X-Nico

56 unusual facts about Israel


Amnon Kapeliouk

Amnon Kapeliouk (Hebrew: אמנון קפליוק) (22 December 1930– 26 June 2009) was an Israeli journalist and author.

Arable land

Israel: Israel's land primarily consisted of desert until the construction of desalination plants along the country's coast.

Avith

Its location is unknown but presumably it was in what is now southern Israel or Jordan.

Belaugh

According to records displayed in the church, the letter writer also added disapprovingly that, "The Steeple house of Belaugh St Peter stands high, perked like one of the idolatrous high places of Israel".

Ben Ammi Ben-Israel

Ben Ammi and more of his followers arrived in the ensuing months, settling in Dimona.

Berakah Project

Mohammed Nazam's work with Berakah led to an invitation to take part in projects based in Israel/Palestine in 2005 and 2009.

Bnot Ya'akov Bridge

Jacob's Ford was a key river crossing point and major trade route between Acre and Damascus.

British-Israel-World Federation

At one time this organization enjoyed the patronage of members of the British establishment including HRH Princess Alice of Athlone, the Duke of Buccleuch, the Earl of Dysart, Lord Gisborough, and William Massey, the Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Carl Alpert

Carl Alpert (May 12, 1913 – May 12, 2005) was a Boston-born journalist, author, communal worker and public relations specialist, first in America and then in Israel (where he settled in 1952 after making Aliyah).

Dan Harel

In this capacity he not only implemented counterterrorism measures, but was also the commander in charge of Israel's Gaza pull-out in the summer of 2005.

Danny Ben-Israel

Danny Ben-Israel was a notable Israeli musician of the late 1960s and early 1970s, producing psychedelic progressive rock with socially concerned lyrics in Hebrew.

Economy of the Palestinian territories

In the wake of Israel's unilateral disengagement from Gaza, there were shortages of bread and basic supplies due to closure of the al Mentar/Karni border-crossing into Israel.

Elon Moreh

Eight times, the group tried to choose a plot of land to settle but the Israeli government under Yitzchak Rabin, then in his first term, prevented these attempts - arguing that the settlers' main aim was to secure permanent Israeli possession of the territory and that such possession would preclude any possibility of peace with Jordan or a Palestinian state.

Garin Torani

The phrase is used today, in Israel, to refer to a group of idealistic, religious zionist individuals and families who try to effect social and religious development in underdeveloped communities.

The original Garinim Toraniim began in development towns in Israel.

While Rabbis and synagogues are in abundance in Israel, members of traditional (masorati) communities often have no connection to a community rabbi.

Gataka

Gataka, the scene name of the Israeli DJ Matan Kadosh, also famous for participating in psytrance trio Sesto Sento.

Hakhel

In the twentieth century, however, it was revived by the government of Israel and by groups of Jews in other places on a symbolic basis.

Henry Maundrell

Their circuit took them across Syria to Latakia, down the Syrian and Lebanese coasts as far as Acre, which they found in ruinous state save for a khan (caravanserai) occupied by some French merchants, a mosque and a few poor cottages.

History of the Jews in Pakistan

Developments in the Middle East peace process such as the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip led to the first high level meeting between Israeli and Pakistani foreign ministers.

Hundred Days' War

The outcome of the meeting was essentially a reaffirmation of the role of the ADF and a strong condemnation of those dealing with Israel.

Hurricane Ismael

During the 2001 season, a reporter stationed in Israel felt offended from the name choice, and the president of the Anti-Defamation League felt it was insensitive.

Indians in Israel

Indians in Israel almost exclusively consist of Indian Jews who migrated there on formation of the modern state of Israel.

Inventing Our Life: The Kibbutz Experiment

Among those interviewed are first, second and third generation members from kibbutzim like Degania, the flagship commune established in 1910; Hulda, once near collapse and recently privatized; Sasa, the first to be settled entirely by Americans and today Israel's wealthiest kibbutz; and Tamuz, an urban kibbutz founded in 1987 and located in Beit Shemesh.

Ir Ganim

The Lavan Valley is situated between Ir Ganim and Givat Massuah to the east and Moshav Ora to the west.

Israel, Palestine, and the United Nations

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, denounced the speech stating that Hamas was an internationally recognized terrorist organization that targeted civilians.

Israel's Department Store

From there, he tried to establish contact with the German underground through Sir Stafford Cripps, Britain's foreign minister, and organized ship transports for Jewish children escaping from Europe.

Israel's Son

It was also released on their The Best of Volume 1, and used on the soundtrack to the western version of Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie.

Judaization

In modern Hebrew, the term Judaization is used to describe the cultural life of baalei teshuvah, or "returnees", and refers to a "process through which secular, non-observant, young (and not so young) Israelis who have grown up in Israel within the majority culture, have become practicing Orthodox Jews and have joined the minority subculture of Orthodoxy".

Kåre Kristiansen

He opposed Israel's unilateral disengagement plan from the Gaza Strip, to the point of refusing an invitation to join in an event that also featured moderate Israeli politician and chief rabbi of Norway, Michael Melchior.

Keren Hayesod

The resolution adopted called on "the whole Jewish people", Zionists and non-Zionists alike to contribute toward the building of the Land of Israel through Keren Hayesod.

Luigi Romersa

He worked there for decades, traveling around the world, from the South Pole to Israel - during the Six-Day War - and Bahrain, where he covered the 1973 oil crisis.

Melatef Umeshaker

Melatef Umeshaker is the debut album of the Israeli singer and musician Ivri Lider.

Menachem Oren

In 1949, Chwojnik emigrated, via Czechoslovakia and Austria, to Israel, where he had changed name to Menachem Oren.

Michael Maschler

He was a professor in the Einstein Institute of Mathematics and the Center for the Study of Rationality at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel.

Milton Katims

Katims gave viola master classes in China and Israel, taught at various colleges such as Juilliard in New York and Northwestern in suburban Chicago, as well as the University of Washington, and transcribed and edited viola music.

Molad

The molad amiti (true molad), which has no relevance to the Hebrew calendar, is the time at which the actual astronomical lunar conjunction occurs, often expressed either as the mean solar time in Jerusalem (Universal Time + 2h 20m 56s or simply + 2h 21m) or as the clock time in Israel.

Mt Carmel blind mole rat

Following the identification of S. carmeli in 2001, Nevo et al. recorded specimens in the vicinity surrounding the Afik, Kabri, and Tzippori settlements.

One Economy Corporation

In addition to the global Beehives in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Turkey, Cameroon, Rwanda, Kenya, Jordan, South Africa, Israel, and Mexico, One Global Economy also operates a computer center in Durban, South Africa and recently partnered with e-Mexico to open a community technology center in Mexico City.

Operation Nachshon

On 31 March a 60 vehicle Jewish convoy was ambushed at Hulda and forced to turn back with the loss of five vehicles and 17 dead.

Post-Zionism

Post-Zionism refers to the opinions of some Israelis, diaspora Jews and others, particularly in academia, that Zionism has fulfilled its ideological mission with the creation of the modern State of Israel in 1948, and that Zionist ideology should therefore be considered at an end.

Raquela Prywes

Raquela Prywes (Hebrew: רחלה פריבס; born Raquela Levy, 1924 in Jerusalem; died March, 1985) was a nurse in Israel, trained in midwifery, and obstetrics, at the Hadassah Medical Center.

Refusal to serve in the IDF

In 2005, as a reaction to the Israel's unilateral disengagement plan, a group called "Mateh Chomat Magen" (the name referring to Operation Defensive Shield) published a letter with 10,000 signatures of soldiers who signed a petition saying that they would refuse to uproot and remove Israeli settlements.

Reuven Shiloah

After his tenure at the Mossad Shiloah worked in the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC and continued serving as an advisor.

Rosh HaNikra grottoes

Nowadays all the railways on the Lebanese side of the border have been dismantled while the Coastal Railway in Israel currently ends near Nahariya, several kilometers to the south.

Shdwan Battle

The Battle lasted between the Israeli battalion and the Sa'ka Officers which led to casualties in the Israeli forces which includes projection of 2 jets.

Shemira

In Israel shemira refers to all forms of guard duty, including military guard duty.

Shlomo Baum

Shlomo Baum (1929 – January 17, 1999) was an Israeli military commando fighter.

Socialist Zionists

Adherents of Socialist Zionism or Labor Zionism, a major ideological and political current in the history of Zionism and Israel

The MUJU Crew

Walls is a play which tells the story of two British teenage friends, one Muslim and one Jewish, whose relationship is turned upside down when the Jewish boy’s family move to Israel.

Theodore Motzkin

Theodore Samuel Motzkin (26 March 1908–15 December 1970) was an Israeli-American mathematician.

Tzofim

The village is located in an area described as the seam zone and its proximity to the Green Line (less than 2 kilometres east of it) and its similar proximity to the Palestinian town of Qalqilyah has made its inclusion on the Israeli side of the West Bank barrier controversial, especially as the looping nature of the barrier's path forms a quasi-enclave of some Arab villages to its south.

Valentin Kontridze

Israel, 25 October 2002) was a Georgian Jewish scientist, ophthalmologist, and eye microsurgeon.

Yavneh Olami

The organization, affiliated with World Mizrachi, runs educational programs that focus on pro-Israel advocacy, Israel connectivity, leadership development, and encouraging Jewish students to make Israel their home.

Yeshivat Ma'alot

The Yeshiva is named after Rabbi Dr. Ya'akov Herzog, son of the late Chief Rabbi of Israel Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog and brother of the late President of Israel Chaim Herzog.

Yitzhak Katz

Yitzhak Katz (May 19, 1901 – 1991) was an Israeli civil servant and art critic active in all spheres of Israeli arts and culture.


Akureyri Art Museum

Artists that have had their work displayed in the Akureyri Art Museum include Icelandic artists Erró, Kjarval and Louisa Matthíasdóttir, American artist Spencer Tunick, Israeli video artist Guy Ben-Ner and French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Americo-Liberian

In 2007 BET founder Robert Johnson called for "African Americans to support Liberia like Jewish Americans support Israel".

Andrew Hutchison

Hutchison delivered a response in late 2005 to the call for the destruction of Israel by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, condemning Ahmadinejad for his remarks which incite "hatred of the Jewish people and supporting violence against them."

Australian rules football in the Middle East

Australian Rules in Israel has been played sporadically since at least 1995, when a group of around 20 players began regular social matches in Tel Aviv, although most of the players were based in Jerusalem.

Boaz Myhill

Myhill's parents originally intended to name him Boaz, a Hebrew name which they encountered and liked while travelling in Israel, but were dissuaded from doing so by relatives.

CenterLink

CenterLink's website currently provides a web-based directory (and map) of community centers both within and outside of the United States, including Canada, Israel, Mexico, China and Japan.

Chakhei

2. Nazareth Vaih: A street named after Nazareth in the Holy Bible, which is the name of the town in Israel, the place where Jesus Christ was raised up, is somehow an attraction for visitors from outside.

Chezki Lifshitz

Chezki Lifshitz was born in 1974 to Tzvi Menashe and Ester Lifshitz in Bnei Brak, Israel, he Studied in Chabad Yeshiva Ktana of Lod, and Yeshiva Gdola of Kfar Chabad.

Dark retreat

All spiritual traditions have used Darkness Techniques in the pursuit of enlightenment: in Europe, the dark room appeared as a network of tunnels, in Egypt as the Pyramides, in Rome as the catacombs, by the Essenes in Israel and Taoists in China as caves.

Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Ancient Times

The exhibition was created by the Israel Antiquities Authority with items from the Israel National Treasures Department, and is produced by Discovery Times Square and the Franklin Institute.

Economic Cooperation Foundation

The ‘Architects of Oslo’, then developed the ‘BeilinAbu Mazen Understanding’, the first jointly developed detailed concept of a comprehensive Permanent Status Understanding between Israel and a Palestinian State.

Edward Israel

Israel and the rest of the crew spent two years at a camp they called Fort Conger.

Edwin R. Thiele

Thiele was able to reconcile the Biblical chronological data from the books of Kings and Chronicles with the exception of synchronisms between Hoshea of Israel and Hezekiah of Judah towards the end of the kingdom of Israel and reluctantly concluded that at that point the ancient authors had made a mistake.

Ehud Banai

In 2008, "On the Move", a documentary film directed by Avida Livny and produced by Gidi Avivi, Yael Biron and Dror Nahum, about Banai and the Refugees, participated in the official competition of the Jerusalem Film Festival, in EPOS -the international art & culture film festival in Israel and has been screened in cinemateques around Israel.

Eric Moonman

From 1980 it was funded instead by the World Zionist Organization and from 1985 also by the Israel Foreign Ministry.

Ernst Uhrlau

It is believed Uhrlau was a mediator between Hezbollah and Israel for the return in 2008 of the remains of two Israeli soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, whose kidnapping triggered the 2006 Lebanon war.

Francisca Subirana

In 1961, the couple moved to Israel where Ricardo was assigned the Cuban ambassador by Fidel Castro.

History of Egypt under Anwar Sadat

The October War of 1973 launched against Israel began when the coalition launched a joint surprise attack on Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, which occurred that year during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

IMI 120 mm gun

In 1998 the Israel Defense Prize was awarded to Israeli Military Industries for this development, which gave Israel the means to produce tank guns independently.

Indirect election

Many republics with parliamentary systems elect their president indirectly (Germany, Italy, Estonia, Latvia, Hungary, India, Israel).

Islam in Libya

The Jihad Fund, supported by a payroll tax, was established in 1970 to aid the Palestinians in their struggle with Israel.

Israel and legitimacy

M.J. Rosenberg, writing in the Los Angeles Times, argued that the term "delegitimization" is a "distraction", whose purpose is to divert attention away from world opposition to the "illegitimate" occupation of the West Bank and blockade of the Gaza Strip, from the "illegal" settlements, and from "the ever-louder calls for Israel to grant Palestinians equal rights".

Israel Democracy Institute

In 2001 the institute established a public council led by Meir Shamgar in order to consolidate an Israeli constitution which would be agreed upon by all the current currents in Israel.

Israel–Kenya relations

Following the Kenyan presidential election, 2007, there was rioting, and Israel came to the aid of Kenyans by donating medicine to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.

Israeli presidential election, 2007

Other persons who had been considered as possible candidates included Dalia Itzik (Kadima), Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor), Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, and Meir Shamgar.

Jennens

Charles Jennens (1700 – 20 November 1773) was an English landowner and patron of the arts, who assembled the text for five of Handel's oratorios: Saul, Israel in Egypt, L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, Messiah, and Belshazzar.

Jewish Life Television

Its spotlight on Israel and Jewish life is facilitated by broadcast studios in Los Angeles, New York City and Toronto as well as bureaus in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Washington, D.C., Miami, London and Moscow.

Lawrence Bergman

He also received several honors for his service among the Jewish Community while he was a council member of the Montreal Jewish Community, an honorary president of the Montreal's Jewish community centres and the director of Magen David Adom for Israel.

Marcus Goldstein

Following his retirement, Goldstein, and his wife, Lea, immigrated to Israel, where he joined Tel Aviv University and played an important role in developing research in the newly formed Department of Anatomy and Anthropology.

Mostar Round-Trip

A year after 17-year-old Yuval leaves home in Israel to attend the United World College in Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina, filmmaker David Fisher, his father, follows.

Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington

Günter Beck, a lecturer for the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) at the Haifa Center for German and European Studies at the University of Haifa in Israel, compared Lisa's role in the episode to the nineteenth-century American poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau.

Nitzhonot

Nitzhonot (Hebrew: נצחונות, "victories") is a crossover between Goa trance and uplifting trance, emerged during the mid-late 1990s in Israel.

Olympic Committee of Israel

OCI achieved IOC recognition in early 1952, just in time for Israel's Olympic debut at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.

Omar Barghouti

In response, Samir El-Youssef states that "Barghouti’s 'true peace based on justice' is that Israel must be punished, brought down to its knees, before a Palestinian is allowed to greet an Israeli in the street".

Oramir

Oramir was founded in 1992 by Fairchild Corporation, Teuza Venture Capital Fund and Rafael Development Corporation of Israel.

Palestine Railways P class

After the War of Independence and subsequent 1948 Arab–Israeli War, main line services were truncated to the territory within the new State of Israel.

Patricia Harrison

Under Harrison's direction, the State Department initiated the CultureCommect program in which American celebrities such as YoYo Ma, Denyce Graves, Doris Roberts and Frank McCourt acted as "cultural ambassadors" in trips to Pakistan, Russia, Israel and other countries.

Robert Whittaker

s under Whittaker include Walter Westman, Robert Peet (now at University of North Carolina), Susan Bratton (now at Baylor University), Thomas Wentworth (now at North Carolina State University), Owen Sholes (now at Assumption College), Mark Wilson (now at Oregon State University), Linda Olsvig-Whittaker (now at the Israel Nature and Parks Authority) and Kerry Woods (now at Bennington College).

Rogatchover Gaon

The remainder of his surviving writings appeared in the United States and Israel many years after his death; all are titled Tzofnath Paneach "decipherer of secrets", (a title given to the Biblical Joseph by Pharaoh (Genesis 41:45)).

Shahira Amin

Amin became the subject of criticism after she interviewed Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit on October 18, 2011 in Egypt, following Shalit's release from more than five years of captivity in Gaza but preceding his return to Israel and reunification with his family.

Sheikh Khalifa City

Once called "Morag", when it was a Gush Katif settlement, it has been retroceded to the Palestinian authorities after the settlers' buildings and facilities were destroyed by Israel in 2005.

Solomon ben David

Solomon, Solomon ben David, son of King David who succeeded his father as King of Israel and founded the line of the Kings of Judah, 10th century BCE

Syro-Ephraimite War

Isaiah concludes these prophecies concerning his children (Shear-Jashub (meaning 'a remnant returns', Isaiah 7.3), Immanuel (meaning 'God is with us'), and Maher-shalal-hash-baz (meaning 'quick to plunder, speedy to spoil') by saying, 'Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.' (Isaiah 8.18 NIV) Interestingly enough, the context continues into chapter 9 which also uses a birth of a child as its object.

Tadd Dameron turnaround

Further examples of pieces including this turnaround are Miles Davis' "Half-Nelson" and John Carisi's "Israel".

The Little Drummer Girl

The story follows the manipulations of Martin Kurtz, an Israeli spymaster who is trying to kill a Palestinian terrorist named Khalil, who is bombing Jewish-related targets in Europe, particularly Germany, and the English actress Charlie, who becomes a double agent working on behalf of the Israelis.

Tzedakah

There are many examples of Tzedakah funds that operate according to Maimonides' principles above (particularly #2), including Hands on Tzedakah (working with non-profits in the USA and in Israel), and Mitzvah Heroes Fund (working mainly with non-profits in Israel).

Ulpana Tzfira

Ulpana Tzfira is a religious institution for girls which is located in Tzafria, Israel.

United States–Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2013

Coogan believes that the program would allow Israel to discriminate against Palestinian Americans, Arab Americans and Muslim-Americans who travel to Israel.

Yehuda Talit

During the past few years, Talit has been responsible in a joint production with the Beit Lesin Theater in Israel, for the hit one man show starring Avi Kushnir, Returning the Cave Man.

During the 1980s the company produced large concerts and brought international artists to Israel such as Bob Dylan, Tracy Chapman, Dire Straits, Sting, Leonard Cohen, Billy Joel, Boy George, Bryan Adams, Joe Cocker, Julio Iglesias, Duran Duran, David Bowie, The Eurythmics and many others.