X-Nico

53 unusual facts about Israel


Abel Ehrlich

Abel Ehrlich (Hebrew: אבל ארליך; September 3, 1915 – October 30, 2003) was an Israeli composer.

All Wrestling Organization

All Wrestling Organization is an independent wrestling promotion in Israel, currently operating out of Tira in the Central District of 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.

Belarusian diaspora

A separate group of emigrants from Belarus were Belarusian Jews who have established significant communities in the USA and Israel.

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.

Ben Carter

Ben Ammi Ben-Israel or Ben Carter (born 1939), American founder and spiritual leader of the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem

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.

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).

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.

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The original Garinim Toraniim began in development towns in Israel.

George Biddlecombe

When attached to the Talbot, 1838–42, he surveyed numerous anchorages on the Ionian station, in the Archipelago, and up the Dardanelles and Bosphorus; examined the south shore of the Black Sea as far as Trabzon, as well as the port of Varna, and prepared a survey, published by the admiralty, of the bays and banks of Akko.

Georgians in Israel

Ethnic Georgians in Israel number around 75,000 to 80,000 which mostly include Georgian Jews.

Guy Barnea

Barnea was born and raised in Omer in southern Israel, the oldest of three sons and his brothers Nir and Or are also swimmers.

Haim Yahiel

In 1949 Yahiel returned to Israel joining the Jewish Agency Department of Absorption as director in Jerusalem.

Hakhel

The ceremony performed at the Western Wall in 2001 was led by the President of Israel, Moshe Katzav.

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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.

Hapoel Rishon LeZion

Hapoel Rishon LeZion is an Hapoel sports club in the city of Rishon LeZion, Israel.

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.

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.

Israel's Department Store

Following the takeover of the store, Wilfrid Israel, who had run the business with his brother, emigrated to England, where he took up a research position at Balliol College, Oxford.

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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.

Jerusalem Program

The task of Zionism is the consolidation of the State of Israel, the in gathering of exiles in Eretz Israel, and the fostering of the unity of the Jewish people.

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The Jerusalem Program differed from the original Basel Program in which it shifted the goals of the Zionist Movement once the State of Israel was already established.

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.

Kidron

Kidron, Israel, a small moshav near Gedera, which is named after the stream flowing through Kidron Valley

Kiryat Menachem

It is bordered by Ir Ganim to the south and east, Mount Ora to the west, and the Jerusalem Hills to the north.

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.

Military Rabbinate

Weiss is infamous for being the chief rabbi during the 2005 disengagement from Gaza and was in charge of disinterring 48 graves from the Gush Katif cemetery.

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More recently, it was placed in charge of dismantling of the cemetery in Gush Katif during the Gaza disengagement plan.

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.

Political accusations against the Baha'i Faith

Since the founding of Israel, there are also accusations of Bahá'ís being associated with Zionism, since the Bahá'í World Centre is located in current-day Israel, although this is an historic accident, rather than the result of deliberate action by the Baha'is.

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In one edition of the faked memories, Dolgorukov is said to have provided money for Bahá'u'lláh to build a house in Acre, but Dolgorukov died in 1867, before Bahá'u'lláh arrived in Acre.

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.

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.

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.

Silicon Valley Bank

In 2004, the bank opened international subsidiaries in Bangalore and London; in 2005 it opened offices in Beijing and Israel.

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.

The Six Wives of Henry Lefay

Its only theatrical release was in Israel, and was launched straight to DVD elsewhere, including the United States and United Kingdom.

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.

Tzohar organization

Tzohar organization was founded by a group of rabbis from religious Zionism group, in order to be partners in shaping the Jewish character of Israel, from the dialogue and the search for common identity elements.


2012 US-Israel military exercise

Mark Regev, the spokesman for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel and the United States made the decision to delay the exercise "because it was not the right time.

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.

Alabama Policy Institute

In 2005, it criticized Democrats for failing to take on a hardline position against Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statements about Israel.

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."

Big Brother 5

HaAh HaGadol 5, the current 2013 edition of Big Brother in Israel

Buber

Martin Buber, Austrian-born Israeli Jewish scholar, socialist, Zionist, and prominent advocate of a joint Jewish-Arab state of Israel

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.

Damir Lesjak

Damir Lesjak (born 31 March 1967) is a former Croatian footballer who played for Dinamo Zagreb, Israeli side Hapoel Haifa and Belgian club Mouscron.

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.

Economic Cooperation Foundation

The ‘Architects of Oslo’, then developed the ‘Beilin–Abu 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.

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.

Eyal Gabbai

This period was characterized by vigorous privatization of state companies, including El Al, Bezeq, Israel's Oil Refineries and Zim, selling shares in a total value of 14b NIS in an unprecedented privatization spree.

First Step to Nobel Prize in Physics

In 2009, the prize went to Mor Tzaban, a high school student from Netivot, Israel.

Gaza in Crisis

Any political opposition to Israel within the U.S. was however undermined by American politician Fiorello H. LaGuardia, pioneer of identity politics, and Canadian journalist Isaiah L. Kenen, founder of lobby group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Hamuchtar

Accompanied by an accordionist, he toured Israel amidst scud rocket attacks and re-introduced chansons and burlesque to Bauhaus Tel-Aviv.

Hannibal Directive

Israel has with several notable exceptions adhered to the principle of not negotiating with what it considers terrorists and this especially in hostage situations.

Howard Gordon

Based on the Israeli series Prisoners of War, it centers on a woman (Claire Danes) who works for the CIA and is convinced a recently returned American prisoner of war (Damian Lewis) has been turned by al-Qaeda.

Hutzot HaMifratz Railway Station

Hutzot HaMifratz Railway Station is a station on both the main North-South coastal line of Israel Railways (Nahariya – Haifa – Tel Aviv – Ben-Gurion Airport – Be'er Sheva Inter-City Service) and the suburban line serving Haifa's northern suburbs – The Qrayot (Haifa - Qiryat Motzkin Suburban Service), although only a third of all the Inter-City trains actually stop at the station.

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.

Irad Young

Young was signed by Hapoel Haifa of the Israel Premier League, the same club his father, Roby Young captained and starred throughout the 1960s, for the 1993–94 Liga Leumit season.

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–Kenya relations

The Kibwezi irrigation project of 1991 was a joint effort between the two countries.

Israel–Yemen relations

When the Israeli singer, Ofra Haza planned to visit Yemen, her country of origin, the Yemeni government gave its approval.

Israeli Intelligence Community

:*Field Intelligence Corps: the intelligence unit of GOC Army Headquarters

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.

Jihadism

This changed significantly with the foundation of the state of Israel and the beginning of the Arab–Israeli conflict after the end of World War II.

Jon Pollard

Jonathan Pollard, a former civilian intelligence analyst who was convicted of spying for Israel

Kristian Chong

A highly sought after chamber musician, recent collaborations include Australian and international tours with the Australian String Quartet, performances with violinists Natsuko Yoshimoto, Elizabeth Layton, Ilya Konovalov, (concertmaster Israel Philharmonic), Flinders Quartet, and cellists Li-Wei Qin and Guy Johnston.

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.

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.

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.

Oramir

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

Paul Dombrecht

He is a professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and regularly teaches masterclasses in Spain, Italy, Turkey, Germany, Greece and Israel.

Ram Moav

Ram Moav (1930 - 1984) was an Israeli geneticist and science fiction writer.

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)).

Samakh

Samakh, Tiberias, an abandoned former Palestinian village at the south end of the Sea of Galilee in Israel

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.

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).

Weizmann

Weizmann Institute of Science, a world-renowned institute of higher learning and research in Rehovot, 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.

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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.

Zucchetto

Menasseh Ben Israel for a portrait of Rabbi ben Israel wearing zucchetto-style yarmulke