Israel Travel Podcast with Noa Shapira

Location

Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Lebanon

Terrain

Negev desert in the south; low coastal plain; central mountains; Jordan Rift Valley

Climate

Temperate; hot and dry in southern and eastern desert areas

Elevation

Highest point

Mitspe Shlagim 2,224 m; note - this is the highest named point, the actual highest point is an unnamed dome slightly to the west of Mitspe Shlagim at 2,236 m; both points are on the northeastern border of Israel, along the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range

Lowest point

Dead Sea -431 m

Mean elevation

508 m

Area

Total

21,937 sq km

Land

21,497 sq km

Water

440 sq km

Size comparison

Slightly larger than New Jersey

Coastline

273 km

Land borders

Total

1,068 km

Border countries

Egypt 208 km; Gaza Strip 59 km; Jordan 327 km (20 km are within the Dead Sea); Lebanon 81 km; Syria 83 km; West Bank 330 km

Natural resources

Timber, potash, copper ore, natural gas, phosphate rock, magnesium bromide, clays, sand

Land use

Agricultural land

24.8% (2023 est.)

Arable land

12.5% (2023 est.)

Permanent crops

4.7% (2023 est.)

Permanent pasture

7.6% (2023 est.)

Forest

6.7% (2023 est.)

Other

68.5% (2023 est.)

Natural hazards

Sandstorms may occur during spring and summer; droughts; periodic earthquakes

Note

Note 1: Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee) is an important freshwater source; the Dead Sea is the second saltiest body of water in the world (after Lake Assal in Djibouti)

Note 2: the Malham Cave in Mount Sodom is the world's longest salt cave at 10 km (6 mi); Mount Sodom is a hill about 220 m (722 ft) high that is 80% salt, with multiple salt layers covered by a veneer of rock

Population

Total

9,402,617 (2024 est.)

Male

4,731,275

Female

4,671,342

Nationality

Noun

Israeli(s)

Adjective

Israeli

Ethnic groups

Jewish 73.5% (of which Israel-born 79.7%, Europe/America/Oceania-born 14.3%, Africa-born 3.9%, Asia-born 2.1%), Arab 21.1%, other 5.4% (2022 est.)

Languages

Languages

Hebrew (official), Arabic (special status under Israeli law), English (most commonly used foreign language)

Major-language sample(s)

ספר עובדות העולם, המקור החיוני למידע בסיסי (Hebrew)

Religions

Jewish 73.5%, Muslim 18.1%, Christian 1.9%, Druze 1.6%, other 4.9% (2022 est.)

Median age

Total

30.2 years (2025 est.)

Male

29.6 years

Female

30.7 years

Life expectancy

Total population

83.1 years (2024 est.)

Male

81.1 years

Female

85.1 years

Urbanisation

Urban population

92.9% of total population (2023)

Rate of urbanization

1.51% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Where people live

Population concentrated in and around Tel-Aviv, as well as around the Sea of Galilee; the south remains sparsely populated, with the exception of the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba

Largest cities

4.421 million Tel Aviv-Yafo, 1.174 million Haifa, 970,000 JERUSALEM (capital) (2023)

Background

Israel has become a regional economic and military powerhouse, leveraging its prosperous high-tech sector, large defense industry, and concerns about Iran to foster partnerships around the world. The State of Israel was established in 1948. The UN General Assembly proposed in 1947 partitioning the British Mandate for Palestine into an Arab and Jewish state. The Jews accepted the proposal, but the local Arabs and the Arab states rejected the UN plan and launched a war. The Arabs were subsequently defeated in the 1947-1949 war that followed the UN proposal and the British withdrawal. Israel joined the UN in 1949 and saw rapid population growth, primarily due to Jewish refugee migration from Europe and the Middle East. Israel and its Arab neighbors fought wars in 1956, 1967, and 1973, and Israel signed peace treaties with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994. Israel took control of the West Bank, the eastern part of Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights in the course of the 1967 war. It ceded the Sinai back to Egypt in the 1979-1982 period but has continued to administer the other territories through military authorities. Israel and Palestinian officials signed interim agreements in the 1990s that created a period of Palestinian self-rule in parts of the West Bank and Gaza. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. The most recent formal efforts between Israel and the Palestinian Authority to negotiate final status issues occurred in 2013 and 2014, and the US continues its efforts to advance peace. Israel signed the US-brokered normalization agreements (the Abraham Accords) with Bahrain, the UAE, and Morocco in 2020 and reached an agreement with Sudan in 2021. Immigration to Israel continues, with more than 44,000 estimated new immigrants, mostly Jewish, in the first 11 months of 2023.

Former Prime Minister Benjamin NETANYAHU returned to office in 2022, continuing his dominance of Israel's political landscape at the head of Israel's most rightwing and religious government. NETANYAHU previously served as premier from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021, becoming Israel's longest serving prime minister.

On 7 October 2023, HAMAS militants launched a combined unguided rocket and ground terrorist attack from Gaza into southern Israel. The same day Israel’s Air Force launched air strikes inside Gaza and initiated a sustained air campaign against HAMAS targets across the Gaza Strip. The following day, NETANYAHU formally declared war on HAMAS, and on 28 October, the Israel Defense Forces launched a large-scale ground assault inside Gaza.

The Israeli economy has undergone a dramatic transformation in the last 30 years, led by cutting-edge high-tech sectors. Offshore gas discoveries in the Mediterranean place Israel at the center of a potential regional natural gas market. In 2022, a US-brokered agreement between Israel and Lebanon established their maritime boundary, allowing Israel to begin production on additional gas fields in the Mediterranean. However, Israel's economic development has been uneven. Structural issues such as low labor-force participation among religious and minority populations, low workforce productivity, high costs for housing and consumer staples, and high income inequality concern both economists and the general population. The current war with Hamas disrupted Israel’s solid economic fundamentals, but it is not likely to have long-term structural implications for the economy.

Government

Parliamentary democracy

Capital

Jerusalem

Time zone

UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

Local name

Medinat Yisra'el

Independence

14 May 1948 (following League of Nations mandate under British administration)

National day

Independence Day, 14 May (1948)

Overview

High-income, technology- and industrial-based economy; economic contraction and fiscal deficits resulting from war in Gaza; labor force stabilizing following military reservist mobilization; high-tech industry remains resilient while construction and tourism among hardest-hit sectors

GDP per capita

Real GDP per capita 2024

$47,300 (2024 est.)

Real GDP per capita 2023

$47,500 (2023 est.)

Real GDP per capita 2022

$48,100 (2022 est.)

Inflation

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2024

3.1% (2024 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2023

4.2% (2023 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2022

4.4% (2022 est.)

Unemployment

Unemployment rate 2024

3.2% (2024 est.)

Unemployment rate 2023

3.6% (2023 est.)

Unemployment rate 2022

3.7% (2022 est.)

Exchange rate

Currency

New Israeli shekels (ILS) per US dollar -

Exchange rates 2024

3.7 (2024 est.)

Exchange rates 2023

3.667 (2023 est.)

Exchange rates 2022

3.36 (2022 est.)

Exchange rates 2021

3.23 (2021 est.)

Exchange rates 2020

3.442 (2020 est.)

Main industries

High-technology products (including aviation, communications, computer-aided design and manufactures, medical electronics, fiber optics), wood and paper products, potash and phosphates, food, beverages, and tobacco, caustic soda, cement, pharmaceuticals, construction, metal products, chemical products, plastics, cut diamonds, textiles, footwear

Agriculture

Milk, chicken, potatoes, tomatoes, tangerines/mandarins, bananas, eggs, avocados, beef, carrots/turnips (2023)

Airports

40 (2025)

Railways

Total

1,497 km (2021) (2019)

Standard gauge

1,497 km (2021) 1.435-m gauge

Ports

Total ports

5 (2024)

Large

0

Medium

1

Small

2

Very small

2

Ports with oil terminals

4

Key ports

Ashdod, Ashqelon, Elat, Hadera, Haifa

Internet domain

.il

Internet users

Percent of population 87% (2023 est.)

Mobile subscriptions

Total subscriptions

13.8 million (2022 est.)

Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

152 (2022 est.)

Environmental issues

Limited arable land and restricted natural freshwater resources; desertification; air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; groundwater pollution from industrial and domestic waste, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides

Fresh water

1.78 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)