Israeli History

A number of countries in the Middle East gained their independence around the same time as Israel - Lebanon in 1943, Syria and Jordan in 1946, with Libya gaining independence just after in 1951, Egypt in 1954, Tunisia and Morocco in 1956 and Algeria in 1962. This gives further credence to the claim of many lost opportunities at the hands of the third parties involved in the Middle East at the time, with not helping to avoid the Palestinian crisis that Israel now finds it has straight after the Second World War in 1946

This war began when the Arab coalition, led at the time by Egypt and Syria, launched a joint surprise attack on Israel on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. The Egyptian and Syrian forces crossed armistice lines to enter the Golan Heights (to the north) and Sinai Peninsula (to the south) respectively. Because of the surprise nature of the offensive, which took just over three days for the Israeli Defence Forces to suppress, over 11,600 Israeli casualties were recorded, although amazingly, there were no civilian deaths recorded

While the consumption of virtually all insects is considered to be forbidden under the laws of keeping kosher, the rabbis of the biblical Talmud (Book of Jewish Learning) identified eight kosher species of locusts. Israel has seen locust invasions of recent and some people have taken the very novel approach to their pest control by eating them deep-fried or covered in chocolate

Agriculture is one of Israel's major industries, making the country almost self sufficient for food. It has reclaimed vast tracts of otherwise barren land for growing crops and its world-leading irrigation and water-desalination technologies are exported around the world

It would appear that 20% of the Israeli population do not believe in God (although only 53% of secular Jews do believe in the existence of God)

In what was considered a surprising result, the Likud party led by Menachem Begin won 43 seats in the election (Labour achieved 32 seats). This was the first time in Israeli history that the government was not led by a left party

In the general election of that year, the Prime Minister was elected in a second, separate ballot to that carried out to elect MPs

The earliest instances of “written” Hebrew date from about the 10th century BC, mostly in the form of primitive drawings. However, by around 200 AD, Hebrew was no longer an everyday spoken language, and continued into medieval times as the language used in Jewish liturgy and religious rabbinic literature. Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of Israel (the other being Arabic), while Classical Hebrew is now used only for prayer or study. About 90% of Israeli Jews and 60% of Israeli Arabs are proficient in Hebrew

A dramatic visit to Jerusalem by the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1977 opened the way to the dramatic peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. President Jimmy Carter invited both men to Camp David, outside Washington, and it was there they made an agreement in principle that was followed up by a treaty in 1979

At 427 metres (1,401 feet) below sea level it is the lowest place on land on Earth and at 306 metres (1,004 feet) deep, it is the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. With levels of 34.2% salinity, it is also one of the world's saltiest bodies of water and is such a harsh environment that it cannot support animal life, hence its name. The high level of salt means that you cannot swim "in" it, only sit or float "on" it. However, you must shower well on exit, as allowing the salt water to dry on the body in the hot climate during summer can irritate the skin heavily