Israel in Our World

Israel in Our World book cover — Countries in our WORLD ISRAEL in our world Andrew Langley

Israel in Our World — page 1 — Introducing Israel Israel is a small country in southwest Asia on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea It has a wide variety of landscapes including mountains deserts fertile valleys and coastline Arab Neighbors Israel has borders with four countries Lebanon to the north Syria and Jordan to the east and Egypt to the southwest All of them are Arab states whose people are mostly followers of the Islamic faith Some parts of Israel’s borders are not as easy to define In wars since 1948 Israel has seized large areas of territory from its neighbors Among them are the West Bank of the Jordan River and the Gaza Strip home to Palestinian Arabs Despite many years of talks and protests no decision has been made about the future of these areas which are known as the Palestinian Territories 쑺 Israel borders the Mediterranean Sea in the west It also has short stretches of coastline along the landlocked Dead Sea in the east and the Red Sea in the south LEBANON SYRIA Sea of Galilee Haifa Mediterranean Sea Tel Aviv WEST BANK r e v i R n a d r o J Jerusalem GAZA STRIP Sderot Dead Sea Masada ISRAEL NEGEV DESERT JORDAN NN WW EE SS KeyKey Capital city Capital city Other cities Other cities Eilat 00 00 milesmiles 5050 kilometers kilometers 5050 Red Sea SAUDI ARABIA EGYPT 4

Israel in Our World — page 2 — INTRODUCING ISRAEL The Birth of Israel Modern Israel covers much of the same area as the ancient Kingdom of Israel described in the Bible This was where the faith called Judaism began nearly 4,000 years ago When the Romans conquered the region in 63 AD they called it Palestine Over the centuries the Jews were driven out and scattered across the world It was not until 1948 that Israel was created as a national Jewish home Palestine was divided into two states one for Jews and one for Palestinian Arabs IT’S A FACT Israel is the only Jewish state in the world It was founded in 1948 as a homeland for the Jewish people Today about three out of every four Israelis are Jews The rest of the population are mainly Arabs and Muslim 쑽 The ruins of the 2,000-year-old fortress at Masada overlook the desert and the Dead Sea

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