Israel - officially State of Israel (in Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְרָאֵל Medinat Yisra'el, AFI: [medinat jisʁaʔel]; Arabic: دولة إسرائيل Dawlat Isrā'īl, AFI: [dawlat ʔisraːʔiːl]) - is a sovereign country in the Middle East that It is located on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered on the north by Lebanon, on the east by Syria, Jordan, Palestine (West Bank), on the west by the Mediterranean Sea and Palestine (Gaza Strip), on the southwest by Egypt and on the south by the Gulf of Aqaba, on the Red Sea . With a population of about 8 million inhabitants, 3 most of whom are Jews, Israel is the only Jewish state in the world.8 It is also home to Arab Muslims, Christians, Druze and Samaritans, as well as other religious and ethnic groups minority The capital, seat of government and largest city of the country is Jerusalem, the main economic and financial center is located in Tel Aviv-Yafo and the largest industrial center is located in Haifa.

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The modern State of Israel identifies its roots with the ancient Land of Israel (ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael), a central concept for Judaism for more than 3,000 years.9 After the First World War, the League of Nations adopted the British Mandate of Palestine with the intention of creating a "national home for the Jewish people" .10 In 1947, the United Nations approved the partition of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab.11 On May 14, 1948 the State of Israel declared its independence, which was followed by the Arab-Israeli War of 1948 with the neighboring Arab states, which refused to accept the UN plan. Successive victories in a series of subsequent wars confirmed their independence and extended the borders of the Jewish state beyond the provisions of the United Nations Partition Plan. Since then, Israel has been in conflict with many of the neighboring Arab countries, with several wars and decades of violence that continue to this day.