Israel

Israel is a country located in the Middle East and in spite of its relatively small area (600km from north to south, about 200km east to west) it consists of a very diversed nature and wildlife. From the green blooming Galilee and the stunning Golan-Heights (Golan-Heights are still in political conflict with Syria) in the north, via urban areas like Haifa, Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem, to the big desert of the Negev in the south.

History and population

Israel, referred as the "Holy-Land" in the Jewish, Christian and Muslim sacred scripts, is a country which encompasses thousands of years of rich and colorful history.

The population of Israel consists mostly of Jews (about 70%), Muslims (20%), Christians (about 5%) and other minorities (most famous one is the Druze religion, which its people is mostly located in the Galilee).

Politics

Since its establishment in 1948 as the homeland of the Jewish people (in the aftermath of the Holocaust committed in Europe by the Nazi regime, where over 6 million Jews were systematically murdered), Israel has battled its Arab neighboring countries in multiple wars. Following the 1967 Six Day War, Israel doubled its size through the annexation of the Golan Heights as well as the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In 1979, following the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War, Egypt and Israel signed a historic peace agreement. The continued occupation of the West Bank and Gaza strip by Israel, however, has left its toll both on the people of Israel and on the Palestinians. Thus in 1987, the Palestinians began what became known as the first Intifada, which ultimately ended when in 1993, Israel (under the leadership of Yitzhak Rabin, who was assasinated by a Jewish extremist on Nov 4, 2005) signed a temporary peace-treaty with the Palestinian leadership, that gave the Palestinians for the first time full civilian autonomy in certain Palestinian populated areas and partial civilian autonomy in others. The additional fruit born of this treaty is that in 1994, Israel signed a peace agreement with Jordan that includes water sharing and economic trade - the only agreement of its kind between Israel and any of its Arab neighbors. The agreement signed by Rabin and Arafat was however a temporary solution for both the Israelis and the Palestinians and it did not lead to a permanent agreement. Rather, in September 2000, the Palestinians began a second Intifada. The experience was traumatic for both sides and the political aftermath is still being defined - Israel elected Ehud Olmert last summer only to enter into a terrible war with Lebanon over the kidnapping of Israeli Soldiers. However, new ideas about the peace process continue to rise, such as the Geneva Initiative and hopefully they lead to real solutions that both sides can live with.

Travelling and CouchSurfing

Israeli people are well-known as world-travellers. Many Israeli boys and girls go travelling in the world after serving 2-3 years in the army (Military service in Israel is compulsory). You can meet them mostly in India, Thailand, Australia, New-Zealand and South-America. Israeli people are famous to be open-minded, warm and hospitable. CS website consists of more than 2500 Israeli members. The Israeli traditional habit of expanding your horizons and meeting new cultures through travelling goes along with the idea and philosophy behind the CS project.

Israel is a beautiful country with lovely people. Come and visit!

Public Transportation

Public transportation in Israel is generally safe and reliable.

• The rail network [1] is a little underdeveloped and tends to be overcrowded in Sundays and Thursdays.
• There are half a dozen bus companies. The major intercity carrier is Egged [2], and Dan [3] operates in Tel-Aviv metropolitan.
• In some lines there are also big taxicabs called "Sherut" that operate similar to a bus line.
• Flight are available between Eilat and Tel Aviv.

The most important feature to keep in mind is that (except for some exceptional cases) there in no public transportation between Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon.

Useful links

Official site: [4] Ben Gurion Airport: [5]

Cities

• Haifa
• Jerusalem
• Tel Aviv
• Nahariya
• Rehovot

Other wikis

• Israel on the Hitchwiki
• Israel on Wikitravel
• Israel on Wikipedia