X-Nico

55 unusual facts about Israel


2012–13 Israeli Hockey League season

The 2012-13 Israeli Hockey League season was the 22nd season of the Israeli Hockey League, the top level of ice hockey in Israel.

Abel Ehrlich

Abel Ehrlich (Hebrew: אבל ארליך; September 3, 1915 – October 30, 2003) was an Israeli composer.

Amnon Kapeliouk

Amnon Kapeliouk (Hebrew: אמנון קפליוק) (22 December 1930– 26 June 2009) was an Israeli journalist and author.

Arable land

Israel: Israel's land primarily consisted of desert until the construction of desalination plants along the country's coast.

Avith

Its location is unknown but presumably it was in what is now southern Israel or Jordan.

Belarusian diaspora

A separate group of emigrants from Belarus were Belarusian Jews who have established significant communities in the USA and Israel.

Belaugh

According to records displayed in the church, the letter writer also added disapprovingly that, "The Steeple house of Belaugh St Peter stands high, perked like one of the idolatrous high places of Israel".

Belgian Resistance

In total, 1,612 Belgians have been awarded the distinction of "Righteous Among the Nations" by the State of Israel for risking their lives to save Jews from persecution during the occupation.

Ben Ammi Ben-Israel

Ben Ammi and more of his followers arrived in the ensuing months, settling in Dimona.

Ben Carter

Ben Ammi Ben-Israel or Ben Carter (born 1939), American founder and spiritual leader of the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem

Bnot Ya'akov Bridge

Jacob's Ford was a key river crossing point and major trade route between Acre and Damascus.

British-Israel-World Federation

At one time this organization enjoyed the patronage of members of the British establishment including HRH Princess Alice of Athlone, the Duke of Buccleuch, the Earl of Dysart, Lord Gisborough, and William Massey, the Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Dahaniya

Dahaniya (Arabic: دهنية) was a village near the southernmost point in the Gaza Strip, evacuated in Israel's disengagement of 2005.

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Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to leave the entire Gaza Strip, including the village of Dahaniya, meant that Israeli security forces would no longer be able to defend the residents from Palestinian militants.

Dan Harel

In this capacity he not only implemented counterterrorism measures, but was also the commander in charge of Israel's Gaza pull-out in the summer of 2005.

Elon Moreh

Eight times, the group tried to choose a plot of land to settle but the Israeli government under Yitzchak Rabin, then in his first term, prevented these attempts - arguing that the settlers' main aim was to secure permanent Israeli possession of the territory and that such possession would preclude any possibility of peace with Jordan or a Palestinian state.

Fishi Ha-Gadol

Adam Levinzon (born in 1977) in Israel, know as The Big Fishi (Fishi Hagadol - פישי הגדול) and Adam Ben-Lavi, is a music producer and an Israeli rapper.

Gataka

Gataka, the scene name of the Israeli DJ Matan Kadosh, also famous for participating in psytrance trio Sesto Sento.

George Biddlecombe

When attached to the Talbot, 1838–42, he surveyed numerous anchorages on the Ionian station, in the Archipelago, and up the Dardanelles and Bosphorus; examined the south shore of the Black Sea as far as Trabzon, as well as the port of Varna, and prepared a survey, published by the admiralty, of the bays and banks of Akko.

Georgians in Israel

Ethnic Georgians in Israel number around 75,000 to 80,000 which mostly include Georgian Jews.

Hakhel

In the twentieth century, however, it was revived by the government of Israel and by groups of Jews in other places on a symbolic basis.

Hapoel Rishon LeZion

Hapoel Rishon LeZion is an Hapoel sports club in the city of Rishon LeZion, Israel.

Henry Maundrell

Their circuit took them across Syria to Latakia, down the Syrian and Lebanese coasts as far as Acre, which they found in ruinous state save for a khan (caravanserai) occupied by some French merchants, a mosque and a few poor cottages.

Hundred Days' War

The outcome of the meeting was essentially a reaffirmation of the role of the ADF and a strong condemnation of those dealing with Israel.

Hurricane Ismael

During the 2001 season, a reporter stationed in Israel felt offended from the name choice, and the president of the Anti-Defamation League felt it was insensitive.

Igor Kipnis

Following his debut in 1959, harpsichordist, fortepianist, duo-pianist, and clavichordist Kipnis performed in recital and as soloist with orchestras throughout the world, including North, Central, and South America, Western and Eastern Europe, Israel, and Australia.

Inventing Our Life: The Kibbutz Experiment

Among those interviewed are first, second and third generation members from kibbutzim like Degania, the flagship commune established in 1910; Hulda, once near collapse and recently privatized; Sasa, the first to be settled entirely by Americans and today Israel's wealthiest kibbutz; and Tamuz, an urban kibbutz founded in 1987 and located in Beit Shemesh.

Israel, Palestine, and the United Nations

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, denounced the speech stating that Hamas was an internationally recognized terrorist organization that targeted civilians.

Judaization

In modern Hebrew, the term Judaization is used to describe the cultural life of baalei teshuvah, or "returnees", and refers to a "process through which secular, non-observant, young (and not so young) Israelis who have grown up in Israel within the majority culture, have become practicing Orthodox Jews and have joined the minority subculture of Orthodoxy".

Jund al-Urdunn

During the Fatimid era, the principal cities were Acre, Tiberias, Baysan, Beit Ras, Jadur, Fiq, Tyre, Lajjun, Faradiyya, Kabul and Saffuriya.

Kåre Kristiansen

He opposed Israel's unilateral disengagement plan from the Gaza Strip, to the point of refusing an invitation to join in an event that also featured moderate Israeli politician and chief rabbi of Norway, Michael Melchior.

Keren Hayesod

The resolution adopted called on "the whole Jewish people", Zionists and non-Zionists alike to contribute toward the building of the Land of Israel through Keren Hayesod.

Kidron

Kidron, Israel, a small moshav near Gedera, which is named after the stream flowing through Kidron Valley

Kiryat Menachem

It is bordered by Ir Ganim to the south and east, Mount Ora to the west, and the Jerusalem Hills to the north.

Luigi Romersa

He worked there for decades, traveling around the world, from the South Pole to Israel - during the Six-Day War - and Bahrain, where he covered the 1973 oil crisis.

Michael Maschler

He was a professor in the Einstein Institute of Mathematics and the Center for the Study of Rationality at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel.

Middle Eastern Empires

Naram-Sin quickly destroyed and dispersed the Sumerian rebels and also went on a vast campaign of conquest, taking his armies to Lebanon, Syria and Israel, and then to Egypt.

Milton Katims

Katims gave viola master classes in China and Israel, taught at various colleges such as Juilliard in New York and Northwestern in suburban Chicago, as well as the University of Washington, and transcribed and edited viola music.

Moshe Karadi

During this time, he oversaw the preparation and participation of the police in Israel's unilateral disengagement plan of the summer of 2005.

Mt Carmel blind mole rat

Following the identification of S. carmeli in 2001, Nevo et al. recorded specimens in the vicinity surrounding the Afik, Kabri, and Tzippori settlements.

Post-Zionism

Post-Zionism refers to the opinions of some Israelis, diaspora Jews and others, particularly in academia, that Zionism has fulfilled its ideological mission with the creation of the modern State of Israel in 1948, and that Zionist ideology should therefore be considered at an end.

Raquela Prywes

Raquela Prywes (Hebrew: רחלה פריבס; born Raquela Levy, 1924 in Jerusalem; died March, 1985) was a nurse in Israel, trained in midwifery, and obstetrics, at the Hadassah Medical Center.

Refusal to serve in the IDF

In 2005, as a reaction to the Israel's unilateral disengagement plan, a group called "Mateh Chomat Magen" (the name referring to Operation Defensive Shield) published a letter with 10,000 signatures of soldiers who signed a petition saying that they would refuse to uproot and remove Israeli settlements.

Rena Costa Center for Yiddish Studies

The Center’s home is in the Faculty of Jewish Studies in the Bar-Ilan University campus in Ramat Gan, Israel.

Rosh HaNikra grottoes

Nowadays all the railways on the Lebanese side of the border have been dismantled while the Coastal Railway in Israel currently ends near Nahariya, several kilometers to the south.

Sheikh Khalifa City

Once called "Morag", when it was a Gush Katif settlement, it has been retroceded to the Palestinian authorities after the settlers' buildings and facilities were destroyed by Israel in 2005.

Sufa

Sufa, Israel, a kibbutz in Israel and a border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip

Theodore Motzkin

Theodore Samuel Motzkin (26 March 1908–15 December 1970) was an Israeli-American mathematician.

Two-state solution

Such occurred in 2005 when the evacuation of settlers and security personnel from Gaza was undertaken by the IDF, with many of the former settlers being re-settled in the West Bank.

Tzohar organization

Tzohar organization was founded by a group of rabbis from religious Zionism group, in order to be partners in shaping the Jewish character of Israel, from the dialogue and the search for common identity elements.

Valentin Kontridze

Israel, 25 October 2002) was a Georgian Jewish scientist, ophthalmologist, and eye microsurgeon.

William IV, Count of Nevers

William IV, Count of Nevers, (c. 1130 – Acre, 24 October 1168) Count of Nevers, Auxerre and Tonnerre (1161–1168).

Yavneh Olami

The organization, affiliated with World Mizrachi, runs educational programs that focus on pro-Israel advocacy, Israel connectivity, leadership development, and encouraging Jewish students to make Israel their home.

Yeshivat Ma'alot

The Yeshiva is named after Rabbi Dr. Ya'akov Herzog, son of the late Chief Rabbi of Israel Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog and brother of the late President of Israel Chaim Herzog.

Yitzhak Katz

Yitzhak Katz (May 19, 1901 – 1991) was an Israeli civil servant and art critic active in all spheres of Israeli arts and culture.


2012 US-Israel military exercise

Mark Regev, the spokesman for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel and the United States made the decision to delay the exercise "because it was not the right time.

5uu's

In May 2004, Dave Kerman/5uu's regrouped again in Israel, this time comprising Kerman, Drake, Cutler, Perry, Koomran and Janet Feder on prepared guitar.

Akureyri Art Museum

Artists that have had their work displayed in the Akureyri Art Museum include Icelandic artists Erró, Kjarval and Louisa Matthíasdóttir, American artist Spencer Tunick, Israeli video artist Guy Ben-Ner and French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Andrew Hutchison

Hutchison delivered a response in late 2005 to the call for the destruction of Israel by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, condemning Ahmadinejad for his remarks which incite "hatred of the Jewish people and supporting violence against them."

Astra Film Festival

Throughout the decades, AFF Sibiu was honoured to present Portrait programmes of the world’s greatest documentary filmmakers: John Marshall (USA), David MacDougall (Australia), Robert Gardner (USA), Kim Longinotto (UK), Michael Yorke (UK), Mircea Săucan (Romania-Israel), Leonard Retel Helmrich (Holland), and Bob Connolly (Australia).

Barbara Schlick

She has since appeared at major concert halls, performance venues, and music festivals throughout Europe, Israel, Japan, Canada, the United States and Russia, singing under the batons of people like Frans Brüggen, William Christie, Michel Corboz, Reinhard Goebel, Philippe Herreweghe, René Jacobs, Sigiswald Kuijken, and Karl-Friedrich Beringer.

Big Brother 5

HaAh HaGadol 5, the current 2013 edition of Big Brother in Israel

Big Gus, What's the Fuss?

Big Gus, What's the Fuss? (also known as Ha-Balash Ha'Amitz Shvartz and Fat Spy) was a 1973 Israeli comedy film directed by Ami Artzi and American director Lloyd Kaufman, the president of Troma Entertainment.

Cy Denneny

He was the son of James Israel Denneny who was a top lacrosse player in the late 19th century and was descended from the Dennenys of County Monaghan, Ireland.

Dark retreat

All spiritual traditions have used Darkness Techniques in the pursuit of enlightenment: in Europe, the dark room appeared as a network of tunnels, in Egypt as the Pyramides, in Rome as the catacombs, by the Essenes in Israel and Taoists in China as caves.

Ernst Uhrlau

It is believed Uhrlau was a mediator between Hezbollah and Israel for the return in 2008 of the remains of two Israeli soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, whose kidnapping triggered the 2006 Lebanon war.

Estonia Fed Cup team

Estonia came through Europe/Africa Zone Group I and then edged Israel in a World Group II Play-off to qualify for World Group II for the first time just a year after promotion from Group II.

Eyal Gabbai

This period was characterized by vigorous privatization of state companies, including El Al, Bezeq, Israel's Oil Refineries and Zim, selling shares in a total value of 14b NIS in an unprecedented privatization spree.

First Step to Nobel Prize in Physics

In 2009, the prize went to Mor Tzaban, a high school student from Netivot, Israel.

Hannibal Directive

Israel has with several notable exceptions adhered to the principle of not negotiating with what it considers terrorists and this especially in hostage situations.

Hasideans

Several modern scholars (Schürer, Kautzsch, and others) have agreed to this view, which had already been adopted in part by Georg Heinrich August von Ewald (Geschichte des Volkes Israel, iv. 401).

IMI 120 mm gun

In 1998 the Israel Defense Prize was awarded to Israeli Military Industries for this development, which gave Israel the means to produce tank guns independently.

Irad Young

Young was signed by Hapoel Haifa of the Israel Premier League, the same club his father, Roby Young captained and starred throughout the 1960s, for the 1993–94 Liga Leumit season.

Israel and legitimacy

M.J. Rosenberg, writing in the Los Angeles Times, argued that the term "delegitimization" is a "distraction", whose purpose is to divert attention away from world opposition to the "illegitimate" occupation of the West Bank and blockade of the Gaza Strip, from the "illegal" settlements, and from "the ever-louder calls for Israel to grant Palestinians equal rights".

Israel Putnam House

Putnam Cottage, where he had a close escape, owned by the Israel Putnam House Association

Israeli lira

Israel inherited the Palestinian pound but, shortly after the establishment of the state, new banknotes were issued by the London-based Anglo-Palestine bank of the Zionist movement.

Jewish Life Television

Its spotlight on Israel and Jewish life is facilitated by broadcast studios in Los Angeles, New York City and Toronto as well as bureaus in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Washington, D.C., Miami, London and Moscow.

Jon Pollard

Jonathan Pollard, a former civilian intelligence analyst who was convicted of spying for Israel

Kevin Hamilton

Overseas, he has also served at Canada's embassies in Tel Aviv (Israel) and Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina).

Kristian Chong

A highly sought after chamber musician, recent collaborations include Australian and international tours with the Australian String Quartet, performances with violinists Natsuko Yoshimoto, Elizabeth Layton, Ilya Konovalov, (concertmaster Israel Philharmonic), Flinders Quartet, and cellists Li-Wei Qin and Guy Johnston.

Lawrence Bergman

He also received several honors for his service among the Jewish Community while he was a council member of the Montreal Jewish Community, an honorary president of the Montreal's Jewish community centres and the director of Magen David Adom for Israel.

Mario Pergolini

The Israel TV version (anchored by Avri Gilad) did not catch with Israeli audiences and was discontinued after half a season.

Mechinat Avnei Eitan

The mechina, the first of its kind for English speakers, was founded in 2004, on Moshav Avnei Eitan in the Golan Heights annexed by Israel in 1981.

Middle East

These were followed by the Hittite, Greek and Urartian civilisations of Asia Minor, Elam in pre-Iranian Persia, as well as the civilizations of the Levant (such as Ebla, Ugarit, Canaan, Aramea, Phoenicia and Israel), Persian and Median civilizations in Iran, North Africa (Carthage/Phoenicia) and the Arabian Peninsula (Magan, Sheba, Ubar).

Mohel

A review (2013) of cases of neonatal HSV infections in Israel identified ritual circumcision as the source of HSV-1 transmission in 31.8% of cases.

Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington

Günter Beck, a lecturer for the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) at the Haifa Center for German and European Studies at the University of Haifa in Israel, compared Lisa's role in the episode to the nineteenth-century American poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau.

Nitzhonot

Nitzhonot (Hebrew: נצחונות, "victories") is a crossover between Goa trance and uplifting trance, emerged during the mid-late 1990s in Israel.

Oramir

Oramir was founded in 1992 by Fairchild Corporation, Teuza Venture Capital Fund and Rafael Development Corporation of Israel.

Palestine Railways P class

After the War of Independence and subsequent 1948 Arab–Israeli War, main line services were truncated to the territory within the new State of Israel.

Rafael Eitan

On 3 June 1982, Abu Nidal's militant group gravely wounded Israel's ambassador in London, Shlomo Argov, in an assassination attempt.

Ram Moav

Ram Moav (1930 - 1984) was an Israeli geneticist and science fiction writer.

Robert Whittaker

s under Whittaker include Walter Westman, Robert Peet (now at University of North Carolina), Susan Bratton (now at Baylor University), Thomas Wentworth (now at North Carolina State University), Owen Sholes (now at Assumption College), Mark Wilson (now at Oregon State University), Linda Olsvig-Whittaker (now at the Israel Nature and Parks Authority) and Kerry Woods (now at Bennington College).

Rogatchover Gaon

The remainder of his surviving writings appeared in the United States and Israel many years after his death; all are titled Tzofnath Paneach "decipherer of secrets", (a title given to the Biblical Joseph by Pharaoh (Genesis 41:45)).

Shahira Amin

Amin became the subject of criticism after she interviewed Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit on October 18, 2011 in Egypt, following Shalit's release from more than five years of captivity in Gaza but preceding his return to Israel and reunification with his family.

Solar pond

The largest operating solar pond for electricity generation was the Beit HaArava pond built in Israel and operated up until 1988.

Solomon Bublick

Professor Shlomo Avineri, a leading Israeli social scientist, received the Solomon Bublick prize for 2009 in recognition of his contribution to political science and the politics of the State of Israel.

Tadd Dameron turnaround

Further examples of pieces including this turnaround are Miles Davis' "Half-Nelson" and John Carisi's "Israel".

Tzedakah

There are many examples of Tzedakah funds that operate according to Maimonides' principles above (particularly #2), including Hands on Tzedakah (working with non-profits in the USA and in Israel), and Mitzvah Heroes Fund (working mainly with non-profits in Israel).

United States–Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2013

Coogan believes that the program would allow Israel to discriminate against Palestinian Americans, Arab Americans and Muslim-Americans who travel to Israel.

Women for Israel's Tomorrow

Nadia Matar, the group's co-chair, caused controversy across the Israeli political spectrum in September 2004 when she compared the government's intention to remove Israeli settlers from Gaza to the involvement of the Judenrat ("Jewish Council") in Berlin in 1942, which under orders from the German government organized the expulsion of the Jewish community from that city.

Yehuda Talit

During the past few years, Talit has been responsible in a joint production with the Beit Lesin Theater in Israel, for the hit one man show starring Avi Kushnir, Returning the Cave Man.

Zucchetto

Menasseh Ben Israel for a portrait of Rabbi ben Israel wearing zucchetto-style yarmulke