Welcome to the Israel Portal
Location of Israel The flag of Israel Map of Israel The emblem of Israel Israel State of Israel , is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia . It is bordered by 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. The country also has a small coastline on the Red Sea at its southernmost point, and part of the Dead Sea lies along its eastern border. Israel's 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 Jews as the Land of Israel , synonymous with the Palestine region , the Holy Land , and Canaan . In antiquity, it was home to the Canaanite civilization followed by the kingdoms of Israel and Judah . Situated at a continental crossroad , the region experienced demographic changes under the rule of various empires from the Romans to the Ottomans . European antisemitism in the late 19th century galvanized 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. 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 the United Nations (UN) proposed partitioning the land between them. (Full article...
Levant The Levant lə-VANT Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west and core West Asia , or by the political term, Middle East to the eastarchaeology 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 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 al-Mashriq Arabic : ٱلْمَشْرِق , [ʔal.maʃ.riq] Full article...
Image 1 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 2 A view of
Jaffa , from the beachfront of
Tel Aviv
Image 3 An aerial view of
Masada in the
Judaean Desert , with the
Dead Sea and
Jordan in the distance
Image 4 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 5 "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 6 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 7 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 9 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 10 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 11 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 12 Paratroopers at the Western Wall , an iconic photograph taken on June 7, 1967 by
David Rubinger .
Image 13 Ceramic tile on the
Dome of the Rock , an Islamic shrine located on the
Temple Mount in the
Old City of Jerusalem
Image 14 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 15 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 16 Young
Nubian ibex (
Capra nubiana ) on a stone wall by the edge of
Makhtesh Ramon in Mitzpe Ramon.
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.
Kreplach Yiddish : קרעפּלעך , romanized : Kreplekh dumplings in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine filled with ground meat , mashed potatoes or another filling, usually boiled and served in chicken soup , though they may also be served fried. They are similar to other types of dumplings, such as Polish pierogi , Polish and Ukrainian uszka , Russian pelmeni , Italian ravioli or tortellini , German Maultaschen , and Chinese jiaozi and wonton . The dough is traditionally made of flour , water and eggs , kneaded and rolled out into thin sheets. Some modern-day cooks use frozen dough sheets or wonton wrappers. Ready-made kreplach are also sold in the kosher freezer section of supermarkets. (Full article...
The following are images from various Israel-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 2 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 3 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 4 Menahem Zion synagoge,
Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 6 Protest in
Tel Aviv on 6 August 2011 (from
History of Israel )
Image 8 "
Hezekiah ... king of
Judah " –
Royal seal written in the
Paleo-Hebrew alphabet , unearthed in Jerusalem (from
History of Israel )
Image 9 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 10 Ecclesiastes is known for its
incipit vanity of vanities; all is vanity and concepts of
Vanitas (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 11 143rd Division crossing the
Suez Canal in the direction of
Cairo during the
Yom Kippur War , 15 October 1973 (from
History of Israel )
Image 12 Supply convoy on its way to
besieged Jerusalem , April 1948 (from
History of Israel )
Image 13 Simulated view of a
black hole .
Jacob Bekenstein predicted and co-discovered
black hole entropy (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 15 The opening ceremony of The
Hebrew University of Jerusalem visited by
Arthur Balfour , 1 April 1925 (from
History of Israel )
Image 16 Jewish workers in
Kerem Avraham neighbourhood of Jerusalem (c. 1850s) (from
History of Israel )
Image 17 David dictating the Psalms . The practice of psalms is referred to as a philosophical and theological problem (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 18 Ofek-7 satellite launch through
Shavit vehicle (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 19 Neo-Assyrian Empire at its greatest territorial extent. (from
History of Israel )
Image 20 Patriot missiles launched to intercept an Iraqi Scud over Tel Aviv during the Gulf War (from
History of Israel )
Image 22 Heraclius returning the True Cross to Jerusalem, 15th-century painting by Miguel Ximénez (from
History of Israel )
Image 23 Gal Fridman , winner of Israel's first Olympic gold medal (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 24 Buchenwald survivors arrive in
Haifa to be arrested by the British, 15 July 1945 (from
History of Israel )
Image 25 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 26 Tzofim Israeli scout movement fire ceremony in Tel Aviv (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 28 The
Gaza–Israel barrier route built (red), under construction (pink) and proposed (white), as of June 2011
[update] (from
History of Israel )
Image 32 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 34 Tiles in the
Bezalel style , 1920s (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 36 The Bahri Mamluk dynasty 1250–1382 (from
History of Israel )
Image 37 Intel core i7-940. Intel developed its
dual-core Core Duo processor at its Israel Development Center in
Haifa . (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 38 Jewish symbols in Israeli artworks (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 40 Hebrew ulpan in
Dimona , 1955 (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 41 Visual History of Israel by
Arthur Szyk , 1948 (from
History of Israel )
Image 43 Jewish Yemenite bride in traditional bridal vestment, adorned with a henna wreath, 1958 (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 44 A portion of the
Isaiah scroll . One of the earliest known manuscripts of biblical literature (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 46 Jewish youth
dancing the Horah in the kibboutz
Ein Harod in 1936 (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 47 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 49 Remains of the Roman theater in
Caesarea Maritima (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 50 Israeli paratroopers dig in near the
Mitla Pass , 31 October 1956 (from
History of Israel )
Image 51 Sermon on the Mount . The New Testament was authored by Christian Jews during
Roman-ruled Judea (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 53 The route of the exiles to
Babylon (from
History of Israel )
Image 54 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 55 Portion of the
Temple Scroll , one of the
Dead Sea Scrolls written by the Essenes (from
History of Israel )
Image 56 Habimah Theater in Tel Aviv (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 58 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 59 Painting of the
siege of Jerusalem during the
First Crusade (1099) (from
History of Israel )
Image 61 16th-century
Safed rabbi
Joseph Karo , author of the
Jewish law book (from
History of Israel )
Image 62 Dedication ceremony of the
Embassy of the United States in
Jerusalem in 2018 (from
History of Israel )
Image 64 Menachem Begin addressing a mass demonstration in Tel Aviv against
negotiations with Germany in 1952 (from
History of Israel )
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![Image 15A 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]](/wiki/File:ISR-EGY_border_6521a.jpg)
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![Image 28The Gaza–Israel barrier route built (red), under construction (pink) and proposed (white), as of June 2011[update] (from History of Israel)](/wiki/File:Westbank_barrier.png)
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1940 Mandatory Palestine v Lebanon football match
6th Airborne Division in Palestine
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