The Israel National Trail – one of National Geographic’s 20 most “epic trails” – crisscrosses the country from Mt. Hermon to the Red Sea, through rural, remote, ancient, and modern locations. The trail marker’s stripes (orange, blue and white) represent the range of terrain covered: desert, seascape, and mountain. Virtual hikers can experience the 1,040-km trail on Google Street View.
Israel’s minority citizens – including Arab Muslims, Arab Christians, Druze, and Bedouin – all enjoy the rights of citizenship. Individuals from these minority groups have served in the Knesset, the Supreme Court, and are well-represented in respected fields such as medicine and academia.
Following the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE, the Roman Emperor Hadrian renamed Judea as “Syria Palaestina” – a name derived from the Hebrew “פלשתים” which means “invaders” and the name of the biblical Philistines who had died out by then. In Mandatory Palestine, the mil, a general circulation coin, was stamped (פלשתינה (א”י, which included the abbreviation for ארץ ישראל or “Land of Israel”.
This accusation is undoubtedly the most utilized and favored, especially by the most extremist factions which unfortunately constitute today. It does not aim to incriminate Israel’s actions but rather its very existence. While a similar narrative would have previously been dismissed as evidently flawed and confined to fringe social centers, it now requires refutation.
Despite strong political differences, Israelis know how to unite in an emergency. Immediately after October 7, the IDF called up 360,000 reservists. Israelis flew from all over the world to return to serve. In some units, many reservists reported for duty before receiving their “Tzav 8” call-up orders.
Golda Meir, who served as Israel’s prime minister from 1969 to 1974, was the third woman in history to serve her country in that role – and the first in the Middle East.
After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Muslim countries forced over 900,000 Jews from their homes, froze their bank accounts and confiscated property. Most fled to Israel; they and their descendants now make up about half its population.
During the Passover holiday, Jews worldwide recount their Biblical liberation and exodus from Egypt. Today, there is an irony that Israeli hostages are held captive in Gaza, which prior to the Six-Day War in 1967, was Egyptian territory.
