#CUFIDC

Fast Facts about Israel• Israel’s currency is the Shekel.• The flag of the State of Israel is based on the design of the Jewish prayer shawl (tallit), with a blue Shield of

David (Magen David). • The official emblem of the State of Israel is a candelabrum (menorah). The olive branches on either side

represent Israel’s yearning for peace. • Israeli students start studying English in third grade. • The Israeli National Anthem is “Hatikvah” which means “The Hope.”• The olive tree is Israel’s national tree.• Israel’s bank notes have Braille markings on them so that the blind can identify them easily.• In many Israeli bus stops, you can find a box for tzedakah – charitable giving.• The glue on Israeli stamps is kosher.• Israel has 137 official beaches.• Israel has the world’s second largest output of new books per citizen.• Israel has won five bronze Olympic medals, one silver and one gold.• In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews to safety in Israel.• Nine Israelis have won a Nobel Prize.• Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. • Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies

diamonds as “conflict free.”• According to industry officials, Israel designed the airline industry’s most impenetrable flight security. U.S.

officials now look to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats.

• Israel’s Maccabi basketball team won the European championships in 2001.• Israeli tennis player Anna Smashnova is the 15th ranked female player in the world.• Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers was produced by Haim Saban, an Israeli whose family fled persecution in Egypt.• In 1991, during the Gulf War, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra played a concert wearing gas masks as scud

missiles fired by Saddam Hussein fell on Tel Aviv.• Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees.• Israel has more museums per capita than any other country.• Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.• In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute

terms, Israel has more startup companies than any other country in the world, except the US (3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech).

• Israel is also the only country in the Middle East with a free Arabic press. • Israelis consume the most fruits and vegetables per capita of any people in the world.• Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.• Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin -109 per 10,000

people - as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.• Israel’s $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined.• Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship - and the highest rate among women and among people over

55 - in the world.• Immigrating to Israel is called Aliyah. Aliyah means ascension, or “going up.”• Morocco and Russia are the two countries from which the largest number of new immigrants to Israel have come.• Teva, an internationally well-known shoe wear company, received its name from the Hebrew word for “nature.”

• The only research and development center for Microsoft outside of the USA is located in Haifa.• Intel has their largest plant outside the USA in Israel.• Albert Einstein was offered to be Israel’s 1st president but did not accept.• The Druze community, representing 8.3% of the Israeli-Arab population, serve in the Israel

Defense Forces.• There are more than 40 kosher McDonald’s in Israel.• An estimated million notes are left in the Western Wall each year.• Over the past 50 years, Israel is the only country in the Middle East in which the Christian

population has grown. • Israel is the only country in the world to revive an unspoken language.• Israel has two official languages – Hebrew and Arabic. • Street signs in Israel are written in Hebrew, Arabic and English.• Israel requires all fashion models to meet a normal BMI (body mass index).• Outside the United States and Canada, Israel has the largest number of NASDAQ listed

companies.• Three in ten Israelis are immigrants from over 100 different countries.• Omri Casspi was the first Israeli basketball pro to be drafted to play on an NBA team

(the Sacramento Kings.)• Yiytish Aynaw became Israel’s first Ethiopian Miss Israel in 2013.• Hebrew is read from right to left.

David Ben-Gurion (1948-54)

David Ben-Gurion (1955-63)

Levi Eshkol (1963-69)

Golda Meir (1969-74)

Yitzhak Rabin (1974-77)

Menachem Begin (1977-83)

Yitzhak Shamir (1983-84)

Shimon Peres (1984-86)

Shimon Peres (1995-96)

Ehud Barak (1999-01)

Ariel Sharon (2001-06)

Ehud Olmert (2006-2009)

Benjamin Netanyahu (1996-99)

Benjamin Netanyahu (2009-Present)

Yitzhak Shamir (1986-92)

Yitzhak Rabin (1992-95)

Moshe Sharett (1954-55)

*Yitzhak Rabin was Israel’s only Prime Minister to be assassinated. He was murdered on November 4, 1995 at a large peace rally in Tel Aviv.

ISRAELI PRIME MINISTERS

Geography and PopulationIsrael lies at the junction of three continents: Europe, Asia and Africa.

Israel’s direct neighbors are Lebanon and Syria to the north, Jordan to the east and Egypt to the West. Israel is only 1/6 of 1% of the landmass of the Middle East. Israel is surrounded by 22 Arab countries, with 300 million people.

Israel has less than 1/1000th of the world’s population. The United States has 40 times Israel’s population. Israel’s population is 8,018,000. Israel’s population has almost doubled since 1990 when it was 4,821,700. 75% of Israel’s population is Jewish, 17.3% Muslim, 2% Christian and 1.7% Druze.

Israel is the 100th smallest country in the world. Israel is about 290 miles in length and 85 miles in width at its widest point. To put this into perspective:

• Israel would fit into the United States (Alaska & Hawaii included) 768 times.

• Israel could fit into Texas 33 times. • Israel is approximately the size of New Jersey.

The Establishment of the State of IsraelThe Proclamation of the Establishment of the State of Israel was signed on May 14, 1948.

The United States of America was the first country to recognize the State of Israel. President Harry S. Truman recognized the State of Israel eleven minutes after it declared itself a nation.

Israel’s GovernmentIsrael is a parliamentary democracy with legislative, executive and judicial branches. The head of the state is the president, whose duties are mostly ceremonial and formal; the office symbolizes the unity and sovereignty of the state. Israel’s President is Shimon Peres.

The Knesset, Israel’s legislative authority, is a 120-member unicameral parliament which operates in plenary session and through 12 standing committees. Its members are elected every four years in universal nationwide elections.

The government (cabinet of ministers) is charged with administering internal and foreign affairs. It is headed by a prime minister and is collectively responsible to the Knesset. Israel’s Prime Minister is Benjamin Netanyahu.

34 political parties participated in Israel’s 2013 elections.

When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969, she became the world’s second elected female leader in modern times.

The Knesset

Israel’s President Shimon Peres with Pastor John and Diana Hagee

Benjamin Netanyahu - Israel’s Prime Minister

Israel Defense Forces (IDF)The IDF, founded in 1948, ranks among the most battle-tested armed forces in the world, having had to defend the country in six major wars.

The IDF’s security objectives are to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the State of Israel, deter all enemies, and curb all forms of terrorism that threaten daily life.

To ensure its success, the IDF’s doctrine at the strategic level is defensive, while its tactics are offensive. Given the country’s lack of territorial depth, the IDF must take the initiative when deemed necessary and, if attacked, quickly transfer the battleground to the enemy’s land. Though it has always been outnumbered by its enemies, the IDF maintains a qualitative advantage by deploying advanced weapons systems, many of which are developed and manufactured in Israel for its specific needs. The IDF’s main resource, however, is the high caliber of its soldiers.

Compulsory Service: All eligible men and women are drafted at age 18. Men serve for three years, women for two years. Deferments may be granted to qualified students at institutions of higher education.

Reserve Duty: Upon completion of compulsory service, each soldier is assigned to a reserve unit and may serve up to the age of 51.

Israel spends more money per capita for security than any other country in the world.

With an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16s, Israel has the largest fleet of the aircraft outside of the US.

Source- Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Omri Casspi Kosher McDonalds

Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers Yiytish Aynaw became Israel’s first Ethiopian Miss Israel

Teva - Shoe Company Street signs

Israel’s Major Cities Jerusalem, Israel’s capital has stood at the center of the Jewish people’s national and spiritual life since King David made it the capital of his kingdom some 3000 years ago. Today it is a flourishing, vibrant metropolis, the seat of the government and Israel’s largest city.

Jerusalem The Old City of Jerusalem is divided into four major sections – the Christian Quarter, Armenian Quarter, Muslim Quarter and the Jewish Quarter.

Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 as the first Jewish city in modern times. Today it is the center of the country’s industrial, commercial, financial and cultural life. The United States has our embassy in Tel Aviv. Many of Israel’s cities start with the word “Tel.” Tel means “hill.”

Haifa a known coastal town since ancient times, is a major Mediterranean port and the industrial and commercial center of northern Israel.

Be’er Sheva named in the Bible as an encampment of the patriarchs, is today the largest urban center in the south. It provides administrative, economic, health, education and cultural services for the entire southern region.

Jerusalem

Haifa

Be’er Sheva

Tel Aviv

The Six Day WarThe Six Day War started the morning of June 5, 1967 when the Israeli Defense Forces launched a pre-emptive strike against Egypt. Over the course of six days, Israel fought Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. At the end of the Six Day War, the IDF took control of Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan, the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, and the Golan Heights from Syria. The Six Day War is the second shortest war in history.

“Our airmen, who struck the enemies’ planes so accurately that no one in the world understands how it was done and people seek technological explanations or secret weapons; our armored troops who beat the enemy even when their equipment was inferior to his; our soldiers in all other branches... who overcame our enemies everywhere, despite the latter’s superior numbers and fortifications-all these revealed not only coolness and courage in the battle but...an understanding that only their personal stand against the greatest dangers would achieve victory for their country and for their families, and that if victory was not theirs the alternative was annihilation.” Yitzhak Rabin three weeks after the war ended on the reasoning behind Israel’s success.

Paratroopers at the Western Wall Israeli civilians dig trenches in anticipation of attack at Sde Warburg

Israeli troops examine destroyed Egyptian aircraft.

Israeli women and children in a bomb shelter at Kfar Maimon near the Egyptian border.

Israeli War of IndependenceMay 1948-July 1949

On May 19, 1948, less than 24 hours after Israel declared Independence, she was attacked by 6 Arab armies- Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. Israel defeated all 6 Arab armies, but lost 1% of their population (6,000 Israelis.)

“Let us not be intoxicated with victory. Too many people and not only among ourselves, it would appear to be a miracle: a small nation of 700,000 persons (at the outset of the campaign there were only 640,000) stood up against six nations numbering 30 million. However, none of us knows whether the trial by bloodshed has yet ended. The enemy forces in the neighboring countries and in the world at large have not yet despaired of their scheme to annihilate Israel in its own land or at least to pare away its borders, and we do not yet know whether the recent war, which we fought in the Negev and which ended in victory for the IDF, is the last battle or not, and as long as we cannot be confident that we have won the last battle, let us not glory.”- Prime Minister Ben Gurion Five days after the War of Independence ended.

Captain Avraham “Bren” Adan raising the Ink Flag (handmade Israeli flag) in Eilat, marking the end of the War of Independence.

Courtesy of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jewish residents of Jerusalem fleeing during the

Jordanian offensive.

An Egyptian artillery piece captured by battalion 53 of the Givati Brigade

Yom Kippur WarOn Yom Kippur (the holiest day of the Jewish year) in 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack. The Yom Kippur War lasted three weeks and claimed 2,688 Israeli lives. Initially Syria and Egypt were winning the war, but by the end Israel advanced to the western side of the Suez Canal and came close to Damascus. Israel withdrew from parts of the territories they captured during the war.

An Israeli M60 Patton tank destroyed in the Sinai.

Abandoned Syrian T-62 tanks on the Golan Heights

Egyptian forces crossing the Suez Canal on October 7.