The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel,
proclaimed by the Provisional Government and the Provisional
Council of State on May 14, 1948, mentions a draft constitution to
be prepared by a constitutional committee and to be adopted by an
elected constituent assembly not later than October 1, 1948. After
convening on February 14, 1949, the Constituent Assembly, however,
instead of drafting a constitution, on February 16 converted itself
into a legislative body (the first Knesset) and enacted the
Transition Law, commonly referred to as the "small constitution."
The Constituent Assembly could not agree on a comprehensive written
constitution, primarily for fear that a constitution would unleash
a divisive conflict between religious and state authorities, a fear
that continued to exist in late 1988. The ensuing parliamentary
debate, from February 1 through June 13, 1950, between those
favoring a written constitution and those opposing it was a
microcosm of the conflict between state and religious interests
that would continue to agitate Israeli political life.
Proponents argued that under a bill of rights incorporated into
a constitution Israel would benefit from the experience of other
nations that had adopted written safeguards to ensure religious
freedom, minority rights, equal rights, and civil liberties. A
written constitution, they asserted, would also safeguard the
principle of the separation of powers and, in a period of rapid
immigration, referred to in Israel as the "ingathering of exiles,"
would be a unifying factor, unequivocally establishing the
supremacy of civil law.
Opponents contended that the domestic and external
circumstances of Israel in 1949 were not auspicious for the
adoption of a constitution. They stressed that a written
constitution would be politically divisive because the
controversial issue of the boundaries between state and religion
would inevitably be raised in formulating the principles, goals,
and nature of the state as codified in a constitution
(see The Role of Judaism
, ch. 2). Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, the leading
opponent of a written constitution, maintained that the
Proclamation of Independence, however great an event, was merely
the beginning of a long process in Israel's evolution as a
democratic state and not "the redemption." Perhaps most
significantly, Ben-Gurion and Mapai (Mifleget Poalei Eretz Ysrael,
Israel Workers' Party--see Appendix B), the Labor Party's
predecessor, had already formed an alliance with Orthodox religious
parties by entering into a "historical partnership" with Mizrahi
(Spiritual Center--see Appendix B) in 1933. As part of the Mapai-
Mizrahi agreement of June 19, 1947, they obtained unity among the
various groups in the Yishuv (the prestate Jewish community) by
promising the leaders of the ultra-Orthodox Agudat Israel (Society
of Israel--see Appendix B) that the status quo on issues involving
state and religion would be maintained in the new state. Some
observers felt that Ben-Gurion and other Labor leaders grossly
underestimated the long-term consequences of delaying resolution of
the role of religion in a modern Jewish state. In later years, the
Orthodox-dominated Ministry of Religious Affairs, Ministry of
Interior, rabbinate, rabbinic courts, and municipal religious
councils gained a virtual monopoly in patronage and resources over
Israel's organized Jewish religious institutions to the detriment
of the more moderate Conservative and Reform movements of Judaism.
As a consequence of the resurgence of right-wing fundamentalist
religious movements, the influence of secular elements in Israeli
society, especially of Labor and its allies, was ultimately
diminished.
The Israeli solution to the lack of a constitution has been a
"building-block" method. In June 1950, the Knesset passed a
compromise resolution, known as the "Harari decision" (named after
Knesset member Izhar Harari), approving a constitution in principle
but postponing its enactment until a future date. The resolution
stated that the constitution would be evolved "chapter by chapter
in such a way that each chapter will by itself constitute a
fundamental law." It stipulated: "The chapters will be submitted to
the Knesset to the extent to which the Committee [for Constitution,
Law, and Justice of the Knesset] completes its work, and the
chapters will be incorporated in the constitution of the State." By
1988 nine Basic Laws had been enacted to deal with the Knesset
(1958), Israeli Lands (1960), the Presidency (1964), the Government
(1968), the State Economy (1975), the Army (1976), Jerusalem
(1980), the Judiciary (1984), and Elections (1988). These Basic
Laws, transcending regular legislation, may be amended or changed
only by a special majority; in most cases the majority required is
at least 80 members of the 120-member Knesset. Moreover, to ensure
the country's stability, the Basic Laws may not be amended,
suspended, or repealed by emergency legislation.
Apart from the nine Basic Laws, as of the end of 1988 there
were a number of ordinary laws that legitimized the structure,
functions, and actions of state institutions. These ordinary
statutes were intended eventually to take the form of Basic Laws,
presumably with appropriate revisions to account for changing needs
and circumstances. Among these laws were the Law of Return (1950),
Nationality Law (1952), the Judges Law (1953), the State Education
Law (1953), the Courts Law (1957), the State Comptroller Law
(1958), and the Knesset Elections Law (1969). Legislation such as
the Law of Return, the Nationality Law, and the State Education Law
sought to resolve fundamental secular-religious disagreements. In
the judgment of most Israeli observers, however, the enactment of
such laws did not resolve fundamental controversies because
Orthodox figures later sought to overturn them. For example, in
1988 the government was engaged in a legislative struggle involving
renewed attempts by Orthodox religious parties to amend the 1950
Law of Return, the country's basic immigration law, by granting
Orthodox religious authorities exclusive power to decide who is
Jewish and to exclude people who had converted to Judaism through
the Reform or Conservative movements. On June 14, 1988, the Knesset
defeated two such bills by votes of sixty to fifty-three and sixty
to fifty-one.
The question of human rights and civil liberties has been an
important concern of all Israeli governments. It is reflected, for
instance, in the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of
Israel, sometimes considered analogous to the United States
Declaration of Independence. The Israeli declaration reads in part:
"The State of Israel will . . . foster the development of the
country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on
freedom, justice, and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel;
it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to
all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will
guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and
culture." The declaration contains sections that were intended to
grant constitutional authority for the establishment and operation
of state organs during the immediate postindependence years. Apart
from that legal significance, however, the declaration lacks the
status of a formal constitution against which the legality of other
enactments can be tested. This is especially true regarding the
issue of fundamental civil rights.
In the absence of an expressed bill of rights, Israeli
governments have relied on the court system to safeguard civil
rights and liberties. Israeli citizens have enjoyed a large measure
of civil rights as a result of high standards of fairness in the
administration of justice in Israel proper. Nonetheless, certain
infringements have been caused by the dictates of internal security
(see Israeli Arabs, Arab Land, and Arab Refugees
, ch. 1). According
to a United States Department of State report on human rights
practices in Israel released in February 1988, "Israel is a
parliamentary democracy which guarantees by law and respects in
practice the civil, political, and religious rights of its citizens
. . . As in the past, the most significant human rights problems
for Israel in 1987 derived from the strained relations between the
Israeli authorities and some Israelis on the one hand and the Arab
inhabitants of the occupied territories on the other hand."
A number of attempts have been made to introduce proposals for
a detailed constitution. The latest occurred in August 1987, when
the Public Council for a Constitution for Israel, a group of Tel
Aviv University professors led by Uriel Reichman, dean of its
faculty of law, launched a campaign to enact a constitution. The
group argued that the existing Basic Laws were not tantamount to a
constitution because such topics as judicial review and a bill of
rights were not covered and because most of the Basic Laws were
regular laws that could be amended by a simple majority vote of the
Knesset. A written constitution, in contrast, would spell out the
relationship among the different branches of government and
establish a type of secularized bill of rights between the
individual and the state. The group advocated three necessary
reform measures as essential for a democratic and constitutional
state: the direct election of the prime minister; the safeguarding
of all Basic Laws so that they could be rescinded only by a
two-thirds or three-fifths Knesset majority; and the establishment
of a well-defined system of judicial review. While the proposal had
little chance of Knesset passage, it aroused renewed interest in
the reform of the Israeli electoral, legislative, and judicial
systems
(see Prospects for Electoral Reform
, this ch.).
|
Background | | Following World War II, the British withdrew from their mandate of Palestine, and the UN partitioned the area into Arab and Jewish states, an arrangement rejected by the Arabs. Subsequently, the Israelis defeated the Arabs in a series of wars without ending the deep tensions between the two sides. The territories Israel occupied since the 1967 war are not included in the Israel country profile, unless otherwise noted. On 25 April 1982, Israel withdrew from the Sinai pursuant to the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. In keeping with the framework established at the Madrid Conference in October 1991, bilateral negotiations were conducted between Israel and Palestinian representatives and Syria to achieve a permanent settlement. Israel and Palestinian officials signed on 13 September 1993 a Declaration of Principles (also known as the "Oslo Accords") guiding an interim period of Palestinian self-rule. Outstanding territorial and other disputes with Jordan were resolved in the 26 October 1994 Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace. In addition, on 25 May 2000, Israel withdrew unilaterally from southern Lebanon, which it had occupied since 1982. In April 2003, US President BUSH, working in conjunction with the EU, UN, and Russia - the "Quartet" - took the lead in laying out a roadmap to a final settlement of the conflict by 2005, based on reciprocal steps by the two parties leading to two states, Israel and a democratic Palestine. However, progress toward a permanent status agreement was undermined by Israeli-Palestinian violence between September 2003 and February 2005. In the summer of 2005, Israel unilaterally disengaged from the Gaza Strip, evacuating settlers and its military while retaining control over most points of entry into the Gaza Strip. The election of HAMAS to head the Palestinian Legislative Council froze relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Ehud OLMERT became prime minister in March 2006 and presided over a 34-day conflict with Hizballah in Lebanon in June-August 2006 and a 23-day conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip during December 2008 and January 2009. OLMERT, who in June 2007 resumed talks with PA President Mahmoud ABBAS, resigned in September 2008. Prime Minister Binyamin NETANYAHU formed a coalition in March 2009 following a February 2009 general election. Peace talks are currently stalled.
|
|
Location | | Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Lebanon
|
|
Area(sq km) | | total: 22,072 sq km
land: 21,642 sq km
water: 430 sq km
|
|
Geographic coordinates | | 31 30 N, 34 45 E
|
|
Land boundaries(km) | | total: 1,017 km
border countries: Egypt 266 km, Gaza Strip 51 km, Jordan 238 km, Lebanon 79 km, Syria 76 km, West Bank 307 km
|
|
Coastline(km) | | 273 km
|
|
Climate | | temperate; hot and dry in southern and eastern desert areas
|
|
Elevation extremes(m) | | lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Har Meron 1,208 m
|
|
Natural resources | | timber, potash, copper ore, natural gas, phosphate rock, magnesium bromide, clays, sand
|
|
Land use(%) | | arable land: 15.45%
permanent crops: 3.88%
other: 80.67% (2005)
|
|
Irrigated land(sq km) | | 1,940 sq km (2003)
|
|
Total renewable water resources(cu km) | | 1.7 cu km (2001)
|
|
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) | | total: 2.05 cu km/yr (31%/7%/62%)
per capita: 305 cu m/yr (2000)
|
|
Natural hazards | | sandstorms may occur during spring and summer; droughts; periodic earthquakes
|
|
Environment - current issues | | limited arable land and natural fresh water resources pose serious constraints; desertification; air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; groundwater pollution from industrial and domestic waste, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides
|
|
Environment - international agreements | | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation
|
|
Geography - note | | there are about 340 Israeli civilian sites - including 100 small outpost communities in the West Bank - as well as 42 sites in the Golan Heights, 0 in the Gaza Strip, and 29 in East Jerusalem (July 2008 est.); Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee) is an important freshwater source
|
|
Population | | 7,233,701
note: includes about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, about 20,000 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (July 2009 est.)
|
|
Age structure(%) | | 0-14 years: 27.9% (male 1,031,629/female 984,230)
15-64 years: 62.3% (male 2,283,034/female 2,221,301)
65 years and over: 9.9% (male 311,218/female 402,289) (2009 est.)
|
|
Median age(years) | | total: 29.1 years
male: 28.4 years
female: 29.8 years (2009 est.)
|
|
Population growth rate(%) | | 1.671% (2009 est.)
|
|
Birth rate(births/1,000 population) | | 19.77 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
|
|
Death rate(deaths/1,000 population) | | 5.43 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
|
|
Net migration rate(migrant(s)/1,000 population) | | 2.37 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
|
|
Urbanization(%) | | urban population: 92% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 1.7% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
|
|
Sex ratio(male(s)/female) | | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
|
|
Infant mortality rate(deaths/1,000 live births) | | total: 4.22 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 4.39 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 4.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
|
|
Life expectancy at birth(years) | | total population: 80.73 years
male: 78.62 years
female: 82.95 years (2009 est.)
|
|
Total fertility rate(children born/woman) | | 2.75 children born/woman (2009 est.)
|
|
Nationality | | noun: Israeli(s)
adjective: Israeli
|
|
Ethnic groups(%) | | Jewish 76.4% (of which Israel-born 67.1%, Europe/America-born 22.6%, Africa-born 5.9%, Asia-born 4.2%), non-Jewish 23.6% (mostly Arab) (2004)
|
|
Religions(%) | | Jewish 76.4%, Muslim 16%, Arab Christians 1.7%, other Christian 0.4%, Druze 1.6%, unspecified 3.9% (2004)
|
|
Languages(%) | | Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority, English most commonly used foreign language
|
|
Country name | | conventional long form: State of Israel
conventional short form: Israel
local long form: Medinat Yisra'el
local short form: Yisra'el
|
|
Government type | | parliamentary democracy
|
|
Capital | | name: Jerusalem
geographic coordinates: 31 46 N, 35 14 E
time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Friday in March; ends the Sunday between the holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur
note: Israel proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital in 1950, but the US, like nearly all other countries, maintains its Embassy in Tel Aviv
|
|
Administrative divisions | | 6 districts (mehozot, singular - mehoz); Central, Haifa, Jerusalem, Northern, Southern, Tel Aviv
|
|
Constitution | | no formal constitution; some of the functions of a constitution are filled by the Declaration of Establishment (1948), the Basic Laws of the parliament (Knesset), and the Israeli citizenship law; note - since May 2003 the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee of the Knesset has been working on a draft constitution
|
|
Legal system | | mixture of English common law, British Mandate regulations, and, in personal matters, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim legal systems; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
|
|
Suffrage | | 18 years of age; universal
|
|
Executive branch | | chief of state: President Shimon PERES (since 15 July 2007)
head of government: Prime Minister Binyamin NETANYAHU (since 31 March 2009)
cabinet: Cabinet selected by prime minister and approved by the Knesset
elections: president is largely a ceremonial role and is elected by the Knesset for a seven-year term (one-term limit); election last held 13 June 2007 (next to be held in 2014 but can be called earlier); following legislative elections, the president assigns a Knesset member - traditionally the leader of the largest party - the task of forming a governing coalition
election results: Shimon PERES elected president; number of votes in first round - Shimon PERES 58, Reuven RIVLIN 37, Colette AVITAL 21; PERES elected president in second round with 86 votes (unopposed)
|
|
Legislative branch | | unicameral Knesset (120 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 10 February 2009 (next scheduled election to be held in 2013)
election results: percent of vote by party - Kadima 23.2%, Likud-Ahi 22.3%, YB 12.1%, Labor 10.2%, SHAS 8.8%, United Torah Judaism 4.5%, United Arab List 3.5%, NU 3.4%, Hadash 3.4%, The Jewish Home 3%, The New Movement-Meretz 3%, Balad 2.6%; seats by party - Kadima 28, Likud-Ahi 27, YB 15, Labor 13, SHAS 11, United Torah Judaism 5, United Arab List 4, NU 4, HADASH 4, The Jewish Home 3, The New Movement-Meretz 3, Balad 3
|
|
Judicial branch | | Supreme Court (justices appointed by Judicial Selection Committee - made up of all three branches of the government; mandatory retirement age is 70)
|
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Political pressure groups and leaders | | B'Tselem [Jessica MONTELL, Executive Director] monitors human rights abuses; Peace Now [Yariv OPPENHEIMER, Secretary General] supports territorial concessions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; YESHA Council of Settlements [Danny DAYAN, Chairman] promotes settler interests and opposes territorial compromise
|
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International organization participation | | BIS, BSEC (observer), CERN (observer), EBRD, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, OAS (observer), OECD (accession state), OPCW (signatory), OSCE (partner), Paris Club (associate), PCA, SECI (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
|
|
Flag description | | white with a blue hexagram (six-pointed linear star) known as the Magen David (Shield of David) centered between two equal horizontal blue bands near the top and bottom edges of the flag
|
|
Economy - overview | | Israel has a technologically advanced market economy with substantial, though diminishing, government participation. It depends on imports of crude oil, grains, raw materials, and military equipment. Despite limited natural resources, Israel has intensively developed its agricultural and industrial sectors over the past 20 years. Israel imports substantial quantities of grain but is largely self-sufficient in other agricultural products. Cut diamonds, high-technology equipment, and agricultural products (fruits and vegetables) are the leading exports. Israel usually posts sizable trade deficits, which are covered by large transfer payments from abroad and by foreign loans. Roughly half of the government's external debt is owed to the US, its major source of economic and military aid. Israel's GDP, after contracting slightly in 2001 and 2002 due to the Palestinian conflict and troubles in the high-technology sector, has grown by about 5% per year since 2003. The economy grew an estimated 3.9% in 2008, slowed by the global financial crisis. The government's prudent fiscal policy and structural reforms over the past few years have helped to induce strong foreign investment, tax revenues, and private consumption, setting the economy on a solid growth path.
|
|
GDP (purchasing power parity) | | $203.4 billion (2008 est.)
$195.2 billion (2007 est.)
$185.6 billion (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars
|
|
GDP (official exchange rate) | | $202.1 billion (2008 est.)
|
|
GDP - real growth rate(%) | | 4.2% (2008 est.)
5.2% (2007 est.)
5.3% (2006 est.)
|
|
GDP - per capita (PPP) | | $28,600 (2008 est.)
$27,900 (2007 est.)
$27,000 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars
|
|
GDP - composition by sector(%) | | agriculture: 2.6%
industry: 32.4%
services: 65% (2008 est.)
|
|
Labor force | | 2.957 million (2008 est.)
|
|
Labor force - by occupation(%) | | agriculture: 2%
industry: 16%
services: 82% (30 September 2008)
|
|
Unemployment rate(%) | | 6.1% (2008 est.)
7.3% (2007 est.)
|
|
Population below poverty line(%) | | 21.60%
note: Israel's poverty line is $7.30 per person per day (2005)
|
|
Household income or consumption by percentage share(%) | | lowest 10%: 2.6%
highest 10%: 24.2% (2007)
|
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index | | 38.6 (2005)
35.5 (2001)
|
|
Investment (gross fixed)(% of GDP) | | 18.1% of GDP (2008 est.)
|
|
Budget | | revenues: $59.98 billion
expenditures: $64.21 billion (2008 est.)
|
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices)(%) | | 4.6% (2008 est.)
0.5% (2007 est.)
|
|
Stock of money | | $NA (31 December 2008)
$15.36 billion (31 December 2006)
|
|
Stock of quasi money | | $NA (31 December 2008)
$154.3 billion (31 December 2007)
|
|
Stock of domestic credit | | $NA (31 December 2008)
$113.4 billion (31 December 2006)
|
|
Market value of publicly traded shares | | $134.5 billion (31 December 2008)
$236.4 billion (31 December 2007)
$173.3 billion (31 December 2006)
|
|
Economic aid - recipient | | $240 million from US (FY06)
|
|
Public debt(% of GDP) | | 76.8% of GDP (2008 est.)
104.5% of GDP (2004 est.)
|
|
Agriculture - products | | citrus, vegetables, cotton; beef, poultry, dairy products
|
|
Industries | | high-technology projects (including aviation, communications, computer-aided design and manufactures, medical electronics, fiber optics), wood and paper products, potash and phosphates, food, beverages, and tobacco, caustic soda, cement, construction, metals products, chemical products, plastics, diamond cutting, textiles, footwear
|
|
Industrial production growth rate(%) | | 3.5% (2008 est.)
|
|
Current account balance | | $2.213 billion (2008 est.)
$4.185 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
Exports | | $57.16 billion (2008 est.)
$50.07 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
Exports - commodities(%) | | machinery and equipment, software, cut diamonds, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles and apparel
|
|
Exports - partners(%) | | US 32.5%, Belgium 7.5%, Hong Kong 6.7% (2008)
|
|
Imports | | $64.4 billion (2008 est.)
$55.93 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
Imports - commodities(%) | | raw materials, military equipment, investment goods, rough diamonds, fuels, grain, consumer goods
|
|
Imports - partners(%) | | US 12.3%, Belgium 6.5%, China 6.5%, Switzerland 6.1%, Germany 6% (2008)
|
|
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | | $42.51 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
$28.52 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
|
|
Debt - external | | $86.08 billion (31 December 2008)
$89.58 billion (31 December 2007)
|
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home | | $56.93 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
$55.7 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
|
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad | | $54.55 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
$48.47 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
|
|
Exchange rates | | new Israeli shekels (ILS) per US dollar - 3.56 (2008 est.), 4.14 (2007), 4.4565 (2006), 4.4877 (2005), 4.482 (2004)
|
|
Currency (code) | | new Israeli shekel (ILS); note - NIS is the currency abbreviation; ILS is the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) code for the NIS
|
|
Telephones - main lines in use | | 2.9 million (2008)
|
|
Telephones - mobile cellular | | 8.902 million (2008)
|
|
Telephone system | | general assessment: most highly developed system in the Middle East although not the largest
domestic: good system of coaxial cable and microwave radio relay; all systems are digital; four privately-owned mobile-cellular service providers with countrywide coverage
international: country code - 972; submarine cables provide links to Europe, Cyprus, and parts of the Middle East; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) (2008)
|
|
Internet country code | | .il
|
|
Internet users | | 2.106 million (2008)
|
|
Airports | | 47 (2009)
|
|
Pipelines(km) | | gas 176 km; oil 442 km; refined products 261 km (2008)
|
|
Roadways(km) | | total: 17,870 km
paved: 17,870 km (includes 146 km of expressways) (2007)
|
|
Ports and terminals | | Ashdod, Elat (Eilat), Hadera, Haifa
|
|
Military branches | | Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israel Naval Forces (INF), Israel Air Force (IAF) (2009)
|
|
Military service age and obligation(years of age) | | 18 years of age for compulsory (Jews, Druzes) and voluntary (Christians, Muslims, Circassians) military service; both sexes are obligated to military service; conscript service obligation - 36 months for enlisted men, 21 months for enlisted women, 48 months for officers; reserve obligation to age 41-51 (men), 24 (women) (2008)
|
|
Manpower available for military service | | males age 16-49: 1,717,362
females age 16-49: 1,636,574 (2008 est.)
|
|
Manpower fit for military service | | males age 16-49: 1,474,966
females age 16-49: 1,404,712 (2009 est.)
|
|
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually | | male: 61,223
female: 58,219 (2009 est.)
|
|
Military expenditures(% of GDP) | | 7.3% of GDP (2006)
|
|
Disputes - international | | West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation; Israel continues construction of a "seam line" separation barrier along parts of the Green Line and within the West Bank; Israel withdrew its settlers and military from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the West Bank in August 2005; Golan Heights is Israeli-occupied (Lebanon claims the Shab'a Farms area of Golan Heights); since 1948, about 350 peacekeepers from the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) headquartered in Jerusalem monitor ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated incidents from escalating, and assist other UN personnel in the region
|
|
Refugees and internally displaced persons | | IDPs: 150,000-420,000 (Arab villagers displaced from homes in northern Israel) (2007)
|
|
Electricity - production(kWh) | | 50.41 billion kWh (2007 est.)
|
|
Electricity - production by source(%) | | fossil fuel: 99.9%
hydro: 0.1%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
|
|
Electricity - consumption(kWh) | | 46.15 billion kWh (2007 est.)
|
|
Electricity - exports(kWh) | | 2.081 billion kWh (2007 est.)
|
|
Electricity - imports(kWh) | | 0 kWh (2008 est.)
|
|
Oil - production(bbl/day) | | 5,246 bbl/day (2008 est.)
|
|
Oil - consumption(bbl/day) | | 235,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
|
|
Oil - exports(bbl/day) | | 69,580 bbl/day (2007 est.)
|
|
Oil - imports(bbl/day) | | 318,900 bbl/day (2007 est.)
|
|
Oil - proved reserves(bbl) | | 1.94 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - production(cu m) | | 1.19 billion cu m (2008 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - consumption(cu m) | | 1.19 billion cu m (2008 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - exports(cu m) | | 0 cu m (2008)
|
|
Natural gas - proved reserves(cu m) | | 30.44 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
|
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate(%) | | 0.1% (2007 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS | | 5,100 (2007 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - deaths | | fewer than 200 (2007 est.)
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Literacy(%) | | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.1%
male: 98.5%
female: 95.9% (2004 est.)
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School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)(years) | | total: 15 years
male: 15 years
female: 16 years (2006)
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Education expenditures(% of GDP) | | 6.9% of GDP (2004)
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