, Israel invaded Southern Lebanon, marking the fifth Israeli invasion of Lebanon since 1978.
In 1979, Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt as part of the Egypt-Israel peace treaty.
The 1980 Jerusalem Law reaffirmed Israel's annexation of Jerusalem and reignited international controversy.
On 7 June 1981, the Israeli air force destroyed Iraq's sole nuclear reactor to impede the Iraqi nuclear weapons programme.
In 1981 Israel effectively annexed the Golan Heights. The international community largely rejected this move.
Between 1982 and 2000, Israel occupied part of southern Lebanon, in what was known as the Security Belt.
Following a series of PLO attacks in 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon to destroy the PLO bases and decisively defeated the Syrians.
In 1982, Israel returned the Sinai to Egypt as part of a peace treaty signed after the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
Between 1985 and 2015, Israel sent 24 delegations of their search and rescue unit the Home Front Command to 22 countries.
In 1986, Israel withdrew from most of Lebanon but maintained a borderland buffer zone in southern Lebanon until 2000.
Eilat has hosted its own international music festival, the Red Sea Jazz Festival, every summer since 1987.
In 1987, The First Intifada, a Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule, broke out.
In 1988, Shavit was first launched, making Israel the eighth nation to have a space launch capability.
In 1988, the first Arab-led party was established in Israel.
Between 1990 and 1994, immigration from the post-Soviet states increased Israel's population by twelve percent.
In 1990, the number of train passengers per year in Israel was 2.5 million.
Over one million Russian-speaking immigrants arrived in Israel between 1990 and 2004.
During the 1991 Gulf War, the PLO supported Saddam Hussein and Iraqi missile attacks against Israel. Despite public outrage, Israel heeded American calls to refrain from hitting back.
In 1991, Turkey and Israel established full diplomatic relations.
In 1991, diplomatic relations between Israel and the Soviet Union were renewed.
Since the Gulf War in 1991, all homes in Israel are required to have a reinforced security room, Merkhav Mugan, impermeable to chemical and biological substances.
In 1992, India established full diplomatic ties with Israel, fostering a strong partnership.
In 1992, Israel secured its first Olympic medal.
In 1992, Yitzhak Rabin became prime minister following an election in which his party called for compromise with Israel's neighbors.
In 1993, Israel signed the Oslo Accords which established mutual recognition and limited Palestinian self-governance in parts of the West Bank and Gaza.
Per a 1993 report, Israel is believed to possess chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction.
Since the Israel–PLO letters of recognition in 1993, most of the Palestinian population and cities have been under the internal jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, and only partial Israeli military control.
Between 1990 and 1994, immigration from the post-Soviet states increased Israel's population by twelve percent.
In 1994, UEFA agreed to admit Israel, and its football teams now compete in Europe.
In 1994, the Israel-Jordan peace treaty was signed, making Jordan the second Arab country to normalize relations with Israel.
In November 1995, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by Yigal Amir, a far-right Jew who opposed the Oslo Accords.
Since 1995, relations between Greece and Israel have improved following the decline of Israeli-Turkish relations.
Ehud Barak was elected prime minister in 1999.
Around 2000 BCE, early references to "Canaanites" and "Canaan" appear in Near Eastern and Egyptian texts.
Between 1982 and 2000, Israel occupied part of southern Lebanon, withdrawing in 2000.
In 2000, Ehud Barak conducted negotiations with Yasser Arafat and Bill Clinton at the Camp David Summit, which failed.
In late 2000, the Second Intifada began after a controversial visit by Sharon to the Temple Mount.
Ariel Sharon became prime minister in a 2001 election and carried out his plan to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip and spearheaded the construction of the West Bank barrier.
Palestinian Israeli filmmakers have made films dealing with the Arab-Israeli conflict and status of Palestinians within Israel, such as Mohammed Bakri's 2002 film Jenin, Jenin and The Syrian Bride.
In 2003, Ilan Ramon became Israel's first astronaut, serving on the fatal mission of Space Shuttle Columbia.
In 2003, the Knesset began drafting an official constitution based on the Basic Laws of Israel.
Until 2003, the US had provided more aid to Israel under the Foreign Assistance Act than any other country.
In 2004, Israel won a gold medal in windsurfing at the Summer Olympics.
In its 2004 advisory opinion on the legality of the construction of the West Bank barrier, the International Court of Justice said that the lands captured by Israel in the Six-Day War, including East Jerusalem, are occupied territory and found that the construction of the wall within the occupied Palestinian territory violates international law.
Israel began producing natural gas from its own offshore gas fields in 2004.
Israel has produced six Nobel Prize-winning scientists, mostly in chemistry, since 2004.
Over one million Russian-speaking immigrants arrived in Israel between 1990 and 2004.
Approximately 7,800 Israelis lived in settlements in the Gaza Strip, known as Gush Katif, until they were evacuated by the government as part of its 2005 disengagement plan.
As of 2007, many public and 50,000 residential buildings in Israel did not meet earthquake resistance standards and were expected to collapse in a strong earthquake.
By 2007, Germany had paid 25 billion euros in reparations to Israel and individual Israeli Holocaust survivors.
Following the 2007 Battle of Gaza, when Hamas assumed power in the Gaza Strip, Israel tightened control of the Gaza crossings along its border, as well as by sea and air.
In 2007 the Israeli Air Force destroyed a nuclear reactor in Syria.
Between 2000 and 2008, during the Second Intifada, 1,063 Israelis, 5,517 Palestinians and 64 foreign citizens were killed.
The war on Gaza became the fifth war of the Gaza-Israel conflict since 2008.
In 2009, Tamar gas field was discovered near the coast of Israel.
In 2010, Israel joined the OECD.
In 2010, Leviathan gas field was discovered near the coast of Israel.
In 2010, the Israeli Air Force hosted Greece's Hellenic Air Force in a joint exercise.
Built in 2011 by the Arava Power Company, Ketura Sun is Israel's first commercial solar field.
In 2011, Israel's water technology industry was worth around $2 billion per year.
By June 2012, approximately 60,000 African migrants had entered Israel.
In 2012, Israel began an operation in the Gaza Strip in response to over a hundred Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israeli cities, lasting eight days.
In 2012, Israel was ranked ninth in the world by the Futron's Space Competitiveness Index.
In 2012, the country ranked third in the number of academic degrees per capita (20 percent of the population).
In 2013, commercial production of natural gas from the Tamar field began.
Israel's electric car company Better Place shut down in 2013.
In July 2014, Israel started another operation in Gaza following an escalation of rocket attacks by Hamas.
By 2014, desalination programmes provided roughly 35% of the drinking water in Israel.
After the 2015 election, 10 of the 120 members of the Knesset (8%) were settlers from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
As of 2015, over 50 percent of the water for households, agriculture and industry in Israel is artificially produced.
Between 1985 and 2015, Israel sent 24 delegations of their search and rescue unit the Home Front Command to 22 countries.
In 2015, Israel ranked third among OECD members for the percentage of 25–64-year-olds that have attained tertiary education with 49%.
In 2015, Israel's net external debt stood at a surplus of $69 billion.
In 2015, the number of train passengers per year in Israel had grown to 53 million.
Kosher restaurants make up around a quarter of the total as of 2015.
A 2016 survey by Pew Research indicates that 49% of Israeli Jews self-identify as Hiloni (secular), 29% as Masorti (traditional), 13% as Dati (religious) and 9% as Haredi (ultra-Orthodox).
As of 2016, Israel had 199 billion bcm of proven reserves of natural gas.
In 2016, 89 percent of the 7,300 books transferred to the National Library of Israel were in Hebrew.
In 2016, forests in Israel accounted for 8.5% of the total area, increasing from 2% in 1948 due to a large-scale forest planting program.
In 2016, the OECD estimated the average life expectancy in Israel at 82.5 years.
Tourism grew by 25% since 2016, with a record 3.6 million tourists visiting Israel in 2017 and contributing NIS 20 billion to the economy.
Under a memorandum of understanding signed in 2016, the U.S. is expected to provide the country with $3.8 billion per year from 2018 to 2028.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, passed in 2016, states that Israel's settlement activity constitutes a "flagrant violation" of international law.
In 2017, Israel experienced a record of 3.6 million tourists, marking a 25 percent increase from 2016 and contributing NIS 20 billion to the economy.
In a 2017 poll, 40% of Arab citizens of Israel identified as "Arab in Israel" or "Arab citizen of Israel".
On July 19, 2018, the Knesset passed a Basic Law characterizing Israel as the "Nation State of the Jewish People" and Hebrew as its official language.
As of 2018 there are 77 localities granted "municipalities" (or "city") status by the Ministry of the Interior, four of which are in the West Bank.
In 2018, the country ranked 38th in the World Giving Index.
Under a memorandum of understanding signed in 2016, the U.S. began providing Israel with $3.8 billion per year in military aid in 2018.
Until 2018, Arabic was also an official language; in 2018 it was downgraded to having a "special status in the state".
In 2019, Bolivia renewed political and economic ties with Israel, which had been suspended earlier.
In 2019, East Jerusalem and West Bank areas had a total population of 573,330 inhabitants.
Israel is ranked 5th in the 2019 Bloomberg Innovation Index.
The Leviathan gas field started production in 2019.
In 2020, 68.7% of 12th graders earned a matriculation certificate.
In 2020, Israel's imports totaled $96.5 billion, while exports reached $114 billion.
In 2021 Israelis took a record of NIS 116.1 billion in mortgages, an increase of 50% from 2020.
In May 2021 another round of fighting took place in Gaza and Israel, lasting eleven days.
In 2021, Israel ranked 15th in the world by total military expenditure, with $24.3 billion.
In 2021, housing prices rose by 5.6% and Israelis took a record of NIS 116.1 billion in mortgages.
The Washington Post's 2021 survey found that a majority of scholars and experts on the Middle East described Israel as a "one-state reality akin to apartheid".
As of 2022, Arab-led parties hold about 10% of the seats in the Knesset.
As of 2022, Israel had approximately 2.7 million properties.
In 2022, Michael Lynk, a Canadian law professor appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council said that the situation met the legal definition of apartheid.
In 2022, the Israeli government recorded that 73.6% of the population were Jews, 21.1% were Arabs, and 5.3% were classified as "Others".
Israel ranked 9th globally for arms exports in 2022.
The Economist ranked Israel as the 4th most successful economy among the developed countries for 2022.
The estimated religious affiliation as of 2022 was 73.5% Jewish, 18.1% Muslim, 1.9% Christian, 1.6% Druze, and 4.9% other.
As of October 2023, the IMF estimated Israel's GDP at 521.7 billion dollars and GDP per capita at 53.2 thousand.
On 7 October 2023, Palestinian militant groups from Gaza, led by Hamas, launched a series of coordinated attacks on Israel, leading to the start of the Gaza war. Approximately 1,300 Israelis were killed and over 200 hostages were kidnapped.
In 2023, Ben Gurion Airport handled over 21.1 million passengers making it the country's main hub for international air travel.
In February 2024, the ICJ held public hearings regarding the legal consequences of Israel's policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.
In May 2024, Israel shut down the local offices of Al Jazeera.
As of May 31, 2024, the population of Israel was estimated to be 9,907,100.
On 1 October 2024, Israel invaded Southern Lebanon, marking the fifth Israeli invasion of Lebanon since 1978.
In a 2024 advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice stated that Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories violated international law and that Israel should end its occupation and pay reparations.
Israel is ranked 15th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024.
Haredi Jews are expected to represent over 20% of the Jewish population by 2028.
Under a memorandum of understanding signed in 2016, the U.S. is expected to provide the country with $3.8 billion per year until 2028.
The country aims to have 30% of vehicles on its roads powered by electricity by 2030.
It is expected that by 2050, desalination programmes will supply 70% of the drinking water in Israel.