ADDtvChannel's video: What You Need to Know About Israel Palestine - ADDtvChannel

Brush up on your Middle Eastern history. http://www.youtube.com/addtvchannel http://www.facebook.com/addtv http://www.twitter.com/addtvchannel Israel, officially the State of Israel (play /ˈɪzriːəl/; Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל‎, Medīnat Yisrā'el, IPA: [me̞diˈnät jisʁäˈʔe̞l] ( listen); Arabic: دَوْلَة إِسْرَائِيل‎, Dawlat Isrāʼīl, IPA: [dawlat ʔisraːˈʔiːl]), is a parliamentary republic in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan and the West Bank in the east, Egypt and the Gaza Strip on the southwest, and the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea to the south, and it contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area.[1][6] Israel is defined as a Jewish and Democratic State in its Basic Laws and is the world's only Jewish-majority state.[7] Following the adoption of a resolution by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 29 November 1947 recommending the adoption and implementation of the United Nations plan to partition Palestine, on 14 May 1948 David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization[8] and president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel, a state independent from the British Mandate for Palestine.[9][10][11] Neighboring Arab states invaded the next day in support of the Palestinian Arabs. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states,[12] in the course of which it has occupied the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. Portions of these territories, including east Jerusalem, have been annexed by Israel, but the border with the neighboring West Bank has not yet been permanently defined.[13][14][15][16][17] Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, but efforts to resolve the Israeli--Palestinian conflict have so far not resulted in peace. Israel's financial centre is Tel Aviv,[18] while Jerusalem is the country's most populous city, and its capital (although not recognized internationally as such). The population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was estimated in 2012 to be 7,859,300 people, of whom 5,916,200 are Jewish.[3][19][20] Arabs form the country's second-largest ethnic group, the great majority of whom are settled-Muslims, with smaller numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins and mostly city dwelling Arab Christians. Smaller minorities include Christians of various ethnicities (Russians, Maronites, Copts, Assyrians and others), Druze, Circassians and Samaritans. Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage.[21][22] The Prime Minister serves as head of government and the Knesset serves as Israel's unicameral legislative body. Israel has one of the highest life expectancies in the world.[23] It is a developed country, an OECD member,[24] and its economy, based on the nominal gross domestic product, was the 40th-largest in the world in 2011.[25] Israel has the highest standard of living in the Middle East.[26]