Israel

Ok after a bit of thought I am kicking of countries in the middle east with Israel.

Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the Southern Levant of the Middle East, and shares borders with Lebanon and Syria to the north, the West Bank and Jordan to the east, the Gaza Strip and Egypt to the southwest, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west.

The capital is Jerusalem, the population was 9.7 million in 2023. The official language is Hebrew.

It was called British Palestine in 1920 because that portion of the Ottoman Empire was given to the British to manage after World War I.

Both Jews and Arabs have claimed it as theirs alone. From a purely historical perspective, “Israel” predates “Palestine” by more than a millennium. But, with the Jewish people then dispersed from their homeland, “Palestine” became home to a substantial Arab population, again for more than a millennium

It is the homeland of the Jewish people, it is also the birthplace of Christianity, it also contains Islam's third holiest site - the Dome of the Rock, and the Baha'i Gardens in Haifa.

Did you know voicemail technology was developed in Israel, or that there are more than 135 beaches.

An armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups has been taking place in the Gaza Strip and Israel since 7 October 2023.

This is the fifth war since 2008 in the Gaza–Israel conflict, and the most significant military engagement in the region since the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

If like me, you don’t what or who HAMAS is well here is the answer. The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas, is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islamist political organisation with a military wing known as the Al-Qassam Brigades. It has governed the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip since 2007. 

The Israeli flag is white with a blue Star of David in the middle and two horizontal blue stripes. The flag was adopted on October 28, 1948, five months after Israel declared independence. The meaning goes beyond its visual elements. The Star of David at its center is a symbol of Jewish unity and connection to faith. The blue stripes represent the rivers of Babylon, evoking the longing for the Jewish homeland as described in the Bible.

The new Israeli shekel is Israel's official currency. The value of one new shekel is equal to one hundred agorot. Since the year 1986, the Israeli Shekel has served as the country's primary unit of currency.

The official religion is Orthodox Judaism, as I am sure most people would know, however, Israel's laws protect the freedom of religion for all people, or so they say, how true that is I do not know.

The country’s basic laws define it as a Jewish democratic state. 

Judaism has been influential in Israel since the country's founding. It plays a major role in the country's political and state institutions. 

Each city and area of government has a religious council that regulates Jewish practices. 

Israel has religious courts that regulate personal status matters. 

Naturally everyone knows how dangerous it is to visit this country right now.