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At times, Israel can seem like a country obsessed by religion. In Jerusalem, you may hear the Muslim call to prayer clash with the clanging of bells from Christian churches, while Jews sway back and forth in prayer before the Western Wall. In other parts of the country, you'll find yourself walking in the exact places where the events of the Bible unfolded. Everywhere you turn, you'll see reminders of the three religions—Judaism, Christianity and Islam—that have shaped this part of the world.

You'll also see evidence of the conflicts that continue to plague the region, many of them at least partly based on religion. Relations between Israelis and their Palestinian neighbors have been heated and at times violent. Despite the fact that Israel has signed peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, chances for a lasting peace with an independent Palestinian neighbor remain a pipe dream that even the most hopeful optimist can't envision for the near future.

More than half a century of conflict has not prevented Israel from developing a modern industrial society able to absorb immigrants from vastly differing cultural and economic backgrounds. Its natural beauty is complemented by a rich variety of cultural activities and sightseeing opportunities. Moreover, it remains the Middle East's sole participatory democracy with a highly opinionated population (reflecting a complete spectrum of political allegiance and outlook), an unfettered press and a totally independent judiciary.

In the Palestinian "Intifadas" of 1987-93 and 2000-05, major terrorist attacks took place in Israel, and as a result, the country is very security-conscious. Tourists are again flocking to Israel's inspiring and interesting sights, but they do so while keeping abreast of the latest developments in the region.

Geography

Israel stands at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa, though it belongs to the Asian continent. Its western border is the Mediterranean Sea. To the north, it is bounded by Lebanon and Syria, to the east by Jordan and the Palestinian Territories in the West Bank, and to the south by the Red Sea and Egypt. The Gaza Strip, a narrow piece of land running along the Mediterranean coast southwest of Israel, is also under Palestinian control and shares a border with Egypt.

Israel is a relatively small area, long and narrow in shape, measuring 290 mi/470 km in length and 85 mi/135 km across at its widest point.

History

Israel's history began long before the modern state was established in 1948. Throughout the centuries, this small patch of land hugging the Mediterranean has served as a corridor for conquering powers moving between Africa, Europe and Asia. Biblical stories document passages in Canaan and the surrounding territories, with the name Israel first given to the patriarch Jacob and the nation formed by his sons and their tribes.

Archaeologists use the Bible as a literary guide to their work, but no physical evidence of the early Israelite kingdoms of David and Solomon has been found. The magnificent Temple constructed in Jerusalem by Solomon was destroyed in a Babylonian invasion in 587 BC. After a short exile, the Jews returned to their homeland and built a second temple. The Persians took control, to be followed by the Ptolemies and then the Seleucids. Jewish rebels called the Maccabees revolted against these Syrian-based rulers, purified the temple and established the Hasmonean kingdom.

By decree of Rome, Herod became the ruler of the small Jewish state, and as a master builder, he reconstructed the Temple as one of the wonders of the ancient world. Just before Herod's death, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Roman governor Pontius Pilate had Jesus executed for his perceived threat to Roman law and order.

Following a Jewish revolt in Caesarea, Jerusalem was taken by the Romans and the second Temple was destroyed in AD 70. In AD 135, following the Bar Kochba Revolt, Roman emperor Hadrian drove the remaining Jews out of Jerusalem and re-established the city as Aelia Capitolina. The name given to this Roman province, Provincia Syria Palaestina, was the origin of the modern name Palestine.

In AD 638, six years after the prophet Mohammed's death, Muslims seized Jerusalem and established a religious connection to the land. The Dome of the Rock was constructed in AD 691 over the spot where Mohammed's "Night Journey" led him into heaven. The El Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest Muslim shrine after Mecca and Medina, was built nearby in the following century.

In the 11th century, the Crusaders arrived in Palestine. They established a short-lived kingdom in Jerusalem, only to be driven out by Saladin of Egypt in 1187. Christians and Muslims continued to fight over the land until the Mamluks took control in the 13th century.

The Ottomans annexed Palestine in 1516, and Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilt Jerusalem's walls into their present form circling the Old City. Palestine remained a quiet corner of the Ottoman Empire until World War I.

After the Zionist movement called for the re-establishment of the Jewish homeland, the Balfour Declaration was issued in 1917 in England supporting this national home in Palestine. Shortly afterwards, the British defeated the Turkish army, and the League of Nations granted them a mandate to rule the country.

Following the Holocaust in Europe, Jewish immigrants flooded their homeland, many illegally because the British exercised strict immigration controls. In 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan to create separate Jewish and Arab countries and an internationally controlled Jerusalem. The Palestinian Arabs and the surrounding Arab countries rejected this proposal, paving the way for years of bloody conflict with their Jewish neighbors.

The state of Israel was established in May 1948, and the country was immediately invaded. The War of Independence resulted in Israel's firm control over its territories, but the West Bank and the eastern half of Jerusalem, including the Old City's holy sites, fell under Jordanian rule. At the outbreak of war, many Palestinians fled their homes, creating a still unresolved refugee problem.

After the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel took control of the West Bank and reunited Jerusalem. Israel also secured control of the Gaza Strip, a band of desert that once was administered by Egypt, and annexed the Golan Heights, which had been Syrian. Israelis argued that control of the areas was vital for their national survival, and Palestinians sought autonomy on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. The Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt in exchange for Israel's first peace agreement with an Arab nation. Palestinian resentment broke out in the First Intifada, an intermittent, six-year rebellion that began in the 1980s.

The Palestinian-Israeli struggle took a dramatic turn in 1994, when the two sides signed a peace agreement. The Palestinians agreed to recognize Israel, and Israel agreed to turn over the West Bank towns and the Gaza Strip to Palestinian autonomous control. This agreement also paved the way for a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan.

The peace process was dealt a blow when Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated—by an Israeli extremist—in 1995. More violent altercations and the Second Intifada began in late 2000 following the Palestinian leadership's rejection of major concessions offered by Premier Ehud Barak at the Camp David summit. Following Ariel Sharon's election as prime minister in 2001, Palestinian violence intensified. The Israeli military retaliations led to Palestinian loss of life as well.

Israeli forces had already withdrawn from the Palestinian towns. Following a wave of suicide attacks on Israeli towns, Israel's construction of a separation fence to thwart terrorist infiltrations and its targeted killings of Palestinian terrorist leaders almost ended terrorist attacks against Israel, but these measures also fueled tensions.

Even after Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's death in 2004, Israelis and Palestinians failed to resume negotiations. Since he had no partner in the peace process, Sharon embarked on a controversial unilateral move to set Israel's borders. Israeli troops and civilians withdrew from the Gaza Strip and a portion of the northern West Bank in August 2005.

Diplomatic moves stalled again in early 2006 after a massive stroke left Sharon in a coma. The Islamic militant group Hamas won the Palestinian elections, tipping Israeli-Palestinian relations into uncharted waters, but the Kadima party and Sharon's former right-hand man Ehud Olmert held on to power in the March 2006 elections. In summer 2006, Hezbollah guerrillas kidnapped several Israeli soldiers at the Israel-Lebanon border and violence erupted again. In June 2007, the Palestinian Civil War between Hamas and Fatah intensified, leaving the Gaza strip under control of radical Hamas forces.

After taking control of Gaza, Hamas launched hundreds of missiles into southern Israel, with 87 missiles fired in a single day on 25 December 2008. On 27 December, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead, a massive air and ground offensive designed to weaken Hamas.

Israel has imposed a strict embargo on the movement of goods into Gaza to prevent Hamas re-arming. Cross-border attacks on Israel from Gaza came to an abrupt end after Operation Cast Lead, but then re-started.

In 2011, the Palestine Authority, a coalition of Hamas and Fatah, sought to become a member of the UN as a sovereign state but was rejected; it was eventually given a nonmember state status. A year later, Israel took steps to legalize Israeli settlements in the West Bank on Palestinian soil, which caused outrage in the international community. Settler violence continues to be perpetuated by both sides. The foreign countries making up the peacemaking team are pushing for a two-state agreement but the eternal issue is the readiness of both camps to commit to ending the conflict, they say.

In May 2018, the U.S. relocated its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, creating violence and protests; and in July the same year, Israel's parliament passed a controversial law characterizing the country as princip

Snapshot

Among Israel's main attractions are religious shrines, beaches, historical sites, archaeological digs, Dead Sea spas, souks (markets), nature reserves, fascinating cultures and great food.

Known as one of the world's biggest inventors of IT software and systems, Israel is often referred to as the "Silicon Valley of the Middle East."

The country is ranked with six micro-climates contained in deserts, valleys, mountains (with skiing) and pasture lands. In any given day trip, you may find yourself driving through at least three of them.
Israel has four seas: the Mediterranean, the Dead, the Red and the Sea of Galilee (which is actually a lake).

It's almost impossible not to learn a great deal—about the world and about yourself—during a visit to Israel. But don't go if you will be so preoccupied with safety that you won't be able to relax.

Potpourri

Wherever you go in Israel, you are bound to come across archaeological remains from the time of King Herod. A prolific builder, Herod is perhaps most famous not for the quantity of his constructions, but for their bizarre quality. Herod had a bid to defy nature. For example, when building the second Temple in Jerusalem, he literally built up a mountain from flat land; in Caesarea, he created a harbor in a place with no natural port; and in Jericho, he diverted a river to go through his palace.

Although Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, is the most solemn day on the Jewish calendar, for many Israeli children it is best known as "Bicycle Day." On this day, all Israelis refrain from driving; with the roads clear of cars, many families take to the streets to cycle in the middle of normally busy and dangerous thoroughfares.

Jerusalem is so strongly associated with the world's three main monotheistic religions that it even has a religiously delusional psychological disorder named in its honor. The Jerusalem Syndrome describes a condition in which seemingly healthy, normal people transform into street-preaching, psalm-singing Bible characters often garbed in nothing more than a hotel bed sheet. These people can normally be brought back to reality (with help) within a week or so, but a few never renounce their biblical personas.

Not only is the Dead Sea the lowest point on earth—it's 1,320 ft/409 m below sea level—it also has its own rather thick ozone layer.

The grave of Oskar Schindler, the industrialist who saved more than 1,000 Jews during the Holocaust, can be found at Mount Zion. His grave has become a popular site since Steven Spielberg's 1993 film Schindler's List.

Native-born Israelis are known as sabras. The name comes from the Hebrew word for the prickly pear cactus fruit, which is tough and thorny on the outside but soft and sweet inside.

The 1965 addition to Nazareth's Basilica of the Annunciation was largely financed by donations from Frank Sinatra.

Several Christian denominations share the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and each has jurisdiction over different areas of the church (it's easy to tell when you pass from one area to another). Although the different denominations may be brothers in Christ, they are very competitive siblings. They can't agree on who among them should keep the key to the front door, so it has been entrusted to the same Muslim family for centuries.