Portal:Israel

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Welcome to the Israel Portal
מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל

Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It is situated in the Southern Levant of the Middle East; and shares borders with 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. Israel also has a small coastline on the Red Sea at its southernmost point, and part of the Dead Sea lies along its eastern border. Its proclaimed capital is in Jerusalem, while Tel Aviv is the country's largest urban area and economic center.

Israel is located in a region known to the Jews as the Land of Israel, synonymous with the Canaan region and the Holy Land. In antiquity, it was home to the Canaanite civilisation followed by the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Situated at a continental crossroad, the region experienced demographic changes under the rule of empires from the Romans to the Ottomans. European antisemitism in the late 19th century galvanised Zionism, which sought a Jewish homeland in Palestine and gained British support. After World War I, Britain occupied the region and established Mandatory Palestine in 1920, explicitly privileging the Jewish minority over the Arab majority. Increased Jewish immigration in the leadup to the Holocaust and British colonial policy led to intercommunal conflict between Jews and Arabs, which escalated into a civil war in 1947 after a proposed partitioning by the United Nations. (Full article...)

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The Levant (/ləˈvænt/ lə-VANT) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west and core West Asia, or by the political term, Middle East, to the east. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is equivalent to Cyprus and a stretch of land bordering the Mediterranean Sea in western Asia: i.e. the historical region of Syria ("Greater Syria"), which includes present-day Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Palestinian territories and most of Turkey southwest of the middle Euphrates. Its overwhelming characteristic is that it represents the land bridge between Africa and Eurasia. In its widest historical sense, the Levant included all of the Eastern Mediterranean with its islands; that is, it included all of the countries along the Eastern Mediterranean shores, extending from Greece in Southern Europe to Egypt and Cyrenaica (Eastern Libya) in Northern Africa.

In the 13th and 14th centuries, the term levante was used for Italian maritime commerce in the Eastern Mediterranean, including Greece, Anatolia, Syria-Palestine, and Egypt, that is, the lands east of Venice. Eventually the term was restricted to the Muslim countries of Syria-Palestine and Egypt. The term entered English in the late 15th century from French. It derives from the Italian levante, meaning "rising", implying the rising of the Sun in the east, and is broadly equivalent to the term al-Mashriq (Arabic: ٱلْمَشْرِق, [ʔal.maʃ.riq]), meaning "the eastern place, where the Sun rises". (Full article...)

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This is a Featured picture that the Wikimedia Commons community has chosen as one of the highest quality on the site.

Image 1An aerial view of Masada in the Judaean Desert, with the Dead Sea and Jordan in the distance
Image 2Ceramic tile on the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem
Image 3Young Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana) on a stone wall by the edge of Makhtesh Ramon in Mitzpe Ramon.
Image 4Reading Power Station, built in Tel Aviv in 1938, was named for Rufus Isaacs, the 1st Marquess of Reading. Reading Light is pictured on the left.
Image 5Paratroopers at the Western Wall, an iconic photograph taken on June 7, 1967 by David Rubinger.
Image 6Southern aerial view of the Temple Mount, a hill located in the Old City of Jerusalem that for thousands of years has been venerated as a holy site, in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Image 7An aerial view of Makhtesh Ramon, a geological feature of Israel's Negev desert. Located some 85 km south of the city of Beersheba, the landform is not an impact crater from a meteor nor a volcanic crater formed by a volcanic eruption, but rather is the world's largest "erosion cirque" (steephead valley or box canyon).
Image 8Diving tourism site on the southern coast of Eilat, around a horseshoe-shaped reef. Many animal species are found in the area, including dolphins.
Image 9A more recent section of the Israel-Egypt barrier fence, north of Eilat, June 2012. It is a border barrier built by Israel along its border with Egypt. It was originally an attempt to curb illegal migrants from African countries.^[1] Construction was approved on 12 January 2010^[2] and began on 22 November 2010.^[3]
Image 10Northeast exposure of Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount, in the Old City of Jerusalem. Considered to be the third holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina.
Image 11The Jerusalem Railway Station c. 1900. The locomotive on the turntable is "Ramleh" (J&J No. 3), a Baldwin 2-6-0. The station was the terminus of the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway until its closure in 1998. Today, the station is abandoned and suffering from neglect and vandalism, although it is one of 110 buildings selected for preservation in Jerusalem.
Image 12A view of Jerusalem from southeast, showing the Walls of Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. This image was taken sometime between 1900 and 1940.
Image 13David Ben-Gurion's room at Ben-Gurion's Hut, the retirement home of Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and his wife Paula (Pola) from the years 1953 until Ben-Gurion's death in 1973.
Image 14Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur, an 1878 painting by Maurycy Gottlieb
Image 15A view of Jaffa, from the beachfront of Tel Aviv
Image 16"The Nile and the Sinai, to Israel and beyond. One sweeping glance of human history." Caption by astronaut Chris Hadfield on board the International Space Station.
Image 17Dead Tree in Sea of Life is an installation artwork from 2017 by Amiram Dora, a travel guide from the nearby city Arad. The work consists of a tree planted on a salt pile in the Dead Sea. The purpose of the work is to show that as opposed to its common name, the Dead Sea is actually a place of rich tourist activity, healing and relaxation.

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... that Ethiopian Jews protesting police brutality in Israel used a slogan from the Black Lives Matter movement?

... that in addition to founding Tmura, an anti-discrimination center that advocates for women's rights, Yifat Bitton was shortlisted for Israel's Supreme Court twice?

... that hints of female discrimination in biblical times were discovered in an ancient Persian cemetery excavated from Tel Qiri in northern Israel?

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WikiProjects

WikiProject Israel – WikiProject Jewish history – WikiProject Judaism – WikiProject Jewish culture – WikiProject Hebrew

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This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

Arrow 2 launch on July 29, 2004, at the Naval Air Station Point Mugu Missile Test Center, during AST USFT#1.

The Arrow or Hetz (Hebrew: חֵץ, pronounced [ˈχet͡s] or pronounced [ˈħet͡s]) is a family of anti-ballistic missiles designed to fulfill an Israeli requirement for a missile defense system that would be more effective against ballistic missiles than the MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile. Jointly funded and produced by Israel and the United States, development of the system began in 1986 and has continued since, drawing some contested criticism. Undertaken by the MALAM division of the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Boeing, it is overseen by the Israeli Ministry of Defense's "Homa" (Hebrew: חומה, pronounced [χoma], "rampart") administration and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. It forms the long-range layer of Israel's multi-tiered missile defence system, along with David's Sling (at medium-to-long range) and Iron Dome and Iron Beam [experimental] (at short ranges).

The Arrow system consists of the joint production supersonic Arrow anti-missile interceptors, Arrow 2 and Arrow 3, the Elta EL/M-2080 "Green Pine" and "Great Pine" early-warning AESA radars, the Elisra "Golden Citron" ("Citron Tree") C³I center, and the Israel Aerospace Industries "Brown Hazelnut" ("Hazelnut Tree") launch control center. The system is mobile and can be moved to other prepared sites. (Full article...)

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Israeli cuisine Joseph's Tomb Kashrut Clal Center Zion Square Black Hebrew Israelites Robinson's Arch Abergil crime family Chaim Topol Birket Israel Joshua Prawer Mamilla Schwester Selma Ir Ovot Downtown Triangle (Jerusalem) Haifa Western Wall Eilat Airport AIL Storm Al-Aqsa Mosque Angel Bakeries Operation Pleshet

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Khubeza patties (Hebrew: קציצות חוביזה) are fried patties made of khubeza, a variety of a mallow (native to the Levant region) combined with bulgur, pita crumbs, eggs, spices, garlic and onions. (Full article...)

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Challah Ancient Israelite cuisine Israeli wine Cholent Israeli salad Kreplach Israeli breakfast Jachnun Kugel Shkedei marak Jerusalem mixed grill Charoset Bamba (snack) Gefilte fish Hamantash Seven Species Matzah ball

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The following are images from various Israel-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Painting of the siege of Jerusalem during the First Crusade (1099) (from History of Israel)
Image 2The opening ceremony of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem visited by Arthur Balfour, 1 April 1925 (from History of Israel)
Image 31949 Green Line (from History of Israel)
Image 4Supply convoy on its way to besieged Jerusalem, April 1948 (from History of Israel)
Image 5The Bahri Mamluk dynasty 1250–1382 (from History of Israel)
Image 6Yitzhak Rabin, Bill Clinton, and Yasser Arafat during the Oslo Accords signing ceremony at the White House on 13 September 1993 (from History of Israel)
Image 7Obverse of Yehud silver coin (from History of Israel)
Image 8Illustration for the Song of Songs. Along with the Book of Esther, the ancient poem is an example of an ancient Israeli literature with no mention of God, and is traditionally read as an allegory of the relationship between God and Israel (from Culture of Israel)
Image 9A portion of the Isaiah scroll. One of the earliest known manuscripts of biblical literature (from Culture of Israel)
Image 10A Bookplate done for Martin Buber; The plate is adorned with the walls of Jerusalem in the shape of a Shield of David, viewed from above (from Culture of Israel)
Image 11Tiles in the Bezalel style, 1920s (from Culture of Israel)
Image 12Jewish Yemenite bride in traditional bridal vestment, adorned with a henna wreath, 1958 (from Culture of Israel)
Image 13Dedication ceremony of the Embassy of the United States in Jerusalem in 2018 (from History of Israel)
Image 14Nahal Brigade soldiers returning after the 2006 Lebanon War (from History of Israel)
Image 15United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, 1947 (from History of Israel)
Image 16The Gaza–Israel barrier route built (red), under construction (pink) and proposed (white), as of June 2011^[update] (from History of Israel)
Image 17David dictating the Psalms. The practice of psalms is referred to as a philosophical and theological problem (from Culture of Israel)
Image 18143rd Division crossing the Suez Canal in the direction of Cairo during the Yom Kippur War, 15 October 1973 (from History of Israel)
Image 19Patriot missiles launched to intercept an Iraqi Scud over Tel Aviv during the Gulf War (from History of Israel)
Image 20The Arch of Titus in Rome depicts the Roman triumph celebrating the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE (from History of Israel)
Image 21Gal Fridman, winner of Israel's first Olympic gold medal (from Culture of Israel)
Image 22Breads in Mahane Yehuda market (from Culture of Israel)
Image 23Hiking near Lake Kinneret (from Culture of Israel)
Image 24Habimah Theater in Tel Aviv (from Culture of Israel)
Image 25Sermon on the Mount. The New Testament was authored by Christian Jews during Roman-ruled Judea (from Culture of Israel)
Image 26Skhul Cave (from History of Israel)
Image 27Tzofim Israeli scout movement fire ceremony in Tel Aviv (from Culture of Israel)
Image 28Ecclesiastes is known for its incipit vanity of vanities; all is vanity and concepts of Vanitas (from Culture of Israel)
Image 29Ofek-7 satellite launch through Shavit vehicle (from Culture of Israel)
Image 30Simulated view of a black hole. Jacob Bekenstein predicted and co-discovered black hole entropy (from Culture of Israel)
Image 31Avraham Adan raising the Ink Flag marking the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War (from History of Israel)
Image 32Cultural map of the world according to the World Values Survey, describing Israel as a whole at parity in "Rational-Secular Values" and also at parity in "Self-expression values". (from Culture of Israel)
Image 33Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem (from Culture of Israel)
Image 3416th-century Safed rabbi Joseph Karo, author of the Jewish law book (from History of Israel)
Image 35Hebrew ulpan in Dimona, 1955 (from Culture of Israel)
Image 36Menachem Begin addressing a mass demonstration in Tel Aviv against negotiations with Germany in 1952 (from History of Israel)
Image 37The route of the exiles to Babylon (from History of Israel)
Image 38Jewish symbols in Israeli artworks (from Culture of Israel)
Image 39Remains of the Roman theater in Caesarea Maritima (from Culture of Israel)
Image 40Silver coin (gerah) minted in the Persian province of Yehud, dated c. 375-332 BCE. Obv: Bearded head wearing crown, possibly representing the Persian Great King. Rev: Falcon facing, head right, with wings spread; Paleo-Hebrew YHD to right. (from History of Israel)
Image 41Menachem Begin, Jimmy Carter and Anwar Sadat celebrating the signing of the Camp David Accords (from History of Israel)
Image 42David Ben-Gurion proclaiming the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948 (from History of Israel)
Image 43Aerial view of the Temple Mount showing the Dome of the Rock in the center and the al-Aqsa mosque to the south (from History of Israel)
Image 44Jewish Brigade headquarters under both Union Flag and Jewish flag (from History of Israel)
Image 45Jewish Settlement Police members watching the settlement Nesher during 1936–1939 Arab revolt (from History of Israel)
Image 46Protest in Tel Aviv on 6 August 2011 (from History of Israel)
Image 47Visual History of Israel by Arthur Szyk, 1948 (from History of Israel)
Image 48Portion of the Temple Scroll, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls written by the Essenes (from History of Israel)
Image 49Gen. Uzi Narkiss, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, Chief of staff Yitzhak Rabin and Gen. Rehavam Ze'evi in the Old City of Jerusalem, 7 June 1967 (from History of Israel)
Image 50Jewish youth dancing the Horah in the kibboutz Ein Harod in 1936 (from Culture of Israel)
Image 51Heraclius returning the True Cross to Jerusalem, 15th-century painting by Miguel Ximénez (from History of Israel)
Image 52Menahem Zion synagoge, Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem (from Culture of Israel)
Image 53Buchenwald survivors arrive in Haifa to be arrested by the British, 15 July 1945 (from History of Israel)
Image 54Jewish workers in Kerem Avraham neighbourhood of Jerusalem (c. 1850s) (from History of Israel)
Image 55Occupied Enemy Territory Administration, 1918 (from History of Israel)
Image 56"Hezekiah ... king of Judah" – Royal seal written in the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, unearthed in Jerusalem (from History of Israel)
Image 57Detail of the Siloam inscription (from History of Israel)
Image 58Neo-Assyrian Empire at its greatest territorial extent. (from History of Israel)
Image 59Israeli breakfast (from Culture of Israel)
Image 60Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, 2006 (from Culture of Israel)
Image 61Israeli paratroopers dig in near the Mitla Pass, 31 October 1956 (from History of Israel)
Image 62The Merneptah Stele. According to mainstream archeology, it represents the first instance of the name "Israel" in the historical record. (from History of Israel)
Image 63Intel core i7-940. Intel developed its dual-core Core Duo processor at its Israel Development Center in Haifa. (from Culture of Israel)
Image 64Tel Aviv Cinematheque (from Culture of Israel)

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6 February 2025 – United States and the International Criminal Court: U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order imposing sanctions on International Criminal Court officials that assist investigations into U.S. citizens or those of its allies, namely Israel. (NBC News)
5 February 2025 – Israel and the United Nations: Israel withdraws from the United Nations Human Rights Council, accusing the UN body of "obsessively demonizing" and discriminating against the country. (Ynet News)
4 February 2025 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Gaza war; 2025 Gaza war ceasefire, Israel–United States relations

Israel category at Wikinews

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This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Israel}}) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.