Population:
4,748,059 (July 1992), growth rate 4.0% (1992); includes 95,000 Jewish
settlers in the West Bank, 14,000 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights,
4,000 in the Gaza Strip, and 132,000 in East Jerusalem (1992 est.)
Birth rate:
21 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
6 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
26 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
9 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
76 years male, 80 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
2.9 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Israeli(s); adjective - Israeli
Ethnic divisions:
Jewish 83%, non-Jewish (mostly Arab) 17%
Religions:
Judaism 82%, Islam (mostly Sunni Muslim) 14%, Christian 2%, Druze and other
2%
Languages:
Hebrew (official); Arabic used officially for Arab minority; English most
commonly used foreign language
Literacy:
92% (male 95%, female 89%) age 15 and over can read and write (1983)
Labor force:
1,400,000 (1984 est.); public services 29.3%; industry, mining, and
manufacturing 22.8%; commerce 12.8%; finance and business 9.5%; transport,
storage, and communications 6.8%; construction and public works 6.5%;
personal and other services 5.8%; agriculture, forestry, and fishing 5.5%;
electricity and water 1.0% (1983)
Organized labor:
90% of labor force
:Israel Government
Long-form name:
State of Israel
Type:
republic
Capital:
Israel proclaimed Jerusalem its capital in 1950, but the US, like nearly all
other countries, maintains its Embassy in Tel Aviv
Administrative divisions:
6 districts (mehozot, singular - mehoz); Central, Haifa, Jerusalem,
Northern, Southern, Tel Aviv
Independence:
14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)
Constitution:
no formal constitution; some of the functions of a constitution are filled
by the Declaration of Establishment (1948), the basic laws of the parliament
(Knesset), and the Israeli citizenship law
Legal system:
mixture of English common law, British Mandate regulations, and, in personal
matters, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim legal systems; in December 1985,
Israel informed the UN Secretariat that it would no longer accept compulsory
ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday:
Independence Day; Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, but the
Jewish calendar is lunar and the holiday may occur in April or May
Executive branch:
president, prime minister, vice prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch:
unicameral parliament (Knesset)
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State:
President Chaim HERZOG (since 5 May 1983)
Head of Government:
Prime Minister Yitzhak SHAMIR (since 20 October 1986)
Political parties and leaders:
Israel currently has a coalition government comprising 12 parties that hold
66 of the Knesset's 120 seats; currently in state of flux; election held 23
June 1992
Members of the government:
Likud bloc, Prime Minister Yitzhak SHAMIR; Sephardic Torah Guardians (SHAS),
Minister of Interior Arieh DER'I; National Religious Party, Minister of
Education Shulamit ALONI; Agudat Israel, Avraham SHAPIRA; Degel HaTorah,
Avraham RAVITZ; Moriya, Minister of Immigrant Absorption, Yair TZABAN;
Ge'ulat Israel, Eliezer MIZRAHI; New Liberal Party, Minister of Finance,
Avraham SHOCHAT; Tehiya Party, Minister of Science Technology, Yuval NEEMAN;
Tzomet Party Unity for Peace and Aliyah, Rafael EITAN; Moledet Party,
Rehavam ZEEVI
Opposition parties:
Labor Party, Shimon PERES; Citizens' Rights Movement, Shulamit ALONI; United
Workers' Party (MAPAM), Yair TZABAN; Center Movement-Shinui, Amnon
RUBENSTEIN; New Israeli Communist Party (MAKI), Meir WILNER; Progressive
List for Peace, Muhammad MI'ARI; Arab Democratic Party, `Abd Al Wahab
DARAWSHAH; Black Panthers, Charlie BITON
Suffrage:
universal at age 18
:Israel Government
Elections:
President:
last held 23 February 1988 (next to be held February 1994); results - Chaim
HERZOG reelected by Knesset
Knesset:
last held June 1992 (next to be held by NA; results - percent of vote by
party NA; seats - (120 total) Labor Party 44, Likud bloc 12, SHAS 6,
National Religious Party 6, Meretz 12, Agudat Yisrael 4, PAZI 3, MAKI 3,
Tehiya Party 3, Tzomet Party 8, Moledet Party 3, Degel HaTorah 4, Center
Movement Progressive List for Peace 1, Arab Democratic Party 2; Black
Panthers 1, Moriya 1, Ge'ulat Yisrael 1, Unity for Peace and Aliyah 1
Communists:
Hadash (predominantly Arab but with Jews in its leadership) has some 1,500
members
Other political or pressure groups:
Gush Emunim, Jewish nationalists advocating Jewish settlement on the West
Bank and Gaza Strip; Peace Now, critical of government's West Bank/Gaza
Strip and Lebanon policies
Member of:
AG (observer), CCC, EBRD, FAO, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU,
IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO,
ITU, OAS (observer), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation:
Ambassador Zalman SHOVAL; Chancery at 3514 International Drive NW,
Washington, DC 20008; telephone (202) 364-5500; there are Israeli Consulates
General in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York,
Philadelphia, and San Francisco
US:
Ambassador William HARROP; Embassy at 71 Hayarkon Street, Tel Aviv (mailing
address is APO AE 09830; telephone [972] (3) 654338; FAX [972] (3) 663449;
there is a US Consulate General in Jerusalem
Flag:
white with a blue hexagram (six-pointed linear star) known as the Magen
David (Shield of David) centered between two equal horizontal blue bands
near the top and bottom edges of the flag
:Israel Economy
Overview:
Israel has a market economy with substantial government participation. It
depends on imports of crude oil, grains, raw materials, and military
equipment. Despite limited natural resources, Israel has intensively
developed its agricultural and industrial sectors over the past 20 years.
Industry employs about 20% of Israeli workers, agriculture 5%, and services
most of the rest. Diamonds, high-technology equipment, and agricultural
products (fruits and vegetables) are leading exports. Israel usually posts
balance-of-payments deficits, which are covered by large transfer payments
from abroad and by foreign loans. Roughly half of the government's $17
billion external debt is owed to the United States, which is its major
source of economic and military aid. To earn needed foreign exchange, Israel
has been targeting high-technology niches in international markets, such as
medical scanning equipment. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 dealt a
blow to Israel's economy. Higher world oil prices added an estimated $300
million to the oil import bill that year and helped keep annual inflation at
18%. Regional tension and the continuing Palestinian uprising (intifadah)
have contributed to a sharp drop in tourism - a key foreign exchange earner
- to the lowest level since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. The influx of Jewish
immigrants from the former USSR, which topped 330,000 during the period
1990-91, will increase unemployment, intensify housing problems, widen the
government budget deficit, and fuel inflation.
GDP:
purchasing power equivalent - $54.6 billion, per capita $12,000; real growth
rate 5% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
18% (1991 est.)
Unemployment rate:
11% (1991 est.)
Budget:
revenues $41.7 billion; expenditures $47.6 billion, including capital
expenditures of $NA (FY92)
Exports:
$12.1 billion (f.o.b., 1991 est.)
commodities:
polished diamonds, citrus and other fruits, textiles and clothing, processed
foods, fertilizer and chemical products, military hardware, electronics
partners:
US, EC, Japan, Hong Kong, Switzerland
Imports:
$18.1 billion (c.i.f., 1991 est.)
commodities:
military equipment, rough diamonds, oil, chemicals, machinery, iron and
steel, cereals, textiles, vehicles, ships, aircraft
partners:
US, EC, Switzerland, Japan, South Africa, Canada, Hong Kong
External debt:
$24 billion, of which government debt is $17 billion (December 1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate - 7% (1991 est.); accounts for about 20% of GDP
Electricity:
5,300,000 kWh capacity; 21,000 million kWh produced, 4,800 kWh per capita
(1991)
Industries:
food processing, diamond cutting and polishing, textiles, clothing,
chemicals, metal products, military equipment, transport equipment,
electrical equipment, miscellaneous machinery, potash mining,
high-technology electronics, tourism
:Israel Economy
Agriculture:
accounts for about 3% of GDP; largely self-sufficient in food production,
except for grains; principal products - citrus and other fruits, vegetables,
cotton; livestock products - beef, dairy, and poultry
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-90), $18.2 billion; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $2.8 billion
Currency:
new Israeli shekel (plural - shekels); 1 new Israeli shekel (NIS) = 100 new
agorot
Exchange rates:
new Israeli shekels (NIS) per US$1 - 2.4019 (March 1992), 2.2791 (1991),
2.0162 (1990), 1.9164 (1989), 1.5989 (1988), 1.5946 (1987)
Fiscal year:
previously 1 April - 31 March; FY91 was 1 April - 31 December, and since 1
January 1992 the fiscal year has conformed to the calendar year
:Israel Communications