Fast Fact #22
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.
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Fast Fact #21
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.
Fast Fact #20
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.
Fast Fact #19
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.
Fast Fact #18
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.
Fast Fact #17
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.
Fast Fact #16
“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.
Fast Fact #15
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.
Fast Fact #14
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.