COUNTRY IN PERSPECTIVE ISRAEL View of Tel Aviv Flickr / José Ángel Morente Valero DLIFLC DEFENSE LANGUAGE INSTITUTE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER COUNTRY IN PERSPECTIVE | ISRAEL TABLE OF CONTENT Geography Introduction ................................................................................................................... 6 Geographic Divisions .................................................................................................. 7 Mediterranean Coastal Plain .............................................................................7 Central and Northern Highlands .......................................................................7 Jordan River Valley .............................................................................................8 Negev Desert .......................................................................................................8 Topographic Features ................................................................................................. 9 Climate ..........................................................................................................................10 Rivers and Bodies of Water ......................................................................................10 Jordan River .......................................................................................................10 Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret) ........................................................................ 11 Dead Sea (Yam HaMelach) .............................................................................12 Aquifers ............................................................................................................... 12 Major Cities ..................................................................................................................13 Jerusalem (Yerushalaym) ................................................................................. 13 Tel Aviv-Yafo ....................................................................................................... 14 Haifa .....................................................................................................................14 Beersheba (Be’er Sheva) ................................................................................. 15 Eilat ......................................................................................................................15 Environmental Concerns ...........................................................................................16 Water Pollution ..................................................................................................16 Air Pollution.........................................................................................................16 Natural Hazards ..........................................................................................................17 Endnotes for Chapter 1: Geography ........................................................................18 Assessment ................................................................................................................ 22 History Introduction ................................................................................................................. 23 Zionism and Jewish Immigration ............................................................................ 24 British Mandate .......................................................................................................... 24 Tension over Jewish Immigration ...................................................................25 White Papers of 1930 and 1939 ......................................................................25 World War II ................................................................................................................ 26 Israeli War of Independence (1948–1949) ............................................................ 26 Ben-Gurion Era (1948–1963) .................................................................................. 27 2 COUNTRY IN PERSPECTIVE | ISRAEL The Suez Crisis .......................................................................................................... 28 Leading Up to War ..................................................................................................... 28 The Six-Day War ........................................................................................................ 29 1973 Yom Kippur War ............................................................................................... 29 Aftermath of the 1973 War ....................................................................................... 30 Rise of Likud ................................................................................................................31 First Lebanon War ..................................................................................................... 32 The First Intifada ........................................................................................................ 33 Gulf War and New Immigrants ................................................................................ 33 Peace Process ........................................................................................................... 34 A Shift in the Political Lanscape ............................................................................. 34 Netanyahu Administration ........................................................................................ 35 Revival of the Peace Process .................................................................................. 36 The Second Intifada .................................................................................................. 36 Leaving Gaza ............................................................................................................. 37 Continued Conflict .................................................................................................... 37 Syrian Talks ................................................................................................................ 38 Troubles in Gaza ........................................................................................................ 39 Problems in Foreign Affairs ..................................................................................... 39 Persistent Unrest ....................................................................................................... 40 Endnotes for Chapter 2: History ...............................................................................41 Assessment .................................................................................................................47 Economy Introduction ................................................................................................................. 48 Industry ....................................................................................................................... 49 Agriculture ................................................................................................................... 50 Services and Tourism ................................................................................................51 Banking and Finance .................................................................................................51 Trade ............................................................................................................................ 52 Investment ................................................................................................................... 53 Energy ........................................................................................................................ 54 Transportation ............................................................................................................ 55 Standard of Living ...................................................................................................... 56 Outlook ........................................................................................................................ 56 Endnotes for Chapter 3: Economy .......................................................................... 57 Assessment .................................................................................................................61 3 COUNTRY IN PERSPECTIVE | ISRAEL Society Introduction ................................................................................................................. 62 Religious and Ethnic Groups ................................................................................... 63 Jews .....................................................................................................................63 Arabs....................................................................................................................64 Other groups ....................................................................................................65 Languages .................................................................................................................. 66 Hebrew ................................................................................................................66 Yiddish .................................................................................................................66 Judeo-Arabic ......................................................................................................66 Modern