Disputes - international: none
This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007
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@Israel
Introduction Israel
Background:
Following World War II, the British withdrew from their mandate of
Palestine, and the UN partitioned the area into Arab and Jewish
states, an arrangement rejected by the Arabs. Subsequently, the
Israelis defeated the Arabs in a series of wars without ending the
deep tensions between the two sides. The territories Israel occupied
since the 1967 war are not included in the Israel country profile,
unless otherwise noted. On 25 April 1982, Israel withdrew from the
Sinai pursuant to the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. Israel and
Palestinian officials signed on 13 September 1993 a Declaration of
Principles (also known as the "Oslo Accords") guiding an interim
period of Palestinian self-rule. Outstanding territorial and other
disputes with Jordan were resolved in the 26 October 1994
Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace. In addition, on 25 May 2000, Israel
withdrew unilaterally from southern Lebanon, which it had occupied
since 1982. In keeping with the framework established at the Madrid
Conference in October 1991, bilateral negotiations were conducted
between Israel and Palestinian representatives and Syria to achieve
a permanent settlement. In April 2003, US President BUSH, working in
conjunction with the EU, UN, and Russia - the "Quartet" - took the
lead in laying out a roadmap to a final settlement of the conflict
by 2005, based on reciprocal steps by the two parties leading to two
states, Israel and a democratic Palestine. However, progress toward
a permanent status agreement was undermined by Israeli-Palestinian
violence between September 2003 and February 2005. An
Israeli-Palestinian agreement reached at Sharm al-Sheikh in February
2005, along with an internally-brokered Palestinian ceasefire,
significantly reduced the violence. In the summer of 2005, Israel
unilaterally disengaged from the Gaza Strip, evacuating settlers and
its military. The election of HAMAS in January 2006 to head the
Palestinian Legislative Council froze relations between Israel and
the Palestinian Authority. Ehud OLMERT became prime minister in
March 2006; following an Israeli military operation in Gaza in
June-July 2006, he shelved plans to unilaterally evacuate from most
of the West Bank. The kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Lebanese
Hizballah led to a 34-day conflict in Lebanon in June-August 2006.
Geography Israel
Location:
Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and
Lebanon
Geographic coordinates:
31 30 N, 34 45 E
Map references:
Middle East