Ariel Ministries: VEI - The Modern State of Israel

THE MODERN STATE OF ISRAEL - GENERAL INFORMATION

GOVERNMENT

Israel is a republic with a president elected by the Parliament (Knesset) for a five-year term but with no real power. The real power is held by the prime minister and a cabinet of ministers who are responsible to the Knesset which makes laws and keeps a close watch on all governmental activities.
Members of the Knesset are elected on a proportional-representation basis and represent all the different constituencies including for example the farmers, rabbis, lawyers, and Arabs.
The Knesset is a unicameral (having or consisting of a single legislative chamber) house.
There are about 12 political parties.
Universal suffrage from the age of 18.

KEY CITIES

Jerusalem is the nation of Israel's capital city, but this fact is not recognized internationally.
Tel Aviv is the cultural, commercial and social center of modern Israel.

TYPES OF SETTLEMENTS there are four forms of settlements in Israel:

Cities, the most significant being Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa.
Moshava or villages. This was the first form of rural Jewish settlements.
Moshav or small holder settlements. On the Moshav, every settler lives separately with his family and tills a plot of land leased to him by the Jewish National Fund, while the village privately owns the heavy farming equipment. In the small holder settlement a man is not allowed to hire workers but must work it with his family.
Kibbutz and Kevutsa. They are purely collective. All members live and work together on national land leased to them by the Jewish National Fund. There is no private property.

POPULATION

According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, 6.9 million people now live in Israel as of the end of April 2005.
Jews 80.7%. 'Aliyah' are immigrants from 102 countries numbering 2.8 million since 1947. The largest component is now Russian-Ukrainian (1 million), other components being: Askenazim (European), Sephardim (Middle Eastern), Ethiopian (Falasha), Kochin (South Asian).
Arabs 15.6%. Israeli Arab including Bedouin.
Other 3.7%. Druze, Adygey (Circassian), Greek, and Samaritan.

JEWISH POPULATION ROOTS

Ashkenazim (Hebrew for Germany), are Jews who come from central and eastern Europe. They spoke Yiddish, a compound of Hebrew and medieval German, and began coming in the 16th century. In those early days they settled in Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, or Safed.
Sephardim (Hebrew for Spain), are Jews from Spain. They began migrating in the 15th century and spoke Ladino, a mixture of Spanish and Hebrew. Up until the 19th century the greatest percentage of Jews in Israel were the Sephardim.
Malaravim are Jews who came from the North African countries and spoke Arabic with an African dialect.
Another group were the Jews who came from Jewish Oriental communities in Muslim countries like Yemen, Iran and Iraq.

AREA

Before the 1967 Six Day War, the area was about 8000 square miles (roughly the size of Massachusetts), of which 35% was arable, 19% under cultivation, 60% desert, and 3% forests. Much has changed since then.
Today Israel encompasses some 34,500 square miles (about the size of Maine) since the addition of land in the Sinai, on the Golan Heights and the West Bank territory.
Sinai was returned to Egypt in 1982.
On September 13, 1993, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization signed a Peace Accord and Israel agreed to withdraw from most of the Gaza Strip and Jericho.

NATURAL RESOURCES

Fisheries: Sea of Galilee, Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, and Commercial Aquaculture Ponds.
Agriculture: Citrus Fruits, Wheat, Barley, Olives, Cotton, Grapes, and Peanuts.
Livestock: Sheep, Goats, Cattle, Horses, and Donkeys.
Minerals: Copper, Iron, Potash, Phosphates, Rock Salt, Oil and Natural Gas.
Tourism: It's a big business in Israel!

EDUCATION AND WELFARE

Hebrew is the official language of the State of Israel.
Arabic is recognized as the official language of Arabs.
English is taught in all schools.
Education is compulsory for all children ages 5-14. Youths who have not been to compulsory primary schooling must attend special classes.
Jews and Arabs have separate school systems.
Israel has several excellent major universities.
A national insurance program for illness, accident and unemployment covers all citizens. The aged and disabled are also provided for through pensions.