The State of Israel (Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, transliteration: Mədinat Yisraʾel; Arabic: دَوْلَةْ اِسْرَائِيل, transliteration: Dawlat Isrāʾīl) is a country in the Middle East on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a parliamentary democracy and it is a Jewish state. Israel is the birthplace of Judaism in the 17th century BCE and Christianity at the beginning of the first century CE. The Israeli population is predominantly Jewish with a large non-Jewish minority, mostly comprising Muslim, Christian, and Druze Arabs. The territory Israel controls, including the West Bank and Gaza Strip, borders the states of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt (listed clockwise from north to south). Israel shares the coastlines of the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Aqaba (also known as Gulf of Eilat), and the Dead Sea. The Modern Hebrew language is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. ... Transliteration in a narrow sense is a mapping from one script into another script. ... Arabic is a Semitic language, closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... -1... A parliamentary system, or parliamentarism, is distinguished by the executive branch of government being dependent on the direct or indirect support of the parliament, often expressed through a vote of confidence. ... Democracy is a form of government under which the power to alter the laws and structures of government lies, ultimately, with the citizenry. ... The term Jewish state is sometimes used to describe the State of Israel and refers to its status as a nation-state for the Jewish people. ... For a discussion of Jews as an ethnicity or ethnic group see the article on Jew. ... Christianity is an Abrahamic religion based on the life, teachings, death by crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as described in the New Testament. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... A Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. ... This article is about the religious people known as Christians. ... The Druze ( Arabic: duruzī درزي, pl. ... The Israeli Arabs, or 1948 Palestinians, are those Arabs who remained inside the borders of what would become Israel after 1948, when most Arabs fled the country in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War (see also Nakba). They make up roughly 20% of Israels population. ... The West Bank is a territory in the Middle East constituting the area west of the Jordan River annexed by Jordan at the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. ... Map of the Gaza Strip from The World Factbook. ... The Lebanese Republic or Lebanon is a country in the Middle East, along the Mediterranean Sea, bordered by Syria and Israel. ... The Syrian Arab Republic or Syria is a country in the Middle East, bordering (from south to north) on Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey. ... The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, commonly called Jordan, is a country in the Middle East. ... The Arab Republic of Egypt, commonly known as Egypt, (in Arabic: مصر, romanized Miṣr or Maṣr, in Egyptian dialect) is a republic mostly located in north-eastern Africa. ... -1... Sinai Peninsula, Gulf of Suez(west), Gulf of Aqaba(east) viewed from Space Shuttle STS-40. ... Eilat or Elat (אילת), pop. ... The Jordan River flowing into the Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( Hebrew ים המלח, Arabic البحر الميت) is the lowest point on the Earths surface. ...

(Flag) (Coat of Arms)
National motto: n/a
National anthem: Hatikvah
Capital	Jerusalem1 31° 47′ N, 35° 13′ E
Largest city	Jerusalem
Official languages	Hebrew, Arabic
Government Prime Minister President	Parliamentary democracy Ariel Sharon Moshe Katsav
Independence  - Declaration	From the League of Nations mandate administered by Great Britain May 14, 1948 (Iyar 5, 5708)
Area  - Total  - Water (%)	20,770 km² (153rd) ~2%
Population  - July 2005 est.  - 2003 census  - Density	6,276,883 (100th) 6,780,000 302/km² (40th)
GDP (PPP)  - Total  - Per capita	2005 estimate $154,174 million (52nd) $22,944 (30th)
Currency	New Israeli sheqel (₪) (NIS)
Time zone  - Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (UTC) UTC+3 (UTC)
Internet TLD	.il
Calling code	+972

Main article: Israel
·
History of Israel
Zionism  · Zionism timeline
Aliyah  · Immigration timeline
Herzl  · Faisal-Weizmann
Sykes-Picot  · San Remo
Balfour Declaration  · Mandate
1947 UN Partition Plan
Independence  · Holiday
Land of Israel
Geography  · Kibbutzim
Districts  · Cities  · Transport
Jerusalem  · Western Wall
Demographics  · Economy
Science/Technology · Culture
Writers  · Music  · Archaeology
Judaism  · Israeli Arabs
Laws  · Politics
Parties  · Elections  · Knesset
Prime Minister  · President
Law of Return  · Halakha
Flag  · Anthem  · Hebrew
Foreign relations  · UN
Israeli Security Forces
Defense Forces  · Sayeret
Mossad  · Shin Bet  · YAMAM
Police  · MAGAV  · MASHAZ
Nuclear  · Aircraft Industries
Military Industries  · RAFAEL
Magen David  · ZAKA
Arab-Israeli conflict
1948 War  · 1949 Armistice
1956 War  · 1967 War
1970 War  · 1973 War
1978 War  · 1982 War
Arab League  · Camp David
1979 Israel-Egypt Treaty
1994 Israel-Jordan Treaty
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israeli-Palestinian timeline
First Intifada  · al-Aqsa Intifada
Unilateral Disengagement
The Peace Process

History

Main article History of Israel.

Main article: State of Israel. ...

Historical roots

Jews have long considered Israel to be their national home — as a Holy Land and a Promised Land. The Land of Israel holds a special place in Jewish religious obligations, including the remains of the Second Temple. It is the place where both Judaism and Christianity were born, and contains many other sites of great spiritual significance in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. A series of Jewish kingdoms and states existed intermittently in the region for over a millennium until the failure of the Great Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire resulted in widescale expulsion of Jews from their homeland and beloved capital, Jerusalem (about 25% of the Jewish population, see Destruction of Jerusalem and in "Propyläen der Weltgeschichte", ed. Golo Mann). After crushing Bar Kokhba's revolt in 135, Emperor Hadrian renamed Provincia Judaea to Provincia Syria Palaestina, a Greek name derived from Philistine (Hebrew פלשת Pəléšeṯ). [1]  (http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_early_palestine_name_origin.php) The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... The phrase The Holy Land (Arabic الأرض المقدسة al-Arḍ ul-Muqaddasah; Hebrew ארץ הקודש;, Standard Hebrew Éreẓ haQodeš, Tiberian Hebrew ʾÉreṣ haqQāḏēš; Latin Terra Sancta) generally refers to Palestine or the Land of Israel. ... According to the Bible, the Land of Israel (Hebrew: Eretz Yisroel) was promised to the descendants of Hebrew patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by God, making it the Promised Land. ... Artists impression of the Second Temple Destroyed The Second Temple was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem which stood between 515 BC and 70 CE. During this time, it was the center of Jewish worship, which focused on the sacrifices known as the korbanot. ... For a discussion of Jews as an ethnicity or ethnic group see the article on Jew. ... Christianity is an Abrahamic religion based on the life, teachings, death by crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as described in the New Testament. ... Islam ( Arabic al-islām الإسلام,  listen?) the submission to God is a monotheistic faith and the worlds second-largest religion. ... In compiling the history of ancient Israel and Judah, there are many available sources, including the Jewish Tanakh (the Old Testament of the Christian Bible), other Jewish texts such as the Talmud, the Ethiopian book of history known as the Kebra Nagast, the writings of historians such as Nicolaus of... The Great Jewish Revolt (66–73 CE), sometimes called The first Jewish-Roman War, was the first of two major rebellions by the Jews of Judea against the Roman Empire (the second was Bar Kokhbas revolt in 132-135). ... The Roman Empire is not the Holy Roman Empire (843-1806). ... The Destruction of Jerusalem (specifically, the Second Destruction of Jerusalem) was the culmination of the successful campaign of Titus Flavius against Judea after an unsuccessful attack four years prior by Cestius Gallus. ... Bar Kokhba’s revolt ( 132- 135 CE) against the Roman Empire, also known as The Second Jewish-Roman War or The Second Jewish Revolt, was a second major rebellion by the Jews of Judea. ... For other uses, see number 135. ... Emperor Hadrian Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus (January 24, 76 - July 10, 138), known as Hadrian in English, was a Roman emperor from 117 - 138. ... Desert hills in southern Judea, looking east from the town of Arad Judea or Judaea (יהודה Praise, Standard Hebrew Yəhuda, Tiberian Hebrew Yəhûḏāh) is a term used for the mountainous southern part of historic Palestine, an area now divided between Israel, Jordan and the West Bank. ... See related article Occupations of Palestine. ... The historic Philistines (see note Philistines below) were a people that inhabited the southern coast of Canaan around the time of the arrival of the Israelites, their territory being named Philistia in later contexts. ... The Modern Hebrew language is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. ...

• See also: Occupations of Palestine and Names of the Levant.

Occupations of Palestine have been known to occur for as long as the people of the Middle East have kept written records. ... Over recorded history, there have been many names of the Levant. ...

Caliphate, Crusades, and the Ottoman Empire

The Muslim Caliphate conquered the land from the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantines) in the seventh century and attracted Arab settlers. The local language, Aramaic, gradually disappeared. The Crusades marked a lengthy struggle between European Christians and Middle Eastern Muslims for control of the land. Throughout the centuries the size of Jewish population in the land fluctuated. Before the birth of modern Zionism, by the early 19th century, more than 10,000 Jews lived in the area that is today's Israel. (Dan Bahat, Twenty Centuries of Jewish Life in the Holy Land, 1976, pp. 61-63) A Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. ... An Anglicized/Latinized version of the Arabic word خليفة or Khalīfah, Caliph (  listen?) is the term or title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah, or community of Islam. ... Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered around its capital in Constantinople. ... The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... ( 6th century - 7th century - 8th century - other centuries) Events Islam starts in Arabia, the Quran is written, and Arabs subjugate Syria, Iraq, Persia, Egypt, North Africa and Central Asia to Islam. ... Arab (disambiguation). ... Aramaic is a Semitic language with a four-thousand year history. ... This article is about historical Crusades . ... World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... A Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. ... A bilingual poster in Romanian and Hungarian promoting a film about Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1930s. ...

Modern Zionism

Main article: Zionism.

Following centuries of Diaspora, the nineteenth century saw the rise of Zionism, the Jewish national movement, a desire to see the creation of a Jewish political entity in Palestine, and significant immigration. Zionism remained a minority movement until the rise of Nazism in 1933 and the subsequent attempted extermination of the Jewish people in the Shoah, or Holocaust, in which over six million Jews were murdered. In the late 1800's large numbers of Jews began moving to the Turkish and later British-controlled region (the British Mandate of Palestine). In 1917, the British endorsed a Jewish homeland in Palestine by issuing the Balfour Declaration. The Jewish population in the region increased from 11% of the population in 1922 to 30% by 1940[2]  (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/78601.stm). A bilingual poster in Romanian and Hungarian promoting a film about Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1930s. ... The term diaspora ( Greek διασπορά, a scattering or sowing of seeds) is used (without capitalization) to refer to any people or ethnic population forced or induced to leave their traditional ethnic homelands, being dispersed throughout other parts of the world, and the ensuing developments in their dispersal and culture. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... A bilingual poster in Romanian and Hungarian promoting a film about Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1930s. ... Main article: State of Israel. ... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... 1933 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article deals with the Nazi Holocaust. ... Concentration camp inmates during the Holocaust The Holocaust refers to Nazi Germanys systematic genocide ( ethnic cleansing) of various ethnic, religious, national, and secular groups during World War II starting in 1941 and continuing through 1945. ... The British Mandate of Palestine was a swathe of territory in the Middle East, formerly belonging to the Ottoman Empire, which the League of Nations entrusted to the United Kingdom to administer in the aftermath of World War I as a Mandate Territory. ... The Balfour Declaration was a letter of November 2, 1917 from British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour, to Lord Rothschild (Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild), a leader of the British Jewish community, for transmission to the Zionist Federation. ... 1922 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

British Mandate

Main article: British Mandate of Palestine.

In 1937, following the Great Arab Revolt, the partition plan proposed by the Peel Commission was rejected by the Palestinian Arab leadership, but accepted tentatively [3]  (http://www.multied.com/bio/people/BenGurion.html) by Zionist leader David Ben-Gurion. This was notable, as Ben-Gurion showed a willingness to essentially accept about 1/3 of the land that would ultimately be won by Israel in the 1948-1949 Arab-Israeli War. As a result, in 1939, the British gave in to Arab pressure because of support needed for World War II, abandoned the idea of a Jewish national homeland, and abandoned partition and negotiations in favour of the unilaterally-imposed White Paper of 1939, which capped Jewish immigration, and subjected it to review under further agreement with the Arabs. Its other stated policy was to establish a system under which both Jews and Arabs were to share one government. The policy was viewed as a significant defeat for the Jewish side, as it placed severe restrictions on Jewish immigration, while placing no practical restrictions on Arab immigration from surrounding Arab states. Due to these limitations, it was predicted that the proposed government would be dominated by the Arab side. As a result of impending world war, the plan was never fully implemented, but the White Paper of 1939 policy was implemented well into the end of WW2, and enforced even when refugees who survived Holocaust were fleeing from Nazi persecution. (See Struma article.) The British Mandate of Palestine was a swathe of territory in the Middle East, formerly belonging to the Ottoman Empire, which the League of Nations entrusted to the United Kingdom to administer in the aftermath of World War I as a Mandate Territory. ... 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... In 1936, the Arab leadership in the British Mandate of Palestine, led by Haj Amin al-Husayni, declared a general strike to protest the demographic and otherwise impact brought by Jewish immigration to Palestine. ... The Peel Commission of 1936, formally known as the Palestine Royal Commission, was a British Royal Commission of Inquiry set out to propose changes to the British Mandate of Palestine following the outbreak of the Great Uprising. ... David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion (October 16, 1886—December 1, 1973; Hebrew: דוד בן גוריון) was the first Prime Minister of Israel. ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1949 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... The 1948 Arab-Israeli War, called the War of Independence (Hebrew: מלחמת העצמאות) by Israelis and al Nakba (Arabic: النكبة, the catastrophe) by Arabs, was the first in a series of wars in the Arab-Israeli conflict. ... 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The White Paper of 1939, also known as the MacDonald White Paper after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary who presided over it, was a policy paper issued by the British government in which the idea of partitioning the British Mandate of Palestine was abandoned in favour of Jews and... The White Paper of 1939, also known as the MacDonald White Paper after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary who presided over it, was a policy paper issued by the British government in which the idea of partitioning the British Mandate of Palestine was abandoned in favour of Jews and... German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ... Concentration camp inmates during the Holocaust The Holocaust refers to Nazi Germanys systematic genocide ( ethnic cleansing) of various ethnic, religious, national, and secular groups during World War II starting in 1941 and continuing through 1945. ... The Struma was a ship commissioned by the Revisionist Zionist organizations in Romania, especially Betar, to carry Romanian Jews as illegal immigrants to British-controlled Palestine. ...

Declaration of the Establishment of the State

See main articles: Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel and 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

In 1947, following increasing levels of violence by militant groups, alongside unsuccessful efforts to reconcile the Jewish and Arab populations, the British government withdrew from the Palestine Mandate. Fulfillment of the 1947 UN Partition Plan would have divided the mandated territory into two states, Jewish and Arab, giving about half the land area to each state. Under this plan, Jerusalem was intended to be an international region under UN administration to avoid conflict over its status. Immediately following the adoption of the Partition Plan by the United Nations General Assembly, the Palestinian Arab leadership rejected the plan to create the as-yet-unnamed Jewish state and launched a guerilla war. The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, May 14, 1948 David Ben Gurion (First Prime Minister of Israel) publicly pronouncing the Declaration of the State of Israel, May 14, 1948. ... The 1948 Arab-Israeli War, called the War of Independence (Hebrew: מלחמת העצמאות) by Israelis and al Nakba (Arabic: النكبة, the catastrophe) by Arabs, was the first in a series of wars in the Arab-Israeli conflict. ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Map showing the UN Partition Plan. ...

Ben Gurion pronounces the Declaration of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948 in Tel Aviv

On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was proclaimed. Hoping to annihilate the new Jewish state, the armies of six Arab nations attacked the fledgling state. Israel captured an additional 26% of the Mandate territory west of the Jordan river and annexed it to the new state. Jordan captured about 21% of the Mandate territory (which became known as the West Bank), including parts of Jerusalem that included the old city and eastern environments and separated the city into West and East Jerusalem. Jordan's annexation of those territories in 1950 was recognized only by the United Kingdom and Pakistan. The Gaza Strip was captured by Egypt and came under its control. Caption: Source: jpg of Image:Declaration_of_State_of_Israel_1948. ... Caption: Source: jpg of Image:Declaration_of_State_of_Israel_1948. ... David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion (October 16, 1886—December 1, 1973; Hebrew: דוד בן גוריון) was the first Prime Minister of Israel. ... The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, May 14, 1948 David Ben Gurion (First Prime Minister of Israel) publicly pronouncing the Declaration of the State of Israel, May 14, 1948. ... May 14 is the 134th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (135th in leap years). ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Tel Aviv at night Dizengof Center Allenby Street Tel Aviv-Yafo (Hebrew תל אביב-יפו; Arabic تل ابيب-يافا Tal Abīb-Yāfā) is an Israeli city on the coast of the Mediterranean sea. ... May 14 is the 134th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (135th in leap years). ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The West Bank is a territory in the Middle East constituting the area west of the Jordan River annexed by Jordan at the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. ... East Jerusalem is that part of Jerusalem which was held by Jordan from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War until the Six-Day War in 1967. ... The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the G8, the European Union, and NATO. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, the UK, or (inaccurately) as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent... The Islamic Republic of Pakistan (, or Islami Jamhooriya-e-Pakistan, in Urdu), or Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and is part of the Greater Middle East. ... Map of the Gaza Strip from The World Factbook. ...

Basis for the Arab-Israeli conflict

See main article: Arab-Israeli conflict.

After the war, 14-25% (depending on the estimate) of the Arab population remained in Israel, the rest fled during the war. The continuing conflict between Israel and the Arab world resulted in a lasting displacement that persists to this day; see Palestinian refugee and Palestinian Exodus for a discussion of the circumstances. Immigration of Holocaust survivors and Jews from Arab lands doubled Israel's population within one year of independence. Over the following decade approximately 600,000 Mizrahi Jews, who fled or were expelled from surrounding Arab countries, came to Israel, along with Jews from Iran and Europe. Israel's Jewish population continued to grow at a very high rate for some years, fed by further waves of Jewish immigration, most notably recently following the collapse of the USSR. Israel and the Arab League states The Arab-Israeli conflict is a long-running conflict in the Middle East regarding the existence of the state of Israel and its relations with Arab states and with the Palestinian population (see Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ... In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a Palestinian refugee is a refugee from Palestine created by the Palestinian Exodus, which Palestinians call the Nakba (نكبة, meaning disaster). History Most of the refugees had already fled by the time the neighboring Arab states intervened on the side of Palestinians and continued after... The Palestinian Exodus is the name given to the refugee flight of some 520,000 (Israeli estimate) to 1,000,000 (Arab estimate) Arabs during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, called the Nakba by Palestinians. ... Mizrachi is also an organisation of the Religious Zionist Movement Mizrahi Jews or Oriental Jews (מזרחי eastern, Standard Hebrew Mizraḥi, Tiberian Hebrew Mizrāḥî; plural מזרחים easterners, Standard Hebrew Mizraḥim, Tiberian Hebrew Mizrāḥîm) are Jews of Middle Eastern origin; that is to say, their ancestors never left the Middle East. ... The Jewish exodus from Arab lands is the 20th century emigration of Jews, primarily Sephardi and Mizrahi, from Arab lands. ... Main article: State of Israel. ... The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик (СССР)  listen; tr. ...

In 1957, at the UN, 17 maritime powers declared that Israel had a right to transit the Strait of Tiran. Moreover, the Egyptian blockade prior to the 1956 Suez War violated the Convention on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone, which was adopted by the UN Conference on the Law of the Sea on April 27, 1958. The Straits of Tiran are the narrow passages formed by the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas which separates the Gulf of Aqaba from the Red Sea. ... The Arab Republic of Egypt, commonly known as Egypt, (in Arabic: مصر, romanized Miṣr or Maṣr, in Egyptian dialect) is a republic mostly located in north-eastern Africa. ... (Redirected from 1956 Suez War) The Suez Crisis, also known as the Suez War, Suez Campaign or Kadesh Operation was a war fought on Egyptian territory in 1956. ...

On May 23rd, 1967, Egypt again cut off the Straits of Tiran (Israel's main shipping route to Asia and other major places of trade) to Israeli shipping, and also blockaded the port of Eilat. Egypt ordered United Nations peacekeeping forces to leave the Sinai, and in their place, Egyptian tanks and troops were concentrated on the border with Israel. In accordance with international law (United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, (Geneva: UN Publications 1958, pp. 132-134.), Israel considered the blockade of its port a casus belli, and launched an attack on Egypt, especially the Egyptian Air Force. Hostilities came to include Jordan (after Jordan reluctantly chose to dismiss Israeli appeals for neutrality and undertook shelling of Tel Aviv in adherence to its defense treaty with Egypt), Syria, and the Iraqi air force. This was the Six-Day War (June 5 - 10, 1967), during which Israel captured East Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula. In 1978 Israel returned the Sinai to Egypt under the Camp David Accords, and in 1981 Israel annexed East Jerusalem. The status of the West Bank and Gaza, populated mostly by Palestinians with some Israeli settlers, is also undecided and has been the focus of several unsuccessful peace conferences (see Geography below for more).