Tel AvivTel Aviv-Yafo (תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ tel aˈviv ˈjafo; تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a population of , it is the economic and technological center of the country. If East Jerusalem is considered part of Israel, Tel Aviv is the country's second most populous city after Jerusalem; if not, Tel Aviv is the most populous city ahead of West Jerusalem.
YishuvYishuv (ישוב, literally "settlement"), Ha-Yishuv (הישוב "the Yishuv"), or Ha-Yishuv Ha-Ivri (הישוב העברי "the Hebrew Yishuv") denote the body of Jewish residents in the Land of Israel (corresponding to the southern part of Ottoman Syria until 1918, OETA South 1917–1920, and Mandatory Palestine 1920–1948) prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The term came into use in the 1880s, when there were about 25,000 Jews living across the Land of Israel, and continued to be used until 1948, by which time there were some 630,000 Jews there.
Judaean MountainsThe Judaean Mountains, or Judaean Hills (הרי יהודה) or the Hebron Mountains (تلال الخليل), is a mountain range in Israel and the West Bank where Jerusalem, Hebron and several other biblical cities are located. The mountains reach a height of . The Judean Mountains can be separated to a number of sub-regions, including the Mount Hebron ridge, the Jerusalem ridge and the Judean slopes. The Judaean Mountains formed the heartland of the Kingdom of Judah (930-586 BCE), where the earliest Jewish settlements emerged, and from which Jews are generally descended.
HatikvahHatikvah (haTīqvā, hatikˈva; The Hope) is the national anthem of the State of Israel. Part of 19th-century Jewish poetry, the theme of the Romantic composition reflects the 2,000-year-old desire of the Jewish people to return to the Land of Israel in order to reclaim it as a free and sovereign nation-state. The piece's lyrics are adapted from a work by Naftali Herz Imber, a Jewish poet from Złoczów, Austrian Galicia. Imber wrote the first version of the poem in 1877, when he was hosted by a Jewish scholar in Iași, Romania.
Politics of IsraelPolitics in Israel are dominated by Zionist parties. They traditionally fall into three camps, the first two being the largest: Labor Zionism, Revisionist Zionism and Religious Zionism. There are also several non-Zionist Orthodox religious parties and non-Zionist secular left-wing groups, as well as non-Zionist and anti-Zionist Israeli Arab parties. During the 1948 Palestine war (part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and, more widely, the Arab–Israeli conflict), the State of Israel was formed in the Palestine region, then under British rule.
Basic Laws of IsraelThe Basic Laws of Israel (Ḥukey HaYesod) are thirteen quasi-constitutional laws of the State of Israel, and some of them can only be changed by a supermajority vote in the Knesset (with varying requirements for different Basic Laws and sections). Many of these laws are based on the individual liberties that were outlined in the Israeli Declaration of Independence. The Basic Laws deal with the formation and role of the principal institutions of the state, and with the relations between the state's authorities.
Revisionist ZionismRevisionist Zionism is a form of Zionism which is characterized by territorial maximalism. Revisionist Zionism promoted expansionism and the establishment of a Jewish majority on both sides of the Jordan River. Developed by Ze'ev Jabotinsky, this ideology advocated a "revision" of the "practical Zionism" of David Ben-Gurion and Chaim Weizmann which was focused on the settling of Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel) by independent individuals.
Jewish and democratic state"Jewish and democratic state" is the Israeli legal definition of the nature and character of the State of Israel. The "Jewish" nature was first defined within the Israeli Declaration of Independence in May 1948 (see Jewish state and Jewish homeland). The "democratic" character was first officially added in the amendment to Israel's Basic Law: The Knesset, which was passed in 1985 (amendment 9, clause 7A). Numerous scholars and political observers have debated the definition, particularly whether the terms are contradictory or complementary.
