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 region of West Asia . It shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. It occupies the Palestinian territories of the West Bank in the east and the Gaza Strip in the south-west, as well as the Syrian Golan Heights in the northeast. Israel also has a small coastline on the Red Sea at its southernmost point, and part of the Dead Sea lies along its eastern border. Its proclaimed capital is Jerusalem , while Tel Aviv is its largest urban area and economic centre .
Israel is located in a region known as the Land of Israel , synonymous with Canaan , the Holy Land , the Palestine region , and Judea . 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 Arabs , which escalated into a civil war in 1947 after the United Nations (UN) proposed partitioning the land between them. (Full article... )
The status of Jerusalem has been described as "one of the most intractable issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict " due to the long-running territorial dispute between Israel and the Palestinians , both of which claim it as their capital city . Part of this issue of sovereignty is tied to concerns over access to holy sites in the Abrahamic religions ; the current religious environment in Jerusalem is upheld by the "Status Quo " of the former Ottoman Empire . As the Israeli–Palestinian peace process has primarily navigated the option of a two-state solution , one of the largest points of contention has been East Jerusalem , which was part of the Jordanian-annexed West Bank until the beginning of the Israeli occupation in 1967.
The United Nations recognizes East Jerusalem (and the West Bank as a whole) as the territory for an independent Palestinian state , thus rejecting Israel's claim to that half of the city. There is broader consensus among the international community with regard to West Jerusalem being Israel's capital city, as it falls within Israel's sovereign territory (per the Green Line ) and has been recognized as under Israeli control since the 1949 Armistice Agreements . (Full article... )
Image 1 An aerial view of
Masada in the
Judaean Desert , with the
Dead Sea and
Jordan in the distance
Image 2 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 3 Ceramic tile on the
Dome of the Rock , an Islamic shrine located on the
Temple Mount in the
Old City of Jerusalem
Image 4 Young
Nubian ibex (
Capra nubiana ) on a stone wall by the edge of
Makhtesh Ramon in Mitzpe Ramon.
Image 5 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 6 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 7 "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 8 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 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 10 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 11 Paratroopers at the Western Wall , an iconic photograph taken on June 7, 1967 by
David Rubinger .
Image 12 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 13 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 14 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 15 A view of
Jaffa , from the beachfront of
Tel Aviv
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.
This is a Good article , an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.
Birket Israel (trans. Pool of Israel ) also Birket Israil or Birket Isra'in , abbreviated from Birket Beni Israìl (trans. Pool of the Children of Israel ) was a public cistern located on the north-eastern corner of the Temple Mount , in Jerusalem . The structure is believed to have been built either in the Late Roman or the Umayyad period for use as a water reservoir and also to protect the northern wall of the Temple Mount. Hackett attests that Arab locals knew it by this name in 1857.
By the mid-19th century it had gone out of use as a reservoir; being partly filled with rubbish and reused as a vegetable garden. In 1934 it was filled in and is now known as el-Ghazali Square. It is currently in mixed use for shops, as a car park, and as a transshipment point for refuse. (Full article... )
Kreplach (from Yiddish : קרעפּלעך , romanized : Kreplekh ) are small 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 dumpling, 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 1 The
Gaza–Israel barrier route built (red), under construction (pink) and proposed (white), as of June 2011
[update] (from
History of Israel )
Image 5 Menachem Begin addressing a mass demonstration in Tel Aviv against
negotiations with Germany in 1952 (from
History of Israel )
Image 6 143rd Division crossing the
Suez Canal in the direction of
Cairo during the
Yom Kippur War , 15 October 1973 (from
History of Israel )
Image 8 Menahem Zion synagoge,
Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 9 Painting of the
siege of Jerusalem during the
First Crusade (1099) (from
History of Israel )
Image 10 Jewish symbols in Israeli artworks (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 11 Intel core i7-940. Intel developed its
dual-core Core Duo processor at its Israel Development Center in
Haifa . (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 12 Jewish Yemenite bride in traditional bridal vestment, adorned with a henna wreath, 1958 (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 13 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 14 Sermon on the Mount . The New Testament was authored by Christian Jews during
Roman-ruled Judea (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 15 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 16 Tzofim Israeli scout movement fire ceremony in Tel Aviv (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 17 Jewish workers in
Kerem Avraham neighbourhood of Jerusalem (c. 1850s) (from
History of Israel )
Image 18 Ecclesiastes is known for its
incipit vanity of vanities; all is vanity and concepts of
Vanitas (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 19 Gal Fridman , winner of Israel's first Olympic gold medal (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 21 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 23 Protest in
Tel Aviv on 6 August 2011 (from
History of Israel )
Image 24 Dedication ceremony of the
Embassy of the United States in
Jerusalem in 2018 (from
History of Israel )
Image 25 David dictating the Psalms . The practice of psalms is referred to as a philosophical and theological problem (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 26 Hebrew ulpan in
Dimona , 1955 (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 27 Heraclius returning the True Cross to Jerusalem, 15th-century painting by Miguel Ximénez (from
History of Israel )
Image 28 Israeli paratroopers dig in near the
Mitla Pass , 31 October 1956 (from
History of Israel )
Image 29 Neo-Assyrian Empire at its greatest territorial extent. (from
History of Israel )
Image 31 The Bahri Mamluk dynasty 1250–1382 (from
History of Israel )
Image 34 Simulated view of a
black hole .
Jacob Bekenstein predicted and co-discovered
black hole entropy (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 35 Jewish youth
dancing the Horah in the kibboutz
Ein Harod in 1936 (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 36 Ofek-7 satellite launch through
Shavit vehicle (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 37 Remains of the Roman theater in
Caesarea Maritima (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 38 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 39 Buchenwald survivors arrive in
Haifa to be arrested by the British, 15 July 1945 (from
History of Israel )
Image 41 First modern art exhibition in Israel at the
Ohel theatre 1926, organized primarily by the
Histadrut art studio (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 42 Habimah Theater in Tel Aviv (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 43 The route of the exiles to
Babylon (from
History of Israel )
Image 44 Supply convoy on its way to
besieged Jerusalem , April 1948 (from
History of Israel )
Image 46 "
Hezekiah ... king of
Judah " –
Royal seal written in the
Paleo-Hebrew alphabet , unearthed in Jerusalem (from
History of Israel )
Image 48 A portion of the
Isaiah Scroll . One of the earliest known manuscripts of biblical literature (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 49 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 50 Nahal Brigade soldiers returning after the
2006 Lebanon War (from
History of Israel )
Image 51 Portion of the
Temple Scroll , one of the
Dead Sea Scrolls written by the Essenes (from
History of Israel )
Image 52 Tiles in the
Bezalel style , 1920s (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 53 The opening ceremony of The
Hebrew University of Jerusalem visited by
Arthur Balfour , 1 April 1925 (from
History of Israel )
Image 56 Patriot missiles launched to intercept an Iraqi Scud over Tel Aviv during the Gulf War (from
History of Israel )
Image 57 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 61 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 63 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 )
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26 August 2025 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Israeli incursions in the West Bank during the Gaza war
Israeli forces carry out a daytime raid on Ramallah in the West Bank , wounding at least 58 Palestinians with gunfire and tear gas . (AP)
25 August 2025 – Gaza war
Two Israeli airstrikes against Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis , Palestine , kill 22 people, including five journalists working for Reuters and AP , according to Palestinian authorities. (ABC) (NPR) (The Guardian )
Hassan Douhan, a journalist for newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida , is fatally shot by Israeli forces in the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Yunis , Palestine . (Anadolu Agency)
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