Israel, officially the State of Israel (מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; دَوْلَة إِسْرَائِيل, Dawlat ʾIsrāʾīl), is a nation in Western Asia. It is located on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea, and it shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, and Egypt to the southwest; it is also bordered to the east and west by the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Tel Aviv is the country's economic and scientific core, while Jerusalem is its designated capital, however Israeli control over East Jerusalem is not recognized internationally.
The region possessed by modern-day Israel was formerly the scene for most of Biblical history, starting with the 9th-century Iron Age kingdoms of Israel and Judah, which succumbed to the Neo-Assyrian Empire (c. 720 BCE) and Neo-Babylonian Empire, respectively (586 BCE). The Achaemenid Empire, Alexander the Great, the Seleucid Empire, the Hasmonean dynasty, and, beginning in 63 BCE, the Roman Republic and later Roman Empire were later rulers. It was part of the Byzantine Empire from the fifth century CE until the Rashidun Caliphate's conquest of the Levant in the seventh century. Crusader nations were created during the First Crusade of 1096–1099. The Mamluk Sultanate, which subsequently handed the area to the Ottoman Empire, reestablished Muslim sovereignty in 1291.
During the nineteenth century, the Zionist movement started to advocate for the establishment of a Jewish state in Ottoman Syria. Following World War I, the United Kingdom was awarded sovereignty of the territory by a League of Nations mandate, which became known as Mandatory Palestine. Following WWII, the newly established United Nations issued the Partition Plan for Palestine in 1947, suggesting the establishment of autonomous Arab and Jewish nations as well as an internationalized Jerusalem. Following a civil war between Yishuv and Palestinian Arab troops inside Mandatory Palestine, Israel proclaimed independence at the conclusion of the British Mandate. The conflict escalated into the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, which ended with the 1949 Armistice Agreements, which gave Israel sovereignty of the majority of the former mandate region, while Jordan and Egypt kept the West Bank and Gaza, respectively.
Since then, Israel has fought wars with various Arab nations and has occupied the Golan Heights, the Palestinian lands of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, though whether Gaza remains occupied after Israel's withdrawal is debatable. Israel has essentially annexed East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, despite international condemnation, and has created settlements inside the seized areas, which are likewise illegal under international law. While Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, as well as restored relations with many other Arab nations, it remains technically at war with Syria, and attempts to end the Israeli–Palestinian issue have so far faltered.
In its Fundamental Laws, Israel identifies itself as a Jewish and democratic state, as well as the Jewish people's nation-state. There is a parliamentary system, proportional representation, and universal suffrage in the nation. The prime minister is the head of government, while the Knesset is Israel's unicameral legislature. With a population of over 9 million people as of 2021, Israel is a developed nation and an OECD member. It has the world's 29th-largest nominal GDP and ranks 19th on the Human Development Index.