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Israel
Located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, Israel is the only Jewish-majority state in the world. It has a total land area of 22,072 sq km with an estimated population of approximately 7.7 million as of 2010.
6,421 Questions
Does Turkey recognize Israel as a state?
Yes. Turkey recognized the State of Israel after it had concluded armistices with all of its adversaries in the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-9. Since 1949, Turkey and Israel have exchanged ambassadors and prior to 2008 were actively engaged in a military alliance. Trade between the two nations, even after a cooling of political relations continues to increase.
Who was the President of Israel in 2012?
Shimon Peres was the President of the State of Israel in 2012. Peres was elected by the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) for the presidency on 13 June 2007 and sworn into office on 2007 July 15 for a seven-year term, becoming the 9th President of Israel. He also previously served as the 8th Prime Minister of Israel.
It should be noted that the Israeli President is a largely ceremonial position, like the Queen of England is today. The person with real power in Israel is the Prime Minister and as of 2012, that is Benyamin Netanyahu.
Are Christians living in the Holy Land Palestinian or Israeli?
The Majority of Christians living in the Holy Land are Arabs.
Christians living in Israel have Israeli citizenship, however, considered Arabs by the Governments (and their I.D Cards states it clearly) and thus face many discriminative laws.
Christians living in the Palestinian territories have a Palestinian "Citizenship" (its not a country yet, hence the brackets). The I.D. issued by the Palestinian authority clearly states "Christian." There also, Christians as a minority face many problems.
In the Holy Land, Israel & The Palestinian Territories, Christians make less than 2% of the general population.
Native Christians of the Holy Land are Arabs, who are stuck between the hammer and the anvil.
Who was the President of Israel in 1900?
Israel has had presidents only since 1949. In 1900, Israel (then called Palestine) was under the Ottoman Empire, which was at that time headed by Sultan Abdulhamid II.
Palestine was divided into the districts of NÄbulus and Acre, both of which were linked with the province of Beirut; and the autonomous district of Jerusalem, which dealt directly with Istanbul.
Who in the Old Testament was king of Israel from 869 to 850 bc and married Jezebel?
First of all, it is important to note that Israel is a Jewish State in the sense that its dominant ethnicity (75%) is Jewish. Herzl defined Zionism as the right for the Judensvolk (or Jewish People) to have a state in the same sense as German Nationalism was the right for the Deutschesvolk (or German People) to have a state. Therefore, many non-religious positions have strong standing in Israel and the majority of Israel's population would be considered agnostic, atheist, or just minimally religious, by American standards.
Religious Jewish Defenses
However, there are numerous religious opinions which do have clout in Israel and do deal with the Palestinian Question. Religiously there are opinions on all sides of the spectrum. Here is a list of them, from most liberal to most conservative (by Western standards, not necessarily by Jewish standards):
1) The Occupation Has to End with Landswaps:These people have a genuine concern for the future of the Palestinian people because they believe that the Palestinians do have a right to their own government and territory. In their view, Judaism teaches peace, kindness, and respect for those of the other nations. Note: They do not call for ceding completely to Palestinian demands and would not entertain notions such as Islamic Extremism and the Palestinian Full Right of Return. They believe in a Palestine that is also interested in mutual cooperation. In so doing, they believe in compassionate treatment of the Palestinians that is at least equal if not greater than that shown by the Palestinians to Israelis.
2) The Palestinians are Obstructing the Proper Course of History: These people do not feel positively or negatively towards Palestinian treatment. However, they see the Creation of a Jewish State as the first stage of the process necessary to bring about the Messianic Age. This view holds that the Palestinians are willfully putting themselves in the way of progress towards this event. The coming of the Messiah would, in their view, be the greatest good and should be hastened by any possible means.
3) The Palestinians are the Seven Tribes: This is the strongest and most violent opinion. This faction of the Religious Zionists hold that God's commandment to remove the Seven Tribes from Canaan is applicable to the Palestinians, calling them the modern Philistines. In the Torah, the removal of these people is required and by its very law, none can survive. Judaism, in their view, is not a religion about Universal Compassion, but about Strict Observance. As the holiest places in Israel are being held by the Palestinians (such as Hebron, Shechem/Nablus, and Shiloh) they equate the Palestinians to the Jebusites, whom King David eviscerated when he took Jerusalem.
4) Jewish States are Blasphemy: This is a position held by a tiny minority such as Neturei Karta (who are famously flagged down by every Pro-Palestinian group who only understands half of their ideology) and they live exclusively outside of the Land of Israel. They believe that Israel has to be made devoid of Jews to hasten the arrival of the Messiah (in direct contravention to Group 2). When the Messiah comes he will wipe the land clean of people and bring the Jews in as a unity to settle it. They believe that the Jews are, at present, Divinely mandated to be in exile and that going to Israel is in contravention to mandate.
Note: It is important that most more religious strains of Judaism do not believe that there is equality between Jews and non-Jews and so non-Jewish suffering comes in second to Jewish concerns.
Non-Religious Jewish Defenses
The most prevalent non-Jewish (in a religious sense) defense that Jews use to justify the treatment of the Palestinians are: the Just War Theory, Revenge Theory, and Patriotism. All of these are either counter to or in neutral character towards Jewish Law.
Reasons that the above mentioned theories are not religiously Jewish:
Just War Theory: Religious Judaism believes in Mandated War. This is a system where you must or must not go to war because God says so. There is no necessary thought process on behalf of the believer except to see if the opponent matches the proscribed categories (i.e. is "X" person part of "Y" nation or grouping). The Just War Theory, on the other hand, is when a person can decide based on religious reasons whether or not he should go to war against a person or group because of the necessity of his cultural survival (i.e. does "X" person violently advocate for "Y" principle which is strongly damaging to me). This requires insight, questioning, and is open to roundtable discussion. While many modern Jews engage in this behavior, it does not make it religious Jewish behavior.
Revenge Theory: Revenge theory is pretty straightforward and there are certainly verses in the Torah that say "an eye for an eye", but Rabbinical Judaism has made it clear that the system of awarding retribution must be a legal institution (such as a court) and not the sword. In fact, this Torah-principle is so important, that according to the Rabbis, this was a commandment also enjoined upon the non-Jews by way of the Noahide Laws. (Note that according to Judaism, Jews have 613 commandments while non-Jews have 7.)
Patriotism: Religious Judaism does not care much about the maintenance of a modern State, either ideologically or physically. Religious Judaism believes that Jewish political decisions ultimately rest with God and not with man; so choosing to defend a political ideology, or having the land controlled by secular government is not helpful for achieving the Divine Will. God will choose who wins and loses. This serves to compound the actual Religious issues above, because many see the victory of the Six-Day War to be a Divine Message as to how Israel should be, and this encourages Religious Zionism.
Who owns the copyright to Israel Goldfarb Shalom Aleichem?
Don't we generally assume that things written before 1922 are public domain?
At a guess, public domain. He wrote it in 1918, and died in the early 1960s. He was still defending his copyright into the 1950s, but probably didn't live long enough to be grandfathered in to the later copyright term extensions. But I Am Not A Lawyer.
Jon Baker
Why are ten of the original tribes of Israel called the lost tribes?
During the first three centuries of the first millennium BCE, there were two Hebrew kingdoms in the Promised Land - Israel in the north and Judah in the south. The Bible says that ten of the twelve tribes occupied the territory of Israel and two tribes occupied Judah. When the Assyrians overran Israel in 722 BCE, they deported many of the Israelites, bringing in people from other conquered lands to occupy what was now to be the Assyrian province of Samaria.
The deported Israelites gradually assimilated into the cultures that surrounded them, adopted new religious beliefs and lost their ethnic identity. These are the "ten lost tribes" of Israel.
Answer:When they were carried into captivity (traditional date: 555 BCE), the Ten Tribes were brought at first to Assyria, but later spread further afield. Fanciful notions which were put forth centuries ago (such as identifying the Ten Tribes with the Native Americans, Irish or Japanese) may be ignored. Less unreasonable are reports linking the Ten Tribes with groups in Afghanistan or the Arabian peninsula (for example). But these remain moot until the Future Redemption and are not dwelt upon in Judaism today.It should be noted that we Jews, descendants of Judah, do possess among us small percentages of every one of the other eleven Tribes, since there was a slight amount of intermingling before the two Kingdoms separated. See for example the Talmud, Pesachim 4a.
Hamas is a Palestinian state-sponsored terrorist organization whose stated purpose is to destroy the state of Israel. They have recently broadened this to also killing Jews and Americans wherever they are, as well as anyone who doesn't support them.
Their goal is not to negotiate a Palestinian state next to Israel - it is to destroy Israel. They have stated this clearly and repeatedly.
Their strategy is to kill as many Israelis as possible. Since civilians are usually easier targets than soldiers, they mostly kill civilians. Since public places are usually easier to target than military locations, they target public places. Since they have no respect for any life, their own or anyone else's, they send suicide bombers to public areas and shoot rockets at schools and hospitals (and from them as well).
They have gained control of Gaza, but spend their time, effort and money acquiring and shooting weapons at Israel rather than improving the lives of their people - they claim to have no food, yet they have plenty of weaponry.
Israel, on the other hand, has frequently been publicly denounced of killing innocent civilians, though the fact of the matter is that they have been attacking terrorist leaders who have been hiding in civilian buildings. It is also true that Israel has been destroying civilian infrastructure. This was done because members of the terrorist organizations have been using this infrastructure to support their attacks on Israel.
Clearly, the terrorists (including Hamas), are the attackers. Israelis are defending themselves from men devoted to destroying their homes.
Israel is innocent. Hamas is not.
What was important about Israel geographic location?
Israel was historically on the border between great empires. The Egyptian Empire, the Assyrian Empire, the Babylonian Empire, the Persian Empire, the Greek Empire, the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire all took control of this land. At one point, the Mongol armies made it as far as Gaza. I'm sure I've left some out. It has seaports on the Mediterranean, and caravan routes from Arabia and Persia used to connect to these seaports. It is also on the major land route from Egypt to Anatolia (Turkey) and Babylon (Iraq). As a result, although it was not a center of power, it was far from a backwater in ancient times, News from everywhere passed through Israel, and developments in Israel could and did have an influence on the world.
Which US Presidents have visited Israel?
Regarding the presidents who have visited, it should first be pointed out that a number of presidents did not. President Obama has not yet visited during his presidency, but he did visit Israel in 2008, before he was elected. And during their time in office, Presidents Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenbower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush never visited Israel. According to the State Department (and the Washington Post), here are the four presidents who did visit Israel:
Richard Nixon: in the sixth year of his presidency
Jimmy Carter: in the third year of presidency
Bill Clinton: 4 visits: in the second, third, fourth & sixth years of his presidency
George W. Bush: 2 visits-both in the eighth year of his presidency
What makes ancient Palestine the crossroads of the Middle East?
It connects Africa and Asia, with trade routes to Europe as well.
What is the minamum amount of child support in Israel and at what ae does it end?
monthly payment of:
1250 NIS (equivalent to 312 USD) per child
IN ADDITION to:
33% of Rent fir 1 child
40% of rent for 2 children
50% of rent for 3 children
IN ADDITION to 50% of all one time unexpected costs, such as medical bills
a typical divorced father with 2 children would pay around 1500 USD oer month.
Usaully he would be left with nothing for his own living, and this is a big issue in Israel.
Note that fathers in Israel are expected to cover 100% of child needs, women are exempt from participation in this.
Where is Mount Sinai in Israel?
Mount Sinai is not in Israel. It is in Egypt, on the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula.
What country was occupied as a result of the Six day War?
No country was occupied in full as a result of the Six Day War. The Egyptian Sinai was occupied by Israel, the Syrian Golan is still occupied by Israel, and areas previously controlled by Jordan and Egypt were also under Israeli occupation. These areas have been retroactively called Palestine, but as Palestine was not a country prior to the war, it cannot be considered an occupied country.
(Those who consider the State of Palestine as the West Bank and Gaza, and believe that Israel is illegally occupying those areas militarily, still call Palestine a "disputed territory" since there was no Palestinian governmental apparatus in 1967.)
Israel has a thing that is very similar with congress, which cold "haknesset' which has much complicated ways than the usual congress.
Are Hebrew Israeli and Yiddish the same language?
No. See the following points:
-- Hebrew is the original language of the Torah; and modern Hebrew is one of the official languages of Israel today. (The other one is Arabic.)
-- There is no such language as 'Israeli'. Israeli is a national term to refer to a citizen of Israel, not a language. (It is the same way that Canadian is a national term to refer to a citizen of Canada.)
-- Yiddish is the language of the [mostly former] Jewish communities of Germany, Eastern Europe, and Russia. It's spoken in enclaves of population descended from those communities, found today in Israel, the US, Canada, South Africa, Argentina, Australia, and many other countries.
What is the Shrine of the Book?
The Shrine of the Book is an Israeli museum that is dedicated solely to the Qumran Scrolls. The Qumran Scrolls are ancient manuscript copies of several Jewish Holy Books and Jewish writings that were discovered in the caves of Qumran by a Bedouin in 1947.
Political visits by international leaders usually signify the recognition by that leader of the Jewish historical presence in the land and the validity of the Jewish historical claim.
What destroyed the Ten Tribes of Israel?
no because by the time the Jews realised they would the y would stop doing all the destable practices and start crying to god for help and also because god vowed that the israelites would be his inheritanceso if any of the tribes were destroyed his inheritance would just get smaller.
* Under Jewish law, an individual born of a Jewish mother is a Jew. Under modern Israeli law, anyone is allowed to come and live in Israel.
* The following information should respond more precisely to the original query.
Every country has restrictions on immigration; Israel is no different. Israel's most important immigration law is the "Law of Return" from 1950. This law applies only to Jews and any non-Jewish family members they may have.
Two other immigration laws, which can apply to Jews and non-Jews alike, are the "Law of Entry to Israel" (1952) and the "Law of Citizenship" (1952).
The following information is excerpted from official Israeli Government documents. Sections 4a and 4b of the "Law of Return" should provide a suitable answer to this question.
Rights of members of family
4A. (a) The rights of a Jew under this Law and the rights of an oleh [immigrant] under the Nationality Law, 5712-1952, as well as the rights of an oleh under any other enactment, are also vested in a child and a grandchild of a Jew, the spouse of a Jew, the spouse of a child of a Jew and the spouse of a grandchild of a Jew, except for a person who has been a Jew and has voluntarily changed his religion.
(b) It shall be immaterial whether or not a Jew by whose right a right under subsection (a) is claimed is still alive and whether or not he has immigrated to Israel.
(c) The restrictions and conditions prescribed in respect of a Jew or an oleh by or under this Law or by the enactments referred to in subsection (a) shall also apply to a person who claims a right under subsection (a).
Definition
4B. For the purposes of this Law, "Jew" means a person who was born of a Jewish mother or has become converted to Judaism and who is not a member of another religion."
Amendment of section 5 2. In section 5 of the Law of Return, 5710-1950, the following shall be added at the end: "Regulations for the purposes of sections 4A and 4B require the approval of the Constitution, Legislation and Juridical Committee of the Knesset."
What nations did Israel displace?
Depending on the definition of the word "nation" there are two very different answers.
Nation as a Politically Sovereign Entity: Israel was created entirely on land that constituted part of the British Mandate of Palestine. A mandate is a sub-national, colonial entity and is certainly not a nation. Therefore Israel did not "replace" or "displace" any nation if this sense of the term is understood. (Would someone say that the creation of the United States displaced a politically sovereign nation? - same argument)
Nation as a metaphor for a Conscious Ethnic Group:Whether the Israelis intended to or not (there is much debate on the subject), Arab Palestinians who lived in the British Mandate of Palestine were forced to flee in some parts and were scared into fleeing in other parts of the territory that would become Israel. The Palestinian People were certainly displaced by the Creation of the State of Israel and the ensuing war that this action provoked.
