Israel & New Breed
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. It is bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, and Egypt to the southwest. Israel's western coast lies on the Mediterranean Sea, its southern tip reaches the Red Sea, and to the east is Earth's lowest point near the Dead Sea. Jerusalem is the government seat and proclaimed capital, while Tel Aviv is Israel's largest urban area and economic centre.
Israel is located in a region known in Jewish tradition as the Land of Israel, synonymous with Canaan, Palestine, 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 to establish a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine and gained British support with the Balfour Declaration. After World War I, Britain occupied the region and established Mandatory Palestine in 1920. Increased Jewish immigration in the lead-up to the Holocaust and British foreign policy in the Middle East led to intercommunal conflict between Jews and the Arab-majority population, which escalated into a civil war in 1947 after the United Nations (UN) proposed partitioning the land between them.
After the end of the British Mandate for Palestine, Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948. Neighbouring Arab states invaded the area the next day, beginning the First Arab–Israeli War. The 1949 armistice left Israel controlling more territory than had been allocated to it under the UN partition plan. No independent Palestinian Arab state was established, leaving Gaza under Egyptian control and the West Bank ruled by Jordan. Most Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled during the Nakba, while Israel's population increased greatly over the following decades as the country received an influx of Jews who emigrated, fled or were expelled from the Arab world. After the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza and Egyptian Sinai, and annexed East Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan Heights. Peace treaties were signed with Egypt in 1979 (the Sinai being returned in 1982) and Jordan in 1994. The 1993 Oslo Accords introduced limited Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza, while the 2020 Abraham Accords normalised ties with more Arab states, but the Israeli–Palestinian conflict persists. Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories has drawn international criticism, with most Middle East experts arguing that Israel's treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank in relation to Israeli settlers constitutes a system of apartheid. After the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, Israel began committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has denied that its actions constitute genocide.
The Basic Laws of Israel establish the Knesset as a proportionally elected parliament. It shapes the government, led by the prime minister, and elects the largely ceremonial president. Israel has one of the Middle East's largest economies, one of Asia's highest living standards, and globally ranks 24th in nominal GDP and 12th in nominal GDP per capita. One of the world's most technologically advanced countries, Israel allocates a larger share of its economy to research and development than any other state and is believed to possess nuclear weapons. The only country with a revived official language, Hebrew, the culture of Israel combines Jewish traditions with Arab influences.
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