THE STATE OF ISRAEL- Israel is the homeland for Jews all over and anywhere in the world: the first time in nearly 3,000 years that Jewish people would not be “strangers in strange lands.”
- In 1947, the United Nations voted to create the State of Israel. Since then, Israel has had to repeatedly defend itself from attacks by its neighbors. Many of the Arab states still continue to recognize Israel’s right to exist.
- The State of Israel is one quarter the size of the State of Maine, or approximately the size of the Willamette Valley in Oregon.
- Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East and has a multi-party political system.
- Within its small boundaries, Israel has welcomed refugees and persecuted Jewish people from not only Europe but also from countries such as Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Syria, Ethiopia, Morocco, Tunisia, Yemen, Egypt, Algeria, South Africa, India, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. Christians, Moslems and other peoples have also found homes in modern Israel. Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth.
- The State of Israel has the only independent court system in the entire Middle East. Its Supreme Court is one of the most highly respected in the world.
- Israel allows freedom of religious worship without threats from the government.
- Israeli soldiers risk their lives daily to protect and make certain there is access for visitors from other countries to the holy places of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as well as Baha’i and other religions.
- Israel allows freedom of the press and open access by the world press.
- Israel allows open debate of issues and dissenting public opinions.
- On September 6, 1999, the Israeli Supreme Court decided that the use of torture is prohibited even in cases were it is used to elicit information about an imminent terrorist attack. The ruling outlawed use of physical pressure such as sleep deprivation, forced uncomfortable positions, loud music, shaking, and hoods over the head.
- The Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem has world-renown schools of medicine, nursing and pharmacology as well as two modern hospitals and is one of the foremost medical research centers in the world. Israel offers some of the best health care in the world. Its infant death-rate is very low and life-expectancy is 79 years for women and 76 years for men. Health care for all, from infancy to old age, is guaranteed by the government.
- Israel is the only country in the Middle East to grant women equal rights, and a woman – Golda Meir – twice served as Prime Minister.
- Israel has the fourth largest air force in the world, after the United States, Russia, and China.
- The Shrine of the Book Museum displays many of the discoveries by Israeli archaeologists, including the Dead Sea Scrolls.
- Israeli sports include basketball, soccer, rugby, tennis, judo and track-and-field with the world-renown Maccabian Games.
Compiled by the Jewish Community Relations Committee (JCRC) in Eugene, Oregon
February 2006
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