_#_Long-form name: State of Israel

_#_Type: republic

_#_Capital: Israel proclaimed Jerusalem its capital in 1950, but the
US, like nearly all other countries, maintains its Embassy in Tel Aviv

_#_Administrative divisions: 6 districts (mehozot, singular--mehoz);
Central, Haifa, Jerusalem, Northern, Southern, Tel Aviv

_#_Independence: 14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under
British administration)

_#_Constitution: no formal constitution; some of the functions of a
constitution are filled by the Declaration of Establishment (1948), the
basic laws of the parliament (Knesset), and the Israeli citizenship law

_#_Legal system: mixture of English common law, British Mandate
regulations, and, in personal matters, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim
legal systems; in December 1985 Israel informed the UN Secretariat that
it would no longer accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

_#_National holiday: Independence Day, 10 May 1989; Israel declared
independence on 14 May 1948, but the Jewish calendar is lunar and the
holiday may occur in April or May

_#_Executive branch: president, prime minister, vice prime minister,
Cabinet

_#_Legislative branch: unicameral parliament (Knesset)

_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court

_#_Leaders:

Chief of State--President Chaim HERZOG (since 5 May 1983);

Head of Government--Prime Minister Yitzhak SHAMIR (since 20 October
1986)

_#_Political parties and leaders: Israel currently has a coalition
government comprising eleven parties that hold 66 of the Knesset's
120 seats;

Members of the government--Likud bloc, Prime Minister Yitzhak
SHAMIR;
Sephardic Torah Guardians (SHAS), Minister of Interior Arieh DER'I;
National Religious Party, Minister of Education Zevulun HAMMER;
Agudat Yisrael, Moshe Zeev FELDMAN;
Degel HaTorah, Avraham RAVITZ;
Moriya, Minister of Immigrant Absorption, Yitzhak PERETZ;
Ge'vlat Yisrael, Elizer MIZRAHI;
Party for the Advancement of Zionist Ideology (PAZI), Minister of
Finance Yitzhak MODAI;
Tehiya Party, Minister of Science, Technology, Energy, and Infrastructure
Yuval NE'EMAN;
Tzomet Party, Minister of Agriculture Rafael EITAN;
Unity for Peace and Aliyah, Efrayim GUR;
Moledet Party, Rehavam ZE'EVI;

Opposition parties--Labor Party, Shimon PERES;
Citizens' Rights Movement, Shulamit ALONI;
United Workers' Party (MAPAM), Yair TZABAN;
Center Movement-Shinui, Amnon RUBENSTEIN;
New Israeli Communist Party (MAKI), Meir WILNER;