Israel (451 words)

IsraelIntroduction p.1
I. Geography of Israelp.2
II. Population of Israel p.3
III. History of Israelp.4
IV. Government of Israel p.5,6
V. Religions of Israelp.7
Bibliography p.8
Introduction
In the past few decades, atleast since 1948, no other
country has been in the news more often or has gotten more
international attention than Israel. First, Israel got attention
because it was to be a refuge for the poor unfortunate Jewish
people who survived the Holocaust. They would, once and for all,
have a Jewish homeland, where the key to citizenship was simply
being Jewish. The majority of the world had sympathy for the
Jewish people, at that time.

Along with this sympathy the world had expectations
that the Jewish people would be better, morally, than the other
nations of the world. As a result, Israel is often put under a
figurative microscope and each and every thing she does is
analyzed. For many years people only said the nicest things
about Israel, but that has changed, recently. Many people think
that one of the reasons for this change is because of the power
the Arabs have as a result of their oil and money.

Since 1948 Israel has had to deal with regular wars
waged by its Arab neighbors, with one of the highest taxation
systems in the world and with double digit inflation every year.

There is a division among its religious and non-religious people,
and a division among its citizens of European vs. North African
origin. Israel has, in the past, had to deal with not enough
immigration and most recently too much immigration. When Israel
was first established there was much work to be done and too few
people to do it. Now there is rising unemployment in Israel,
partly because of the mass of new immigrants from the Soviet
Union and from Ethiopia. There was a time when people moved to
Israel and never thought about leaving; that has changed.

You will learn more, in the following pages, about this
dynamic and wonderful country of ours, “Eretz Yisrael”, the Land
of Israel, homeland of the Jews.

Bibliography
1.Feinstein, Steve. Israel. Minneapolis: Lerner Publication
Company, 1988.

2.Taitz, Emily and Henry, Sandra. Israel, A Sacred Land.

Minnesota: Dillon Press, Inc., 1987.

3.About Israel. Do You Know That…? Jerusalem: Israel
Information Center, 1980.

4.Aspects of Israel. Jerusalem: Israel Information Center,
1982.

5.Israel Today. Jerusalem: Israel Digest, 1983.

6.Watson, Russel and Annin, Peter. “City of Peace, Hornet’s
Nest”, Newsweek, (1988) p.51.

7.Ain, Stewart. “Tears and Joy”. The Jewish Week. (May 4,
1990) p.2.

8.Lief, Louise, Makovsky, David and Walsh, Kenneth. “Your
Jewishness Is Not Enough”. U.S. News & World Report
(1990) p.32,33.

9.”Israel”, Encyclopedia Brittanica, 1963 edition.

10. “Israel”, Encyclopedia Judaica, 1974 edition.