1987 Edition

Boundary disputes

separated from Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria by 1949 Armistice Line; disputes with Egypt over Taba area and precise location of some individual boundary markers; West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli occupied with status to be determined; Golan Heights is Israeli occupied; Israeli troops in southern Lebanon since June 1982

Climate

temperate; hot and dry in desert areas

Coastline

273 km (before 1967 war)

Comparative area

about the size of Massachusetts

Continental shelf

to depth of exploitation

Environment

sandstorms may occur during spring and summer; limited arable land and natural water resources pose serious constraints; deforestation

Land boundaries

1,036 km total (before 1967 war)

Land use

17% arable land; 5% permanent crops; 40% meadows and pastures; 6% forest and woodland; 32% other; includes 11% irrigated

Note

the Arab territories occupied by Israel since the 1967 war are not included in the data below; as stated in the 1978 Camp David Accords and reaffirmed by the President’s 1 September 1982 peace initiative, the final status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, their relationship with their neighbors, and a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan are to be negotiated among the concerned parties; Camp David further specifies that these negotiations will resolve the location of the respective boundaries; pending the completion of this process, it is US policy that the final status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip has yet to be determined (see West Bank and Gaza Strip entry); on 25 April 1982 Israel relinquished control of the Sinai to Egypt; statistics for the Israelioccupied Golan Heights are included in the Syria entry

Special notes

none

Terrain

mostly desert (Negev) in south; low coastal plain; central mountains; Jordan Rift Valley

Territorial sea

6 nm

Total area

on page 276) 100 km Laka Tiberias Mediterranean Sea Tal Aviv-Yaf Ashdod Jarusalam Boundary representation is not necessarily authoritative

20,770 km?; land area: 20,330 km?

Ethnic divisions

83% Jewish, 17% nonJewish (mostly Arab)

Infant mortality rate

14.1/1,000 (1983)

Labor force

1,400,000 (1984 est.); 29.5% public services; 22.8% industry, mining, and manufacturing; 12.8% commerce; 9.5% finance and business; 6.8% transport, storage, and communications; 6.5% construction and public works; 5.5% agriculture, forestry, and fishing; 5.8% personal and other services; 1.0% electricity and water (1983); unemployment about 6.7% (1985)

Language

Hebrew (official); Arabic used officially for Arab minority; English most commonly used foreign language

Life expectancy

72.)

Literacy

88% Jews, 70% Arabs

Nationality

noun—lIsraeli(s); adjective— Israeli

Organized labor

90% of labor force

Population

4,222,118, excluding West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem (July 1987), average annual growth rate 1.83%

Religion

83% Judaism, 13.1% Islam, 2.3% Christian, 1.6% Druze

Administrative divisions

six administrative districts

Branches

President has largely ceremonial functions, except for the authority to decide which political leader should try to form a ruling coalition following an election or the fall of a previous government; executive power vested in Cabinet; unicameral parliament (Knesset) of 120 members elected under a system of proportional representation; legislation provides fundamental laws in absence of a written constitution; two distinct court systems (secular and religious)

Capital

Jerusalem; Israel proclaimed Jerusalem its capital in 1950; the United States, like nearly all other countries, maintains its Embassy in Tel Aviv

Communists

RAKAH (predominantly Arab but with Jews in its leadership) has some 1,500 members

Elections

held every four years unless required by dissolution of Knesset; last election held in July 1984; next election must be held by November 1988 Political parties and leaders: Israel currently has a national unity government comprising eight parties that hold 97 of the Knesset’s 120 seats; members of the unity government—Labor Alignment, Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres; Likud Bloc, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir; Shinui Party, Minister of Communications Amnon Rubenstein; National Religious Party, Minister of Religious Affairs Zvulun Hammer; SHAS, Yitzhak Peretz; Agudat Israel, Avraham Shapira; Morasha-Po’aley Agudat Yisra’el, Avraham Verdiger; Ometz, Minister Without Portfolio Yigael Hurwitz; opposition parties— Tehiya-Tzomet, Yuval Ne’eman; MAPAM, Eliezer Granot; Citizens’ Rights Movement, Shulamit Aloni; RAKAH (Communist party), Meir Wilner; Progressive List for Peace, Muhammad Mi ‘ari; TAMI, Aharon Abuhatzeira; Kakh, Meir Kahane

Government leaders

Chaim HERZOG, President (since May 1983); Yitzhak SHAMIR, Prime Minister (since October 1986), who replaced Shimon PERES under an agreement whereby the positions of Prime Minister and that of Vice Prime Minister and Foreign Minister would be traded in October 1986

Legal system

mixture of English common law, British Mandatory regulations, and, in personal area, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim legal systems; commercial matters regulated substantially by codes adopted since 1948; no formal constitution; some of the functions of a constitution are filled by the Declaration of Establishment (1948), the basic laws of the Knesset (legislature)— relating to the Knesset, Israeli lands, the president, the government—and the Israel citizenship law; no judicial review of legislative acts; in December 1985 Israel informed the UN Secretariat that it would no longer accept compulsory JCJ jurisdiction

Member of

FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IDB—Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, 1OOC, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, 1TU, IWC—International Wheat Council, OAS (observer), UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO

National holidays

Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948; because the Jewish calendar is lunar, however, the holiday varies from year to year; all major Jewish religious holidays are also observed as national holidays

Official name

State of Israel

Other political or pressure groups

Black Panthers, a loosely organized youth group seeking more benefits for oriental Jews; Gush Emunim, Jewish nationalists advocating Jewish settlement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip; Peace Now, critical of government’s West Bank/Gaza Strip and Lebanon policies

Suffrage

universal over age 18

Type

republic

Voting strength

Labor Alignment, 40 seats; Likud, 41 seats; MAPAM, 6 seats; Tehiya-Tzomet, 5 seats; Citizens’ Rights Movement, 4 seats; RAKAH, 4 seats; SHAS, 4 seats; National Religious Party, 5 seats; Shinui Party, 3 seats; MorashaPo’aley Agudat Yisra’el, 1 seat; Agudat Yisra’vl, 2 seats; Progressive List for Peace, 2 seats; Ometz, 1 seat; Kakh, 1 seat; TAMI, 1 seat

Agriculture

citrus and other fruits, vegetables, cotton, beef and dairy products, poultry products

Budget

public revenues, $11.3 billion, expenditures, $14.8 billion (FY85/86)

Electric power

4,284,000 kW capacity; 16,320 million kWh produced, 3,880 kWh per capita (1986)

Exports

$6.3 billion (1985); polished diamonds, citrus and other fruits, textiles and clothing, processed foods, fertilizer and chemical products, electronics; tourism is important source of foreign exchange

Fiscal year

1 April-31 March

GNP

$21.0 billion, $5,070 per capita; real GNP growth rate 1.6% (est. 1986),

Imports

$9.4 billion (f.0.b., 1985); military equipment, rough diamonds, oil, chemicals, machinery, iron and steel, cereals, textiles, vehicles, ships, aircraft

Major industries

food processing, diamond cutting and polishing, textiles and clothing, chemicals, metal products, transport equipment, electrical equipment, miscellaneous machinery, potash mining, high-technology electronics

Major trade partners

exports—US, UK, FRG, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy; imports—US, FRG, UK, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg

Monetary conversion rate

1.5 new sheqalims=US$1 (December 1986), exchange rate calculated from a basket of foreign currencies

Natural resources

copper, phosphates, bromide, potash, clay, sand, sulfur, bitumen, manganese

Airfields

56 total, 53 usable; 27 with permanent-surface runways; 6 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 11 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

26 major transport aircraft

Highways

4,500 km; majority is bituminous surfaced

Inland waterways

none

Pipelines

crude oil, 708 km; refined products, 290 km; natural gas, 89 km

Ports

3 major (Haifa, Ashdod, Elat), 5 minor Israel (continued)

Railroads

516 km 1.435-meter gauge single track; diesel operated

Telecommunications

most highly developed in the Middle East though not the largest; good system of coaxial cable and radio-relay; 1,500,000 telephones (35.6 per 100 popl.); 11 AM, 24 FM, 54 TV stations; 2 submarine cables; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT stations; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT station

Branches

Israel Defense Forces; historically there have been no separate Israeli military services; ground, air, and naval components are branches of Israel Defense Forces

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 31 March 1987, $4.6 billion; about 24% of central government budget

Military manpower

eligible 15-49, 2,015,000; of 1,014,000 males 15-49, 839,000 fit for military service; of 1,002,000 females 15-49, 826,000 fit for military service; 41,000 males and 39,000 females reach military age (18) annually; both sexes liable for military service