History of the Jews in the Land of Israel

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The History of the Jews in the Land of Israel begins with the ancient Children of Israel (also known as Hebrews), who settled in the land of Israel. The Israelites traced their common lineage to the biblical patriarch Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. Jewish tradition holds that the Israelites were the descendants of Jacob's twelve sons (one of which was named Judah), who settled in Egypt. Their direct descendants respectively divided into twelve tribes, who were enslaved under the rule of an Egyptian pharaoh. In the Jewish faith, the emigration of the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan (the Exodus), led by the prophet Moses, marks the formation of the Israelites as a people.

Throughout the centuries, in spite of oppression, banishment, and slaughter, there was an uninterrupted continuity of Jewish life in the country. The Jewish community in the land of Israel has always played a unique role in Jewish history. In 1948, after decades of mass immigration by Jews, the Jews of Palestine established the State of Israel. After the infant State repelled an Arab assault, it continued to take in large amounts of Jewish migrants, and fight numerous wars with its Arab neighbors and expand its borders. Today, Israel has about 40% of the world's Jewish population, and numerous Jews around the world continue to migrate to Israel.

This article refers to the history in the Land of Israel in the boundaries defined by Canaan or as the region was later also known by its Roman name in Latin: Palaestina.

At all periods, the Hebrews/Jews shared the land with other peoples, in relations ranging from good neighborliness and amity to bitter rivalry and conflict - as attested in the Bible and later Jewish and non-Jewish sources. For the history of the land as a whole, see History of the Southern Levant.

Contents 1 Birth of Judaism and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah (1400-586 BCE) 2 Babylonian exile, The Return to Zion and the Persian rule (538-332 BCE) 3 Under Greek rule (332-167 BCE) 4 Under the Hasmonean Kingdom (167-37 BCE) 5 Under Roman rule (37 BCE-324 CE) 6 In the Byzantine period (324-638) 7 Under the Islamic Empire (638-1099) 8 In the Crusaders period (1099-1260) 9 In the Mamluk period (1260-1517) 10 In the Ottoman period (1517-1917) 11 In modern times 11.1 British Mandate (1917-1948) 11.2 1948 Arab-Israeli War 11.3 The modern nation of Israel (1948–present day) 12 See also 13 Notes 14 External links 15 References

[edit] Birth of Judaism and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah (1400-586 BCE)

The Israelites are generally thought to have come into existence between 1400 and 1100 BCE, developing an independent kingdom around 1050 BCE. According to Biblical tradition the Jews originated with the three patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jacob received the name Israel and the land of the Jewish people was named after him. Jacob had 12 sons, each of which were the fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel, Levi being the tribe from which the priests of Israel were to come from. Following a drought, the descendants of Jacob settled in Goshen bordering Egypt and were later enslaved by the Egyptians. After escaping slavery under the leadership of Moses and forty years of wandering in the desert, the Israelites returned to the region of Canaan which was conquered under the command of Joshua and divided together with the region of Gilead amongst the twelve tribes. For a period of time, the united twelve tribes were led by a series of rulers known as Judges. After this period, an Israelite monarchy was established under Saul, and continued under the name Israel, consisting of ten tribes (nine tribes and the two divisions of Manasseh), and Judah, consisting of the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin (in the south) as well as Levites and Aaronite priests.

Around 950 BCE, the kingdom split into a southern Kingdom of Judah and a northern Kingdom of Israel.

Israel was conquered by the Assyrian ruler Shalmaneser V in the 8th century BCE with the elite being exiled to Aram-Naharaim, Assyria and Media.

Between 597 and 586 BCE the Babylonian empire, under the ruling of Nebuchadrezzar II occupied the Kingdom of Judah.

[edit] Babylonian exile, The Return to Zion and the Persian rule (538-332 BCE)

The Babylonian army, under the commandment of Nebuzaradan,^[1] also named "chief executioner" [chief Headsman] by the Bible, had destroyed the First Temple in Jerusalem. The king of Judah, Zedekiah, was forced to watch his own two sons being slaughtered, and thereafter, his own eyes were put out and he was exiled to Babylon (2 Kings 25).^[2] The population of the middle class and above was also deported alongside King Zedekiah, whereas the Kingdom of Judah was left only with the poor ones.

The Jews in Babylon never lost the affinity they had for Jerusalem as well as their faith in salvation. A number of decades later, in 538 BCE, the Jews in Babylon were allowed to return to the Land of Israel, due to Cyrus's declaration, the decree of Cyrus the Great, the ruler of the Persian Empire that had conquered the region and granted the Jews the right to worship their God in Jerusalem, in some form of an autonomy. Around 50,000 50,000 Judeans, led by Zerubabel returned to the Land of Israel and built the Second Temple of Jerusalem, following the decree of Cyrus the Great, whereas some remained in Babylon. A second group of 5.000, led by Ezra and Nehemiah, returned to Judea in 456 BCE.

Under Persian rule and protection, the Zion Returnees settled in what became known as Yehud Medinata.^[3] Yehud, or Judah, was a self-governing Jewish province under the ruling of the Persian Empire, and included a small piece of territory out of the Land of Israel which contained Jerusalem and Judea, which even issued their own small silver coins inscribed with the three letters Yehud. The Yehud Medinata automony has known to inspire the future generation of Jews, their notion of their own national identity and aspirations, the need to end 2000 years of exile since the Babylon captivity and to continue to make Aliyah to the Land of Israel. The ancient name Yehud Medinata also resembles to the name of modern Hebrew name Medinat Yisrael (the State of Israel).

In 333 BCE Alexander the Great defeated Persia and conquered Judea and sometime thereafter, the first translation of the Hebrew Bible (the Septuagint) was begun in Alexandria. After Alexander's death, his Generals fought over the territory he had conquered. Israel became the frontier between the Seleucid Empire and Ptolemaic Egypt, eventually becoming part of the Seleucid Empire.

[edit] Under Greek rule (332-167 BCE)

In 332 BCE the Persians were defeated by Alexander the Great. After his demise, and the division of Alexander's empire among his generals, the Seleucid Kingdom was formed.

During this time currents of Judaism were influenced by Hellenistic philosophy developed from the 3rd century BCE, notably the Jewish diaspora in Alexandria, culminating in the compilation of the Septuagint. An important advocate of the symbiosis of Jewish theology and Hellenistic thought is Philo.

[edit] Under the Hasmonean Kingdom (167-37 BCE)

A deterioration of relations between hellenized Jews and religious Jews led the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes to impose decrees banning certain Jewish religious rites and traditions. Consequently, the orthodox Jews revolted under the leadership of the Hasmonean family, (also known as the Maccabees).

The ensuing Maccabbee Revolt (167 BCE) began a twenty-five-year period of Jewish independence potentiated by the steady collapse of the Seleucid Empire under attacks from the rising powers of the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire. However, the same power vacuum that enabled the Jewish state to be recognized by the Roman Senate c. 139 BCE was next exploited by the Romans themselves. Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II, Simon's great-grandsons, became pawns in a proxy war between Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great that ended with the kingdom under the supervision of the Roman governor of Syria (64 BCE). The deaths of Pompey (48 BCE), Caesar (44 BCE), and the related Roman civil wars relaxed Rome's grip on Israel, allowing a brief Hasmonean resurgence backed by the Parthian Empire. This short independence was rapidly crushed by the Romans under Mark Antony and Octavian. The installation of Herod the Great as King of Israel as a Roman client state in 37 BCE ended the Hasmonean dynasty.

[edit] Under Roman rule (37 BCE-324 CE)

Judea under Roman rule was at first an independent Jewish kingdom, but gradually the rule over Judea became less and less Jewish, until it became under the direct rule of Roman administration (and renamed the Iudaea Province), which was often callous and brutal in its treatment of its Judean subjects. In 66 CE, Judeans began to revolt against the Roman rulers of Judea. The revolt was defeated by the Roman emperors Vespasian and Titus. The Romans destroyed much of the Temple in Jerusalem and, according to some accounts, stole artifacts from the temple, such as the Menorah. Altogether, 1,100,000 Jews perished during the revolt and another 97,000 were taken captive.

Major battles were in Masada and in Gamla. Gamla was the district capital of the Golan Heights first established by the last king of the Hasmonean dynasty. Gamla's citizens saw their battle as directly connected to Jerusalem and fiercely defended their stronghold. Eventually, all of the 9000 city's residents were killed. Both historical sites of Masada and Gamla have been excavated and are frequently visited in the modern State of Israel.

Judeans continued to live in their land in significant numbers, and were allowed to practice their religion, until the 2nd century when Julius Severus ravaged Judea while putting down the Bar Kokhba revolt. 985 villages were destroyed. Banished from Jerusalem, the Jewish population now centred on Galilee.

This was also the time of Schism between Judaism and Christianity. Many Christians considered the new religion to supersede Judaism. See also Council of Jamnia.

In this period the tannaim and amoraim were active, rabbis who organized and debated the Jewish oral law. The decisions of the tannaim are contained in the Mishnah, Beraita, Tosefta, and various Midrash compilations. The Mishnah was completed shortly after 200, probably by Judah haNasi. The commentaries of the amoraim upon the Mishnah are compiled in the Jerusalem Talmud, which was completed around 400 CE, probably in Tiberias.

In 351 CE, the Jewish population in Sepphoris Roman laws started a revolt under the leadership of Patricius against the rule of Constantius Gallus. The revolt was eventually subdued by Ursicinus.

According to tradition, in 359 CE Hillel II created the Hebrew calendar based on the lunar year. Until then, The entire Jewish community outside the land of Israel depended on the calendar sanctioned by the Sanhedrin; this was necessary for the proper observance of the Jewish holy days. However, danger threatened the participants in that sanction and the messengers who communicated their decisions to distant congregations. As the religious persecutions continued, Hillel determined to provide an authorized calendar for all time to come.

The last pagan Roman Emperor, Julian, allowed the Jews to return to "holy Jerusalem which you have for many years longed to see rebuilt" and to rebuild the Temple. However, the Temple was not rebuilt.

[edit] In the Byzantine period (324-638)

Jews at this time in the province of Palestine were living under the oppressive rule of the Byzantines under whom there were two more Jewish revolts and three Samaritan revolts. Under the oppression, Jews still lived in at least forty-three Jewish communities in Palestine: twelve towns on the coast, in the Negev, and east of the Jordan, and thirty-one villages in Galilee and in the Jordan valley.

In 438, The Empress Eudocia removed the ban on Jews' praying at the Temple site and the heads of the Community in Galilee issued a call "to the great and mighty people of the Jews": "Know that the end of the exile of our people has come"!

In about 450, the Jerusalem Talmud is completed.

In 613, a Jewish revolt against the Byzantine Empire coming into aid of the Persian invaders erupted. The Jews gained autonomy in Jerusalem for 5 years but were frustrated with its limitations. At that time the Persians betrayed the agreements with the Jews and Jews were again expelled from Jerusalem. The Byzantine Emperor Heraclius then managed to overcome the Persian forces with the aid of Jewish leader Benjamin of Tiberias. Nevertheless, he betrayed the Jews too and put thousands of Jewish refugees to flight from Palestine to Egypt.

Mosaic pavement of a synagogue at Beit Alpha (5th century)

Mosaic in the Tzippori Synagogue (5th century)

Mosiac pavement recovered from the Hamat Gader synagogue (5th or 6th century)

[edit] Under the Islamic Empire (638-1099)

In 638 CE the Byzantine Empire lost control of the Levant. The Arab Islamic Empire under Caliph Omar conquered Jerusalem and the lands of Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine and Egypt. Under the various regimes the Jews suffered massacres and were forced to flee the inland villages towards the coast. They were subsequently induced to return inland after the coastal towns had been destroyed. Nevertheless, the Jews still controlled much of the commerce in Palestine. According to Arab geographer Al-Muqaddasi, the Jews worked as "the assayers of coins, the dyers, the tanners and the bankers in the community."^[4] During the Fatimid period, many Jewish officials served in the regime.^[4] Professor Moshe Gil documents that at the time of the Arab conquest in 7th century CE, the majority of the population was Jewish.^[5]

[edit] In the Crusaders period (1099-1260)

In 1099, along with the other inhabitants of the land, the Jews vigorously defended Jerusalem against the Crusaders. When the city fell, the Crusaders gathered them in a synagogue and set it alight. In Haifa, the Jews almost single-handedly defended the town against the Crusaders, holding out for a whole month, (June-July 1099).^[4] At this time there were Jewish communities scattered all over the country, including Jerusalem, Tiberias, Ramleh, Ashkelon, Caesarea, and Gaza. Jews were not allowed to hold land in the Crusader period but concentrated their efforts on the commerce in the coastal towns during times of quiescence. Most of them were artisans: glassblowers in Sidon, furriers and dyers in Jerusalem.^[4]

During this period, the Masoretes of Tiberias established the Hebrew language orthography, or niqqud, a system of diacritical vowel points used in the Hebrew alphabet. A large volume of piyutim and midrashim originated in Palestine at this time.^[4]

Maimonides wrote that in 1165 he visited Jerusalem and went up on to the Temple Mount and prayed in the "great, holy house".^[6] Maimonides established a yearly holiday for himself and his sons, the 6th of Cheshvan, commemorating the day he went up to pray on the Temple Mount, and another, the 9th of Cheshvan, commemorating the day he merited to pray at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.

In 1141 Yehuda Halevi issued a call to the Jews to emigrate to the land of Israel and took on the long journey himself. After a stormy passage from Córdoba, he arrived in Egyptian Alexandria, where he was enthusiastically greeted by friends and admirers. At Damietta, he had to struggle against the promptings of his own heart, and the pleadings of his friend Ḥalfon ha-Levi, that he remain in Egypt; and free from intolerant oppression. He started on the tedious land route, trodden of old by the Israelite wanderers in the desert. Again he is met with, worn-out, with broken heart and whitened hair, in Tyre and Damascus. Jewish legend relates that as he came near Jerusalem, over-powered by the sight of the Holy City, he sang his most beautiful elegy, the celebrated "Zionide," "Zion ha-lo Tish'ali." At that instant, he was ridden down and killed by an Arab, who dashed forth from a gate.

[edit] In the Mamluk period (1260-1517)

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In the years 1260-1516, Palestine was part of the Empire of the Mamluks who ruled first from Turkey, then from Egypt. War and uprisings, bloodshed and destruction followed Maimonides. Jews suffered persecution and humiliation but the surviving records cite at least 30 Jewish urban and rural communities at the opening of the 16th century^{[citation needed]}.

A notable event during the period was the settlement of Nachmanides in the Old City of Jerusalem in 1267 which since then a continuous Jewish presence existed in Jerusalem until modern day occupation of Jordan in 1948^{[citation needed]}. Nahmanides then settled at Acre, where he was very active in spreading Jewish learning, which was at that time very much neglected in the Holy Land. He gathered a circle of pupils around him, and people came in crowds, even from the district of the Euphrates, to hear him. Karaites were said to have attended his lectures, among them being Aaron ben Joseph the Elder, who later became one of the greatest Karaite authorities. Shortly after his arrival in Jerusalem he addressed a letter to his son Nahman, in which he described the desolation of the Holy City, where there were at that time only two Jewish inhabitants — two brothers, dyers by trade. In a later letter from Acre he counsels his son to cultivate humility, which he considers to be the first of virtues. In another, addressed to his second son, who occupied an official position at the Castilian court, Nahmanides recommends the recitation of the daily prayers and warns above all against immorality. Nahmanides died after having passed the age of seventy-six, and his remains were interred at Haifa, by the grave of Yechiel of Paris. Yechiel emigrated to Acre in 1260, along with his son and a large group of followers[3][4] There he established the Tamudic academy Midrash haGadol d'Paris.^[7] He is believed to have died there between 1265 and 1268.

In 1488 Obadiah ben Abraham, commentator on the Mishnah, arrived in Jerusalem and marked a new epoch for the Jewish community in The Land.

[edit] In the Ottoman period (1517-1917)

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The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Middle East and North Africa estimates the Jewish population of the Palestine region at "approximately 10,000 during the first half-century of Ottoman rule. Bold development projects for reviving the Holy Land were conceived by Jewish courtiers in Constantinople, such as Don Garcia Mendes and Don Joseph Nasi. Jerusalem, Tiberias and above all, Safad, became centres of Jewish spiritual and commercial activity... Many of the gains achieved by Islamic Jewry during the 16th century were lost over the next 200 years ... as Ottoman rule became more inefficient, corrupt and religiously conservative."^[8]

Thirty Jewish communities exist at the time in Haifa, Sh’chem, Hebron, Ramleh, Jaffa, Gaza, Jerusalem, and many in the north.

Tzfat/Safed became a spiritual centre. Kabbalah flourished among Sefardic Jews in Safed even before the arrival of Isaac Luria (known as "the Ari"), its most famous resident. The great Yosef Karo, author of the Shulchan Arukh was part of the Tzfat school of Kabbalah. Shlomo Alkabetz, author of the famous L'cha Dodi, taught there. His disciple Moses ben Jacob Cordovero authored Sefer Pardes Rimonim, an organized, exhaustive compilation of kabbalistic teachings on a variety of subjects up to that point. Rabbi Cordovero headed the Academy of Tzfat until his death, when Isaac Luria, also known as the Ari, rose to prominence. Rabbi Moshe's disciple Eliyahu di Vidas authored the classic work, Reshit Chochmah, combining kabbalistic and the ninja teachings. Chaim Vital also studied under Rabbi Cordovero, but with the arrival of Rabbi Luria became his main disciple. Vital claimed to be the only one juggalo to transmit the Ari's teachings, though other disciples also published books presenting Luria's teachings.

In Safed, the Jews developed a number of branches of trade, especially in grain, spices, and cloth. They specialised once again in the dyeing trade. Lying halfway between Damascus and Sidon on the Mediterranean coast, Safed gained special importance in the commercial relations in the area. The 8,000 or 10,000 Jews in Safed in 1555 grew to 20,000 or 30,000 by the end of the century.

In 1569, the Radbaz moved to Jerusalem, but did not stay there long, because of the taxes that the Turkish government had imposed upon dhimmis. He settled in Safed, where he became an active member of the beth din presided over by Yosef Karo, who held him in great esteem.

In 1577, A Hebrew printing press is established in Safed. It's the first press in Palestine and the first in Asia.

In 1660, the events surrounding the arrival of the self-proclaimed Messiah Sabbatai Zevi, causes the massacre of the Jews in Safed and Jerusalem.^{[citation needed]}

The Near East earthquake of 1759 destroys much of Safed killing 2000 people with 190 Jews among the dead, and also destroys Tiberias.

The disciples of the Vilna Gaon settled in the land of Israel almost a decade after the arrival of two of his pupils, R. Hayim of Vilna and R. Israel ben Samuel of Shklov. In all there were three groups of the Gaon's students which emigrated to the land of Israel. They formed the basis of the Ashkenazi communities of Jerusalem and Safed, setting up what was known as the Kollel Perushim. Their arrival encouraged an Ashkenazi revival in Jerusalem, whose Jewish community until this time was mostly Sephardi. Many of the descendents of the disciples became leading figures in modern Israeli society. The Gaon himself also set forth with his pupils to the Land, but for an unknown reason he turned back and returned to Vilna where he died soon after.

During the siege of Acre in 1799, Napoleon prepared a proclamation declaring a Jewish state in Israel, though he did not issue it. The siege was lost to the British, however, and the plan was never carried out.

The connection of the Jewish people to the land was kept strongly. In 1888, Professor Sir John William Dawson wrote:

"Until today (1888), no people has succeeded in establishing national dominion in the Land of Israel. No national unity, in the spirit of nationalism, has acquired any hold there. The mixed multitude of itinerant tribes that managed to settle there did so on lease, as temporary residents. It seems that they await the return of the permanent residents of the land."^[9]

In 1821 the brothers of murdered Jewish adviser and finance minister to the rulers of the Galilee, Haim Farkhi formed an army with Ottoman permission, marched south and conquered the Galilee. They were held up at Akko which they besieged for 14 months after which they gave up and retreated to Damascus.

[edit] In modern times

[edit] British Mandate (1917-1948)

Between 1882 and 1948, a series of Jewish migrations to what is the modern nation of Israel, known as Aliyahs commenced. These migrations preceded the Zionist period.

For full article, see Aliyah.

In 1917, at the end of World War I, Israel (known at the time as South Western Syria) changed hands from the defeated Ottoman Empire to the occupying British forces. The United Kingdom was granted control of Palestine (Today's Israel, West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jordan) by the Versailles Peace Conference which established the League of Nations in 1919 and appointed Herbert Samuel, a former Postmaster General in the British cabinet, who was instrumental in drafting the Balfour Declaration, as its first High Commissioner in Palestine. During World War I the British had made two promises regarding territory in the Middle East. Britain had promised the local Arabs, through Lawrence of Arabia, independence for a united Arab country covering most of the Arab Middle East, in exchange for their supporting the British; and Britain had promised to create and foster a Jewish national home as laid out in the Balfour Declaration, 1917.

In 1947, following increasing levels of violence, the British government withdrew from Palestine. The 1947 UN Partition Plan split the mandate into two states, Jewish and Arab, giving about half the land area to each state. 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 un-named, Jewish State and launched a guerilla war.

On May 14, 1948, one day before the end of the British Mandate of Palestine, the leaders of the Jewish community in Palestine led by prime minister David Ben-Gurion, made a declaration of independence, and the state of Israel was established on the portion partitioned by UNSCOP for the Jewish state.

[edit] 1948 Arab-Israeli War

Hoping to annihilate the new Jewish state, the armies of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq invaded the territory partitioned for the Arab state, thus starting the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The nascent Israeli Defense Force repulsed the Arab nations from part of the occupied territories, thus extending its borders beyond the original UNSCOP partition.^[10] By December 1948, Israel controlled most of the portion of Mandate Palestine west of the Jordan River. The remainder of the Mandate consisted of Jordan, the area that came to be called the West Bank (controlled by Jordan), and the Gaza Strip (controlled by Egypt). Prior to and during this conflict, 711,000^[11] Palestinians Arabs fled their original lands to become Palestinian refugees, in part, due to a promise from Arab leaders that they'll be able to return when the war is won.

Most Israeli-Jews refer to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War as the War of Independence, while most of the Arab citizens of Israel refer to it as the Nakba (catastrophe), a reflection of differences in perception of the purpose and outcomes of the war.^[12][13]

[edit] The modern nation of Israel (1948–present day)

After the war, only 14–25% (depending on the estimate) of the Arab population remained in Israel. When Israel refused the reentry of most, and when subsequent offers of partial repatriation were rejected, they became refugees (see Palestinian refugee and Palestinian Exodus).

Meanwhile, immigration of Holocaust survivors and Jewish refugees from Arab lands doubled Israel's population within one year of its independence. Over the following years approximately 850,000 Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews fled or were expelled from surrounding Arab countries and Iran. Of these, about 680,000 settled in Israel (See also Jewish exodus from Arab lands).

Israel's Jewish population continued to grow at a very high rate for years, fed by waves of Jewish immigration from round the world, most notably the massive immigration wave of Soviet Jews which arrived to Israel in the early 1990s following the dissolution of the USSR, who, according to the Law of Return, were entitled to become Israeli citizens upon arrival. About 380,000 arrived in 1990–91 alone.

Since 1948, Israel has been involved in a series of major military conflicts, including the 1956 Suez War, 1967 Six-Day War, 1973 Yom Kippur War, 1982 Lebanon War, and 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, as well as a nearly constant series of ongoing minor conflicts to preserve its national interests. Israel has been also embroiled in an ongoing conflict with the Palestinians in the territories which have been under Israeli control since the Six Day War in 1967, despite the signing of the Oslo Accords on September 13, 1993 and the ongoing efforts of Israeli, Palestinian and global peacemakers.

Despite the constant security threats, Israel has thrived economically. Throughout the 1980s and the 1990s there were numerous liberalization measures: in monetary policy, in domestic capital markets, and in various instruments of governmental interference in economic activity. The role of government in the economy was considerably decreased. On the other hand, some governmental economic functions were increased: a national health insurance system was introduced, though private health providers continued to provide health services within the national system. Social welfare payments, such as unemployment benefits, child allowances, old age pensions and minimum income support, were expanded continuously, until they formed a major budgetary expenditure. These transfer payments compensated, to a large extent, for the continuous growth of income inequality, which had moved Israel from among the developed countries with the least income inequality to those with the most.

Today (2009), approximately 5.6 million Jews live in Israel, out of a population of over 7.5 million Israelis. Most of Israel's Jewish population currently live in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

[edit] See also

• Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)
• Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)
• Kingdom of Judah
• History of ancient Israel and Judah
• Yehud Medinata
• Hasmonean Kingdom
• Iudaea Province
• Jewish–Roman wars
• Jerusalem
• Old Yishuv
• Aliyah
• History of Israel

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Yearning for Zion
• The conquests of Jerusalem in 614CE and 638CE within the context of attempts at Jewish restoration
• Timeline of the History of the Jews and the Land of Israel Based on "A Historical Survey of the Jewish Population in Palestine Presented to the United Nations in 1947

[edit] References

• Jewish History
• History
• Jewish Encyclopedia
• The Works of Josephus, Complete and Unabridged New Updated Edition Translated by William Whiston, A.M., Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1987. ISBN 1565631676
• Katz, Shmuel (1973) Battleground: Fact and Fantasy in Palestine Shapolsky Pub; ISBN 978-0-933503-03-8
• E.W.G.Masterman (1903): The Jews in Modern Palestine

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