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 to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, the Red Sea to the south, Egypt to the southwest, the Mediterranean Sea to the west, and the Palestinian territories – the West Bank along the east and the Gaza Strip along the southwest. Tel Aviv is the country's financial , economic , and technological center. Israel's governmental seat is in its proclaimed capital of Jerusalem , although recognition of Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem is limited internationally .
Israel is located in a region known historically as Canaan , Palestine , and the Holy Land . In antiquity, it was home to several Canaanite city-states, and later, Israelite and Judahite kingdoms , and is referred to as the Land of Israel in Jewish tradition . Situated at a continental crossroad , the region subsequently came under the rule of many different empires . The late 19th century saw the rise of Zionism in Europe, a movement seeking a Jewish homeland , amid rising antisemitism in Europe , which garnered British support during World War I . During the war, British occupation led to the creation of Mandatory Palestine in 1920. Increased Jewish immigration , combined with British colonial policy , led to intercommunal conflict between Jews and Arabs . The 1947 UN Partition Plan triggered a civil war between the two groups. (Full article...
The Israelites Hebrew : בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל Bənēy Yīsrāʾēl transl. 'Children of Israel ' ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age , inhabited a part of Canaan . They were also an ethnoreligious group .
The name of Israel first appears in the
Merneptah Stele of
ancient Egypt , dated to about 1200 BCE. According to one theory, the Israelites branched out from the
Canaanites through
[dubious – discuss the development of
Yahwism , a distinct
monolatristic —and later
monotheistic —religion centred on the national god
Yahweh .
[improper synthesis? They spoke an archaic form of the
Hebrew language , which was a regional variety of the
Canaanite languages , known today as
Biblical Hebrew . In the
Iron Age , the kingdoms of
Israel and Judah emerged. The
Kingdom of Israel , with its capital at
Samaria , fell to the
Neo-Assyrian Empire around 720 BCE; while the
Kingdom of Judah , with its capital at
Jerusalem , was destroyed by the
Neo-Babylonian Empire in 586 BCE. Some of the Judean population
was exiled to Babylon , but
returned to Israel after
Cyrus the Great conquered the region. (
Full article... )
List of selected articles
Image 2 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 3 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.
Image 4 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 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 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 7 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 8 Ceramic tile on the
Dome of the Rock , an Islamic shrine located on the
Temple Mount in the
Old City of Jerusalem
Image 9 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 10 Young
Nubian ibex (
Capra nubiana ) on a stone wall by the edge of
Makhtesh Ramon in Mitzpe Ramon.
Image 11 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 12 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 13 Paratroopers at the Western Wall , an iconic photograph taken on June 7, 1967 by
David Rubinger .
Image 14 A view of
Jaffa , from the beachfront of
Tel Aviv
Image 15 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 16 An aerial view of
Masada in the
Judaean Desert , with the
Dead Sea and
Jordan in the distance
Image 17 Diving tourism site on the southern coast of
Eilat , around a horseshoe-shaped reef. Many animal species are found in the area, including
dolphins .
This is a Good article , an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards. Haifa HY -fəHebrew : חֵיפָה , romanized : Ḥēyfā IPA: [ˈχajfa] Arabic : حَيْفَا , romanized : Ḥayfā third-largest city in Israel —after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv —with a population of 290,306 in 2022. The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area , the third-most populous metropolitan area in Israel. It is home to the Baháʼí Faith 's Baháʼí World Centre , and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a destination for Baháʼí pilgrimage .
Built on the slopes of
Mount Carmel , the settlement has a history spanning more than 3,000 years. The earliest known settlement in the vicinity was
Tell Abu Hawam , a small port city established in the Late
Bronze Age (14th century BCE). In the 3rd century CE, Haifa was known as a
dye-making center. Over the millennia, the Haifa area has changed hands: being conquered and ruled by the
Canaanites ,
Israelites ,
Phoenicians ,
Assyrians ,
Babylonians ,
Persians ,
Hasmoneans ,
Romans ,
Byzantines ,
Arabs ,
Crusaders ,
Ottomans , and the
British . During the
Battle of Haifa in the
1948 Palestine war , most of the city's predominantly Arab population
fled or were expelled . That year, the city became part of the then-newly-established state of Israel. (
Full article... )
The following are images from various Israel-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1 Visual History of Israel by
Arthur Szyk , 1948 (from
History of Israel )
Image 2 "
Hezekiah ... king of
Judah " –
Royal seal written in the
Paleo-Hebrew alphabet , unearthed in Jerusalem (from
History of Israel )
Image 3 Intel core i7-940. Intel developed its
dual-core Core Duo processor at its Israel Development Center in
Haifa . (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 4 Buchenwald survivors arrive in
Haifa to be arrested by the British, 15 July 1945 (from
History of Israel )
Image 5 The route of the exiles to
Babylon (from
History of Israel )
Image 7 Menachem Begin addressing a mass demonstration in Tel Aviv against
negotiations with Germany in 1952 (from
History of Israel )
Image 9 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 10 Jewish workers in
Kerem Avraham neighbourhood of Jerusalem (c. 1850s) (from
History of Israel )
Image 12 16th-century
Safed rabbi
Joseph Karo , author of the
Jewish law book (from
History of Israel )
Image 14 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 15 Israeli paratroopers dig in near the
Mitla Pass , 31 October 1956 (from
History of Israel )
Image 16 The
Gaza–Israel barrier route built (red), under construction (pink) and proposed (white), (from
History of Israel )
Image 17 Supply convoy on its way to
besieged Jerusalem , April 1948 (from
History of Israel )
Image 18 Simulated view of a
black hole .
Jacob Bekenstein predicted and co-discovered
black hole entropy (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 19 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 21 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 23 Jewish symbols in Israeli artworks (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 24 Tiles in the
Bezalel style , 1920s (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 25 The opening ceremony of The
Hebrew University of Jerusalem visited by
Arthur Balfour , 1 April 1925 (from
History of Israel )
Image 26 A portion of the
Isaiah scroll . One of the earliest known manuscripts of biblical literature (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 27 Dedication ceremony of the
Embassy of the United States in
Jerusalem in 2018 (from
History of Israel )
Image 28 Portion of the
Temple Scroll , one of the
Dead Sea Scrolls written by the Essenes (from
History of Israel )
Image 29 143rd Division crossing the
Suez Canal in the direction of
Cairo during the
Yom Kippur War , 15 October 1973 (from
History of Israel )
Image 33 Protest in
Tel Aviv on 6 August 2011 (from
History of Israel )
Image 34 Menahem Zion synagoge,
Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 35 Hebrew ulpan in
Dimona , 1955 (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 36 David dictating the Psalms . The practice of psalms is referred to as a philosophical and theological problem (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 37 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 39 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 40 Kingdoms of
Israel and
Judah (from
History of Israel )
Image 42 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 43 The Bahri Mamluk dynasty 1250–1382 (from
History of Israel )
Image 44 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 45 Patriot missiles launched to intercept an Iraqi Scud over Tel Aviv during the Gulf War (from
History of Israel )
Image 46 Habimah Theater in Tel Aviv (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 49 Heraclius returning the True Cross to Jerusalem, 15th-century painting by Miguel Ximénez (from
History of Israel )
Image 51 Neo-Assyrian Empire at its greatest territorial extent. (from
History of Israel )
Image 53 Remains of the Roman theater in
Caesarea Maritima (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 55 Painting of the
siege of Jerusalem during the
First Crusade (1099) (from
History of Israel )
Image 56 Jewish Yemenite bride in traditional bridal vestment, adorned with a henna wreath, 1958 (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 57 Jewish youth
dancing the Horah in the kibboutz
Ein Harod in 1936 (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 59 Ofek-7 satellite launch through
Shavit vehicle (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 60 Sermon on the Mount . The New Testament was authored by Christian Jews during
Roman-ruled Judea (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 62 Ecclesiastes is known for its
incipit vanity of vanities; all is vanity and concepts of
Vanitas (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 63 Tzofim Israeli scout movement fire ceremony in Tel Aviv (from
Culture of Israel )
Image 64 Gal Fridman , winner of Israel's first Olympic gold medal (from
Culture of Israel )
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This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs ) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{ WikiProject Israel }} ) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.
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Articles needing translation from Hebrew Wikipedia Geographical coordinates Israel articles missing geocoordinate data Infobox Israel articles needing infoboxes Maintain Israel articles needing attention Map Module:Location map/data/Israel . Add maps to articles in Wikipedia requested maps in Israel NPOV Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries Photo Wikipedia requested photographs in Israel Stubs Israel stubs Update Basic Law proposal: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People Other :
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![Image 12A 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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1940 Mandatory Palestine v Lebanon football match
6th Airborne Division in Palestine
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