Country name
conventional long form: State of Israel
conventional short form: Israel
local long form: Medinat Yisra'el
local short form: Yisra'el

Data code IS

Government type republic

National capital Jerusalem
note: Israel proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital in 1950, but the US, likenearly all other countries, maintains its Embassy in Tel Aviv

Administrative divisions 6 districts (mehozot, singular - mehoz); Central, Haifa, Jerusalem,Northern, Southern, Tel Aviv

Independence 14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)

National holiday Independence Day, 14 May 1948 (Israel declared independence on 14 May1948, but the Jewish calendar is lunar and the holiday may occur in Aprilor May)

Constitution no formal constitution; some of the functions of a constitution arefilled by the Declaration of Establishment (1948), the basic laws of the parliament(Knesset), and the Israeli citizenship law

Legal system mixture of English common law, British Mandate regulations, and, inpersonal matters, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim legal systems; in December1985, Israel informed the UN Secretariat that it would no longer accept compulsoryICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
chief of state: President Ezer WEIZMAN (since 13 May 1993)
head of government : Prime Minister Binyamin NETANYAHU (since 18 June 1996)
cabinet: Cabinet selected from and approved by the Knesset
elections: president elected by the Knesset for a five-year term; election lastheld 24 March 1993 (next to be held NA March 1998); prime minister electedby popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 29 May 1996 (nextto be held NA 2000); note - in March 1992, the Knesset approved legislation,effective in 1996, which allowed for the direct election of the prime minister;under the new law, each voter casts two ballots - one for the direct electionof the prime minister and one for the party in the Knesset; the candidatethat receives the largest percentage of the popular vote then works to forma coalition with other parties to achieve a parliamentary majority of 61 seats;finally, the candidate must submit his or her cabinet to the Knesset for approvaland this must be done within 45 days of the election; in contrast to the oldsystem, under the new law, the prime minister's party need not be the single-largestparty in the Knesset
election results: Ezer WEIZMAN elected president; percent of Knesset vote - NA; BinyaminNETANYAHU elected prime minister; percent of vote - Binyamin NETANYAHU 50.4%,Shimon PERES 49.5%

Legislative branch unicameral Knesset or parliament (120 seats; members elected by popularvote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 29 May 1996 (next to be held NA 2000)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Labor Party 34, LikudParty 32, SHAS 10, MERETZ 9, National Religious Party 9, Yisra'el Ba'Aliya7, Hadash-Balad 5, Third Way 4, United Arab List 4, United Jewish Torah 4,Moledet 2; note - Likud, Tzomet, and Gesher candidates ran on a joint list

Judicial branch Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders
government coalition: Likud Party, Prime Minister Binyamin NETANYAHU; Tzomet, Rafael EITAN;Gesher, David LEVI; SHAS, Arieh DERI; National Religious Party, Zevulun HAMMER;Yisra'el Ba'Aliya, Natan SHARANSKY; United Jewish Torah, Meir PORUSH; ThirdWay, Avigdor KAHALANI; Moledet, Rehavam ZEEVI
opposition: Labor Party, Shimon PERES; MERETZ, Yossi SARID; United Arab List, Abdal-Malik DAHAMSHAH; Hadash-Balad, Hashim MAHAMID

Political pressure groups and leaders Gush Emunim, Israeli nationalists advocating Jewish settlement on theWest Bank and Gaza Strip; Peace Now supports territorial concessions in theWest Bank and is critical of government's Lebanon policy

International organization participation AG (observer), BSEC (observer), CCC, CE (observer), CERN (observer),EBRD, ECE, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF,IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, OAS (observer), OSCE(partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO,WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US
chief of mission : Ambassador Eliahu BEN-ELISSAR
chancery: 3514 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 364-5500
FAX: [1] (202) 364-5610
consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia,and San Francisco

Diplomatic representation from the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Martin S. INDYK
embassy: 71 Hayarkon Street, Tel Aviv
mailing address: PSC 98, Box 100, APO AE 09830
telephone : [972] (3) 519-7575
FAX: [972] (3) 517-3227
consulate(s) general: Jerusalem; note - an independent US mission, established in 1928, whosemembers are not accredited to a foreign government

Flag description white with a blue hexagram (six-pointed linear star) known as the MagenDavid (Shield of David) centered between two equal horizontal blue bands nearthe top and bottom edges of the flag

NOTE: The information regarding Israel on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Israel Government 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Israel Government 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.