Israel

parliamentary democracy

name: Jerusalem geographic coordinates: 31 46 N, 35 14 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, Friday before the last Sunday in March; ends the last Sunday in October etymology: the meaning of the ancient name is unclear; the city is called Ursalim or Urusalimmi in Egyptian texts from the 14th century B.C., which may come from the Western Semitic verb yaru , meaning "to establish," and the name Shalim, the Canaanite god of dusk; another theory says the root letters s-l-m in the name refer to shalom , meaning "peace" note: the US recognized Jerusalem as Israel s capital in 2017, without taking a position on the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty

chief of state: President Isaac HERZOG (since 7 July 2021) head of government: Prime Minister Benyamin NETANYAHU (since 29 December 2022) cabinet: Cabinet selected by prime minister and approved by the Knesset election/appointment process: president indirectly elected by the Knesset for a single 7-year term; following legislative elections, the president, in consultation with party leaders, tasks a Knesset member (usually the member of the largest party) with forming a new government most recent election date: 2 June 2021 election results: 2021: Isaac HERZOG elected president; Knesset vote in first round - Isaac HERZOG (independent) 87, Miriam PERETZ (independent) 26, invalid/blank 7 2014: Reuven RIVLIN elected president in second round; Knesset vote - Reuven RIVLIN (Likud) 63, Meir SHEETRIT (The Movement) 53, other/invalid 4 expected date of next election: June 2028

legislature name: Parliament (Knesset) legislative structure: unicameral number of seats: 120 (all directly elected) electoral system: proportional representation scope of elections: full renewal term in office: 4 years most recent election date: 11/1/2022 parties elected and seats per party: Likud (32); Yesh Atid (24); Religious Zionism (14); National Unity (12); Shas (11); United Torah Judaism (Yahadut Hatorah) (7); Yisrael Beiteinu (6); Other (14) percentage of women in chamber: 24.2% expected date of next election: October 2026 note 1: a 3.25% vote threshold is required to gain representation note 2: following the 1 November 2022 election, the Religious Zionism Alliance split into its three constituent parties in the Knesset: Religious Zionism 7 seats, Jewish Power (Otzma Yehudit) 6, and Noam 1

highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the president, deputy president, 13 justices, and 2 registrars) and normally sits in panels of 3 justices; in special cases, the panel is expanded with an uneven number of justices judge selection and term of office: judges selected by the 9-member Judicial Selection Committee, consisting of the Minister of Justice (chair), the president of the Supreme Court, two other Supreme Court justices, 1 other Cabinet minister, 2 Knesset members, and 2 representatives of the Israel Bar Association; judges can serve up to mandatory retirement at age 70 subordinate courts: district and magistrate courts; national and regional labor courts; family and juvenile courts; special and Rabbinical courts

history: no formal constitution; some functions of a constitution are filled by the Declaration of Establishment (1948), the Basic Laws, and the Law of Return (as amended) amendment process: proposed by Government of Israel ministers or by the Knesset; passage requires a majority vote of Knesset members and subject to Supreme Court judicial review

BIS, BSEC (observer), CE (observer), CERN, CICA, EBRD, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW (signatory), OSCE (partner), Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNOOSA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

8% of GDP (2024 est.) 5% of GDP (2023 est.) 4.5% of GDP (2022 est.) 5% of GDP (2021 est.) 5% of GDP (2020 est.)

Israel Defense Forces (IDF): Ground Forces, Israel Naval Force (IN, includes commandos), Israel Air Force (IAF, includes air defense) Ministry of National Security: Israeli Police (2025)

18-28 years of age for voluntary military service; 18 months service for men, 12 months for women; 18-21 years of age for compulsory military service for men and women; Jews and Druze can be conscripted; Christians, Circassians, and Muslims may volunteer; conscript service obligation is up to 36 months for enlisted personnel (depending on sex, marital status, and military occupation); officers serve 48 months; Air Force pilots commit to 9 years of service (2024)

the IDF is responsible for external defense but also has some domestic security responsibilities; its primary operational focuses include the threat posed by Iran, instability in Syria, and terrorist organizations, including HAMAS, Hizballah, and Palestine Islamic Jihad; since its creation from armed Jewish militias during the First Arab-Israeli War in 1948-49, the IDF, particularly the Ground Force, has been guided by a requirement to rapidly mobilize and defend the country s territory from numerically superior neighboring countries; the active-duty military is backed up by a large force of trained reserves--approximately 300-400,000 personnel--that can be mobilized rapidly Israel s primary security partner is the US; consistent with a 10-year (2019-2028) Memorandum of Understanding, the US annually provides over $3 billion in military financing and cooperative military programs, such as missile defense; the US also provides Israel access to US-produced military weapons systems including advanced fighter aircraft; Israel has Major Non-NATO Ally status with the US, a designation under US law that provides foreign partners with certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has operated in the Golan between Israel and Syria since 1974 to monitor the ceasefire following the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and supervise the areas of separation between the two countries; UNDOF consists of about 1,300 total personnel (2025)

$472.177 billion (2024 est.) $468.095 billion (2023 est.) $459.698 billion (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

$47,300 (2024 est.) $47,500 (2023 est.) $48,100 (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

0.9% (2024 est.) 1.8% (2023 est.) 6.3% (2022 est.) note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency

3.1% (2024 est.) 4.2% (2023 est.) 4.4% (2022 est.) note: annual % change based on consumer prices

59.6% of GDP (2019 est.)

$153.248 billion (2024 est.) $154.638 billion (2023 est.) $164.407 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars

$140.438 billion (2024 est.) $140.432 billion (2023 est.) $153.388 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars

3.2% (2024 est.) 3.6% (2023 est.) 3.7% (2022 est.) note: % of labor force seeking employment

revenues: $162.524 billion (2023 est.) expenditures: $188.905 billion (2023 est.) note: central government revenues (excluding grants) and expenditures converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated

high-technology products (including aviation, communications, computer-aided design and manufactures, medical electronics, fiber optics), wood and paper products, potash and phosphates, food, beverages, and tobacco, caustic soda, cement, pharmaceuticals, construction, metal products, chemical products, plastics, cut diamonds, textiles, footwear

milk, chicken, potatoes, tomatoes, tangerines/mandarins, bananas, eggs, avocados, beef, carrots/turnips (2023) note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage

total: 9,402,617 (2024 est.) male: 4,731,275 female: 4,671,342 note: approximately 236,600 Israeli settlers live in East Jerusalem (2021); following the March 2019 US recognition of the Golan Heights as being part of Israel, The World Factbook no longer includes Israeli settler population of the Golan Heights (estimated at 23,400 in 2019) in its overall Israeli settler total

1.59% (2025 est.)

0-14 years: 27.5% (male 1,320,629/female 1,260,977) 15-64 years: 60.3% (male 2,885,485/female 2,781,777) 65 years and over: 12.3% (2024 est.) (male 525,161/female 628,588)

18.89 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)

4.89 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)

1.88 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)

total population: 83.1 years (2024 est.) male: 81.1 years female: 85.1 years

urban population: 92.9% of total population (2023) rate of urbanization: 1.51% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Jewish 73.5% (of which Israel-born 79.7%, Europe/America/Oceania-born 14.3%, Africa-born 3.9%, Asia-born 2.1%), Arab 21.1%, other 5.4% (2022 est.)

Hebrew (official), Arabic (special status under Israeli law), English (most commonly used foreign language) major-language sample(s): ספר עובדות העולם, המקור החיוני למידע בסיסי (Hebrew) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

Jewish 73.5%, Muslim 18.1%, Christian 1.9%, Druze 1.6%, other 4.9% (2022 est.)

timber, potash, copper ore, natural gas, phosphate rock, magnesium bromide, clays, sand

Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS); Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP); Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ); HAMAS note: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in the Terrorism reference guide

refugees: 27,413 (2024 est.) IDPs: 68,000 (2024 est.) stateless persons: 35 (2024 est.)

40 (2025)

total: 1,497 km (2021) (2019) standard gauge: 1,497 km (2021) 1.435-m gauge

total: 41 (2023) by type: container ship 4, general cargo 1, oil tanker 4, other 32

total subscriptions: 13.8 million (2022 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 152 (2022 est.)

percent of population: 87% (2023 est.)