Israel

History

Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. It is bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, and Egypt to the southwest. Israel occupies the West Bank and the Gaza Strip of the Palestinian territories, as well as the Syrian Golan Heights. Israel's western coast lies on the Mediterranean Sea, its southern tip reaches the Red Sea, and to the east is Earth's lowest point near the Dead Sea. Jerusalem is the government seat and proclaimed capital, while Tel Aviv is Israel's largest urban area and economic centre. The Land of Israel, also called Palestine or the Holy Land, was home to the ancient Canaanites and later the kingdoms of Israel and Judah and Hasmonean Judea. Located near continental crossroads, its demographics shifted under various empires. 19th-century European antisemitism fuelled the Zionist movement for a Jewish homeland, which gained British support with the 1917 Balfour Declaration. After World War I, Britain occupied the region and established Mandatory Palestine.