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Israel
Introduction p.1
I. Geography of Israel p.2
II. Population of Israel p.3
III. History of Israel p.4
IV. Government of Israel p.5,6
V. Religions of Israel p.7
Bibliography p.8
Introduction
In the past few decades, atleast since 1948, no other country has
been in the news more often or has gotten more international attention than
Israel. First, Israel got attention because it was to be a refuge for the
poor unfortunate Jewish people who survived the Holocaust. They would,
once and for all, have a Jewish homeland, where the key to citizenship was
simply being Jewish. The majority of the world had sympathy for the Jewish
people, at that time.
Along with this sympathy the world had expectations that the
Jewish people would be better, morally, than the other nations of the world.
As a result, Israel is often put under a figurative microscope and each
and every thing she does is analyzed. For many years people only said the
nicest things about Israel, but that has changed, recently. Many people
think that one of the reasons for this change is because of the power the
Arabs have as a result of their oil and money.
Since 1948 Israel has had to deal with regular wars waged by its
Arab neighbors, with one of the highest taxation systems in the world and
with double digit inflation every year. There is a division among its
religious and non-religious people, and a division among its citizens of
European vs. North African origin. Israel has, in the past, had to deal
with not enough immigration and most recently too much immigration. When
Israel was first established there was much work to be done and too few
people to do it. Now there is rising unemployment in Israel, partly
because of the mass of new immigrants from the Soviet Union and from
Ethiopia. There was a time when people moved to Israel and never thought
about leaving; that has changed.
You will learn more, in the following pages, about this dynamic and
wonderful country of ours, "Eretz Yisrael", the Land of Israel, homeland of
the Jews.
Bibliography
1. Feinstein, Steve. Israel. Minneapolis: Lerner Publication
Company, 1988.
2. Taitz, Emily and Henry, Sandra. Israel, A Sacred Land.
Minnesota: Dillon Press, Inc., 1987.
3. About Israel. Do You Know That...? Jerusalem: Israel
Information Center, 1980.
4. Aspects of Israel. Jerusalem: Israel Information Center, 1982.
5. Israel Today. Jerusalem: Israel Digest, 1983.
6. Watson, Russel and Annin, Peter. "City of Peace, Hornet's
Nest", Newsweek, (1988) p.51.
7. Ain, Stewart. "Tears and Joy". The Jewish Week. (May 4, 1990) p.2.
8. Lief, Louise, Makovsky, David and Walsh, Kenneth. "Your
Jewishness Is Not Enough". U.S. News & World Report
(1990) p.32,33.
9. "Israel", Encyclopedia Brittanica, 1963 edition.
10. "Israel", Encyclopedia Judaica, 1974 edition.
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