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 Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem is not recognised under international law and only has limited recognition internationally. See Status of Jerusalem for more information.}}

Israel is located in a region known as the Land of Israel in Jewish tradition as well as Canaan, Palestine, and the Holy Land. In antiquity, it was home to Canaanite city-states followed by the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. 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.

The State of Israel declared its establishment on 14 May 1948. On 15 May 1948, the armies of neighboring Arab states invaded the area of the former Mandatory Palestine, internationalizing the civil war and beginning the First Arab–Israeli War. The majority of Palestinians were expelled or made to flee due to various causes. Over the following decades, Israel received an influx of Jews who emigrated, fled, or were expelled from the Muslim world. The 1949 Armistice Agreements established Israel's borders over most of the former Mandate territory. The 1967 Six-Day War saw Israel occupy the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Egyptian Sinai Peninsula and Syrian Golan Heights. Israel has established and continues to expand settlements across the occupied territories, which is widely considered illegal under international law, and has effectively annexed East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, which is largely unrecognized internationally. Since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt, returning the Sinai Peninsula, and Jordan, and into the 2020s has normalized relations with several Arab countries. However, efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not succeeded. Israel's practices in its occupation of the Palestinian territories have drawn sustained international criticism along with accusations that it has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Palestinian people from human rights organizations and United Nations officials.

The country has a unicameral parliament, the Knesset, elected by proportional representation, which determines the makeup of the government headed by the prime minister. Israel is the only country to have a revived language, Hebrew, as the official language. The culture of Israel is composed of Jewish culture and Jewish diaspora influences, involving cuisine, music, and art. Israel has among the highest standards of living and GDP per capita in the Middle East and Asia and one of the most advanced economies in the world , it has one of the biggest economies in the Middle East, spending proportionally more on research and development than any other country, and it is one of the most technologically developed countries. It has been a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development since 2010. Provided by Wikipedia