Essay/Term paper: Israel

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Geography

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.