The greatest asset brought by the Zionists settling Palestine
was their organizational acumen, which allowed for the
institutionalization of the movement despite deep ideological
cleavages. The WZO established an executive office in Palestine,
thus implementing the language of the Mandate prescribing such an
agency. In August 1929, the formalized Jewish Agency was
established with a council, administrative committee, and
executive. Each of these bodies consisted of an equal number of
Zionist and nominally non-Zionist Jews. The president of the WZO
was, however, ex officio president of the agency. Thereafter, the
WZO continued to conduct external diplomatic, informational, and
cultural activities, and the operational Jewish Agency took over
fundraising, activities in Palestine, and local relations with the
British Mandate Authority (administered by the colonial secretary).
In time, the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency
became two different names for virtually the same organization.
Other landmark developments by the WZO and the Jewish Agency
under the Mandate included creation of the
Asefat Hanivharim
(Elected Assembly--see Glossary) and the Vaad Leumi (National
Council) in 1920 to promote religious, educational, and welfare
services; establishment of the chief rabbinate in 1921; centralized
Zionist control of the Hebrew school system in 1919, opening of the
Technion (Israel Institute of Technology) in Haifa in 1924, and
dedication of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1925; and
continued acquisition of land--largely via purchases by the Jewish
National Fund--increasing from 60,120 hectares in 1922 to about
155,140 hectares in 1939, and the concurrent growth of Jewish urban
and village centers.
The architect of the centralized organizational structure that
dominated the Yishuv throughout the Mandate and afterward was Ben-
Gurion. To achieve a centralized Jewish economic infrastructure in
Palestine, he set out to form a large-scale organized Jewish labor
movement including both urban and agricultural laborers. In 1919 he
founded the first united Labor Zionist party, Ahdut HaAvodah (Unity
of Labor), which included Poalei Tziyyon and affiliated socialist
groups. This achievement was followed in 1920 by the formation of
the Histadrut, or HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael
(General Federation of Laborers in the Land of Israel).
The Histadrut was the linchpin of Ben-Gurion's reorganization
of the Yishuv. He designed the Histadrut to form a tightly
controlled autonomous Jewish economic state within the Palestinian
economy. It functioned as much more than a traditional labor union,
providing the Yishuv with social services and security, setting up
training centers, helping absorb new immigrants, and instructing
them in Hebrew. Its membership was all-inclusive: any Jewish
laborer was entitled to belong and to obtain shares in the
organization's assets. It established a general fund supported by
workers' dues that provided all members with social services
previously provided by individual political parties. The Histadrut
also set up Hevrat HaOvdim (Society of Workers) to fund and manage
large-scale agricultural and industrial enterprises. Within a year
of its establishment in 1921, Hevrat HaOvdim had set up Tenuvah,
the agriculture marketing cooperative; Bank HaPoalim, the workers'
bank; and Soleh Boneh, the construction firm. Originally
established by Ahdut HaAvodah after the Arab riots in 1920, the
Haganah under the Histadrut rapidly became the major Jewish defense
force
(see Historical Background
, ch. 5).
From the beginning, Ben-Gurion and Ahdut HaAvodah dominated the
Histadrut and through it the Yishuv. As secretary general of the
Histadrut, Ben-Gurion oversaw the development of the Jewish economy
and defense forces in the Yishuv. This centralized control enabled
the Yishuv to endure both severe economic hardship and frequent
skirmishes with the Arabs and British in the late 1920s. The
resilience of the Histadrut in the face of economic depression
enabled Ben-Gurion to consolidate his control over the Yishuv. In
1929 many private entrepreneurs were forced to look to Ahdut
HaAvodah to pull them through hard economic times. In 1930 Ahdut
HaAvodah was powerful enough to absorb its old ideological rival,
HaPoel HaTzair. They merged to form Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael
(better known by its acronym Mapai), which would dominate political
life of the State of Israel for the next two generations
(see Multiparty System
, ch. 4).
The hegemony of Ben-Gurion's Labor Zionism in the Yishuv did
not go unchallenged. The other major contenders for power were the
Revisionist Zionists led by Vladimir Jabotinsky, who espoused a
more liberal economic structure and a more zealous defense policy
than the Labor movement. Jabotinsky, who had become a hero to the
Yishuv because of his role in the defense of the Jews of Jerusalem
during the riots of April 1920, believed that there was an inherent
conflict between Zionist objectives and the aspirations of
Palestinian Arabs. He called for the establishment of a strong
Jewish military force capable of compelling the Arabs to accept
Zionist claims to Palestine. Jabotinsky also thought that Ben-
Gurion's focus on building a socialist Jewish economy in Palestine
needlessly diverted the Zionist movement from its true goal: the
establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.
The appeal of Revisionist Zionism grew between 1924 and 1930 as
a result of an influx of Polish immigrants and the escalating
conflict with the Arabs. In the mid-1920s, a political and economic
crisis in Poland and the Johnson-Lodge Immigration Act passed by
the United States Congress, which curtailed mass immigration to
America, spurred Polish-Jewish immigration to Israel. Between 1924
and 1931, approximately 80,000 Jews arrived in Palestine from
Central Europe. The Fourth Aliyah, as it was called, differed from
previous waves of Jewish immigration. The new Polish immigrants,
unlike the Bolshevik-minded immigrants of the Second Aliyah, were
primarily petty merchants and small-time industrialists with their
own capital to invest. Not attracted to the Labor Party's
collective settlements, they migrated to the cities where they
established the first semblance of an industrialized urban Jewish
economy in Palestine. Within five years, the Jewish populations of
Jerusalem and Haifa doubled, and the city of Tel Aviv emerged.
These new immigrants disdained the socialism of the Histadrut and
increasingly identified with the laissez-faire economics espoused
by Jabotinsky.
Another reason for Jabotinsky's increasing appeal was the
escalation of Jewish-Arab violence. Jabotinsky's belief in the
inevitable conflict between Jews and Arabs and his call for the
establishment of an "iron wall" that would force the Arabs to
accept Zionism were vindicated in the minds of many Jews after a
confrontation over Jewish access to the Wailing Wall in August 1929
turned into a violent Arab attack on Jews in Hebron and Jerusalem.
By the time the fighting ended, 133 Jews had been killed and 339
wounded. The causes of the disturbances were varied: an inter-
Palestinian power struggle, a significant cutback in British
military presence in Palestine, and a more conciliatory posture by
the new British authorities toward the Arab position.
The inability of the Haganah to protect Jewish civilians during
the 1929 riots led Jewish Polish immigrants who supported
Jabotinsky to break away from the Labor-dominated Haganah. They
were members of Betar, an activist Zionist movement founded in 1923
in Riga, Latvia, under the influence of Jabotinsky. The first Betar
congress met at Danzig in 1931 and elected Jabotinsky as its
leader. In 1937, a group of Haganah members left the organization
in protest against its "defensive" orientation and joined forces
with Betar to set up a new and more militant armed underground
organization, known as the Irgun. The formal name of the Irgun was
the Irgun Zvai Leumi (National Military Organization), sometimes
also called by the acronym, Etzel, from the initial letters of the
Hebrew name. The more extreme terrorist group, known to the British
as the Stern Gang, split off from the Irgun in 1939. The Stern Gang
was formally known as the Lohamei Herut Israel (Fighters for
Israel's Freedom), sometimes identified by the acronym
Lehi (see Glossary).
Betar (which later formed a nucleus for Herut--see
Appendix B) and Irgun rejected the Histadrut/Haganah doctrine of
havlaga (self-restraint) and favored retaliation.
Although the 1929 riots intensified the Labor-Revisionist split
over the tactics necessary to attain Jewish sovereignty in
Palestine, their respective visions of the indigenous Arab
population coalesced. Ben-Gurion, like Jabotinsky, came to realize
that the conflict between Arab and Jewish nationalisms was
irreconcilable and therefore that the Yishuv needed to prepare for
an eventual military confrontation with the Arabs. He differed with
Jabotinsky, however, on the need to make tactical compromises in
the short term to attain Jewish statehood at a more propitious
time. Whereas Jabotinsky adamantly put forth maximalist demands,
such as the immediate proclamation of statehood in all of historic
Palestine--on both banks of the Jordan River--Ben-Gurion operated
within the confines of the Mandate. He understood better than
Jabotinsky that timing was the key to the Zionist enterprise in
Palestine. The Yishuv in the 1930s lacked the necessary military or
economic power to carry out Jabotinsky's vision in the face of Arab
and British opposition.
Another development resulting from the 1929 riots was the
growing animosity between the British Mandate Authority and the
Yishuv. The inactivity of the British while Arab bands were
attacking Jewish settlers strengthened Zionist anti-British forces.
Following the riots, the British set up the Shaw Commission to
determine the cause of the disturbances. The commission report,
dated March 30, 1930, refrained from blaming either community but
focused on Arab apprehensions about Jewish labor practices and land
purchases. The commission's allegations were investigated by an
agrarian expert, Sir John Hope Simpson, who concluded that about 30
percent of the Arab population was already landless and that the
amount of land remaining in Arab hands would be insufficient to
divide among their offspring. This led to the Passfield White Paper
(October 1930), which recommended that Jewish immigration be
stopped if it prevented Arabs from obtaining employment and that
Jewish land purchases be curtailed. Although the Passfield White
Paper was publicly repudiated by Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald in
1931, it served to alienate further the Yishuv from the British.
The year 1929 also saw the beginning of a severe economic
crisis in Germany that launched the rise of Adolf Hitler. Although
both Germany and Austria had long histories of anti-Semitism, the
genocide policies preached by Hitler were unprecedented. When in
January 1930 he became chancellor of the Reich, a massive wave of
mostly German Jewish immigration to Palestine ensued. Recorded
Jewish immigration was 37,000 in 1933, 45,000 in 1934, and an all-
time record for the Yishu of 61,000 in 1935. In addition, the
British estimated that a total of 40,000 Jews had entered Palestine
without legal certificates during the period from 1920 to 1939.
Between 1929, the year of the Wailing Wall disturbances, and 1936,
the year the Palestinian Revolt began, the Jewish population of
Palestine increased from 170,000 or 17 percent of the population,
to 400,000, or approximately 31 percent of the total. The
immigration of thousands of German Jews accelerated the pace of
industrialization and made the concept of a Jewish state in
Palestine a more formidable reality.
|
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
|
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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
|
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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)
|
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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
|
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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)
|
|
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)
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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
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Refugees and internally displaced persons | | IDPs: 150,000-420,000 (Arab villagers displaced from homes in northern Israel) (2007)
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Electricity - production(kWh) | | 50.41 billion kWh (2007 est.)
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Electricity - production by source(%) | | fossil fuel: 99.9%
hydro: 0.1%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
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Electricity - consumption(kWh) | | 46.15 billion kWh (2007 est.)
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Electricity - exports(kWh) | | 2.081 billion kWh (2007 est.)
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Electricity - imports(kWh) | | 0 kWh (2008 est.)
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Oil - production(bbl/day) | | 5,246 bbl/day (2008 est.)
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Oil - consumption(bbl/day) | | 235,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
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Oil - exports(bbl/day) | | 69,580 bbl/day (2007 est.)
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Oil - imports(bbl/day) | | 318,900 bbl/day (2007 est.)
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Oil - proved reserves(bbl) | | 1.94 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
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Natural gas - production(cu m) | | 1.19 billion cu m (2008 est.)
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Natural gas - consumption(cu m) | | 1.19 billion cu m (2008 est.)
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Natural gas - exports(cu m) | | 0 cu m (2008)
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Natural gas - proved reserves(cu m) | | 30.44 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
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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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