Israel

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The State of Israel is a country in Western Asia
on the southeastern edge of the Mediterranean
Sea. It is a parliamentary democracy and the
world's only Jewish state
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Israel is bordered by Lebanon in the north,
Syria, Jordan and the West Bank in the east, and
Egypt and the Gaza Strip in the south-west.

It has coastlines on the Mediterranean in the
west and the Gulf of Eilat (also known as the
Gulf of Aqaba) in the south.

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• In the first half of the 20th century there
  were major waves of immigration of Jews back to
  Israel from Arab countries and from Europe.
  Jewish immigration resumed in third (19191923)
  and fourth (19241929) waves after World War I.
  Arab riots in Palestine of 1929 killed 133 Jews,
  including 67 in Hebron.

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Immediately following the adoption of the
Partition Plan by the UN General Assembly on
November 29, 1947, David Ben-Gurion tentatively
accepted the partition, while the Arab League
rejected it. Several Arab attacks on Jewish
civilians soon turned into widespread fighting
between Arabs and Jews, this civil war being the
first "phase" of the 1948 War of Independence.
On May 14, 1948, before the expiry of the British
Mandate of Palestine at midnight on May 15, 1948,
the State of Israel was proclaimed.
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During the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel captured
the West Bank from the Hashemite Kingdom of
Jordan, the Golan Heights from Syria, Gaza Strip
(which was under Egyptian occupation), and Sinai
from Egypt.
It withdrew all troops and settlers from Sinai by
1982 and from the Gaza Strip by September 12,
2005.

The future status of the West Bank, the Gaza
Strip, and the Golan Heights remains to be
determined.

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Israeli tanks and aircraft moving in on the
Arabs. The Israelis attacked all the enemies
bases in Egypt and destroyed all of them. Then
moved on to Jordan and their surrounding enemies.
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Religion in Israel is unique in that Israel is
the only country in which Judaism is the religion
of the majority of citizens. Israel is an
explicitly Jewish state, both ethnically and
religiously. Israel's official policy is to
preserve this aspect of the country's character.
However, Israel is not a theocracy and other
religions are respected. According to the Israeli
Ministry of Interior, 77 of the population
states their religion as Judaism, 16 as Islam,
and the remainder as Christianity or unclassified
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