Post by Ignatius on Mar 17, 2007 17:44:08 GMT -5
Full Nation Name:The Commonwealth of Israel
Short name: Israel
Local name: Israel
Official language(s): French, Hebrew
Other language(s): Yiddish, English
Capital: Jerusalem
Currency: Crown
National animal: Goat
Motto: Hear Now, O Israel, The Lord is Your God!
National Anthem: Nationale'
Government
(Head of State): Yitzbeck Haderas
(Head of Government): Minister
Government:
The President of Israel is Head of State, serving as a largely ceremonial figurehead. The President selects the leader of the majority party or ruling coalition in the Knesset as the Prime Minister, who serves as head of government and leads the Cabinet.[40] The current President is Moshe Katsav, though the acting President is Dalia Itzik; the current Prime Minister is Yitzbeck Haderas.
Israel has not completed a written constitution. Its government functions according to the laws of the Knesset, including the "Basic Laws of Israel", of which there are presently fourteen. These are slated to become the foundation of a future official constitution. In mid-2003, the Knesset's Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee began drafting an official constitution.[41] The effort is still underway as of early 2007.[42]
Israel's legal system mixes influences from Anglo-American, Continental and Jewish law, as well as the declaration of the State of Israel.
As in Anglo-American law, the Israeli legal system is based on the principle of stare decisis (precedent). It is an adversarial system, not an inquisitorial one, in the sense that the parties (for example, plaintiff and defendant) are the ones that bring the evidence before the court. The court does not conduct any independent investigation on the case.
As in Continental legal systems, the jury system was not adopted in Israel. Court cases are decided by professional judges. Additional Continental Law influences can be found in the fact that several major Israeli statutes (such as the Contract Law) are based on Civil Law principles. Israeli statute body is not comprised of Codes, but of individual statutes. However, a Civil Code draft has been completed recently, and is planned to become a bill.
Religious tribunals (Jewish, Muslim, Druze and Christian) have exclusive jurisdiction on annulment of marriages.
===========================
Society
Ethnicities: Jewish, Kurd, French
Religions: Judaism- 80%, Maronite Christianity- 12%, Islam- 8%
Languages: French- 100%, Hebrew- 90%
Israel's History
The first historical record of the word "Israel" comes from an Egyptian stele documenting military campaigns in Canaan. Although this stele which referred to a people (the determinative for 'country' was absent) is dated to approximately 1211 BCE,[14] Jewish tradition holds that the Land of Israel has been a Jewish Holy Land and Promised land for four thousand years, since the time of the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). The land of Israel holds a special place in Jewish religious obligations, encompassing Judaism's most important sites (such as the remains of the First and Second Temples of the Jewish People). Connected with these two versions of the temple are religiously significant rites which stand as the origin for many aspects of modern Judaism.[15] Starting around the eleventh century BCE, the first of a series of Jewish kingdoms and states established intermittent rule over the region that lasted more than a millennium.[16]
The Menorah sacked from Jerusalem, as seen on the Arch of Titus.Under Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and (briefly) Sassanian rule, Jewish presence in the region dwindled because of mass expulsions. In particular, the failure of the Bar Kokhba's revolt against the Roman Empire in 132 CE resulted in a large-scale expulsion of Jews. It was during this time that the Romans gave the name Syria Palaestina to the geographic area, in an attempt to erase Jewish ties to the land. Nevertheless, the Jewish presence in Palestine remained constant. The main Jewish population shifted from the Judea region to the Galilee. The Mishnah and Jerusalem Talmud, two of Judaism's most important religious texts, were composed in the region during this period. The land was conquered from the Byzantine Empire in 638 CE during the initial Muslim conquests. The Hebrew niqqud was invented in Tiberias during this time. The area was ruled by the Omayyads, then by the Abbasids, Crusaders, the Kharezmians and Mongols, before becoming part of the empire of the Mamluks (1260-1516) and the Ottoman Empire in 1517.
-----------------------------------------
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
Nuclear Capability- Yes (Obtained from France)
- Jericho II
- Jericho III
- Jericho IV
- Trident II ICBM
-----------------------------------------
Military Background
Military Video - youtube.com/watch?v=itqwoj8mejo
Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Layout:
Active Manpower: 220,000
Reserve: 300,000
Small Arms - Israeli arms are amongst the finest quality in the world, being produced by native Israeli industries such as Tavor, IMI, and Hetz.
- M-16A2 (standard assault rifle, 5.56)
- CAR-15 (carbine, smaller version of M-16, 5.56)
- Galil Assault Rifle (5.56mm)
- UZI Submachine Gun (slowly being phased out of service, 9mm)
- IMI Negev (light machine gun, 5.56)
- Glock 17 (pistol, .40 caliber)
- M-60A2 (machine gun, .308)
- Browning M2 (heavy machine gun, .50 caliber)
-------------------------------------
(Achzarit APC)
ARMOR
- Merkava (Mk3, Mk4) 1040
- Magach (upgraded M60 Patton Tank outfitted with Reactive armor) 490
- Challenger 2 (captured from Robengrad) 200
ARMOR PERSONNEL CARRIERS
- Achzarit APC - 2100
- VBCI (inherited from France) - 600
- M113 A3 (modified with reactive armor packages) - 4000
- M3 Half-track (rear elchon, support, transport roles) - 2000
Aircraft
- F-16 (200)
- Dassault Mirage IIIJC (slightly modified, bought from French Arms Dealers) - 300
- Dassault Rafale - 40
- AH-64 Apache - 100
- AH-1 Cobra - 50