Israel is a country located in Western Asia, situated on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It shares borders with Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the Palestinian territories, Egypt, and the Gulf of Aqaba. Israel contains diverse geographical features within its small area, with Tel Aviv as its financial center and Jerusalem as its designated capital and most populous city. Israel has a population of over 8 million people, 74.9% of whom are Jewish citizens. Israel defines itself as both a Jewish and democratic state.

1. The State of Israel and
Its Land

2. What is Israel?
Israel
Where does the word
Israel come from?

3. Israel
is a Biblical given name. The patriarch
Jacob was given the name Israel
Standard Yisraʾel Tiberian Yiśrāʾēl;
"Triumphant with God", "who prevails with
God" after he wrestled with God (Genesis 32:28
and 35:10) The name already occurs in Eblaite
and Ugaritic texts as a common name.

4. “ Then he said, “Your name shall
no longer be called Jacob, but
Israel, for you have striven with God
and with men, and have prevailed.”
What does the Genesis 35:10
say?

5. Genesis 32:28 states…
Then the man said, “Your name will no
longer be Jacob, but Israel,[a] because you
have struggled with God and with humans
and have overcome.”
(https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=
Genesis%2032:28)

6. Israel was a common name among
Assyrians till recent times. A famous
Assyrian author is the Chaldean bishop
Israel Audo, famous for authoring a
book about “Assyrian Genocide”.
(https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945
-1952/creation-israel.

7. Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a
country in Western Asia, situated at the
southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea.
It shares land borders with Lebanon to the
north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan on the
east, the Palestinian territories comprising the
West Bank and Gaza Strip on the east and
southwest, respectively, and Egypt and the Gulf
of Aqaba in the Red Sea to the south.

8. It contains geographically diverse
features within its relatively small area.
Israel's financial center is Tel Aviv, while
Jerusalem is both its designated capital
and the most populous individual city under
the country's governmental administration.
Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem is
internationally disputed.

9. Israeli’s land extends for 420
km(260)from the northern border with
Lebanon and Syria in the Golan Heights to
Elat(Eliat), the country’s port on the Gulf of
Aqaba in the south. The territory it controls
extends inland from the Mediterranean for
100 km.(60mi)-including the occupied West
Bank-to the Rift Valley.

10. The Valley is a continuation of Africa’s
Great Rift Valley ( Lake Hula was drained in
the 50’s); the Sea of Galilee, which lies 212
m (696 ft) below sea level; the Jordan Sea,
and the Dead Sea, with the world’s lowest
elevation (-396 meter or-1,300ft). The Arava
Valley occupies the rift between the Dead
Sea and the Red Sea.

11. The population of Israel, as defined by
the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was
estimated in 2014 to be 8,146,300 people. It is
the world's only Jewish-majority state;
6,212,000 citizens, or 74.9% of Israelis, are
designated as Jewish. The country's second
largest group of citizens are denoted as Arabs,
with 1,718,400 people (including the Druze
and most East Jerusalem Arabs).

12. The great majority of Israeli Arabs are
Muslims; the rest are Christians and Druze.
Other minorities include Maronites,
Samaritans, Dom people, Black Hebrew
Israelites, other Sub-Saharan Africans,
Armenians, Circassians, Roma, Vietnamese
boat people, and others. Israel also hosts a
significant population of non-citizen foreign
workers and asylum seekers from Africa and
Asia.

13. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as
a Jewish and Democratic State. Israel is a
representative democracy with a
parliamentary system, proportional
representation and universal suffrage. The
Prime Minister serves as head of government
and the Knesset serves as Israel's legislative
body.

14. Israel is a developed country and an
OECD member, with the 43rd-largest
economy in the world by nominal gross
domestic product as of 2012. The country
has the highest standard of living in the
Middle East and the fifth highest in Asia,
and has the one of the highest life
expectancies in the world.

15. What can say about the flag
of Israel?

16. The flag of Israel was adopted on
October 28, 1948, five months after the
establishment of the State of Israel. The blue
stripes are intended to symbolize the stripes
on a tallit, the traditional Jewish prayer shawl.
The portrayal of a Star of David on the flag of
the State of Israel is a widely-acknowledged
symbol of the Jewish people and of Judaism.

17. The flag was designed for the Zionist
Movement in 1891. The basic design
recalls the Ashkenazi Tallit, the Jewish
prayer shawl, which is white with blue
stripes. Interpretation of colors (White-
Divine Benevolence---Blue symbolizes
God's Glory, purity.

18. In 2007, an Israeli flag measuring 660 m × 100 m
(2,170 ft × 330 ft) and weighing 5.2 t (5.7 short tons)
was unfurled near the ancient Jewish fortress
of Masada, breaking the world record for the largest
flag.[
(http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/
isflag.html)

19. The State of Israel
On May 14, 1948, in Tel Aviv, Jewish
Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion
proclaims the State of Israel, establishing the
first Jewish state in 2,000 years. In an
afternoon ceremony at the Tel Aviv Art
Museum, Ben-Gurion pronounced the words

20. “We hereby proclaim the
establishment of the Jewish state in
Palestine, to be called Israel,”
prompting applause and tears from
the crowd gathered at the museum.
Ben-Gurion became Israel’s first
premier.

21. In the distance, the rumble of guns could be heard
from fighting that broke out between Jews and Arabs
immediately following the British army withdrawal earlier
that day. Egypt launched an air assault against Israel that
evening.
Despite a blackout in Tel Aviv–and the expected
Arab invasion–Jews joyously celebrated the birth of their
new nation, especially after word was received that the
United States had recognized the Jewish state. At
midnight, the State of Israel officially came into being upon
termination of the British mandate in Palestine.

22. Modern Israel has its origins in the Zionism
movement, established in the late 19th century by
Jews in the Russian Empire who called for the
establishment of a territorial Jewish state after
enduring persecution.
In 1896, Jewish-Austrian journalist Theodor
Herzl published an influential political pamphlet
called The Jewish State, which argued that the
establishment of a Jewish state was the only way
of protecting Jews from anti-Semitism.

23. Herzl became the leader of Zionism,
convening the first Zionist Congress in
Switzerland in 1897. Ottoman-controlled
Palestine, the original home of the Jews,
was chosen as the most desirable location
for a Jewish state, and Herzl unsuccessfully
petitioned the Ottoman government for a
charter.

24. After the failed Russian Revolution of
1905, growing numbers of Eastern European
and Russian Jews began to immigrate to
Palestine, joining the few thousand Jews who
had arrived earlier. The Jewish settlers insisted
on the use of Hebrew as their spoken
language. With the collapse of the Ottoman
Empire during World War I, Britain took over
Palestine.

25. In 1917, Britain issued the “Balfour
Declaration,” which declared its intent to
establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
Although protested by the Arab states, the
Balfour Declaration was included in the British
mandate over Palestine, which was authorized
by the League of Nations in 1922. Because of
Arab opposition to the establishment of any
Jewish state in Palestine, British rule continued
throughout the 1920s and ’30s.

26. Beginning in 1929, Arabs and Jews
openly fought in Palestine, and Britain
attempted to limit Jewish immigration as a
means of appeasing the Arabs. As a result of
the Holocaust in Europe, many Jews illegally
entered Palestine during World War II. Radical
Jewish groups employed terrorism against
British forces in Palestine, which they thought
had betrayed the Zionist cause.

27. At the end of World War II, in 1945, the
United States took up the Zionist cause. Britain,
unable to find a practical solution, referred the
problem to the United Nations, which in
November 1947 voted to partition Palestine.
The Jews were to possess more than half
of Palestine, although they made up less than
half of Palestine’s population.

28. The Palestinian Arabs, aided by volunteers
from other countries, fought the Zionist forces,
but by May 14, 1948, the Jews had secured full
control of their U.N.-allocated share of Palestine
and also some Arab territory. On May 14, Britain
withdrew with the expiration of its mandate, and
the State of Israel was proclaimed. The next
day, forces from Egypt, Transjordan, Syria,
Lebanon, and Iraq invaded.

29. The Israelis, though less well
equipped, managed to fight off the
Arabs and then seize key territory,
such as Galilee, the Palestinian coast,
and a strip of territory connecting the
coastal region to the western section
of Jerusalem.

30. In 1949, U.N.-brokered cease-
fires left the State of Israel in
permanent control of this conquered
territory. The departure of hundreds of
thousands of Palestinian Arabs from
Israel during the war left the country
with a substantial Jewish majority.

31. During the third Arab-Israeli
conflict–the Six-Day War of 1967–Israel
again greatly increased its borders,
capturing from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria
the Old City of Jerusalem, the Sinai
Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West
Bank, and the Golan Heights.

32. In 1979, Israel and Egypt signed an
historic peace agreement in which Israel
returned the Sinai in exchange for Egyptian
recognition and peace. Israel and the Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO) signed a major
peace accord in 1993, which envisioned the
gradual implementation of Palestinian self-
government in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

33. The Israeli-Palestinian peace process
moved slowly, however, and in 2000 major
fighting between Israelis and Palestinians
resumed in Israel and the occupied
territories.
(http://www.history.com/this-day-in-
history/state-of-israel-proclaimed).

34. Thank you
Presented and Reported by:
Mr. Angelito T. Pera
BSED-II English

35. Post-Test
I-Direction: On your piece of paper, choose the
letter of the correct answer.
1. Which of the Asian countries which has a
literal meaning “ Triumphant of God”?
A. Philippines
B. Israel
C. Indonesia
D. Hongkong

36. 2. It is a country in Western Asia,
situated at the southeastern shore
of the Mediterranean Sea?
A. India
B. Indonesia
C. Israel
D. Hongkong

37. 3. Which of the following is the
financial center of Israel?
A. Wall Street
B. Jerusalem
C. Tel-Aviv
D. Beijing

38. 4. It is the capital of Israel and
the most populous individual city
under the country’s governmental
administration?
A.Jerusalem
B. New Delhi
C. Katmandu
D. Jakarta

39. 5. Which of the following statements
is not true?
A. Israel is a country in Northern Asia, situated at
the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea.
B. It is the world's only Jewish-majority state;
6,212,000 citizens, or 74.9% of Israelis, are designated
.as Jewish.
C. Israel defines itself as a Jewish and Democratic
State.
D. The portrayal of a Star of David on the flag of the State
of Israel is a widely-acknowledged symbol of the Jewish
people and of Judaism.

40. II-Direction: Identify the word or group of
words that make the statement Wrong. If
none, write the statement Correct.(2x) each
item.
1. Israel is a developed country and an
OECD member with the 43rd-largest
economy in the world by nominal gross
domestic product as of 2012.

41. 2. According to research, Philippines has the
highest standard of living in the Middle East and
the fifth highest in Asia, and has the one of the
highest life expectancies in the world.
3. The flag of Israel was adopted on
October 28, 1948, five months after the
establishment of the State of Israel.

42. 4. On May 14, 1948, in Tel Aviv, Jewish
Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion proclaims
the State of Israel, establishing the first Jewish
state in 2,000 years.
5. Theodor Herzl published an influential
political pamphlet called “The Jewish State” which
argued that the establishment of a Jewish state
was the only way of protecting Jews from anti-
Semitism.