===========================================

@Israel

Introduction Israel

Background:
Following World War II, the British withdrew from their mandate of
Palestine, and the UN partitioned the area into Arab and Jewish
states, an arrangement rejected by the Arabs. Subsequently, the
Israelis defeated the Arabs in a series of wars without ending the
deep tensions between the two sides. The territories occupied by
Israel since the 1967 war are not included in the Israel country
profile, unless otherwise noted. On 25 April 1982, Israel withdrew
from the Sinai pursuant to the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty.
Israel and Palestinian officials signed on 13 September 1993 a
Declaration of Principles (also known as the "Oslo accords") guiding
an interim period of Palestinian self-rule. Outstanding territorial
and other disputes with Jordan were resolved in the 26 October 1994
Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace. In addition, on 25 May 2000, Israel
withdrew unilaterally from southern Lebanon, which it had occupied
since 1982. In keeping with the framework established at the Madrid
Conference in October 1991, bilateral negotiations were conducted
between Israel and Palestinian representatives and Syria to achieve
a permanent settlement. On 24 June 2002, US President BUSH laid out
a "road map" for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which
envisions a two-state solution. However, progress toward a permanent
status agreement has been undermined by Palestinian-Israeli violence
ongoing since September 2000. The conflict may have reached a
turning point with the election in January 2005 of Mahmud ABBAS as
the new Palestinian leader following the November 2004 death of
Yasir ARAFAT.

Geography Israel

Location:
Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and
Lebanon

Geographic coordinates:
31 30 N, 34 45 E

Map references:
Middle East

Area:
total: 20,770 sq km
water: 440 sq km
land: 20,330 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than New Jersey

Land boundaries:
total: 1,017 km
border countries: Egypt 266 km, Gaza Strip 51 km, Jordan 238 km,
Lebanon 79 km, Syria 76 km, West Bank 307 km

Coastline:
273 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
continental shelf: to depth of exploitation

Climate:
temperate; hot and dry in southern and eastern desert areas

Terrain:
Negev desert in the south; lo