We are an ad hoc group of digital creators and former journalists who want to balance the discussion concerning Israel. We welcome all lovers of Israel to freely use our resources to respond to the events and to combat digital hate and disinformation.
This project offers 49 Fast Facts about Israel & Judaism as we also count the Omer daily.
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Some scholars speculate that Mount Karkom, located in Israel’s Negev Desert, is the biblical Mount Sinai. Others hold that the mountain where Moses received the Ten Commandments is in Egypt’s Sinai Desert. Regardless, Har Karkom, as it is known in Hebrew, is an ancient site, with petroglyphs and dozens of altars dating to the third millennium BCE. A 12-stone altar could correspond to the one Moses built with 12 pillars, one for each of the tribes of Israel.
Following the Oct. 7 massacre, Israelis began building resilience though interactions with text. At the site of the Nova music festival, visitors memorialize the victims by adding letters to a Torah scroll, a way of fulfilling the mitzvah of personally writing a Sefer Torah. Another unique way is the Ot Hayim (“Sign of Life”) Initiative, through which graphic designers are creating digital fonts from the handwriting of the fallen soldiers and murdered civilians.
Israel’s coastline along the Mediterranean Sea stretches ~190 kilometers from Lebanon to Gaza. Steep cliffs stand along 20-25% of the shore. Deep-water ports are located at Haifa and Ashdod. “The Great Sea” (HaYam HaGadol) is the most common biblical term for the Mediterranean, with references in the books of Bemidbar (Numbers), Joshua, and Ezekiel.
The tomb of Rachel is situated at the entrance to Bethlehem. She is the only one of the four Jewish matriarchs who is not buried in Hebron. According to Midrash, her son Joseph was the first to pray at her grave. Today, it remains a special place for prayer. Bethlehem is also the location for most of the biblical story of Ruth, who was the great-grandmother of King David.
When Joshua led the Israelites into the Land after 40 years in the desert, the Mishkan (Tabernacle) was initially placed at Gilgal. Later, they built a stone structure at Shiloh and placed the Mishkan’s curtains over it. That sanctuary stood for 369 years, the ruins of which are visible today at Tel Shiloh. The synagogue of the nearby modern Shilo in Samaria resembles the ancient Mishkan.
Although there are many holy places in the Land of Israel, Judaism’s four holy cities stand out. Jerusalem, the eternal spiritual center of the Jewish people. Hebron, where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah are buried. It was also King David’s first capital. Safed (Tzfat), a center of Jewish mystical scholarship (Kabbalah). Tiberias, where sages compiled the Jerusalem Talmud and where many great rabbis are buried.
Jerusalem – one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world – has been destroyed at least 2 times, besieged 23 times, attacked another 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. Jerusalem Day, an Israeli national holiday celebrated on 28 Iyar of the Hebrew calendar, marks the reunification of the city in 1967 – the first time the whole city was under Jewish rule since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE.
The Kotel, a.k.a. the Western Wall, is one of four retaining walls of the Temple Mount that survived the Roman destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The 11th-century poet Ahimaaz ben Paltiel is credited with the earliest Jewish use of the Hebrew term “hakotel hama’aravi” (the Western Wall) to describe the section that’s visible today. His ancestors were captives whom Titus brought to Rome after destroying Jerusalem.
The tomb of the prophet Samuel, who lived during the time of the Judges, some 3,000 years ago, sits strategically overlooking Jerusalem, the ascent to Hebron, and the Judean Desert. Excavations in the 1990s revealed ruins of a Jewish settlement from the First Temple period. Today, there are both a mosque and synagogue on the site, which is an Israeli national park.
Mikve Yisrael, meaning Hope of Israel, was founded in 1870 as the first agricultural school for Jews in what would become the State of Israel. The Alliance Israelite Universelle, a French organization, purchased the land near Jaffa for the youth village and boarding school. Today, Mikve Yisrael has three schools (grades 7-12) catering to students who are secular, religious, or French-Israeli. Students begin working on the school’s farm in Grade 10.
StartupBlink, an innovation-economy research platform, ranks Israel No. 3 – behind only the US and UK – in its global list. Israel has held this spot for four years in row. Israel is No. 1 in the world for the number of R&D branches, with 11 global tech brands such as Intel, IBM, and Oracle. The Tel Aviv area – nicknamed “Silicon Wadi” – was No. 9 globally in 2024 and has been in StartupBlink’s top 10 since 2020.
Israelis contributed in unique ways to the Jewish chapel at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. Israeli artisans chiseled Jerusalem stone that was then shipped to the United States to construct the chapel’s front wall, which is reminiscent of the Kotel in Jerusalem. In the chapel is a Torah scroll that the IDF gave to the Brigade of Midshipmen.
Egged is Israel’s largest bus company. Israeli poet Hayim Nahman Bialik named the company Egged from the Hebrew for “union” after four cooperatives merged in 1933. Today, one of the largest bus companies in the world, Egged has subsidiaries in the Netherlands, Poland and Bulgaria. In Israel alone, it operates almost 4,000 buses taking nearly one million passengers a distance of 622,000 miles every day.
Israeli law officially recognizes five religions within Israel: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Druzism and the Baháʼí Faith – all monotheistic. The smallest Abrahamic faith, Samaritanism, has fewer than 1,000 adherents in Israel. In a census, they are counted as a distinct religious community, but the Chief Rabbinate defines them as ethnically Jewish.
Israel, a country of fewer than 10 million people, punches above its weight in many fields. Newsweek lists Sheba Medical Center as the 9th best hospital in the world. The Center for World University Rankings lists 4 Israeli universities in the top 1% worldwide: Hebrew University, the Weizmann Institute, Tel Aviv University and the Technion. The UN’s WIPO lists Israel as #14 in its Global Innovation Index.
Israel has one Knesset but thousands of “parliaments”. These groups – usually of retired men, who are often army buddies or even childhood friends – convene daily at cafes nationwide. On the agenda: To take their usual table and schmooze. The tradition has its roots in the artsy 1930s Tel Aviv coffeehouse scene, where coffee wasn’t all that they drank.
Israelis and Jews worldwide celebrate Lag BaOmer with bonfires. Traditionally, hundreds of thousands of religious Jews gather at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai in Meron. Early Zionists associated their bonfires with Simon bar Kokhba, who led a revolt against the Romans. Therefore, Lag BaOmer became a symbol for the fighting Jewish spirit. In 1948, the order establishing the Israel Defense Forces was issued on Lag BaOmer.
The Eurasian Hoopoe, with its remarkable “crown” of black-tipped feathers, became Israel’s national bird in 2008 in honor of the 60th anniversary of the state. Some 155,000 citizens – from kindergartners to diplomats – participated in the selection process. Known as the “duchifat” in Hebrew, the hoopoe is mentioned in the Bible as being a non-kosher bird.
Albert Einstein co-founded the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with Chaim Weizmann in July 1918. Years later, Einstein turned down an offer to become Israel’s second president after Weizmann’s death in 1952, citing his age and lack of relevant skills. Einstein died in 1955 just days before he was to deliver a speech to an American radio audience on the seventh anniversary of Israel’s independence. He left his scientific and other writings to Hebrew University.
Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day, is an annual breath of fresh air in Israel. Although the majority of Israelis are not observant, most choose to fast and refrain from driving on the Day of Atonement. Nitrogen oxide levels can fall by 83-98% in Tel Aviv, and even more in other cities.
While training to be an IDF medic, Bernard Bar-Natan was issued standard bandages and instructed to use stones for extra pressure to stop bleeding. Seeking a better solution, he perfected a field dressing with a built-in pressure applicator. Since its introduction, medics and first responders worldwide have used the “Israeli Bandage” to save countless lives and limbs.
Voluntarism is an important part of Israeli culture. One way that Israelis help is through Yedidim (Friends), which offers non-medical emergency roadside assistance nationwide. Any one of more than 65,000 volunteers will answer the call 24/6 to change a flat tire, jump-start a car, unlock a vehicle with the keys inside, and more. All services are free and available except Shabbat and holidays.
Doña Gracia Nasi, a 16th century Converso, openly reclaimed her Judaism and dedicated her life to activism on behalf of her people. She used her family’s shipping wealth and influence to help Jews flee Iberia and to establish houses of learning and worship. With permission of the Ottoman Sultan, she initiated the rebuilding of Tiberias in the Holy Land as a refuge for Marranos.
Israel’s capital, Jerusalem, was established as the capital of the Jewish kingdom by David in 1,000 BCE. Throughout millennia of dispersion, it remained eternally in the hearts of the Jewish people. Wherever they are in the world, Jews pray in the direction of Israel. In Israel, they pray in the direction of Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, they pray in the direction of the Temple Mount.
Israel has nine World Heritage Sites: Bahá’i Holy Places (Haifa and the Galilee), Biblical Tels (Megiddo, Hazor, Be’er Sheva), Incense Route (Negev), Masada, Old City of Acre, White City of Tel Aviv, Sites of Human Evolution (Mount Carmel), Caves of Maresha and Beit Guvrin (Judean Lowlands), and the Necropolis of Beit She’arim. Another 16 sites have been suggested for inclusion.
Many Jewish architects connected to the Bauhaus school in Germany fled to Tel Aviv in the 1930s, following the rise of the Nazis. Today, more than 4,000 Tel Aviv buildings make up the “White City”. It is the largest collection of Bauhaus structures of any city in the world.
The “Ingathering of the Exiles” (Kibbutz Galuyot) has seen Jews from more than 90 countries return to their indigenous homeland – the Land of Israel, where the biblical Abraham and Sarah are buried in Hebron. Genesis 23 tells how Ephron offered the land for free, but Abraham paid publicly for the land, cave and trees at Machpelah.
Measuring 20,770 square kilometers, Israel is roughly half the size of Lake Michigan. The land mass of the world’s sole Jewish state is approximately 0.165% of the total land area of the 22 nations in the Arab League.
Rebecca Affachiner sewed Israel’s first flag from a bedsheet, using a crayon to color the fabric used to fashion the blue stripes and six-pointed Magen David. She proudly displayed it on her porch when she learned that David Ben-Gurion had declared the new State of Israel on May 14, 1948. For this act, she became known as Israel’s Betsy Ross.
No other country connects its Memorial Day (Yom HaZikaron) and Independence Day (Yom Ha’atzmaut) the same way that Israel does, as a two-day event. A national televised ceremony marks the official transition from a day of somber remembrance into a day of festive celebration.
Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror will be especially poignant this year. Most of the nation will stand still – even in the middle of crossing a street – to the sounds of two sirens, one at night and one in the morning. During the day, active-duty soldiers will don their dress uniforms and stand as honor guards beside military graves, even those of soldiers who died in Israel’s War of Independence in 1948.
Israel is the vegan capital of the Middle East and fourth in the world. Five percent of all Israelis do not consume animal products. In the Israel Defense Forces, approximately 1 in 18 soldiers (5.6%) is vegan. In addition to plant-based meals, the IDF offers synthetic leather boots and synthetic wool berets to its vegan troops.
The years 1954-1959 were the height of strategic relations between France and Israel. Not unlike today, the United States would not supply certain arms to the newly established Jewish state. But France was willing to sell Israel high-quality weapons, including Mirage jet fighters. This helped shift the balance of Mideast power toward Israel. Shimon Peres – at the time, the youngest-ever director-general of Israel’s Ministry of Defense – handled the rapprochement.
“October Rain” – Israel’s original entry for the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest – was rejected for being political. Lyrics such as “They were all good children, each one of them” were considered references to the victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The approved entry “Hurricane” retains some of the original lyrics. Performer Eden Golan skipped Eurovision’s opening to attend a Holocaust remembrance event organized by Malmö’s Jewish community.
Bamba, the ubiquitous peanut-flavored Israeli snack, led researchers to a potentially life-saving discovery. In tests, exposing babies to peanut butter or Bamba during their first year helped prevent peanut allergies by as much as 81 percent. Introduced in the 1960s, Bamba contains 50% peanuts. Osem makes the vitamin-enriched puffs in the southern Israeli town of Kiryat Gat.
Since it began competing in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973, Israel has won four times: 1978 – “A-Ba-Ni-Bi” performed by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta; 1979 – “Hallelujah” performed by Milk and Honey; 1998 – “Diva” performed by Dana International; 2018 – “Toy” performed by Netta Barzilai. It has hosted the musical extravaganza twice in Jerusalem and once in Tel Aviv.
Israel does not glorify victims, nor promise reward for self-sacrifice. Instead, Israelis remember with honor those who have fallen, whether at the hands of historic oppressors or in defense of the world’s sole Jewish country. In January 2024, there were ~245,000 Holocaust survivors alive, nearly half in Israel. This Yom HaShoah (Holocaust memorial day) Israel will commemorate the 6 million Jews murdered along with the heroism of survivors and rescuers.
Israelis love kids! With an average of 3 children per woman, Israel has the highest fertility rate among the 38 countries in the OECD, where the average is 1.58 children.
Israel-South Africa relations have not always been rocky. In 1948, South Africa was the seventh nation to give de facto recognition the new State of Israel. The Israeli city Ashkelon was originally designed, financed, and built by South African Jewry, who managed it from 1949 to 1959. Started to house new immigrants and refugees from around the world, Ashkelon merged with Migdal Gad in 1955.
Although a tiny country, Israel is often one of the first to respond to natural and man-made disasters. Israel has provided support such as water provision, shelter, technical and medical know-how to more than 60 countries including: USA, Kenya, Ukraine, Malawi, Morocco, Turkey, Syria, Haiti, Indonesia, Nepal, Japan, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Albania, Philippines, Germany, India, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Guatemala, and South Africa.
The Mount of Olives (Har Hazaitim) cemetery, with 70,000-150,000 graves, dates back 3,000 years and is still in use today. Sections overlook Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. Notable people buried there include Shebna (a First Temple royal steward mentioned in the Book of Isaiah), Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (father of modern Hebrew), Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, as well as Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg (Chabad emissaries killed in a 2008 terror attack in Mumbai).
The lowest point on Earth is the Dead Sea, which forms part of the officially designated border between Israel and Jordan. The surface of the water is approximately 437 meters (1,434 feet) below sea level. Although not the largest, the Dead Sea is the world’s deepest hypersaline lake – 9.6 times saltier than the ocean.
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”.
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.
Eileen Duek, S.A Epstein, Rabbi Matt Futterman, Frank Haymann, Barbara Goldberg, David S. Levine, Shachar Reichman, David Zwebner, and Janet Zwebner — and to our anonymous contributors (you know who you are).
