Israel Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Government and politics== {{Main|Israeli system of government|Politics of Israel}} {{See also|Criticism of Israel}} {{multiple image |total_width=260 |caption_align=center | image1 = Isaac Herzog, July 2021 (D1233-049).JPG | caption1 = [[President of Israel|President]]<br />[[Isaac Herzog]] | image2 = Benjamin Netanyahu, February 2023.jpg | caption2 = [[Prime Minister of Israel|Prime Minister]]<br />[[Benjamin Netanyahu]] }} [[File:PikiWiki Israel 7260 Knesset-Room.jpg|thumb|The [[Knesset]] chamber, home to the Israeli parliament]] Israel has a [[parliamentary system]], [[proportional representation]] and [[universal suffrage]]. A member of parliament supported by a parliamentary majority becomes the [[Prime Minister of Israel|prime minister]]—usually this is the chair of the largest party. The prime minister is the [[head of government]] and of [[Cabinet of Israel|cabinet]].<ref name="cia2"/><ref>In 1996, direct elections for the prime minister were inaugurated, but the system was declared unsatisfactory and the old one reinstated. See {{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2683259.stm |publisher=BBC News |title=Israel's election process explained |access-date=31 March 2010 |date=23 January 2003}}</ref> The [[president of Israel|president]] is [[head of state]], with limited and largely ceremonial duties.<ref name="cia2">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2077.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613004001/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2077.html |archive-date=13 June 2007 |work=The World Factbook |title=Field Listing — Executive Branch |access-date=20 July 2007 |date=19 June 2007 }}</ref> Israel is governed by a 120-member parliament, known as the [[Knesset]]. Membership of the Knesset is based on proportional representation of [[List of political parties in Israel|political parties]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/description/eng/eng_mimshal_beh.htm |publisher=The Knesset |access-date=8 August 2007 |title=The Electoral System in Israel }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=February 2023}} with a 3.25% electoral threshold, which in practice has resulted in coalition governments. Residents of Israeli settlements in the West Bank are eligible to vote<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/world/jewish-settlers-can-vote-in-israeli-elections-though-west-bank-is-officially-not-israel Jewish settlers can vote in Israeli elections, though West Bank is officially not Israel], Fox News, February 2015: "When Israelis go to the polls next month, tens of thousands of Jewish settlers in the West Bank will also be casting votes, even though they do not live on what is sovereign Israeli territory. This exception in a country that doesn't allow absentee voting for citizens living abroad is a telling reflection of Israel's somewhat ambiguous and highly contentious claim to the territory, which has been under military occupation for almost a half century."</ref> and after the [[2015 Israeli legislative election|2015 election]], 10 of the 120 members of the Knesset ({{percent|10|120}}) were settlers.<ref>[https://en.idi.org.il/articles/5199 The Social Composition of the 20th Knesset], Israeli Democracy Institute, 30 March 2015</ref> Parliamentary [[Elections in Israel|elections]] are scheduled every four years, but unstable coalitions or a [[motion of no confidence|no-confidence vote]] can dissolve a government earlier.<ref name="cnn">{{cite web |title=How Israel's electoral system works |website=CNN.com |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/02/05/israel.elections.explainer/index.html |access-date=14 October 2021 |publisher=[[CNN International]]}}</ref> The first Arab-led party was established in 1988<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Halbfinger |first1=David M. |last2=McCann |first2=Allison |date=28 February 2020 |title=As Israel Votes Again (and Again), Arabs See an Opportunity |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/28/world/middleeast/israel-arabs-election-vote.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220106024835/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/28/world/middleeast/israel-arabs-election-vote.html%23commentsContainer |archive-date=6 January 2022}}</ref> and as of 2022, Arab-led parties hold about 10% of seats.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Abu Much |first=Afif |date=7 November 2022 |title=Arab Israeli parties trade blame for election fiasco |website=Al-Monitor |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/11/arab-israeli-parties-trade-blame-election-fiasco |access-date=12 May 2023 |language=en}}</ref> The Basic Law: The Knesset (1958) and its amendments prevent a party list from running for election to the Knesset if its objectives or actions include the "negation of the existence of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people". The [[Basic Laws of Israel]] function as an [[uncodified constitution]]. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a [[Jewish and democratic state]], and the [[Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People|nation-state of exclusively the Jewish people]].<ref name="freedomhouse2008">{{cite web |url=https://freedomhouse.org/country/israel/freedom-world/2020 |access-date=13 October 2020 |year=2020 |title=Israel |website=[[Freedom in the World]] |publisher=Freedom House}}</ref> In 2003, the Knesset began to draft an official [[Constitution of Israel|constitution]] based on these laws.<ref name="cia"/>{{sfn|Mazie|2006|p=34}} Israel has no official religion,<ref>{{cite book | title=Secularism on the Edge: Rethinking Church-State Relations in the United States, France, and Israel |last=Charbit |first=Denis | editor1-last=Berlinerblau | editor1-first=Jacques | editor2-last=Fainberg | editor2-first=Sarah | editor3-last=Nou | editor3-first=Aurora | chapter=Israel's Self-Restrained Secularism from the 1947 Status Quo Letter to the Present | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-137-38115-6 | pages=167–169 |chapter-url={{Google books|gThvBAAAQBAJ|page=PA167|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} |quote=The compromise, therefore, was to choose constructive ambiguity: as surprising as it may seem, there is no law that declares Judaism the official religion of Israel. However, there is no other law that declares Israel's neutrality toward all confessions. Judaism is not recognized as the official religion of the state, and even though the Jewish, Muslim and Christian clergy receive their salaries from the state, this fact does not make Israel a neutral state. This apparent pluralism cannot dissimulate the fact that Israel displays a clear and undoubtedly hierarchical pluralism in religious matters. ... It is important to note that from a multicultural point of view, this self-restrained secularism allows Muslim law to be practiced in Israel for personal matters of the Muslim community. As surprising as it seems, if not paradoxical for a state in war, Israel is the only Western democratic country in which Sharia enjoys such an official status.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=The Sage Handbook of the Sociology of Religion |last=Sharot |first=Stephen | editor1-last=Beckford | editor1-first=James A. | editor2-last=Demerath | editor2-first=Jay | chapter=Judaism in Israel: Public Religion, Neo-Traditionalism, Messianism, and Ethno-Religious Conflict | publisher=Sage Publications |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4129-1195-5 | pages=671–672 |chapter-url={{Google books|vA8edg7bv0kC|page=PA671|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} |quote=It is true that Jewish Israelis, and secular Israelis in particular, conceive of religion as shaped by a state-sponsored religious establishment. There is no formal state religion in Israel, but the state gives its official recognition and financial support to particular religious communities, Jewish, Islamic and Christian, whose religious authorities and courts are empowered to deal with matters of personal status and family law, such as marriage, divorce, and alimony, that are binding on all members of the communities.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=Women in Zones of Conflict: Power and Resistance in Israel |last=Jacoby |first=Tami Amanda | publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7735-2993-9 | pages=53–54|url={{Google books|pr1LJNrlmuIC|page=PA53|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} |quote=Although there is no official religion in Israel, there is also no clear separation between religion and state. In Israeli public life, tensions frequently arise among different streams of Judaism: Ultra-Orthodox, National-Religious, ''Mesorati'' (Conservative), Reconstructionist Progressive (Reform), and varying combinations of traditionalism and non-observance. Despite this variety in religious observances in society, Orthodox Judaism prevails institutionally over the other streams. This boundary is an historical consequence of the unique evolution of the relationship between Israel nationalism and state building. ... Since the founding period, in order to defuse religious tensions, the State of Israel has adopted what is known as the 'status quo,' an unwritten agreement stipulating that no further changes would be made in the status of religion, and that conflict between the observant and non-observant sectors would be handled circumstantially. The 'status quo' has since pertained to the legal status of both religious and secular Jews in Israel. This situation was designed to appease the religious sector, and has been upheld indefinitely through the disproportionate power of religious political parties in all subsequent coalition governments. ... On one hand, the Declaration of Independence adopted in 1948 explicitly guarantees freedom of religion. On the other, it simultaneously prevents the separation of religion and state in Israel.}}</ref> but the definition of the state as "Jewish and democratic" creates a strong connection with Judaism. On 19 July 2018, the Knesset passed a Basic Law that characterizes the State of Israel as principally a "[[Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People|Nation State of the Jewish People]]", and Hebrew as its official language. The bill ascribes, an undefined, "special status" to the Arabic language.<ref>{{cite web |title=Israel's Jewish Nation-State Law - Adalah |url=https://www.adalah.org/en/content/view/9569 |website=www.adalah.org |language=en}}</ref> The same bill gives Jews a unique right to national self-determination, and views the developing of Jewish settlement in the country as "a national interest", empowering the government to "take steps to encourage, advance and implement this interest."<ref>{{cite news |title=Jewish nation state: Israel approves controversial bill |publisher=BBC |date=19 July 2018 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-44881554 |access-date=20 July 2018 }}</ref> ===Legal system=== {{Main|Judiciary of Israel|Israeli law}} [[File:Israel Supreme Court.jpg|thumb|[[Supreme Court of Israel]], Givat Ram, Jerusalem]] Israel has a [[Israeli judicial system|three-tier court system]]. At the lowest level are [[magistrate]] courts, situated in most cities across the country. Above them are [[district court]]s, serving as both [[appeal|appellate]] courts and [[trial court|courts of first instance]]; they are situated in five of Israel's six [[Districts of Israel|districts]]. The third and highest tier is the [[Supreme Court of Israel|Supreme Court]], located in Jerusalem; it serves a dual role as the highest court of appeals and the [[High Court of Justice (Israel)|High Court of Justice]]. In the latter role, the Supreme Court rules as a court of first instance, allowing individuals, both citizens and non-citizens, to petition against the decisions of state authorities.<ref>{{cite news |title=Israel's high court unique in region |url=http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/opinion/editorials/2007/09/israel%E2%80%99s_high_court_unique_region |newspaper=Boston Herald |date=9 September 2007 |access-date=27 March 2013}}</ref> Israel's legal system combines three legal traditions: [[English law|English common law]], [[civil law (legal system)|civil law]], and [[Halakha|Jewish law]].<ref name="cia"/> It is based on the principle of ''[[stare decisis]]'' (precedent) and is an [[adversarial system]]. Court cases are decided by professional judges with no role for juries.<ref name="judiciary">{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Branches%20of%20Government/Judicial/The%20Judiciary-%20The%20Court%20System |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |access-date=5 August 2007 |date=1 August 2005 |title=The Judiciary: The Court System }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=January 2023}} [[Marriage in Israel|Marriage]] and divorce are under the jurisdiction of the religious courts: [[Beth din|Jewish]], [[Sharia|Muslim]], Druze, and Christian. The election of judges is carried out by a [[Judicial Selection Committee (Israel)|selection committee]] chaired by the [[Ministry of Justice (Israel)|justice minister]] (currently [[Yariv Levin]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=Yariv Levin |url=https://www.gov.il/en/departments/people/minister-of-justice |access-date=2023-11-21 |publisher=Ministry of Justice}}.</ref> Israel's [[Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty]] seeks to defend [[Human rights in Israel|human rights and liberties in Israel]]. The [[United Nations Human Rights Council]] and Israeli human rights organization [[Adalah (legal center)|Adalah]] have highlighted that this law does not in fact contain a general provision for equality and non-discrimination.<ref name="adalah" /><ref>Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee—Israel, CCPR/C/ISR/CO/3, 29 July 2010, para. 2, available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/CCPR.C.ISR.CO.3.doc</ref> As a result of "[[Enclave law]]", large portions of Israeli [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] are applied to Israeli settlements and Israeli residents in the occupied territories.<ref name="Ben-NaftaliSfard2018">{{cite book|author1=Orna Ben-Naftali|author2=Michael Sfard|author3=Hedi Viterbo|title=The ABC of the OPT: A Legal Lexicon of the Israeli Control over the Occupied Palestinian Territory|url={{Google books|Is5TDwAAQBAJ|page=PA52|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|date=2018|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-15652-4|pages=52–}}</ref> ===Administrative divisions=== {{Main|Districts of Israel}} {{Israel Labelled Map}} The State of Israel is divided into six main administrative [[Districts of Israel|districts]], known as ''mehozot'' ({{Lang-he|מחוזות|link=no}}; singular: ''mahoz'') – [[Central District (Israel)|Center]], [[Haifa District|Haifa]], [[Jerusalem District|Jerusalem]], [[Northern District (Israel)|North]], [[Southern District (Israel)|South]], and [[Tel Aviv District|Tel Aviv]] districts, as well as the [[Judea and Samaria Area]] in the [[West Bank]]. All of the Judea and Samaria Area and parts of the Jerusalem and Northern districts are not recognized internationally as part of Israel. Districts are further divided into fifteen sub-districts known as ''nafot'' ({{Lang-he|נפות|link=no}}; singular: ''nafa''), which are themselves partitioned into fifty natural regions.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Central Bureau of Statistics |title=Introduction to the Tables: Geophysical Characteristics |url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/shnaton53/download/st_eng01.doc |format=doc |access-date=4 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221195435/http://www.cbs.gov.il/shnaton53/download/st_eng01.doc |archive-date=21 February 2011 }}</ref> {| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" |- ! rowspan="2"| District ! rowspan="2"| Capital ! rowspan="2"| Largest city ! colspan="4"| Population, 2021<ref name="districts_pop">{{cite web |url=https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/doclib/2022/2.shnatonpopulation/st02_17.pdf |title=Localities and Population, by Population Group, District, Sub-District and Natural Region |date=15 September 2022 |publisher=Israel Central Bureau of Statistics |access-date=21 February 2023}}</ref> |- ! Jews ! Arabs ! Total ! class="unsortable"| note |- ! [[Jerusalem District|Jerusalem]] | colspan="2"| [[Jerusalem]] | style="text-align:right"| {{percentage|802400|1209700}} | style="text-align:right"| {{percentage|389000|1209700}} | style="text-align:right"| {{sort|1209700|1,209,700}} | {{ref|jerusalemdistrict|a}} |- ! [[Northern District (Israel)|North]] | [[Nof HaGalil]] | [[Nazareth]] | style="text-align:right"| {{percentage|641500|1513600}} | style="text-align:right"| {{percentage|811700|1513600}} | style="text-align:right"| {{sort|1513600|1,513,600}} | |- ! [[Haifa District|Haifa]] | colspan="2"| [[Haifa]] | style="text-align:right"| {{percentage|735200|1092700}} | style="text-align:right"| {{percentage|277600|1092700}} | style="text-align:right"| {{sort|1092700|1,092,700}} | |- ! [[Central District (Israel)|Center]] | [[Ramla]] | [[Rishon LeZion]] | style="text-align:right"| {{percentage|2002100|2304300}} | style="text-align:right"| {{percentage|190300|2304300}} | style="text-align:right"| {{sort|2304300|2,304,300}} | |- ! [[Tel Aviv District|Tel Aviv]] | colspan="2"| [[Tel Aviv]] | style="text-align:right"| {{percentage|1362900|1481400}} | style="text-align:right"| {{percentage|25200|1481400}} | style="text-align:right"| {{sort|1481400|1,481,400}} | |- ! [[Southern District (Israel)|South]] | [[Beersheba]] | [[Ashdod]] | style="text-align:right"| {{percentage|982800|1386000}} | style="text-align:right"| {{percentage|303100|1386000}} | style="text-align:right"| {{sort|1386000|1,386,000}} | |- ! [[Judea and Samaria Area]] | [[Ariel (city)|Ariel]] | [[Modi'in Illit]] | style="text-align:right"| {{percentage|455700|465400}} | style="text-align:right"| {{percentage|900|465400}} | style="text-align:right"| {{sort|0465400|465,400}} | {{ref|judeaandsamaria|b}} |} :{{note|jerusalemdistrict|a}} Including 361,700 Arabs and 233,900 Jews in [[East Jerusalem]], {{as of|2020|lc=y}}.<ref name="jerusalem_pop">{{cite report |last1=Yaniv |first1=Omer |last2=Haddad |first2=Netta |last3=Assaf-Shapira |first3=Yair |date=2022 |title=Jerusalem Facts and Trends 2022 |url=https://jerusaleminstitute.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2022-על-נתונייך-אנגלית-דיגיטל-1.pdf |publisher=Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research |page=25 |access-date=21 February 2023}}</ref> :{{note|judeaandsamaria|b}} Israeli citizens only. ===Israeli citizenship law=== The two primary pieces of legislation relating to Israeli citizenship are the 1950 [[Law of Return]] and 1952 Citizenship Law. The law of return grants Jews the unrestricted right to immigrate to Israel and obtain Israeli citizenship. Individuals born within the country receive citizenship at birth if at least one parent is a citizen.<ref>{{cite report |last1=Harpaz |first1=Yossi |last2=Herzog |first2=Ben |title=Report on Citizenship Law: Israel |publisher=[[European University Institute]] |date=June 2018 |hdl=1814/56024 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Israeli law defines Jewish nationality as distinct from Israeli nationality. In fact, the [[Supreme Court of Israel]] has ruled that an Israeli nationality does not exist.<ref name='tekiner'>{{cite journal |last=Tekiner |first=Roselle |year=1991 |title=Race and the Issue of National Identity in Israel |journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=39–55 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |jstor=163931 |doi=10.1017/S0020743800034541 |s2cid=163043582 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Goldenberg |first=Tia |date=4 October 2013 |title=Supreme Court rejects 'Israeli' nationality status |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/supreme-court-rejects-israeli-nationality-status/ |work=[[The Times of Israel]] |access-date=6 November 2018 |archive-date=13 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213205459/https://www.timesofisrael.com/supreme-court-rejects-israeli-nationality-status/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A Jewish national is defined in Israel law as any person practicing Judaism and their descendants.<ref name='tekiner'/> Legislation has defined Israel as the [[nation state]] of the Jewish people since 2018.<ref>{{cite news |last=Berger |first=Miriam |date=31 July 2018 |title=Israel's hugely controversial "nation-state" law, explained |work=[[Vox (website)|Vox]] |url=https://www.vox.com/world/2018/7/31/17623978/israel-jewish-nation-state-law-bill-explained-apartheid-netanyahu-democracy |access-date=2 March 2022 |archive-date=27 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127192528/https://www.vox.com/world/2018/7/31/17623978/israel-jewish-nation-state-law-bill-explained-apartheid-netanyahu-democracy |url-status=live }}</ref> ===Israeli-occupied territories=== {{Main|Israeli-occupied territories|Israeli occupation of the West Bank|Golan Heights}} <!---As prose text is preferred overly detailed data charts and diagrams such as weather data boxes, population charts and past elections results etc should be reserved for main sub articles on the topic as per WP:DETAIL.---> {{Administration in the Palestine region}} {{Israeli occupations navbox}} [[File:Map of Israel, neighbours and occupied territories.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Map of Israel showing the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights]] In 1967, as a result of the [[Six-Day War]], Israel captured and [[Israeli-occupied territories|occupied]] the [[West Bank]], including [[East Jerusalem]], the [[Gaza Strip]] and the [[Golan Heights]]. Israel also captured the [[Sinai Peninsula]], but returned it to Egypt as part of the 1979 [[Egypt–Israel peace treaty]].{{sfn|Bregman|2002|pp=186–187}} Between 1982 and 2000, Israel occupied [[Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon|part of southern Lebanon]], in what was known as the [[South Lebanon Security Belt|Security Belt]]. Since Israel's capture of these territories, [[Israeli settlement]]s and military installations have been built within each of them, except Lebanon. The [[Golan Heights Law|Golan Heights]] and [[Jerusalem Law|East Jerusalem]] have been fully incorporated into Israel under Israeli law, but not under international law. Israel has applied civilian law to both areas and granted their inhabitants permanent residency status and the ability to [[Israeli nationality law|apply for citizenship]]. The UN Security Council has declared the annexation of the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem to be "null and void" and continues to view the territories as occupied.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/73D6B4C70D1A92B7852560DF0064F101 |title=Resolution 497 (1981) |year=1981 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=20 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612120152/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/73D6B4C70D1A92B7852560DF0064F101 |archive-date=12 June 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/dde590c6ff232007852560df0065fddb?OpenDocument |title=East Jerusalem: UNSC Res. 478 |year=1980 |publisher=UN |access-date=10 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101231090053/http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/dde590c6ff232007852560df0065fddb?OpenDocument |archive-date=31 December 2010 }}</ref> The [[Positions on Jerusalem|status]] of East Jerusalem in any future peace settlement has at times been a difficult issue in [[Israeli–Palestinian peace process|negotiations]] between Israeli governments and representatives of the Palestinians. [[File:West_Bank_Fence_South_Hebron.JPG|thumb|[[Israeli West Bank barrier]] is a separation barrier built by Israel along the Green Line and inside parts of the West Bank.]] The West Bank excluding East Jerusalem is known in Israeli law as the [[Judea and Samaria Area]]; the almost 400,000 Israeli settlers residing in the area are considered part of Israel's population, have Knesset representation and are subject to a [[Enclave law|large part of Israel's civil and criminal laws]], and their output is considered part of Israel's economy.<ref name=Sher>Gilead Sher, [http://www.inss.org.il/publication/the-application-of-israeli-law-to-the-west-bank-de-facto-annexation/ The Application of Israeli Law to the West Bank: De Facto Annexation?], INSS Insight No. 638, 4 December 2014</ref>{{refn|group=fn|name=oecd|Israeli population and economic data covers the economic territory of Israel, including the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank.{{sfn|OECD|2011}}<ref>[http://mas.ps/files/server/20141911093442-1.pdf ''Quarterly Economic and Social Monitor''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009161737/http://mas.ps/files/server/20141911093442-1.pdf |date=9 October 2021 }}, Volume 26, October 2011, p. 57: "When Israel bid in March 2010 for membership in the 'Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development'... some members questioned the accuracy of Israeli statistics, as the Israeli figures (relating to gross domestic product, spending and number of the population) cover geographical areas that the Organization does not recognize as part of the Israeli territory. These areas include East Jerusalem, Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Golan Heights."</ref>}} The land itself is not considered part of Israel under Israeli law, as Israel has consciously refrained from annexing the territory, without ever relinquishing its legal claim to the land or defining a border.<ref name=Sher/> Israeli political opposition to annexation is primarily due to the perceived "demographic threat" of incorporating the West Bank's Palestinian population into Israel.<ref name=Sher/> Outside of the Israeli settlements, the West Bank remains under direct Israeli military rule, and Palestinians in the area cannot become Israeli citizens. The international community maintains that Israel does not have sovereignty in the West Bank, and considers Israel's control of the area to be the longest military occupation in modern history.<ref name="occhist">See for example:<br />* {{cite book |title=Courting Conflict: The Israeli Military Court System in the West Bank and Gaza |last=Hajjar |first=Lisa |publisher=University of California Press |date=2005 |isbn=978-0-520-24194-7 |page=96 |url={{Google books|mcjoHq2wqdUC|page=PA96|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} |quote=The Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is the longest military occupation in modern times.}}<br />* {{cite journal |first=Perry |last=Anderson |author-link=Perry Anderson |title=Editorial: Scurrying Towards Bethlehem |date=July–August 2001 |journal=New Left Review|volume=10 |url=https://newleftreview.org/article/download_pdf?id=2330 |quote=longest official military occupation of modern history—currently entering its thirty-fifth year|access-date=9 January 2015|archive-date=1 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001124430/https://newleftreview.org/article/download_pdf?id=2330}}<br />* {{cite book |first=Saree |last=Makdisi|author-link=Saree Makdisi|url={{Google books|2dBM3Ago2BAC|page=PA299|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} |quote=longest-lasting military occupation of the modern age|title=Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|date=2010 |isbn=978-0-393-33844-7}}<br />* {{cite journal |volume=94|issue=885|date=Spring 2012|journal=International Review of the Red Cross|title=The law of belligerent occupation in the Supreme Court of Israel |first=David|last=Kretzmer|author-link=David Kretzmer |doi=10.1017/S1816383112000446|url=https://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/review/2012/irrc-885-kretzmer.pdf |quote=This is probably the longest occupation in modern international relations, and it holds a central place in all literature on the law of belligerent occupation since the early 1970s|pages=207–236|s2cid=32105258}}<br />* {{cite news|title=The Justice of Occupation|quote=Israel is the only modern state that has held territories under military occupation for over four decades|type=opinion|first=Ra'anan |last=Alexandrowicz|date=24 January 2012|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/opinion/the-justice-of-occupation.html}}<br />* {{cite book|title=The Role of National Courts in Applying International Humanitarian Law |first=Sharon |last=Weill |url={{Google books|bDnnAgAAQBAJ|page=PA22|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} |page=22 |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-968542-4 |quote=Although the basic philosophy behind the law of military occupation is that it is a temporary situation modem occupations have well demonstrated that ''rien ne dure comme le provisoire'' A significant number of post-1945 occupations have lasted more than two decades such as the occupations of Namibia by South Africa and of East Timor by Indonesia as well as the ongoing occupations of Northern Cyprus by Turkey and of Western Sahara by Morocco. The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, {{underline|which is the longest in all occupation's history}} has already entered its fifth decade.}}<br />* Azarova, Valentina. 2017, [http://www.ecfr.eu/publications/summary/israels_unlawfully_prolonged_occupation_7294 Israel's Unlawfully Prolonged Occupation: Consequences under an Integrated Legal Framework], European Council on Foreign Affairs Policy Brief: "June 2017 marks 50 years of Israel's belligerent occupation of Palestinian territory, making it the longest occupation in modern history."</ref> The West Bank [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank|was occupied and annexed]] by Jordan in 1950, following the 1949 Armistice Agreements. Only Britain recognized this annexation and Jordan has since [[Jordanian disengagement from the West Bank|ceded]] its claim to the territory to the PLO. The [[Demographics of the Palestinian territories|population]] are mainly [[Palestinian people|Palestinians]], including [[Palestinian refugee|refugees]] of the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]].<ref>{{cite web |title=UNRWA in Figures: Figures as of 30 June 2009 |publisher=United Nations |date=June 2009 |url=http://www.unrwa.org/userfiles/uif-june09.pdf |access-date=27 September 2007 }}</ref> From their occupation in 1967 until 1993, the Palestinians living in these territories were under [[Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories|Israeli military administration]]. Since the [[Israel–Palestine Liberation Organization letters of recognition|Israel–PLO letters of recognition]], most of the Palestinian population and [[List of cities administered by the State of Palestine|cities]] have been under the internal jurisdiction of the [[Palestinian National Authority|Palestinian Authority]], and only partial Israeli military control, although Israel has redeployed its [[Israel Defense Forces|troops]] and reinstated full military administration during periods of unrest. In response to increasing attacks during the [[Second Intifada]], the Israeli government started to construct the Israeli West Bank barrier.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.securityfence.mod.gov.il/Pages/ENG/questions.htm |title=Questions and Answers |access-date=17 April 2007 |date=22 February 2004 |website=Israel's Security Fence |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003072906/http://www.securityfence.mod.gov.il/Pages/ENG/questions.htm |archive-date=3 October 2013 }}</ref> When completed, approximately 13% of the barrier will be constructed on the [[Green Line (Israel)|Green Line]] or in Israel with 87% inside the West Bank.<ref>{{cite web|author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4875de625.html |title=Refworld {{pipe}} West Bank Barrier Route Projections, July 2008 |publisher=Unhcr.org |access-date=11 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.btselem.org/publications/summaries/200512_under_the_guise_of_security |title=Under the Guise of Security: Routing the Separation Barrier to Enable Israeli Settlement Expansion in the West Bank |access-date=20 March 2012 |date=December 2005 |website=Publications |publisher=B'Tselem}}</ref> Israel's claim of universal suffrage has been questioned due to its blurred territorial boundaries and its simultaneous extension of voting rights to Israeli settlers in the occupied territories and denial of voting rights to their Palestinian neighbours, as well as the alleged [[ethnocracy|ethnocratic]] nature of the state.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Yiftachel, O. |date=1999 |title='Ethnocracy': The Politics of Judaizing Israel/Palestine |journal=Constellations |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=364–390 |doi=10.1111/1467-8675.00151 |quote=Israel's political structure and settlement activity have [...] in effect undermined the existence of universal suffrage (as Jewish settlers in the Occupied Territories can vote to the parliament that governs them, but their Palestinian neighbours cannot). |url=https://www.academia.edu/download/31054252/ethnocracy-yiftachel.pdf }}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Ghanem, A. A. |author2=Rouhana, N. |author3=Yiftachel, O. |date=1998 |title=Questioning" ethnic democracy": A response to Sammy Smooha |journal=Israel Studies |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=253–267 |doi=10.2979/ISR.1998.3.2.253 |quote=settlers remain fully enfranchised Israeli citizens while their Palestinian neighbors have no voting rights and no impact on Israeli policies |jstor=30245721|s2cid=3524173}}</ref> The Gaza Strip is considered to be a "foreign territory" under Israeli law; Israel, along with Egypt, operates a land, air, and sea [[blockade of the Gaza Strip]]. The Gaza Strip was occupied by Israel after 1967. In 2005, as part of [[Israel's unilateral disengagement plan]], Israel removed its settlers and forces from the territory, however, it continues to maintain [[Blockade of the Gaza Strip|control]] of its airspace and waters. The international community, including numerous international humanitarian organizations and bodies of the UN, consider Gaza to remain occupied.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/F0B7D1A3A8E7CF1985257552004F640E |title=Situation Report on the Humanitarian Situation in the Gaza Strip |publisher=Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |date=23 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612121839/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/F0B7D1A3A8E7CF1985257552004F640E |archive-date=12 June 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/report/palestine-report-131207.htm |title=The occupied Palestinian territories: Dignity Denied |publisher=International Committee of the Red Cross |date=13 December 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2013/country-chapters/israel-palestine |title=Israel/Palestine |chapter=World Report 2013: Israel/Palestine |year=2013 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date=13 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/AHRC1248.pdf|title=Human Rights in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories: Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict |publisher=United Nations Human Rights Council |date=15 September 2009 |page=85}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/093/2006/en/ |title=Israel/Occupied Territories: Road to nowhere |publisher=Amnesty International |date=1 December 2006 }}</ref> Following the [[Battle of Gaza (2007)|2007 Battle of Gaza]], when [[Governance of the Gaza Strip|Hamas assumed power in the Gaza Strip]],<ref name=gaza/> Israel tightened control of the Gaza crossings along [[Israel–Gaza barrier|its border]], as well as by sea and air, and prevented persons from entering and exiting except for isolated cases it deemed humanitarian.<ref name=gaza>{{cite web |url=http://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/gaza_status |title=The scope of Israeli control in the Gaza Strip |publisher=B'Tselem |access-date=20 March 2012}}</ref> Gaza has a [[Gaza–Egypt border|border with Egypt]], and an agreement between Israel, the European Union, and the PA governed how border crossing would take place.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy/peace/mfadocuments/pages/agreed%20documents%20on%20movement%20and%20access%20from%20and%20to%20gaza%2015-nov-2005.aspx |title=Agreed documents on movement and access from and to Gaza |date=15 November 2005 |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |access-date=13 June 2013}}</ref> The application of democracy to its Palestinian citizens, and the selective application of Israeli democracy in the Israeli-controlled Palestinian territories, has been criticized.<ref name="Slater2020">{{cite book|author=Jerome Slater|title=Mythologies Without End: The US, Israel, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1917–2020|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yVAAEAAAQBAJ|date=1 October 2020|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-045909-3|page=15|quote=It is now clear that Israel is a true democracy in its broadest sense only for its Jewish citizens. The Arab-Israeli (or, as some prefer, the Palestinian-Israeli) peoples, roughly 20 percent of the total population of Israel its pre-1967 boundaries, are citizens and have voting rights, but they face political, economic, and social discrimination. And, of course, Israeli democracy is inapplicable to the nearly 4 million Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza, conquered by Israel in June 1967, who are occupied, repressed, and in many ways, directly and indirectly, effectively ruled by Israel.}}</ref><ref name="White2012">{{cite book|author=Ben White|title=Palestinians in Israel: Segregation, Discrimination and Democracy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bp1PXwAACAAJ|date=15 January 2012|publisher=Pluto Press|isbn=978-0-7453-3228-4}}</ref> ====International opinion==== {{see also|Israeli war crimes|War crimes in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war}} The [[International Court of Justice]] said, in its [[International law and the Arab–Israeli conflict#Ruling of the ICJ|2004 advisory opinion]] on the legality of the construction of the [[Israeli West Bank barrier]], that the lands captured by Israel in the Six-Day War, including East Jerusalem, are occupied territory, and further found that the construction of the wall within the occupied Palestinian territory to violate international law.<ref>{{cite news |title=Arabs will ask U.N. to seek razing of Israeli wall |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/5400559/ |publisher=NBC News |date=9 July 2004 |access-date=9 February 2013}}</ref> Most negotiations relating to the territories have been on the basis of [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 242|UN Security Council Resolution 242]], which emphasizes "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war", and calls on Israel to withdraw from occupied territories in return for normalization of relations with Arab states ("[[Land for peace]]").<ref>{{cite news |title=Olmert: Willing to trade land for peace |work=Ynetnews |date =16 December 2006 |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3340641,00.html |access-date=26 September 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Syria ready to discuss land for peace |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=12 June 2007 |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=64667 |access-date=20 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Egypt: Israel must accept the land-for-peace formula |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=15 March 2007 |url=http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=54876 |access-date=20 March 2012}}</ref> Israel has been criticized for engaging in systematic and widespread violations of [[Human rights in the Israeli-occupied territories|human rights in the occupied territories]], including the occupation itself,<ref>{{cite web|title=A/RES/36/147. Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories |url=https://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/36/a36r147.htm|access-date=12 February 2017}}</ref> and [[war crime]]s against civilians.<ref name="tny1">{{cite news |last1=Rudoren |first1=Jodi |last2=Sengupta |first2=Somini |date=22 June 2015 |title=U.N. Report on Gaza Finds Evidence of War Crimes by Israel and by Palestinian Militants |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/23/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-report.html |access-date=12 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=23 July 2014 |title=Human Rights Council establishes Independent, International Commission of Inquiry for the Occupied Palestinian Territory |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2014/07/human-rights-council-establishes-independent-international-commission |access-date=12 February 2017 |publisher=[[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=UN condemns Israel's West Bank settlement plans|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-38740712|publisher=BBC News|access-date=12 February 2017 |date=25 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=22 December 1987 |title=The Avalon Project: United Nations Security Council Resolution 605 |url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/un605.asp |access-date=12 February 2017 |website=avalon.law.yale.edu}}</ref> The allegations include violations of international humanitarian law<ref>{{cite web|title=Faced with Israeli denial of access to Occupied Palestinian Territory, UN expert resigns |url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52935|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205095623/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52935|archive-date=5 December 2016 |date=4 January 2016}}</ref> by the [[United Nations Human Rights Council|UN Human Rights Council]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Human Rights Council adopts six resolutions and closes its thirty-first regular session |url=http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=18535&LangID=E |access-date=12 February 2017}}</ref> The [[U.S. State Department]] has called reports of [[Human rights violations against Palestinians by Israel|abuses of significant human rights of Palestinians]] 'credible' both within Israel<ref>'Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: unlawful or arbitrary killings; arbitrary detention, often extraterritorial detention of Palestinians from the occupied territories in Israel; restrictions on Palestinians residing in Jerusalem including arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy, family, and home; substantial interference with the freedom of association; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; harassment of nongovernmental organizations; significant restrictions on freedom of movement within the country; violence against asylum seekers and irregular migrants; violence or threats of violence against national, racial, or ethnic minority groups; and labor rights abuses against foreign workers and Palestinians from the West Bank.' [https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/313615_ISRAEL-2021-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf ''Israel 2021 Human Rights Report,''] [[United States Department of State]] 17 April 2021.</ref> and the occupied territories.<ref>'With respect to Israeli security forces in the West Bank: credible reports of unlawful or arbitrary killings due to unnecessary or disproportionate use of force by Israeli officials; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by Israeli officials; arbitrary arrest or detention; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; restrictions on free expression and media, including violence, threats of violence, unjustified arrests and prosecutions against journalists, and censorship; restrictions on internet freedom; restrictions on Palestinians residing in Jerusalem, including arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy, family, and home; substantial interference with the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of association, including harassment of nongovernmental organizations; and restrictions on freedom of movement and residence.' [https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/israel-west-bank-and-gaza/west-bank-and-gaza/ 2021 ''Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Israel, West Bank and Gaza,''] [[United States Department of State]] 12 April 2022</ref> [[Amnesty International]] and other NGOs have documented mass arbitrary arrests, torture, unlawful killings, systemic abuses and impunity<ref>{{cite news|last1=Heyer |first1=Julia Amalia|title=Kids Behind Bars: Israel's Arbitrary Arrests of Palestinian Minors |work=Der Spiegel |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/israeli-military-arrest-large-numbers-of-palestinian-children-a-995758.html |access-date=23 April 2017|date=7 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories 2016/2017 |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territories/report-israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territories/|publisher=Amnesty International|access-date=23 April 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Eight hundred dead Palestinians. But Israel has impunity|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/eight-hundred-dead-palestinians-but-israel-has-impunity-9629726.html |newspaper=The Independent|access-date=23 April 2017|date=26 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Isfahan|first1=Ali |title=Why Israel's Impunity Goes Unpunished by International Authorities |url=https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2014/08/11/why-israels-impunity-goes-unpunished-by-international-authorities/ |publisher=Foreign Policy Journal|access-date=23 April 2017|date=11 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=How impunity defines Israel and victimises Palestinians |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/03/impunity-defines-israel-victimises-palestinians-160327085608275.html |publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=23 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Barghouti |first1=Marwan|date=16 April 2017 |title=Why We Are on Hunger Strike in Israel's Prisons |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/16/opinion/palestinian-hunger-strike-prisoners-call-for-justice.html|newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=23 April 2017}}</ref> in tandem with a denial of the right to [[Palestinian self-determination]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dorfman|first1=Zach |title=George Mitchell wrote 'A Path to Peace' about Israel and Palestine. Is there one?|url=http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-ca-jc-mitchell-peace-20170127-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=1 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Outrage over Maimane's visit to Israel |url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/outrage-over-maimanes-visit-to-israel-7397147|access-date=1 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The subordination of Palestinian rights must stop |url=http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/the-subordination-of-palestinian-rights-must-stop|access-date=1 February 2017|publisher=The National}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Palestine-Israel Journal: Settlements and the Palestinian Right to Self-Determination |website=pij.org |url=http://www.pij.org/details.php?id=478 |access-date=1 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Hammond |first1=Jeremy R.|title=The Rejection of Palestinian Self Determination |url=http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Hammond-Rejection-Palestinian-Self-Determination.pdf|access-date=1 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203161044/http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Hammond-Rejection-Palestinian-Self-Determination.pdf|archive-date=3 February 2017}}</ref> Prime Minister Netanyahu has defended the country's security forces for protecting the innocent from terrorists<ref>{{cite news|title=Top US senator clashes with Netanyahu over Israeli rights record |url=http://www.politico.eu/article/patrick-leahy-clashes-with-netanyahu-over-israeli-rights-record-human-rights-violations/ |work=Politico|access-date=12 February 2017|date=31 March 2016}}</ref> and expressed contempt for what he describes as a lack of concern about the human rights violations committed by "criminal killers".<ref>{{cite news|title=Allegations of Israeli Human Rights Violations Closely Scrutinized, Says U.S. State Department |language=en|url=http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.718320 |newspaper=Haaretz|access-date=12 February 2017 |date=6 May 2017}}</ref> The [[international community]] widely regards Israeli settlements in the occupied territories [[international law and Israeli settlements|illegal under international law]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Israel: The security barrier—between international law, constitutional law, and domestic judicial review |last=Barak-Erez |first=Daphne |journal=International Journal of Constitutional Law |date=1 July 2006 |volume=4 |issue=3 |page=548| doi=10.1093/icon/mol021 |doi-access=free |quote=The real controversy hovering over all the litigation on the security barrier concerns the fate of the Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. Since 1967, Israel has allowed and even encouraged its citizens to live in the new settlements established in the territories, motivated by religious and national sentiments attached to the history of the Jewish nation in the land of Israel. This policy has also been justified in terms of security interests, taking into consideration the dangerous geographic circumstances of Israel before 1967 (where Israeli areas on the Mediterranean coast were potentially threatened by Jordanian control of the West Bank ridge). The international community, for its part, has viewed this policy as patently illegal, based on the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention that prohibit moving populations to or from territories under occupation.}}</ref> The United Nations however, has been [[Israel and the United Nations|accused of bias]] against Israel.<ref>''American interest and UN reform. Report of the Task Force on the United Nations'', United States Institute of Peace, 2005, [http://www.usip.org/files/file/usip_un_report.pdf www.usip.org]</ref><ref>Caplen, Robert A., "The Charlie Brown 'Rain Cloud Effect' in International Law: An Empirical Study," 36 ''Capital Univ. Law Review'' 693 (2008). http://ssrn.com/abstract=1663902</ref> [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334]] (passed 2016) states that Israel's settlement activity constitutes a "flagrant violation" of [[international law]] and demands that Israel stop such activity and fulfill its obligations as an [[Military occupation#The occupying power|occupying power]] under the [[Fourth Geneva Convention]].<ref name=toi>{{cite news|title=Choosing not to veto, Obama lets anti-settlement resolution pass at UN Security Council |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/choosing-not-to-veto-obama-lets-anti-settlement-resolution-pass-at-un-security-council/|access-date=23 December 2016|work=The Times of Israel}}</ref> A [[United Nations special rapporteur]] concluded that settlement program was a [[war crime]] under the [[Rome Statute]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Nebehay |first=Stephanie |title=Israeli settlements amount to war crime - U.N. rights expert |website=Reuters |date=9 July 2021 |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-settlements-amount-war-crime-un-rights-expert-2021-07-09/ |access-date=6 April 2023}}</ref> and [[Amnesty International]] found that the settlement program constitutes an illegal transfer of civilians into occupied territory as well as amounting to "pillage", which is prohibited by both the [[Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907|Hague Conventions]] and the [[Geneva Conventions]] as well as being a war crime under the Rome Statute.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chapter 3: Israeli Settlements and International Law |website=Amnesty International |date=30 January 2019 |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2019/01/chapter-3-israeli-settlements-and-international-law/ |access-date=6 April 2023}}</ref> ====Apartheid accusations==== {{main|Israel and apartheid}} Israel's treatment of the Palestinians within the occupied territories have drawn widespread [[Israel and apartheid|accusations that it is guilty]] of [[crime of apartheid|apartheid]], a [[crime against humanity]] under the Rome Statute and the [[International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Shakir |first=Omar |date=27 April 2021 |title=A Threshold Crossed |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution |journal=Human Rights Watch |access-date=6 April 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=27 April 2021 |title=Israel committing crimes of apartheid and persecution - HRW |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56898864 |access-date=6 April 2023 |website=BBC News}}</ref> A 2021 survey of academic experts on the Middle East found an increase from 59% to 65% of these scholars describing Israel as a "one-state reality akin to apartheid".<ref>{{cite news |date=16 February 2021 |title=Here's how experts on the Middle East see the region's key issues, our new survey finds |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/02/16/heres-how-experts-middle-east-see-regions-key-issues-our-new-survey-finds/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=17 September 2021 |title=Academic experts believe that Middle East politics are actually getting worse |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/09/17/academic-experts-believe-that-middle-east-politics-are-actually-getting-worse/}}</ref> This claim has been affirmed by the Israeli human rights organizations [[Yesh Din]] and [[B'tselem]], along with other international human rights groups, including [[Amnesty International]] and [[Human Rights Watch]], with the criticism extending to its treatment of [[Palestinian citizens of Israel|Palestinians within Israel]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Rosenfeld|first=Arno|date=27 April 2021|title=Israel is committing 'crime of apartheid,' Human Rights Watch says|url=https://forward.com/news/468473/israel-apartheid-human-rights-watch/|access-date=15 February 2022|work=The Forward |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite news|last=Berger|first=Miriam|date=1 February 2022|title=Amnesty International, joining other human rights groups, says Israel is 'committing the crime of apartheid'|language=en-US|newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/01/amnesty-international-joining-other-human-rights-groups-says-israel-is-committing-crime-apartheid/|access-date=15 February 2022}}</ref> Amnesty's report was criticised by politicians and representatives from Israel and its closest allies such as, the United States,<ref>{{Cite news |title=U.S. State Department Rejects Amnesty's Apartheid Claim Against Israel |language=en |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/u-s-state-department-rejects-amnesty-s-apartheid-claims-against-israel-1.10583830 |access-date=16 February 2022}}</ref> the United Kingdom,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Elgot |first=Jessica |date=2022-04-28 |title=Keir Starmer hosts Israeli Labor party in charm offensive ahead of local elections |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/apr/28/keir-starmer-hosts-israeli-labor-party-in-charm-offensive-ahead-of-local-elections |access-date=2023-10-25 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> the [[European Commission]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-01-20 |title=Parliamentary question E-000932/2022(ASW) {{!}} Answer given by High Representative/Vice-President Borrell i Fontelles on behalf of the European Commission |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2022-000932-ASW_EN.html |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=[[European Parliament]] |language=en}}</ref> Australia,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Andrew Tillett |date=2022-02-02 |title=PM, Labor defend Israel over apartheid claim |url=https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/pm-labor-defend-israel-over-apartheid-claim-20220202-p59t33 |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=[[Australian Financial Review]] |language=en}}</ref> Netherlands<ref>{{Cite news |title=Netherlands rejects Amnesty report accusing Israel of apartheid |work=The Jerusalem Post |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-705664 |access-date=2 May 2022}}</ref> and Germany,<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 February 2022 |title=Germany rejects use of word 'apartheid' in connection with Israel |language=en |publisher=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/germany-rejects-use-word-apartheid-connection-with-israel-2022-02-02/ |access-date=16 February 2022}}</ref> while said accusations were welcomed by Palestinians,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 February 2022 |title=Israeli policies against Palestinians amount to apartheid – Amnesty |language=en-GB |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-60197918 |access-date=15 February 2022}}</ref> representatives from other states,{{Which|date=January 2024}} and organizations such as the [[Arab League]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://arab.news/mggnn |title=Arab League, OIC welcome Amnesty's report on Israel's 'apartheid' against Palestinians|date=3 February 2022 |website=Arab News}}</ref> In 2022, Michael Lynk, a Canadian law professor [[United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories|appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council]] said that the situation met the legal definition of apartheid.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kingsley |first=Patrick |date=23 March 2022 |title=U.N. Investigator Accuses Israel of Apartheid, Citing Permanence of Occupation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/23/world/middleeast/israel-apatheid-un.html |website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Subsequent reports from his successor, [[Francesca Albanese]] and from [[Permanent United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Israel Palestine conflict]] chair Navi Pillay echoed the opinion.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.newarab.com/news/un-report-urges-plan-end-israeli-colonialism-apartheid|title=UN report urges plan to 'end Israeli colonialism, apartheid'|website=The New Arab|date=19 October 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/un-commission-says-it-will-investigate-apartheid-charges-against-israel/|title=UN commission says it will investigate 'apartheid' charges against Israel|first=Luke|last=Tress|website=The Times of Israel |date=28 October 2022}}</ref> ===Foreign relations=== {{Main|Foreign relations of Israel|International recognition of Israel}} [[File:Foreign relations of Israel Map July 2011.PNG|thumb|upright=1.35|{{legend|#0000ff|Diplomatic relations}} {{legend|#80ffff|Diplomatic relations suspended}} {{legend|#00ff00|Former diplomatic relations}} {{legend|#ff00ff|No diplomatic relations, but former trade relations}} {{legend|#ff8040|No diplomatic relations}}]] Israel maintains diplomatic relations {{Numrec|Israel|with|[[United Nations member states|member states]] of the United Nations|link=N}}, as well as with the [[Holy See]], [[Kosovo]], the [[Cook Islands]] and [[Niue]]. It has 107 [[List of diplomatic missions of Israel|diplomatic missions]];<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/AboutTheMinistry/Pages/Israel-s%20Diplomatic%20Missions%20Abroad.aspx |title=Israel's Diplomatic Missions Abroad: Status of relations |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |access-date=25 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420071334/http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/AboutTheMinistry/Pages/Israel-s%20Diplomatic%20Missions%20Abroad.aspx |archive-date=20 April 2016 }}</ref> countries with whom they have no diplomatic relations include most Muslim countries.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/Why-doesnt-the-Muslim-world-recognize-Israel#article=0QUFFOUZBN0YxODM3RDE5NDM4OUEyRkE5MjY1OEJCRDI= |title=Why Doesn't the Muslim World Recognize Israel? |author=Mohammed Mostafa Kamal|newspaper=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |date=21 July 2012|access-date=30 November 2015}}</ref> Six out of twenty-two nations in the [[Arab League]] have normalized relations with Israel. Israel remains formally in a [[Israel–Syria relations|state of war with Syria]], a status that dates back uninterrupted to 1948. It has been in a similarly [[Israel–Lebanon relations|formal state of war with Lebanon]] since the end of the [[Lebanese Civil War]] in 2000, with the Israel–Lebanon border remaining unagreed by treaty. Despite the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, Israel is still widely considered an enemy country among Egyptians.<ref>"Massive Israel protests hit universities" (Egyptian Mail, 16 March 2010) "According to most Egyptians, almost 31 years after a peace treaty was signed between Egypt and Israel, having normal ties between the two countries is still a potent accusation and Israel is largely considered to be an enemy country"</ref> Iran withdrew its recognition of Israel during the [[Islamic Revolution]].{{sfn|Abadi|2004|pp=47–49}} Israeli citizens may not visit Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen without permission from the [[Ministry of Interior (Israel)|Ministry of the Interior]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFAHeb/MFAArchive/2004/horaot+din+israeli0304.htm |publisher=Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs |script-title=he:הוראות הדין הישראלי |year=2004 |language=he |access-date=9 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701072212/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFAHeb/MFAArchive/2004/horaot%2Bdin%2Bisraeli0304.htm |archive-date=1 July 2007}}</ref> As a result of the [[Gaza War (2008–09)|2008–09 Gaza War]], Mauritania, Qatar, Bolivia, and Venezuela suspended political and economic ties with Israel,<ref name="al-jaz-eng">{{cite news |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2009/01/2009116151135307776.html |publisher=Al Jazeera English |title=Qatar, Mauritania cut Israel ties |access-date=20 March 2012 |date=17 January 2009}}</ref> though Bolivia renewed ties in 2019.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Flores |first1=Paola |title=Bolivia to renew Israel ties after rupture under Morales |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/bolivia-renew-israel-ties-rupture-morales-67374746 |access-date=15 December 2020 |agency=[[ABC News]] |date=29 November 2019}}</ref> [[File:Bill Clinton, Yitzhak Rabin, Yasser Arafat at the White House 1993-09-13.jpg|thumb|Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat at the signing ceremony of the [[Oslo Accords]] with then US President [[Bill Clinton]]]] The [[Israel–United States relations|United States]] and the [[Israel–Russia relations|Soviet Union]] were the first two countries to recognize the State of Israel, having declared recognition roughly simultaneously.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor=2193961 |title=The Recognition of Israel |journal=The American Journal of International Law |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=620–627 |last1=Brown |first1=Philip Marshall |doi=10.2307/2193961 |year=1948 |s2cid=147342045}}</ref> Diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union were broken in 1967, following the [[Six-Day War]], and renewed in October 1991.<ref>{{cite news|last=Yaakov |first=Saar |title= There Were Times (Hayu Zemanim) |page= 30 |language= he |publisher= Israel Hayom |date= 18 October 2017 }}</ref> The United States regards Israel as its "most reliable partner in the Middle East",<ref>{{cite web |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3581.htm |title=U.S. Relations With Israel Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Fact Sheet March 10, 2014|website=U.S. Department of State|access-date=30 October 2014}}</ref> based on "common democratic values, religious affinities, and security interests".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA470003&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf |title=Israel: Background and Relations with the United States Updated |publisher=Defense Technical Information Center|access-date=19 October 2009|archive-date=5 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110205011800/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA470003&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf}}</ref> The US has provided $68 billion in [[Israel–United States military relations|military assistance]] and $32 billion in grants to Israel since 1967, under the [[Foreign Assistance Act]] (period beginning 1962),<ref name=PNADR900>{{Cite web |url=http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADT555.pdf|title=U.S. Overseas Loans and Grants}}</ref> more than any other country for that period until 2003.<ref name=PNADR900/><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s1297.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020131918/http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s1297.pdf |archive-date=20 October 2011 |title=U.S. Government Foreign Grants and Credits by Type and Country: 2000 to 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/foreign_commerce_aid/foreign_aid.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225192852/http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/foreign_commerce_aid/foreign_aid.html |archive-date=25 December 2007 |title=Foreign Aid}}</ref> Most surveyed Americans have also held consistently favorable views of Israel.<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 March 2022 |title=Americans Still Pro-Israel, Though Palestinians Gain Support |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/390737/americans-pro-israel-though-palestinians-gain-support.aspx |website=[[Gallup, Inc]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2 February 2022 |title=Friend or Enemy — Israel |url=https://today.yougov.com/topics/travel/trackers/friend-enemy-israel |website=[[YouGov]] |language=en-us}}</ref> The United Kingdom is seen as having a "natural" [[Israel–United Kingdom relations|relationship]] with Israel because of the Mandate for Palestine.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ukinisrael.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/working-with-israel/uk-israel-relations/bilateral-relations |publisher=Foreign and Commonwealth Office |title=The bilateral relationship |website=UK in Israel |access-date=20 March 2012 |archive-date=16 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116083311/http://ukinisrael.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/working-with-israel/uk-israel-relations/bilateral-relations |url-status=dead }}</ref> {{As of|2007|alt=By 2007}}, [[Germany–Israel relations|Germany]] had paid 25 billion euros in [[Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany|reparations]] to the Israeli state and individual Israeli Holocaust survivors.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33808.pdf |title=Congressional Research Service: Germany's Relations with Israel: Background and Implications for German Middle East Policy, Jan 19, 2007. (p. CRS-2) |access-date=29 September 2010}}</ref> Israel is [[Israel–European Union relations|included]] in the European Union's [[European Neighbourhood Policy]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://euobserver.com/foreign/127874|title=EU to Revise Relations with Turbulent Neighbourhood|author=Eric Maurice |publisher=[[EUobserver]]|date=5 March 2015|access-date=1 December 2015}}</ref> Although Turkey and Israel did not establish full diplomatic relations until 1991,<ref>{{harvnb|Abadi|2004|p=3}}. "However, it was not until 1991 that the two countries established full diplomatic relations."</ref> Turkey has [[Israel–Turkey relations|cooperated]] with the Jewish state since its recognition of Israel in 1949. Turkey's ties to other Muslim-majority nations in the region have at times resulted in pressure from Arab and Muslim states to temper its relationship with Israel.{{sfn|Abadi|2004|pp=4–6}} Relations between Turkey and Israel took a downturn after the 2008–09 Gaza War and Israel's [[Gaza flotilla raid|raid of the Gaza flotilla]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Uzer |first=Umut |date=26 March 2013 |title=Turkish-Israeli Relations: Their Rise and Fall |url=http://www.mepc.org/journal/middle-east-policy-archives/turkish-israeli-relations-their-rise-and-fall |journal=Middle East Policy |volume=XX |issue=1 |pages=97–110 |doi=10.1111/mepo.12007 |access-date=7 January 2017}}</ref> [[Greece–Israel relations|Relations between Greece and Israel]] have improved since 1995 due to the decline of Israeli–Turkish relations.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11556442 |title=Israel woos Greece after rift with Turkey |publisher=BBC News |date=16 October 2010}}</ref> The two countries have a defense cooperation agreement and in 2010, the [[Israeli Air Force]] hosted Greece's [[Hellenic Air Force]] in a joint exercise. The joint Cyprus-Israel oil and gas explorations centered on the [[Leviathan gas field]] are an important factor for Greece, given its [[Cyprus–Greece relations|strong links]] with Cyprus.<ref>{{cite news |title=Turkey, Greece discuss exploration off Cyprus |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/turkey-greece-discuss-exploration-off-cyprus-1.386864 |newspaper=Haaretz |date=26 September 2011 |access-date=1 January 2012}}</ref> Cooperation in the world's longest [[submarine power cable]], the [[EuroAsia Interconnector]], has strengthened [[Cyprus–Israel relations]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Benari |first=Elad |date=5 March 2012 |title=Israel, Cyprus Sign Deal for Underwater Electricity Cable |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/153437 |website=Arutz Sheva |access-date=7 January 2017}}</ref> [[Azerbaijan]] is one of the few majority Muslim countries to develop strategic and economic [[Azerbaijan–Israel relations|relations]] with Israel.<ref name="adalah">{{Cite web |title=Inequality Report: The Palestinian Arab Minority in Israel - Adalah |url=https://www.adalah.org/en/content/view/7404 |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=www.adalah.org |language=en}}</ref> Kazakhstan also has an economic and strategic partnership with Israel.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 July 2016 |title=The Israel-Kazakhstan Partnership |url=https://thediplomat.com/2016/07/the-israel-kazakhstan-partnership/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220518015549/https://thediplomat.com/2016/07/the-israel-kazakhstan-partnership/ |archive-date=18 May 2022 |website=[[The Diplomat]] |language=en-US}}</ref> India established full [[India–Israel relations|diplomatic ties]] with Israel in 1992 and has fostered a strong military, technological and cultural partnership with the country since then.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pakistanyouthmovement.com/Research-Reports/India%20Israel%20Ties.pdf |publisher=Jerusalem Institute for Western Defense |last=Kumar |first=Dinesh |title=India and Israel: Dawn of a New Era |access-date=19 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512233225/http://pakistanyouthmovement.com/Research-Reports/India%20Israel%20Ties.pdf |archive-date=12 May 2012 }}</ref> India is the largest customer of the [[Israeli military equipment]] and Israel is the second-largest military partner of India after Russia.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-01-19/india/28119010_1_largest-ever-defence-deal-second-largest-defence-supplier-sensitive-technology-control-requirements |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707084501/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-01-19/india/28119010_1_largest-ever-defence-deal-second-largest-defence-supplier-sensitive-technology-control-requirements |archive-date=7 July 2012 |title=India to hold wide-ranging strategic talks with US, Israel |date=19 January 2010 |newspaper=[[The Times of India]] |access-date=20 March 2012}}</ref> [[Ethiopia–Israel relations|Ethiopia]] is Israel's main ally in Africa due to common political, religious and security interests.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/node/15453225 |title=Iran and Israel in Africa: A search for allies in a hostile world |newspaper=The Economist |date=4 February 2010 |access-date=20 March 2012}}</ref> ====Foreign aid==== Israel has a history of providing emergency [[Israeli foreign aid|foreign aid]] and humanitarian response to disasters across the world.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.653988 |last=Pfeffer|first=Anshel|newspaper=Haaretz|title=The Downsides of Israel's Missions of Mercy Abroad|date=28 April 2015|access-date=22 November 2015|quote=And even when no Israelis are involved, few countries are as fast as Israel in mobilizing entire delegations to rush to the other side of the world. It has been proved time and again in recent years, after the earthquake in Haiti, the typhoon in the Philippines and the quake/tsunami/nuclear disaster in Japan. For a country of Israel's size and resources, without conveniently located aircraft carriers and overseas bases, it is quite an impressive achievement.}}</ref> In 1955 Israel began its foreign aid programme in Burma. The programme's focus subsequently shifted to Africa.<ref name="Geldenhuys">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/isolatedstatesco0000geld |url-access=registration |quote=israel international aid africa 1970. |title=Isolated States: A Comparative Analysis |author=Deon Geldenhuys |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1990 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isolatedstatesco0000geld/page/428 428] |isbn=978-0-521-40268-2}}</ref> Israel's humanitarian efforts officially began in 1957, with the establishment of [[Mashav]], the Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/mashav/AboutMASHAV/Pages/Background.aspx |title=About MASHAV |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |access-date=20 January 2017}}</ref> In this early period, whilst Israel's aid represented only a small percentage of total aid to Africa, its programme was effective in creating goodwill; however, following the 1967 war relations soured.<ref name="Ismael">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/internationalrel0000isma |url-access=registration |quote=Israel foreign aid 1958 burundi. |title=International Relations of the Contemporary Middle East: A Study in World Politics |author=Tareq Y. Ismael |publisher=Syracuse University Press| year=1986 |page=[https://archive.org/details/internationalrel0000isma/page/249 249] |isbn=978-0-8156-2382-3}}</ref> Israel's foreign aid programme subsequently shifted its focus to Latin America.<ref name="Geldenhuys"/> Since the late 1970s Israel's foreign aid has gradually decreased, although in recent years Israel has tried to reestablish aid to Africa.<ref>{{cite book |title=Israel and Africa: A Genealogy of Moral Geography |author=Haim Yacobi |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-138-90237-4 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=lgQXCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA111 111–112] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lgQXCgAAQBAJ}}</ref> There are additional Israeli humanitarian and emergency response groups that work with the Israel government, including [[IsraAid]], a joint programme run by Israeli organizations and North American Jewish groups,<ref>{{cite book |author=Haim Yacobi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lgQXCgAAQBAJ |title=Israel and Africa: A Genealogy of Moral Geography |publisher=Routledge |year=2016<!--Google has 2015--> |isbn=978-1-138-90237-4 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=lgQXCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA113 113]}}</ref> [[ZAKA]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2016-12-01/secretary-generals-remarks-reception-honour-zaka-international |title=Secretary-General's remarks at reception in honour of ZAKA International Rescue Unit [as prepared for delivery] |last=Ki-moon |first=Ban |date=1 December 2016 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=20 January 2017}}</ref> The Fast Israeli Rescue and Search Team,<ref>Ueriel Hellman,[http://www.jta.org/2010/01/19/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/israeli-aid-effort-helps-haitians-and-israels-image "Israeli aid effort helps Haitians – and Israel's image"], [[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] 19 January 2010</ref> Israeli Flying Aid,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.israel21c.org/israels-superwoman-takes-flight-to-help-others/|title=Israel's 'superwoman' takes flight to help others |website=ISRAEL21c |author=Jenny Hazan|date=12 March 2006}}</ref> [[Save a Child's Heart]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Wolfson-cardiac-surgeons-save-lives-of-more-Gazan-children-374391|title=Wolfson cardiac surgeons save lives of more Gazan children |website=The Jerusalem Post|date=4 September 2014 }}</ref> and [[Latet]].<ref>{{cite press release |date=17 January 2010 |url=http://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/earthquake-haiti-latet-organization-deploys-immediate-relief-victims|title=Earthquake in Haiti – Latet Organization deploys for immediate relief to victims |website=ReliefWeb}}</ref> Between 1985 and 2015, Israel sent 24 delegations of IDF search and rescue unit, the [[Home Front Command]], to 22 countries.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/26634/Default.aspx|date=20 May 2015|access-date=24 November 2015|newspaper=Israel Today|title=When catastrophe strikes the IDF is there to help|archive-date=19 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119084926/http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/26634/Default.aspx}}</ref> Currently Israeli foreign aid [[List of development aid country donors|ranks]] low among [[OECD]] nations, spending less than 0.1% of its [[Gross national income|GNI]] on development assistance.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Israel's Official Development Assistance (ODA) |url=https://www.oecd.org/israel/israels-official-development-assistance.htm#:~:text=In%202016,%20preliminary%20data%20show%20that%20ODA%20reached,a%20share%20of%20GNI%20remained%20stable%20at%200.07%25. |access-date=30 March 2023 |website=oecd.org |publisher=OECD}}</ref> The country ranked 38th in the 2018 [[World Giving Index]].<ref>{{cite report|title=World Giving Index|date=October 2018 |url=https://www.cafonline.org/docs/default-source/about-us-publications/caf_wgi2018_report_webnopw_2379a_261018.pdf |publisher=Charities Aid Foundation |access-date=22 February 2022}}</ref> ===Military=== {{Main|Israel Defense Forces|Israeli security forces}} {{Further|List of wars involving Israel|List of the Israel Defense Forces operations|Israel and weapons of mass destruction}} [[File:The_Southern_Lions._Squadron_116._I.jpg|thumb|[[F-35]] fighter jets of the [[Israeli Air Force]]]] The [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF) is the sole military wing of the [[Israeli security forces]] and is headed by its [[Chief of General Staff (Israel)|Chief of General Staff]], the ''Ramatkal'', subordinate to the [[Cabinet of Israel|Cabinet]]. The IDF consists of the [[GOC Army Headquarters|army]], [[Israeli Air Force|air force]] and [[Israeli Navy|navy]]. It was founded during the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]] by consolidating paramilitary organizations—chiefly the [[Haganah]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/about/History/40s/1948/default.htm |publisher=Israel Defense Forces |access-date=31 July 2007 |title=History: 1948 |year=2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080412082705/http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/about/History/40s/1948/default.htm |archive-date=12 April 2008 }}</ref> The IDF also draws upon the resources of the [[Military Intelligence Directorate (Israel)|Military Intelligence Directorate]] (''Aman'').{{sfn|Henderson|2003|p=97}} The IDF have been involved in several [[List of wars involving Israel|major wars]] and border conflicts, making it one of the most battle-trained armed forces in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/State/THE+STATE-+Israel+Defense+Forces+-IDF-.htm |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |title=The State: Israel Defense Forces (IDF) |access-date=9 August 2007 |date=13 March 2009 }}</ref> Most Israelis are [[Conscription in Israel|conscripted]] at age 18. Men serve two years and eight months and [[Women in the Israel Defense Forces|women]] two years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts%20About%20Israel/State/The%20Israel%20Defense%20Forces |title=The Israel Defense Forces |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |access-date=21 October 2006}}</ref> Following mandatory service, Israeli men join the reserve forces and usually do up to several weeks of [[Reserve duty (Israel)|reserve duty]] every year until their forties. Most women are exempt from reserve duty. [[Arab citizens of Israel]] (except the [[Druze in Israel|Druze]]) and those engaged in full-time religious studies are [[Exemption from military service in Israel|exempt]], although the [[Tal committee|exemption of yeshiva students]] has been a source of contention.{{sfn|Stendel|1997|pp=191–192}}<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/cool-law-for-wrong-population-1.220687 |date=16 May 2007 |access-date=19 March 2012 |title=Cool law, for wrong population |last=Shtrasler |first=Nehemia |newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref> An alternative for those who receive exemptions on various grounds is ''[[Sherut Leumi]]'', or national service, which involves a programme of service in social welfare frameworks.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nbn.org.il/aliyahpedia/army/585-sherut-leumi-national-service.html |publisher=Nefesh B'Nefesh |access-date=20 March 2012 |title=Sherut Leumi (National Service)}}</ref> A small minority of Israeli Arabs also volunteer in the army.<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 November 2016 |title=Israel's Arab soldiers who fight for the Jewish state |language=en-GB |publisher=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37895021}}</ref> As a result of its conscription programme, the IDF maintains approximately 176,500 active troops and 465,000 reservists, giving Israel one of the world's highest [[List of countries by number of military and paramilitary personnel|percentage of citizens with military training]].<ref name=IISS_military>[[#IISS2018|IISS 2018]], pp. 339–340</ref> [[File:IDF_Air_Defense_fighters_during_Operation_Guardian_of_the_Walls,_May_2021._I.jpg|thumb|[[Iron Dome]] is the world's first operational anti-[[Rocket artillery|artillery rocket]] defense system.]] The military relies heavily on high-tech [[Military equipment of Israel|weapons]] systems [[Defense industry of Israel|designed and manufactured in Israel]] as well as some foreign imports. The [[Arrow (Israeli missile)|Arrow]] missile is one of the world's few operational [[anti-ballistic missile]] systems.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=56544 |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |title=Arrow can fully protect against Iran |last=Katz |first=Yaakov |date=30 March 2007 |access-date=20 March 2012}}</ref> The [[Python (missile)|Python]] air-to-air missile series is often considered one of the most crucial weapons in its military history.<ref>''Israeli Mirage III and Nesher Aces'', By Shlomo Aloni, (Osprey 2004), p. 60</ref> Israel's [[Spike (missile)|Spike]] missile is one of the most widely exported [[anti-tank guided missile]]s in the world.<ref>[http://www.army-technology.com/projects/gill Spike Anti-Tank Missile, Israel] army-technology.com</ref> Israel's [[Iron Dome]] anti-missile air defense system gained worldwide acclaim after intercepting hundreds of [[Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel|rockets fired by Palestinian militants]] from the Gaza Strip.<ref name=Johnson>{{cite news|title=How Israel Developed Such A Shockingly Effective Rocket Defense System|author=Robert Johnson|work=Business Insider |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/how-israel-developed-the-iron-dome-2012-11?op=1#ixzz2Cme6aQn5|date=19 November 2012|access-date=20 November 2012}}</ref><ref name=Tory>{{cite news|title=A Missile-Defense System That Actually Works?|author=Sarah Tory |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2012/11/israel_iron_dome_defense_how_has_missile_defense_changed_battle_in_gaza.html|work=Slate|date=19 November 2012|access-date=20 November 2012}}</ref> Since the [[Yom Kippur War]], Israel has developed a network of [[reconnaissance satellites]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol44no5/html/v44i5a04p.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100426215752/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol44no5/html/v44i5a04p.htm |archive-date=26 April 2010 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |title=Israel's Quest for Satellite Intelligence |last=Zorn |first=E.L. |date=8 May 2007 |access-date=19 March 2012}}</ref> The ''[[Ofeq]]'' programme has made Israel [[Timeline of first orbital launches by country|one of seven countries]] capable of launching such satellites.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=64499 |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |title=Analysis: Eyes in the sky |last=Katz |first=Yaakov |date=11 June 2007 |access-date=20 March 2012}}</ref> Israel is widely believed to [[Nuclear weapons and Israel|possess nuclear weapons]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/transcripts/2004/alahram27072004.html |title=Transcript of the Director General's Interview with Al-Ahram News |first=Mohamed |last=ElBaradei |author-link=Mohamed ElBaradei |publisher=International Atomic Energy Agency |date=27 July 2004 |access-date=20 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418221656/http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/transcripts/2004/alahram27072004.html |archive-date=18 April 2012 }}</ref> and per a 1993 report, chemical and biological [[Israel and weapons of mass destruction|weapons of mass destruction]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vaccines.mil/documents/library/proliferation.pdf |title=Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction: Assessing the Risks |publisher=Office of Technology Assessment |date=August 1993 |access-date=29 March 2012 |pages=65, 84 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120528155012/http://www.vaccines.mil/documents/library/proliferation.pdf |archive-date=28 May 2012 }}</ref>{{update after|2021|11}} Israel has not signed the [[Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/conf/npt/2005/background.html |title=Background Information |date=27 May 2005 |website=2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) |publisher=United Nations |access-date=9 April 2012}}</ref> and maintains a [[policy of deliberate ambiguity]] toward its nuclear capabilities.<ref>Ziv, Guy, "To Disclose or Not to Disclose: The Impact of Nuclear Ambiguity on Israeli Security", Israel Studies Forum, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Winter 2007): 76–94</ref> The Israeli Navy's [[Dolphin-class submarine|Dolphin submarines]] are believed to be armed with nuclear missiles offering [[second strike|second-strike]] capability.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/nuke/guide/israel/missile/popeye-t.htm |title=Popeye Turbo |publisher=Federation of American Scientists |access-date=19 February 2011}}</ref> Since the [[Gulf War]] in 1991, all homes in Israel are required to have a reinforced security room, [[Merkhav Mugan]], impermeable to chemical and biological substances.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://israelhomeowner.brinkster.net/Glossary.asp |title=Glossary |publisher=Israel Homeowner |access-date=20 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517224030/http://israelhomeowner.brinkster.net/Glossary.asp |archive-date=17 May 2012 }}</ref> Since Israel's establishment, military expenditure constituted a significant portion of the country's [[gross domestic product]], with peak of 30.3% of GDP in 1975.<ref>{{cite report |date=29 May 2017 |title=Defence Expenditure in Israel, 1950–2015 |url=http://cbs.gov.il/publications17/1680/pdf/t04.pdf |publisher=Israel Central Bureau of Statistics |access-date=22 June 2017 |archive-date=19 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619053457/http://cbs.gov.il/publications17/1680/pdf/t04.pdf }}</ref> In 2021, Israel ranked 15th in the world [[List of countries by military expenditures|by total military expenditure]], with $24.3 billion, and 6th by defense spending as a percentage of GDP, with 5.2%.<ref>{{cite report |date=April 2022 |title=Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2021 |url=https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2022-04/fs_2204_milex_2021_0.pdf |publisher=Stockholm International Peace Research Institute |access-date=21 February 2023}}</ref> Since 1974, the United States has been a particularly notable contributor of [[Israel–United States military relations#Military aid and procurement|military aid]].<ref>{{cite report |last=Sharp |first=Jeremy M. |date=22 December 2016 |title=U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33222.pdf |publisher=Congressional Research Service |page=36 |access-date=22 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150731092044/http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33222.pdf |archive-date=31 July 2015 }}</ref> Under a [[memorandum of understanding]] signed in 2016, the U.S. is expected to provide the country with $3.8 billion per year, or around 20% of Israel's defense budget, from 2018 to 2028.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lake |first=Eli |date=15 September 2016 |title=The U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Misunderstanding |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-09-15/the-u-s-israel-memorandum-of-misunderstanding |publisher=Bloomberg |access-date=17 March 2017}}</ref> Israel ranked 9th globally for [[Arms industry|arms exports]] in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://armstrade.sipri.org/armstrade/page/toplist.php |title=Top List TIV Tables |publisher=Stockholm International Peace Research Institute |access-date=18 April 2023 |archive-date=14 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130214003447/http://armstrade.sipri.org/armstrade/page/toplist.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> The majority of Israel's arms exports are unreported for security reasons.<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.567693 Israel reveals more than $7 billion in arms sales, but few names] By Gili Cohen | 9 January 2014, Haaretz</ref> Israel is consistently rated low in the [[Global Peace Index]], ranking 134th out of 163 nations for peacefulness in 2022.<ref name=GPI>{{cite report |date=June 2022 |title=Global Peace Index 2022 |url=https://www.visionofhumanity.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GPI-2022-web.pdf |publisher=Institute for Economics and Peace |page=11 |access-date=21 February 2023}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page