Welcome to the Israel Portal מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל
Location of Israel
The flag of Israel
Map of Israel
The emblem of Israel
Israel , officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Southern Levant , West Asia . It is bordered by Lebanon and Syria to the north, the West Bank and Jordan to the east, Egypt , the Gaza Strip and the Red Sea to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Tel Aviv is the country's financial , economic , and technological center. Israel's governmental seat is in its proclaimed capital of Jerusalem , though recognition of Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem is limited internationally .
Israel is located in a region known historically as Canaan , Palestine , and the Holy Land . In antiquity, it was home to Canaanite city-states , then the kingdoms of Israel and Judah , and is referred to as the Land of Israel in Jewish tradition . Situated at a continental crossroad , the region was then ruled by various empires . Amid European antisemitism , the late 19th century saw the rise of Zionism , which sought a Jewish homeland . British occupation led to the establishment of Mandatory Palestine in 1920. Jewish immigration , combined with British colonial policy , led to intercommunal conflict between Jews and Arabs . The 1947 UN Partition Plan triggered civil war between them. (Full article... )
The West Bank (Arabic : الضفة الغربية , romanized : aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah ; Hebrew : הַגָּדָה הַמַּעֲרָבִית , romanized : HaGadáh HaMaʽarávit ), so called due to its location relative to the Jordan River , is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip ). A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the Levant region of West Asia , it is bordered by Jordan and the Dead Sea to the east and by Israel (via the Green Line ) to the south, west, and north. The territory has been under Israeli occupation since 1967.
The territory first emerged in the wake of the
1948 Arab–Israeli War as a region occupied and subsequently
annexed by Jordan. Jordan ruled the territory until the 1967
Six-Day War , when it was
occupied by Israel . Since then,
Israel has administered the West Bank as the
Judea and Samaria Area , expanding its claim into
East Jerusalem in
1980 . The mid-1990s
Oslo Accords split the West Bank into
three regional levels of Palestinian sovereignty, via the
Palestinian National Authority (PNA): Area A (PNA), Area B (PNA and Israel), and
Area C (Israel, comprising 60% of the West Bank). The PNA exercises total or partial civil administration over 165
Palestinian enclaves across the three areas. (
Full article... )
List of selected articles
Image 2 Northeast 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 3 "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 4 The
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 5 A view of
Jaffa , from the beachfront of
Tel Aviv
Image 6 Diving tourism site on the southern coast of
Eilat , around a horseshoe-shaped reef. Many animal species are found in the area, including
dolphins .
Image 7 Ceramic tile on the
Dome of the Rock , an Islamic shrine located on the
Temple Mount in the
Old City of Jerusalem
Image 8 A 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 9 Young
Nubian ibex (
Capra nubiana ) on a stone wall by the edge of
Makhtesh Ramon in Mitzpe Ramon.
Image 10 An aerial view of
Masada in the
Judaean Desert , with the
Dead Sea and
Jordan in the distance
Image 11 Dead 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.
Image 12 A 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 13 Reading 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 14 Southern 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 15 An 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 16 Paratroopers at the Western Wall , an iconic photograph taken on June 7, 1967 by
David Rubinger .
Image 17 David 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.
Related portals
WikiProjects
This is a Good article , an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.
Zion Square (Hebrew : כיכר ציון , romanized : Kikar Tziyon ) is a public square in Jerusalem , located at the intersection of Jaffa Road , Ben Yehuda Street , Herbert Samuel Street, and Yoel Moshe Salomon Street.
The square is one of the
vertices of the
Downtown Triangle commercial district. Since the
British Mandate era , Zion Square has been the focal point of the cultural life of downtown Jerusalem. The square is busy day and night with tourists, elderly immigrants, overseas students, local youth,
street performers , and religious activists. In recent decades, the square has become a hangout for disaffected and homeless youth. (
Full article... )
The following are images from various Israel-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1 Painting of the
siege of Jerusalem during the
First Crusade (1099) (from
History of Israel )
Image 4 David dictating the Psalms . The practice of psalms is referred to as a philosophical and theological problem (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 6 Cultural 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 7 Jewish symbols in Israeli artworks (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 8 16th-century
Safed rabbi
Joseph Karo , author of the
Jewish law book (from
History of Israel )
Image 11 Tzofim Israeli scout movement fire ceremony in Tel Aviv (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 14 Menahem Zion synagoge,
Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 15 Tiles in the
Bezalel style , 1920s (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 17 Habimah Theater in Tel Aviv (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 18 Simulated view of a
black hole .
Jacob Bekenstein predicted and co-discovered
black hole entropy (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 19 Jewish workers in
Kerem Avraham neighbourhood of Jerusalem (c. 1850s) (from
History of Israel )
Image 21 A
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 22 The route of the exiles to
Babylon (from
History of Israel )
Image 23 Sermon on the Mount . The New Testament was authored by Christian Jews during
Roman-ruled Judea (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 24 Dedication ceremony of the
Embassy of the United States in
Jerusalem in 2018 (from
History of Israel )
Image 25 "
Hezekiah ... king of
Judah " –
Royal seal written in the
Paleo-Hebrew alphabet , unearthed in Jerusalem (from
History of Israel )
Image 26 Heraclius returning the True Cross to Jerusalem, 15th-century painting by Miguel Ximénez (from
History of Israel )
Image 27 Ecclesiastes is known for its
incipit vanity of vanities; all is vanity and concepts of
Vanitas (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 28 Intel core i7-940. Intel developed its
dual-core Core Duo processor at its Israel Development Center in
Haifa . (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 29 Menachem Begin addressing a mass demonstration in Tel Aviv against
negotiations with Germany in 1952 (from
History of Israel )
Image 30 Neo-Assyrian Empire at its greatest territorial extent. (from
History of Israel )
Image 33 Hebrew ulpan in
Dimona , 1955 (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 35 Kingdoms of
Israel and
Judah (from
History of Israel )
Image 38 Gal Fridman , winner of Israel's first Olympic gold medal (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 39 A portion of the
Isaiah scroll . One of the earliest known manuscripts of biblical literature (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 41 Visual History of Israel by
Arthur Szyk , 1948 (from
History of Israel )
Image 42 Remains of the Roman theater in
Caesarea Maritima (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 43 Silver 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 44 Protest in
Tel Aviv on 6 August 2011 (from
History of Israel )
Image 46 Gen.
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 47 The
Merneptah Stele . According to mainstream archeology, it represents the first instance of the name "Israel" in the historical record. (from
History of Israel )
Image 48 Patriot missiles launched to intercept an Iraqi Scud over Tel Aviv during the Gulf War (from
History of Israel )
Image 49 Portion of the
Temple Scroll , one of the
Dead Sea Scrolls written by the Essenes (from
History of Israel )
Image 51 Illustration 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 52 The
Gaza–Israel barrier route built (red), under construction (pink) and proposed (white), (from
History of Israel )
Image 53 Buchenwald survivors arrive in
Haifa to be arrested by the British, 15 July 1945 (from
History of Israel )
Image 54 Yitzhak 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 55 Aerial 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 57 Israeli paratroopers dig in near the
Mitla Pass , 31 October 1956 (from
History of Israel )
Image 58 Jewish youth
dancing the Horah in the kibboutz
Ein Harod in 1936 (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 59 The Bahri Mamluk dynasty 1250–1382 (from
History of Israel )
Image 60 The opening ceremony of The
Hebrew University of Jerusalem visited by
Arthur Balfour , 1 April 1925 (from
History of Israel )
Image 61 Supply convoy on its way to
besieged Jerusalem , April 1948 (from
History of Israel )
Image 62 Jewish Yemenite bride in traditional bridal vestment, adorned with a henna wreath, 1958 (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 63 143rd Division crossing the
Suez Canal in the direction of
Cairo during the
Yom Kippur War , 15 October 1973 (from
History of Israel )
Image 65 Ofek-7 satellite launch through
Shavit vehicle (from
Culture of Israel )
Categories
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories
Topics
News
Featured content
Featured articles
Featured lists
A-Class articles
Good articles
Things you can do
Here are some tasks awaiting attention:
Assess : Rate the Unassessed Israel-related articles and Unknown-importance Israel-related articles .Categorization : Diffuse articles from Category:Companies of Israel .Cleanup : Cleanup listing for this project is available. See also the list by category and the tool's wiki page .Collaborate : Participate in WikiProject Israel Palestine Collaboration .Copyedit : Timeline of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2005 Deletion sorting : Participate in discussions at WikiProject Deletion sorting/Israel .Expand : Ayala Procaccia , Diamond industry in Israel , Edna Arbel , Levin Kipnis , Rami Kleinstein , Sephardic Haredim , Zman Tel Aviv , Nachum Heiman , Public Defence (Israel) , Prisoner of Zion , Trial of Benjamin Netanyahu , Day to Mark the Departure and Expulsion of Jews from the Arab Countries and Iran , Pre-Modern Aliyah
See also Articles needing translation from Hebrew Wikipedia .Geographical coordinates : Add geographic coordinates to Israel articles missing geocoordinate data .Infobox : Add infoboxes to Israel articles needing infoboxes .Maintain : See Israel articles needing attention .Map : See discussion at Module:Location map/data/Israel . Add maps to articles in Wikipedia requested maps in Israel .NPOV : Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries Photo : Add pictures to articles in Wikipedia requested photographs in Israel .Stubs : See Israel stubs .Update : Basic Law proposal: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People Other :
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
Commons Free media repository
Wikibooks Free textbooks and manuals
Wikidata Free knowledge base
Wikinews Free-content news
Wikiquote Collection of quotations
Wikisource Free-content library
Wikiversity Free learning tools
Wikivoyage Free travel guide
Wiktionary Dictionary and thesaurus
External media
Sources
Purge server cache
Recent Comments