1.     The name Israel, given to the Biblical patriarch Jacob mentioned in Genesis,  means "one who has struggled with God".

2.     Golda Meir, the first female Prime Minister of Israel and the second female Prime Minister in the world, was called the "Iron Lady" years before the epithet was coined for Margaret Thatcher. David Ben-Gurion once described her as "the only man in the Cabinet."

3.     Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the US, over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions. Israel places first in this category as well. 24% of Israel’s workforce hold university degrees, ranking third in the industrialized world (after the US and Holland) and 12% hold advanced degrees.

4.    Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.

5.    Israel has the highest per capita ratio of scientific publications in the world by a large margin, as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.

6.    In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in the world, except the US (3,500 companies mostly in high tech). On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech start-ups.

Golda Meir (Picture: wikipedia)

Prime Minister

ראש ממשלה

Scientists

מדען

מקצוע

תואר אקדמי

יחס

חברה

כח עבודה

The ‎ Druze are a religious community found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan.

Theologically, Druze consider themselves as an Islamic Unit, reformatory sect.

A minority of the Druze in the Golan Heights. This area is controlled by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967 and officially annexed by Israel in 1981, but has not been recognized internationally. The Druze living there therefore have a separate legal status from those in the Galilee region, and are considered permanent residents.

The Druze are citizens of Israel. Few of the Golan Druze have accepted full Israeli citizenship, while the rest (majority) are citizens of Syria.

Druze citizens are prominent in the Israel Defense Forces as well as in Israeli politics. A considerable number of Israeli Druze soldiers have fallen in Israel’s wars since the 1948. The bond between Jews and Druze soldiers is commonly known by the term "a covenant of blood".

Five Druze lawmakers currently have been elected to serve in the 18th Knesset, a disproportionally large number considering their population.

Druze in other countries have radically different lifestyles. Some claim to be Muslim, some do not. The Druze faith is said to abide by Islamic principles, but they tend to be separatist in their treatment of Druze-hood, and their religion differs from mainstream Islam on a number of fundamental points.

The main Druze doctrine states that God is both transcendent and immanent, in which He is above all attributes but at the same time He is present.

Druze does not allow conversion to the religion.

Marriage between Druze and non-Druze is strongly discouraged for religious, political and historical reasons.

Druze Sheik IN Pki’een

Druze teenagers dancing Debka

Memorial Board for Druze IDF Soldiers in Dalyat-El-Carmel

Druze Woman Makint Pata Bread

Pictures & info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druze

רוב

מיעוט

בולט

אזרחות

אוכלוסיה

נישואין

יחס

Madaba Map – an ancient mosaic map in a church in Jordan from the sixth-seventh century CE, which depicted the Land of Israel in the Byzantine period, explicitly showed: the entrance to Jerusalem from the west was via a very large gate that led to a single, central thoroughfare on that side of the city.
Various evidence of the important buildings in Jerusalem that appear on the map has been uncovered over the years or has survived to this day – for example the Church of the Holy Sepulcher – but the large bustling street from the period when Jerusalem became a Christian city has not been discovered until now. The reason for this is that no archaeological excavations took place in the region due to the inconvenience it would cause in stopping traffic in such a busy central location.

Now, because of the need for a thorough treatment of the infrastructure in the region, the Jerusalem Development Authority has initiated rehabilitation work and is renewing the infrastructure in this area in general, and next to the entrance to David Street (known to tourists as the stepped-street with the shops) in particular. Thus it is possible for both archaeologists and the public to catch a rare glimpse of what is going on beneath the flagstone pavement that is so familiar to us all.

The region of Jerusalem as it appears on the Madaba Map (both sides of the street are marked in red).

1. The cistern that was exposed below the street, between David’s Citadel and David Street. Photograph: Assaf Peretz, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

מפה

Pavement

מדרכה

Building

בניין

Builder

Banai

בנאי

foundations

יסודות

יקר

כלים

חפצים