Factbook dossier
Background
Israel has become a regional economic and military powerhouse, leveraging its prosperous high-tech sector, large defense industry, and concerns about Iran to foster partnerships around the world. The State of Israel was established in 1948. The UN General Assembly proposed in 1947 partitioning the British Mandate for Palestine into an Arab and Jewish state. T he Jews accepted the proposal, but the l ocal Arabs a nd the Arab states rejected the UN plan and launched a war. The Arabs were subsequently defeated in the 194 7-1949 war that followed the UN proposal and the British withdrawal. Israel joined the UN in 1949 and saw rapid population growth, primarily due to Jewish refugee migration from Europe and the Middle East. Israel and its Arab neighbors fought wars in 1956, 1967, and 1973, and Israel signed peace treaties with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994. Israel took control of the West Bank , the eastern part of Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip , the Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights in the course of the 1967 war . It c ede d the Sinai back to Egypt in the 1979 -1982 period but has continued to administer the other territories through military authorities . Israel and Palestinian officials signed interim agreements in the 1990s that created a period of Palestinian self-rule in parts of the West Bank and Gaza. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. The most recent formal efforts between Israel and the Palestinian Authority to negotiate final status issues occurred in 2013 and 2014, and the US continues its efforts to advance peace. Israel signed the US-brokered normalization agr…
Location
Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Lebanon
Area
total : 21,937 sq km land: 21,497 sq km water: 440 sq km
Natural resources
timber, potash, copper ore, natural gas, phosphate rock, magnesium bromide, clays, sand
Natural hazards
sandstorms may occur during spring and summer; droughts; periodic earthquakes
Population
total: 9,402,617 (2024 est.) male: 4,731,275 female: 4,671,342 note: approximately 236,600 Israeli settlers live in East Jerusalem (2021); following the March 2019 US recognition of the Golan Heights as being part of Israel, The World Factbook no longer includes Israeli settler population of the Golan Heights (estimated at 23,400 in 2019) in its overall Israeli settler total
Ethnic groups
Jewish 73.5% (of which Israel-born 79.7%, Europe/America/Oceania-born 14.3%, Africa-born 3.9%, Asia-born 2.1%), Arab 21.1%, other 5.4% (2022 est.)
Languages
Hebrew (official), Arabic (special status under Israeli law), English (most commonly used foreign language) major-language sample(s): ספר עובדות העולם, המקור החיוני למידע בסיסי (Hebrew) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions
Jewish 73.5%, Muslim 18.1%, Christian 1.9%, Druze 1.6%, other 4.9% (2022 est.)
Environmental issues
limited arable land and restricted natural freshwater resources; desertification; air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; groundwater pollution from industrial and domestic waste, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides
Government type
parliamentary democracy
Capital
name: Jerusalem geographic coordinates: 31 46 N, 35 14 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, Friday before the last Sunday in March; ends the last Sunday in October etymology: the meaning of the ancient name is unclear; the city is called Ursalim or Urusalimmi in Egyptian texts from the 14th century B.C., which may come from the Western Semitic verb yaru , meaning "to establish," and the name Shalim, the Canaanite god of dusk; another theory says the root letters s-l-m in the name refer to shalom , meaning "peace" note: the US recognized Jerusalem as Israel s capital in 2017, without taking a position on the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty
Executive branch
chief of state: President Isaac HERZOG (since 7 July 2021) head of government: Prime Minister Benyamin NETANYAHU (since 29 December 2022) cabinet: Cabinet selected by prime minister and approved by the Knesset election/appointment process: president indirectly elected by the Knesset for a single 7-year term; following legislative elections, the president, in consultation with party leaders, tasks a Knesset member (usually the member of the largest party) with forming a new government most recent election date: 2 June 2021 election results: 2021: Isaac HERZOG elected president; Knesset vote in first round - Isaac HERZOG (independent) 87, Miriam PERETZ (independent) 26, invalid/blank 7 2014: Reuven RIVLIN elected president in second round; Knesset vote - Reuven RIVLIN (Likud) 63, Meir SHEETRIT (The Movement) 53, other/invalid 4 expected date of next election: June 2028
Legislative branch
legislature name: Parliament (Knesset) legislative structure: unicameral number of seats: 120 (all directly elected) electoral system: proportional representation scope of elections: full renewal term in office: 4 years most recent election date: 11/1/2022 parties elected and seats per party: Likud (32); Yesh Atid (24); Religious Zionism (14); National Unity (12); Shas (11); United Torah Judaism (Yahadut Hatorah) (7); Yisrael Beiteinu (6); Other (14) percentage of women in chamber: 24.2% expected date of next election: October 2026 note 1: a 3.25% vote threshold is required to gain representation note 2: following the 1 November 2022 election, the Religious Zionism Alliance split into its three constituent parties in the Knesset: Religious Zionism 7 seats, Jewish Power (Otzma Yehudit) 6, and Noam 1
Real GDP (purchasing power parity)
$472.177 billion (2024 est.) $468.095 billion (2023 est.) $459.698 billion (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars
Real GDP per capita
$47,300 (2024 est.) $47,500 (2023 est.) $48,100 (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
3.1% (2024 est.) 4.2% (2023 est.) 4.4% (2022 est.) note: annual % change based on consumer prices
Exports - partners
USA 29%, China 10%, Ireland 6%, Germany 4%, Hong Kong 4% (2023) note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports
Imports - partners
China 17%, USA 12%, Germany 7%, Turkey 6%, Italy 4% (2023) note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports
Military and security forces
Israel Defense Forces (IDF): Ground Forces, Israel Naval Force (IN, includes commandos), Israel Air Force (IAF, includes air defense) Ministry of National Security: Israeli Police (2025)
Military expenditures
8% of GDP (2024 est.) 5% of GDP (2023 est.) 4.5% of GDP (2022 est.) 5% of GDP (2021 est.) 5% of GDP (2020 est.)