Israel

The State of Israel (Hebrew: מדינת ישראל; Arabic: دولة إسرائيل) is a small yet diverse Middle Eastern country bordered by Egypt and the Gaza Strip to the southwest, by the West Bank and Jordan to the east, and by Syria and Lebanon to the north. The country has a long coastline on the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and very limited access to the Red Sea at the Gulf of Aqaba (often called the Gulf of Eilat in Israel). Since 1967, Israel has controlled most of the West Bank (often called "Judea and Samaria" in Israel) as well as the Golan Heights. Israel has annexed East Jerusalem and the Golan, but most countries reject the annexation, and consider these areas and the West Bank (which Israel did not annex, and Israeli law does not apply to the area) to be illegally occupied. Wikivoyage takes no stance on these political issues, but notes that in practice, current visitors to these areas will need Israeli visas and permits.\nThe modern State of Israel was established in 1948 as a homeland for the Jewish people, but the region contains thousands of years of history for many peoples and religions in addition to the Jews. Israel is considered part of the Holy Land (together with areas of Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Territories). The four major monotheistic religions — the Baha'i Faith, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — all were founded or have strong ties to here, and their holy and historic sites are major destinations for pilgrims and tourists from around the world.\nThe Israeli population is about 80% Jews, 19% Arab and 1% other. Most of the Jews are descended from Olim ("returnees" from the Jewish Diaspora), and their diverse origins (Russian, German, Moroccan, Yemenite, and Ethiopian, to name a few of the prominent ones) can be seen in various aspects of modern Israeli culture.\nIn contrast to its long ancient history, Israel is a highly urbanized, economically developed, first-world society. Unfortunately it is still in conflict with the Palestinians and some of its other Arab neighbors, and sometimes you will see signs of these tensions, but you will almost never be in danger (though there are places you should be more cautious like the West Bank). Although it's in Asia, due to hostility from the Arab countries, Israel participates in European rather than Asian regional bodies.