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”.
