a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. It has land borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan on the east, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the east and west, respectively, and Egypt to the southwest. The country contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. Israel’s financial and technology center is Tel Aviv and Jerusalem is the proclaimed capital, although Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem is internationally unrecognized.
Capital: Jerusalem
Population: 8.059 million
Currency: Israeli new shekel
Official languages: Hebrew, Arabic
It is the world’s only…
…Jewish-majority state, with 6,388,800 citizens, or 74.8%, being designated as Jewish. The country’s second largest group of citizens are Arabs, numbering 1,775,400 people (including the Druze and most East Jerusalem Arabs). The great majority of Israeli Arabs are Sunni Muslims, including significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins; the rest are Christians and Druze. Other minorities include Arameans, Assyrians, Samaritans, Armenians, Circassians, Dom people, Maronites and Vietnamese.
The country benefits from a highly skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with the one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the fourth highest in Asia, and has one of the highest life expectancies in the world.
I had the joy of going to Israel in 2014. I believe this trip allowed me to go in as a fact finding trip that will provide an open door in the future. I remain prayerful and hopeful that I’ll be returning soon.
