Portal:Israel

Welcome to the Israel Portal
מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל

Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. Situated in the Southern Levant of the Middle East, it shares borders with Lebanon and Syria to the north, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the southwest, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. It occupies the Palestinian territories of the West Bank in the east and the Gaza Strip in the southwest. Israel also has a small coastline on the Red Sea at its southernmost point, and part of the Dead Sea lies along its eastern border. Its proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, while Tel Aviv is the country's largest urban area and economic center.

Israel is located in a region known as the Land of Israel, synonymous with the Canaan region and the Holy Land. In antiquity, it was home to the Canaanite civilisation followed by the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Situated at a continental crossroad, the region experienced demographic changes under the rule of empires from the Romans to the Ottomans. European antisemitism in the late 19th century galvanised Zionism, which sought a Jewish homeland in Palestine and gained British support. After World War I, Britain occupied the region and established Mandatory Palestine in 1920. Increased Jewish immigration in the leadup to the Holocaust and British colonial policy led to intercommunal conflict between Jews and Arabs, which escalated into a civil war in 1947 after a proposed partition by the United Nations was rejected by the Palestinians. (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article - show another

The Land of Israel (Hebrew: אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל, Modern: Éretz Yisra'él, Tiberian: ʾEreṣ Yīsrāʾēl) is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definitions of the limits of this territory vary between passages in the Hebrew Bible, with specific mentions in Genesis 15, Exodus 23, Numbers 34 and Ezekiel 47. Nine times elsewhere in the Bible, the settled land is referred as "from Dan to Beersheba", and three times it is referred as "from the entrance of Hamath unto the brook of Egypt" (1 Kings 8:65, 1 Chronicles 13:5 and 2 Chronicles 7:8).

These biblical limits for the land differ from the borders of established historical Israelite and later Jewish kingdoms, including the United Kingdom of Israel, the two kingdoms of Israel (Samaria) and Judah, the Hasmonean kingdom, and the Herodian kingdom. At their heights, these realms ruled lands with similar but not identical boundaries. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Featured picture - show another

This is a Featured picture that the Wikimedia Commons community has chosen as one of the highest quality on the site.

Image 1Diving tourism site on the southern coast of Eilat, around a horseshoe-shaped reef. Many animal species are found in the area, including dolphins.
Image 2Southern 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 3Young Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana) on a stone wall by the edge of Makhtesh Ramon in Mitzpe Ramon.
Image 4An 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 5Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur, an 1878 painting by Maurycy Gottlieb
Image 6A 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 7Ceramic tile on the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem
Image 8"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 9A view of Jaffa, from the beachfront of Tel Aviv
Image 10Northeast 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 11A 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 12Reading 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 13Paratroopers at the Western Wall, an iconic photograph taken on June 7, 1967 by David Rubinger.
Image 14An aerial view of Masada in the Judaean Desert, with the Dead Sea and Jordan in the distance
Image 15Dead 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 16David 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 17The 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.

edit

Did you know - show different entries

...that Motza (pictured), founded in 1859, was the first modern village established near Jerusalem?
...that Mickey Marcus is the only person buried at the United States Military Academy who died fighting under a foreign flag?
...that the tenth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly has been resumed more times than any other?

More did you know...

edit

Related portals

edit

WikiProjects

WikiProject Israel – WikiProject Jewish history – WikiProject Judaism – WikiProject Jewish culture – WikiProject Hebrew

Good article - show another

This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

Zion Square (Hebrew: כיכר ציון, romanized: Kikar Tziyon) is a public square in Jerusalem, located at the intersection of Jaffa Road, Ben Yehuda Street, Herbert Samuel Street, and Yoel Moshe Salomon Street.

The square is one of the vertices of the Downtown Triangle commercial district. Since the British Mandate era, Zion Square has been the focal point of the cultural life of downtown Jerusalem. The square is busy day and night with tourists, elderly immigrants, overseas students, local youth, street performers, and religious activists. In recent decades, the square has become a hangout for disaffected and homeless youth. (Full article...)

List of Good articles
Israeli cuisine Joseph's Tomb Kashrut Clal Center Black Hebrew Israelites Robinson's Arch Abergil crime family Chaim Topol Birket Israel Joshua Prawer Mamilla Schwester Selma Ir Ovot Downtown Triangle (Jerusalem) Haifa Western Wall Eilat Airport AIL Storm Al-Aqsa Mosque Angel Bakeries Operation Pleshet Arrow (Israeli missile)

Selected fare or cuisine - show another

Hamantashen served

A hamantash (pl.: hamantashen; also spelled hamantasch, hamantaschen; Yiddish: המן־טאַש homentash, pl.: המן־טאַשן homentashn, 'Haman pockets') is an Ashkenazi Jewish triangular filled-pocket pastry associated with the Jewish holiday of Purim. The name refers to Haman, the villain in the Purim story. In Hebrew, hamantashen are also known as אוזני המן (oznei Haman), meaning "Haman's ears". "Haman's ears" also refers to a Sephardic Purim pastry, "Orejas de Haman", thought to originate in Spain and Italy, that is made by frying twisted or rolled strips of dough.

Traditionally, the dough for hamantashen was made with yeast. With the invention of baking powder during the 1840s and its wide adoption during the first half of the twentieth century, baking powder supplanted yeast, and hamantashen dough became a cookie rather than pastry dough. To shape a hamantash, a filling is placed in the center of a circle of dough, which is then either folded in half and shaped into a triangle or the sides are brought to the center to form a triangle. The oldest and most traditional filling is mohn (poppy seed paste), with powidl or lekvar (prune jam) a close second. The cookie dough variety has spawned many different fillings, traditionally sweet (although savory varieties have become popular as well). Most popular are various jams, especially apricot and raspberry, but also date, raisins, apple, vanilla pastry cream with chocolate chips, cherry, fig, chocolate, dulce de leche, halva, caramel, or cheese. The dough varies from hard like shortbread to a soft yeast dough. (Full article...)

List of fare/cuisine articles
Challah Ancient Israelite cuisine Israeli wine Cholent Israeli salad Kreplach Israeli breakfast Jachnun Kugel Shkedei marak Jerusalem mixed grill Charoset Bamba (snack) Ktzitzot Khubeza Gefilte fish Seven Species Matzah ball

General images - show another

The following are images from various Israel-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Sermon on the Mount. The New Testament was authored by Christian Jews during Roman-ruled Judea (from Culture of Israel)
Image 2Gen. 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 3Neo-Assyrian Empire at its greatest territorial extent. (from History of Israel)
Image 4Remains of the Roman theater in Caesarea Maritima (from Culture of Israel)
Image 5Habimah Theater in Tel Aviv (from Culture of Israel)
Image 6Menachem Begin addressing a mass demonstration in Tel Aviv against negotiations with Germany in 1952 (from History of Israel)
Image 7Jewish Yemenite bride in traditional bridal vestment, adorned with a henna wreath, 1958 (from Culture of Israel)
Image 8Visual History of Israel by Arthur Szyk, 1948 (from History of Israel)
Image 9Detail of the Siloam inscription (from History of Israel)
Image 10Intel core i7-940. Intel developed its dual-core Core Duo processor at its Israel Development Center in Haifa. (from Culture of Israel)
Image 11Tzofim Israeli scout movement fire ceremony in Tel Aviv (from Culture of Israel)
Image 12Israeli breakfast (from Culture of Israel)
Image 13Painting of the siege of Jerusalem during the First Crusade (1099) (from History of Israel)
Image 14Jewish workers in Kerem Avraham neighbourhood of Jerusalem (c. 1850s) (from History of Israel)
Image 15Tel Aviv Cinematheque (from Culture of Israel)
Image 16Jewish Settlement Police members watching the settlement Nesher during 1936–1939 Arab revolt (from History of Israel)
Image 17Yitzhak 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 18Ecclesiastes is known for its incipit vanity of vanities; all is vanity and concepts of Vanitas (from Culture of Israel)
Image 19Silver 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 20Avraham Adan raising the Ink Flag marking the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War (from History of Israel)
Image 21Illustration 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 22"Hezekiah ... king of Judah" – Royal seal written in the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, unearthed in Jerusalem (from History of Israel)
Image 23The Bahri Mamluk dynasty 1250–1382 (from History of Israel)
Image 24Breads in Mahane Yehuda market (from Culture of Israel)
Image 25143rd Division crossing the Suez Canal in the direction of Cairo during the Yom Kippur War, 15 October 1973 (from History of Israel)
Image 26Supply convoy on its way to besieged Jerusalem, April 1948 (from History of Israel)
Image 27Menachem Begin, Jimmy Carter and Anwar Sadat celebrating the signing of the Camp David Accords (from History of Israel)
Image 28The Arch of Titus in Rome depicts the Roman triumph celebrating the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE (from History of Israel)
Image 29David dictating the Psalms. The practice of psalms is referred to as a philosophical and theological problem (from Culture of Israel)
Image 30Tiles in the Bezalel style, 1920s (from Culture of Israel)
Image 31The opening ceremony of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem visited by Arthur Balfour, 1 April 1925 (from History of Israel)
Image 32Jewish symbols in Israeli artworks (from Culture of Israel)
Image 33A portion of the Isaiah scroll. One of the earliest known manuscripts of biblical literature (from Culture of Israel)
Image 34The Gaza–Israel barrier route built (red), under construction (pink) and proposed (white), as of June 2011^[update] (from History of Israel)
Image 35Hebrew ulpan in Dimona, 1955 (from Culture of Israel)
Image 36Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, 2006 (from Culture of Israel)
Image 37Buchenwald survivors arrive in Haifa to be arrested by the British, 15 July 1945 (from History of Israel)
Image 38Aerial 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 39Cultural 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 40Israeli paratroopers dig in near the Mitla Pass, 31 October 1956 (from History of Israel)
Image 41Jewish youth dancing the Horah in the kibboutz Ein Harod in 1936 (from Culture of Israel)
Image 42Obverse of Yehud silver coin (from History of Israel)
Image 431949 Green Line (from History of Israel)
Image 44Dedication ceremony of the Embassy of the United States in Jerusalem in 2018 (from History of Israel)
Image 45Menahem Zion synagoge, Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem (from Culture of Israel)
Image 46The Merneptah Stele. According to mainstream archeology, it represents the first instance of the name "Israel" in the historical record. (from History of Israel)
Image 47Jewish Brigade headquarters under both Union Flag and Jewish flag (from History of Israel)
Image 48Simulated view of a black hole. Jacob Bekenstein predicted and co-discovered black hole entropy (from Culture of Israel)
Image 49Gal Fridman, winner of Israel's first Olympic gold medal (from Culture of Israel)
Image 50Portion of the Temple Scroll, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls written by the Essenes (from History of Israel)
Image 51Heraclius returning the True Cross to Jerusalem, 15th-century painting by Miguel Ximénez (from History of Israel)
Image 52Hiking near Lake Kinneret (from Culture of Israel)
Image 53A 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 54Protest in Tel Aviv on 6 August 2011 (from History of Israel)
Image 55Nahal Brigade soldiers returning after the 2006 Lebanon War (from History of Israel)
Image 56Occupied Enemy Territory Administration, 1918 (from History of Israel)
Image 57David Ben-Gurion proclaiming the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948 (from History of Israel)
Image 58United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, 1947 (from History of Israel)
Image 59Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem (from Culture of Israel)
Image 60The route of the exiles to Babylon (from History of Israel)
Image 61Skhul Cave (from History of Israel)
Image 62Patriot missiles launched to intercept an Iraqi Scud over Tel Aviv during the Gulf War (from History of Israel)
Image 63Ofek-7 satellite launch through Shavit vehicle (from Culture of Israel)

edit

Topics

edit

News

Read and edit Wikinews

20 March 2025 – Gaza war: Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip; March 2025 Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip; Early morning attacks conducted by the Israeli Defense Forces on the Gaza Strip reportedly kill at least seventy-one Palestinians, including women and children. (Al Jazeera)
19 March 2025 – Gaza war: Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip

Israel category at Wikinews

edit

Featured content

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.