Israel. Information.
ISRAEL (officially the State of Israel), is a country in the Southern Levant, West Asia. Area - 22,072 sq.km. Population - 9,900,000 (2024) Capital - Tel Aviv It is bordered by Lebanon and Syria to the north, the West Bank and Jordan to the east, Egypt, the Gaza Strip and the Red Sea to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Israel is located in a region known historically as Canaan, Palestine, and the Holy Land. In antiquity, it was home to Canaanite city-states, then the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and is referred to as the Land of Israel in Jewish tradition. Situated at a continental crossroad, the region was then ruled by various empires. Amid European antisemitism, the late 19th century saw the rise of Zionism, which sought a Jewish homeland. British occupation led to the establishment of Mandatory Palestine in 1920. Jewish immigration, combined with British colonial policy, led to intercommunal conflict between Jews and Arabs. The 1947 UN Partition Plan triggered civil war between them. The State of Israel declared its establishment on 14 May 1948. On 15 May 1948, the armies of neighboring Arab states invaded the area of the former Mandatory Palestine, internationalizing the civil war and beginning the First Arab–Israeli War. Over both phases of the war, a majority of Palestinians were expelled by Jewish and then Israeli forces or fled from the territory Israel would come to control. Over the following decades, Israel received an influx of immigration from Jews who emigrated, fled, or were expelled from the Muslim world. The 1949 Armistice Agreements established Israel's borders over most of the former Mandate territory. The 1967 Six-Day War saw Israel occupy the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Egyptian Sinai Peninsula and Syrian Golan Heights. Israel has established and continues to expand settlements across the occupied territories, which is widely considered illegal under international law, and has effectively annexed East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, which is largely unrecognized internationally. Since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt, returning the Sinai Peninsula, and Jordan, and into the 2020s has normalized relations with several Arab countries. However, efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not succeeded. Israel's practices in its occupation of the Palestinian territories have drawn sustained international criticism along with accusations that it has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Palestinian people from human rights organizations and United Nations officials. The country has a parliamentary system elected by proportional representation. The prime minister is head of government, and elected by the Knesset, a unicameral legislature. Israel is the only country to have a revived language, Hebrew, as the official language. The culture of Israel is composed of Jewish culture and Jewish diaspora influences, alongside elements of Arab culture, involving cuisine, music, and art. Israel has one of the biggest and most advanced economies in the Middle East. It also has one of the highest GDP per capita as well as standards of living in the Middle East and Asia. The country has been a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development since 2010.
Full info about postage stamps of Israel you can find at site:
israelphilately.org.il
