1.
Prime Minister of Israel
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The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful figure in Israeli politics. Although the President of Israel is the head of state, his powers are largely ceremonial. The official residence of the minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem. The current prime minister is Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud, the person to hold the position. Following an election, the president nominates a member of the Knesset to become prime minister after asking party leaders whom they support for the position, the nominee then presents a government platform and must receive a vote of confidence in order to become prime minister. In practice, the minister is usually the leader of the largest party in the governing coalition. Between 1996 and 2001, the minister was directly elected. The office of prime minister came into existence on 14 May 1948, the date of the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, david Ben-Gurion, leader of Mapai and head of the Jewish Agency became Israels first prime minister. The position became permanent on 8 March 1949, when the first government was formed, Ben-Gurion retained his role until late 1953, when he resigned in order to settle in the Kibbutz of Sde Boker. He was replaced by Moshe Sharett, however, Ben-Gurion returned in a little under two years to reclaim his position. He resigned for a time in 1963, breaking away from Mapai to form Rafi. Levi Eshkol took over as head of Mapai and prime minister and he became the first prime minister to head the country under the banner of two parties when Mapai formed the Alignment with Ahdut HaAvoda in 1965. In 1968 he also became the party leader to command an absolute majority in the Knesset, after Mapam and Rafi merged into the Alignment. On 26 February 1969, Eshkol became the first prime minister to die in office, however, Allons stint lasted less than a month, as the party persuaded Golda Meir to return to political life and become prime minister in March 1969. Meir was Israels first woman minister, and the third in the world. Meir resigned in 1974 after the Agranat Commission published its findings on the Yom Kippur War, Yitzhak Rabin took over, though he also resigned towards the end of the eighth Knessets term following a series of scandals. Rabins wife, Leah, was found to have had an overseas bank account. Menachem Begin became the first right-wing prime minister when his Likud won the 1977 elections and he resigned in 1983 for health reasons, passing the reins of power to Yitzhak Shamir
2.
Acting Prime Minister of Israel
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Deputy leaders in Israel fall into three categories, Acting Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and Vice Prime Minister. Deputy Prime Minister and Vice Prime Minister are honorary rather than official executive positions, Acting Prime Ministers take the place of the Prime Minister if he or she is temporarily incapacitated, while the incumbent is still in office. If the Prime Minister is removed by impeachment, dies, or becomes permanently incapacitated, the designated Acting Prime Minister takes the role of Prime Minister as Acting Prime Minister, for up to 100 consecutive days, if the incumbent is temporarily incapacitated. The incumbent minister must be also a Knesset member to be eligible for this role, in the recently installed government of Benjamin Netanyahu, there is no designated Acting Prime Minister. There can be one designated minister appointed to such position. However, the holder of this position can hold other ministerial position, as the most recent designated Acting Prime Minister. Confusingly, the term is referred to as Vice Prime Minister, though a separate. If the Prime Minister is abroad, the designated minister summons the government to cabinet meetings, if there is no such designated minister, in such event, the government will vote for one. If the Prime Minister wants to replace the designated Acting Prime Minister, he needs the approval vote of the government. However, the Prime Minister may fire the designated Acting Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, after standing-in for Prime Minister Sharon for 100 consecutive days, as acting Prime Minister, did not automatically assume office as an Interim Prime Minister. The deal was continued into the 12th Knesset, but collapsed in 1990, the role of the designated Acting Prime Minister was limited and unattractive for any chairman of major party aspiring to get the top job. The position was resurrected in 2003, with Ariel Sharon appointing Ehud Olmert to the post, Tzipi Livni then was appointed to the post, in Olmerts Government. One of the Ministers who is a member of Knesset may be designated as Acting Prime Minister, should the Prime Minister be absent from Israel, meetings of the Government will be convened and conducted by the designated Acting Prime Minister. Should the Prime Minister be temporarily unable to discharge his duties, after the passage of 100 days upon which the Prime Minister does not resume his duties, the Prime Minister will be deemed permanently unable to exercise his office. Should the Prime Minister be permanently incapacitated, the Government shall be deemed to have resigned on the 101st day during which the Acting Prime Minister served in his place. The interim prime minister is appointed by the government if the incumbent is dead or permanently incapacitated, while the acting prime minister must be a Knesset member to meet the requirements, the interim prime minister must be a member of the prime ministers party as well. Until the 2001 basic law, the government, both the acting and interim prime ministers were required to be a Knesset member in addition to being a member of the Government. In 2006, Ehud Olmert, after standing in for Prime Minister Sharon for 100 consecutive days, as acting prime minister, did not automatically assume office as an interim prime minister
3.
Moshe Katsav
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Moshe Katsav is an Iranian-born Israeli former politician who was the eighth President of Israel from 2000 to 2007. He was also a leading Likud member of the Israeli Knesset and he is of Iranian Jewish ancestry. The end of his presidency was marked by controversy, stemming from allegations of rape of one female subordinate, Katsav resigned the presidency in 2007 as part of a plea bargain. Katsav later rejected the deal with prosecutors and vowed he would prove his innocence in court, in an unprecedented case, on 30 December 2010, Katsav was convicted of two counts of rape, obstruction of justice and other charges. On 22 March 2011, in a ruling, Katsav was sentenced to seven years in prison. Katsav appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court of Israel, on 10 November 2011, the Supreme Court affirmed Katsavs conviction and punishment. On 7 December 2011, Katsav arrived at Maasiyahu Prison in Ramla to begin serving his seven-year sentence, Katsav was released from prison on December 21,2016, after the parole board next to the Prison Service decided to shorten his sentence. Katsav was born 5 December,1945 in Yazd, Iran and his family moved to Tehran when he was a baby, and they emigrated to Israel in 1951. They lived in a tent camp for recent immigrants for several years before the area was developed into the city of Kiryat Malakhi, Katsav graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a Bachelor of Arts in economics and history in 1971. He married Gila Katsav in 1969 and they have five children and two grandchildren. Katsav joined the Likud Party, and was elected mayor of his town of Kiryat Malakhi in 1969. He was elected to the Knesset in 1977, Katsav was deputy Minister of Construction and Housing from 1981 to 1983 and Minister of Labor and Welfare from 1984 to 1988. He was Transportation Minister from 1988 to 1992 and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism from 1996 to 1999, after serving as Deputy Prime Minister in Netanyahus government, Katsav vied for the position of President, running as the opposition candidate against Shimon Peres. In a surprising upset, he defeated Peres to become the president of Israel and he took 63 votes, two more than the required majority of 61, and was sworn in on 1 August. He was the first President of Israel to have sworn in for a seven-year term. Katsavs victory was attributed in part to evidence that Peres planned to use the position to support the increasingly unpopular peace processes of the government of Ehud Barak, the office of the Israeli President is largely ceremonial, with no executive powers save pardoning prisoners and commuting sentences. Nevertheless, each president emphasizes different aspects of the role during his tenure, in 2003, on a visit to Italy, he demanded that the Vatican restore treasures allegedly brought to Rome after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Katsav told the press that he shook Khatamis hand and spoke to him in Persian, in July 2006, Katsav complained to the Attorney General of Israel, Menahem Mazuz, that he was being blackmailed by a female employee
4.
Shimon Peres
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Shimon Peres was an Israeli politician who served both as ninth President of Israel, and Prime Minister of Israel, as well as Interim Prime Minister. He was a member of twelve cabinets in a career spanning 70 years. At the time of his retirement in 2014, he was the worlds oldest head of state and he was considered the last link to Israels founding generation. From a young age, he was renowned for his oratorical brilliance and he began his political career in the late 1940s, holding several diplomatic and military positions during and directly after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. His first high-level government position was as Deputy Director-General of Defense in 1952 which he attained at the age of 28, in 1956, he took part in the historic negotiations on the Protocol of Sèvres described by British Prime Minister Anthony Eden as the highest form of statesmanship. In 1963, he held negotiations with U. S. President John F. Kennedy, which resulted in the sale of Hawk anti-aircraft missiles to Israel, the first sale of U. S. military equipment to Israel. On October 26,1994, Jordan and Israel signed the Israel–Jordan peace treaty, Peres won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize together with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat for the peace talks that he participated in as Israeli Foreign Minister, producing the Oslo Accords. During his career, he represented five political parties in the Knesset, Mapai, Rafi, the Alignment, Labor and Kadima, and led Alignment and Labor. In July 2016, he founded the Israel innovation center in the Arab neighbourhood of Ajami, Jaffa, Peres was polyglot, speaking Polish, French, English, Russian, Yiddish and Hebrew, although he never lost his Polish accent when speaking in Hebrew. In his private life, he was a poet and songwriter, writing stanzas during cabinet meetings, as a result of his deep literary interests, he could quote from Hebrew prophets, French literature, and Chinese philosophy with equal ease. After suffering a stroke, Peres died on September 28,2016 near Tel Aviv, Shimon Peres was born Szymon Perski, on August 2,1923, in Wiszniew, Poland, to Yitzhak and Sara Perski. The family spoke Hebrew, Yiddish and Russian at home, and he then learned to speak English and French. His father was a timber merchant, later branching out into other commodities. Peres had a brother, Gershon, and was a relative of American film star Lauren Bacall. Peres told Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson that he had been born as a result of a blessing his parents had received from a chassidic rebbe, Peres grandfather, Rabbi Zvi Meltzer, a grandson of Rabbi Chaim Volozhin, had a great impact on his life. In an interview, Peres said, As a child, I grew up in my grandfathers home, … My grandfather taught me Talmud. It was not as easy as it sounds and my home was not an observant one. My parents were not Orthodox but I was Haredi, at one point, I heard my parents listening to the radio on the Sabbath and I smashed it
5.
Tzipi Livni
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Tziporah Malka Tzipi Livni is a prominent Israeli politician and former Foreign Minister of Israel. Consequently, she has achieved a number of milestones in Israeli female political leadership, as the first female Vice Prime Minister, Justice Minister, Agriculture Minister, in 2011, she was named one of 150 Women Who Shake the World by Newsweek and The Daily Beast. In Israel, Livni has earned a reputation as an honest politician who sticks to her principles, in September 2008, Livni prepared to take office as Prime Minister of Israel, but the political climate in the country prevented her from forming a government. The following year, she led her party to win a plurality of seats in the Knesset, consequently, she served as Leader of the Opposition from 2009, until her resignation from the Knesset in 2012. In December 2014, a number of disputes within the government led Benjamin Netanyahu to dismiss Livni from his cabinet. In the 2015 election, Livni joined forces with Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog to create the Zionist Union, on February 11,2017, it was reported that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had offered Livni the post of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. Livni would be the first Israeli to serve in such a position at the organization. Born in Tel Aviv, Livni is the daughter of Eitan Livni and Sara, after Israels independence, Eitan and Sara Livni became the first couple to marry in the new state. Her father served as the operations officer of the Irgun. As a child, Livni was a member of the Betar youth movement, growing up in an Israel dominated by the Labour Party, Livni says she felt marginalized, believing that the establishment had minimized her parents contribution to Israels founding. Despite the hard-line image of the Irgun, she says her parents had respect for the Arabs and acted only against the British army, Livni served in the IDF, gaining rank of lieutenant. Livni later served in the Mossad during 1980 and 1984, between the ages of 22 and 26, according to an interview in Yediot Aharonot, described in The Sunday Times, she served in the elite unit responsible for Operation Wrath of God. She resigned from the IDF in August 1983 to marry and finish her law studies, a graduate of Bar-Ilan Universitys Faculty of Law, she has practiced public and commercial law for over 10 years. She is married to advertising executive Naftali Spitzer, and the couple have two children, Omri and Yuval, Livni has been a vegetarian since the age of 12. Besides her native language, Hebrew, Livni also speaks fluent English and French, Livnis father, Eitan Livni, a Herut Member of Knesset, died in 1991. Her mother, Sara, who died in 2007, stood by Livnis decision to leave Likud and also accepted her support for the two-state solution, Livni entered politics in 1995 when she tried unsuccessfully to win a spot on Likuds list to the Knesset. She was appointed as head of the government-owned corporations authority in Netanyahus government, while in this capacity, in 1998 she was considered a prominent candidate to become director general of the Finance Ministry. Livni would later rue the decision to privatize certain companies and natural resources, as Hatnuah chairwoman in 2013, she wrote, I am not sure that today I would once again privatize Israel Chemicals and the natural resources at the Dead Sea
6.
Ariel Sharon
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Ariel Sharon was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. Sharon was incapacitated by a stroke in January 2006, Sharon was a commander in the Israeli Army from its creation in 1948. As Minister of Defense, he directed the 1982 Lebanon War, Sharon was considered the greatest field commander in Israels history, and one of the countrys greatest military strategists and tacticians. After his assault of the Sinai in the Six-Day War and his encirclement of the Egyptian Third Army in the Yom Kippur War, the Israeli public nicknamed him The King of Israel. Upon retirement from the military, Sharon entered politics, joining the Likud and he became the leader of the Likud in 2000, and served as Israels prime minister from 2001 to 2006. From the 1970s through to the 1990s, Sharon championed construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, however, as Prime Minister, in 2004–05 Sharon orchestrated Israels unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip. Facing stiff opposition to this policy within the Likud, in November 2005 he left Likud to form a new party, Kadima. He had been expected to win the election and was widely interpreted as planning on clearing Israel out of most of the West Bank. After suffering a stroke on January 4,2006, Sharon remained in a permanent vegetative state until his death in January 2014. Sharon was born on February 26,1928 in Kfar Malal and his mother, Vera, was from a family of Russian Subbotnik Jewish origin. His parents met while at university in Tiflis, where Sharons father was studying agronomy and they immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1922 in the wake of the Russian Communist governments growing persecution of Jews in the region. The family arrived with the Third Aliyah and settled in Kfar Malal, although his parents were Mapai supporters, they did not always accept communal consensus, The Scheinermans eventual ostracism. They were expelled from the local clinic and village synagogue. The cooperatives truck wouldnt make deliveries to their farm nor collect produce, Sharon grew up to be bilingual in both Hebrew and Russian languages. Four years after their arrival at Kfar Malal, the Sheinermans had a daughter, Ariel was born two years later. At age 10, he joined the youth movement HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed, as a teenager, he began to take part in the armed night-patrols of his moshav. Sharons unit of the Haganah became engaged in serious and continuous combat from the autumn of 1947, without the manpower to hold the roads, his unit took to making offensive hit-and-run raids on Arab forces in the vicinity of Kfar Malal. In units of thirty men, they would hit constantly at Arab villages, bridges and bases, Sharon wrote in his autobiography, We had become skilled at finding our way in the darkest nights and gradually we built up the strength and endurance these kind of operations required
7.
Benjamin Netanyahu
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Benjamin Bibi Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. Netanyahu also currently serves as a member of the Knesset and Chairman of the Likud party, born in Tel Aviv to secular Jewish parents, Netanyahu is the first Israeli prime minister born in Israel after the establishment of the state. Netanyahu joined the Israel Defense Forces shortly after the Six-Day War in 1967, Netanyahu took part in many missions, including Operation Inferno, Operation Gift and Operation Isotope, during which he was shot in the shoulder. Netanyahu achieved the rank of captain before being discharged, after graduating from MIT with Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees, Netanyahu was recruited as an economic consultant for the Boston Consulting Group. Netanyahu returned to Israel in 1978 to found the Yonatan Netanyahu Anti-Terror Institute, named after his brother Yonatan Netanyahu, Netanyahu served as the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations from 1984 to 1988. Netanyahu became the leader of Likud in 1993, Netanyahu won the 1996 elections, becoming Israels youngest ever Prime Minister, serving his first term from June 1996 to July 1999. Netanyahu moved from the arena to the private sector after being defeated in the 1999 election for prime minister by Ehud Barak. As Minister of Finance, Netanyahu engaged in a reform of the Israeli economy. Netanyahu retook the Likud leadership in December 2005, after Sharon left to form a new party, in December 2006, Netanyahu became the official Leader of the Opposition in the Knesset and Chairman of Likud. Following the 2009 parliamentary election, in which Likud placed second and right-wing parties won a majority, after the victory in the 2013 elections, he became the second person to be elected to the position of Prime Minister for a third term, after Israels founder David Ben-Gurion. In March 2015, Netanyahu was elected to his term as prime minister. Netanyahu has been elected Prime Minister of Israel four times, matching David Ben-Gurions record, Netanyahu is the only prime minister in Israels history to have been elected three times in a row. Netanyahu was born in 1949 in Tel Aviv, Israel, to an Israeli mother, Tzila Segal and a Warsaw-born father, Prof. Benzion Netanyahu, Netanyahu is of mixed Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jewish heritage. He was initially raised and educated in Jerusalem, where he attended Henrietta Szold Elementary School, to this day, he speaks fluent English, with a noticeable Philadelphia accent. After graduating from school in 1967, Netanyahu returned to Israel to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces. He trained as a soldier and served for five years in an elite special forces unit of the IDF. He took part in numerous cross-border assault raids during the 1967–70 War of Attrition and he was wounded in combat on multiple occasions. He was involved in other missions, including Operation Inferno
8.
Mayor of Jerusalem
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The Mayor of the City of Jerusalem is head of the executive branch of the political system in Jerusalem, The Jerusalem Municipality. The mayors office administers all city services, public property, most public agencies, the mayors office is located in Safra Square, it has jurisdiction over all the citys neighborhoods. The mayor appoints a number of officials, including Directors who head city departments. The Jerusalem City Council was established in 1863 during the rule of the Ottoman Empire, by 1840, the Jewish community constituted the largest single religious group in the city. From the 1880s onward, the Jews constituted the majority within the city, however, it was only in 1937, under the British Mandate, that the first Jewish mayor was appointed. This is a list of mayors of Jerusalem in chronological order, 1848–1863 — Ahmad Agha Duzdar Al-Asali 1863–1867 — Abdelrahman al-Dajani 1867 — Rafadulo Astiriyadis Effendi 1867–1869 — Abdelrahman al-Dajani. 1870–1876 — Yusuf Ziya Paşa al-Khālīdī, triumvirate 1876–1877 — Abd al-Qādir al-Khalīlī Abū l-Hudā/Umar al-Ḥusaynī Abd al-Salām Paşa al Ḥusaynī/Salīm Shākir al-Ḥusaynī. 1877–1878 — Rafadulo Astiriyadis Effendi 1878–1879 — Yusuf Ziya Paşa al-Khālīdī
9.
Teddy Kollek
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Theodor Teddy Kollek was an Israeli politician who served as the mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969,1973,1978,1983 and 1989, after reluctantly running for a seventh term in 1993 at the age of 82, he lost to Likud candidate and future Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert. During his tenure, Jerusalem developed into a city, especially after its reunification in 1967. He was once called the greatest builder of Jerusalem since Herod, theodore Kollek was born in Nagyvázsony,120 km from Budapest, Hungary as Kollek Tivadar. His parents named him after Theodor Herzl, the family moved to Vienna in 1918. Growing up in the Austrian capital city, Kollek came to share his father Alfréds Zionist convictions, in 1935, three years before the Nazis seized power in Austria, the Kollek family immigrated to British-controlled Mandatory Palestine. In 1937, he was one of the founders of Kibbutz Ein Gev and that same year he married Tamar Schwarz. They had two children, a son, the film director Amos Kollek, and a daughter, Osnat and he succeeded Reuven Zaslani and preceded Zeev Sherf in this function, and was carrying out the Jewish Agencys policy of assisting the British in fighting these groups. In 1942 Kolleck was appointed the Jewish Agencys deputy head of intelligence, between January 1945 and May 1946 he was the Agencys chief external liaison officer in Jerusalem and was in contact with MI5s main representative as well as members of British Military Intelligence. On 10 August 1945 he revealed to MI5 the location of a secret Irgun training camp near Binyamina, twenty-seven Irgun members were arrested in the raid that followed. During World War II, Kollek tried to represent Jewish interests in Europe on behalf of the Jewish Agency, in 1947–48, he represented the Haganah in Washington, where he assisted in acquiring ammunition for Israel’s then-fledgling army. Kollek became an ally of David Ben-Gurion, serving in the latter’s governments from 1952 as the director general of the prime minister’s office. In 1965 Teddy Kollek succeeded Mordechai Ish-Shalom as Mayor of Jerusalem, on his motivations for seeking the mayor’s office in Jerusalem, Kollek once recalled, I got into this by accident I was bored. When the city was united, I saw this as an historic occasion, to take care of it and show better care than anyone else ever has is a full life purpose. I think Jerusalem is the one element in Jewish history. A body can live without an arm or a leg, not without the heart and this is the heart and soul of it. During his tenure Jerusalem developed into a city, especially after its reunification in 1967 He was often called “the greatest builder of Jerusalem since Herod. ”Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969,1973,1978,1983. In a reluctant seventh bid for mayor in 1993, Kollek, aged 82, in the Six-Day War of 1967, East Jerusalem, which had been under Jordanian control since 1948, was taken over by Israel
10.
Uri Lupolianski
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Uri Lupolianski was mayor of Jerusalem from 2003 to 2008 and founder of Yad Sarah. Born in Haifa, Israel in 1951, Lupolianski studied at the Yavne School in Haifa and he served in the Israel Defense Forces as a paramedic and worked as a teacher at a religious school in Jerusalem. Lupolianski is married to Michal Lupolianski, granddaughter of Rabbi Isaac Breuer, Lupolianski was Deputy Mayor, chairperson of the Planning and Building Committee and responsible for the Family Services and Community portfolio. He was a member of the National Building and Planning Committee, Lupolianski is a member of the Degel Hatorah party which ran for elections together with Agudat Israel in a united party called United Torah Judaism. In the 2003 municipal election, Lupolianski ran for mayor under the United Torah Judaism ticket and this was part of a rotation deal which stated that in the next election, the ticket would nominate a candidate from Agudat Israel. He was elected on June 6,2003, after serving on the Jerusalem City Council from 1989, hi-tech workers who choose to live and work in Jerusalem are also eligible for a monthly grant to cover part of their living expenses. Lupolianski was accused of preferring Jews for civil service over Arabs, during his tenure as mayor, Lupolianski clashed with the Israeli gay and lesbian community for trying to stop or change the venue of their annual Gay pride parade in Jerusalem. In 1976, Lupolianski founded the Yad Sarah organization to help the elderly, the organization is named for his Polish grandmother, who died in the Holocaust. It lends out medical equipment and supplies a variety of services to the sick, Yad Sarah has a network of 6,000 volunteers working out of 96 branches, and serves all sectors of the population. Before becoming mayor, Lupolianski won the Presidents Volunteer Prize, the Knesset Speakers Award, in 1994, he accepted the Israel Prize on behalf of Yad Sarah. On January 5,2011, he was indicted with 17 others for giving or receiving bribes to advance various real estate ventures. However, unlike the others in the case, Lupolianski never received any money himself, rather, the money was sent to a Jerusalem charity that assists poor people in the city. In March 2014, he was guilty of corruption
11.
Binyamina
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Binyamina-Givat Ada is a town in the Haifa District of Israel. It is the result of the 2003 merger between the two councils of Binyamina and Givat Ada. In 2015 its population was 14,777, prior to the merger, the population of Binyamina was 6,600. Binyamina was founded in 1922 and named after the Baron Edmond Benjamin James de Rothschild, according to the Jewish National Fund, Binyamina was founded on PICA land by members of the Third Aliyah. According to a census conducted in 1922 by the British Mandate authorities, Binyamina had a population of 153 inhabitants, the original economy of the village was citrus-based. In 1947, Binyamina had a population of 2000, Givat Ada, named for Baron Edmond James de Rothschilds s wife Adelaid, was established in 1903 by eight families from Zikhron Yaakov. Givat Ada was established as an agricultural settlement, the main farming branches were field crops and vegetables, and later, grapes. The area is home to both the Binyamina Winery, producers of 2.8 million bottles of wine annually, Tishbi now produces one million bottles annually. Plans have been drawn up to build a 150-acre wine park on the slopes between Binyamina and Zichron Yaakov to promote tourism in Israel. A direct non-stop train from Binyamina reaches Tel Aviv or Haifa in 30 minutes, Binyamina is the birthplace of the Israeli songwriter Ehud Manor, and is referenced in a number of his songs. It is also the birthplace of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, four-time Olympian and world-record-holder in shooting, Guy Starik, lives there
12.
Mandatory Palestine
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Mandatory Palestine was a geopolitical entity under British administration, carved out of Ottoman Southern Syria after World War I. British civil administration in Palestine operated from 1920 until 1948, further confusing the issue was the Balfour Declaration of 1917, promising British support for a Jewish national home in Palestine. At the wars end the British and French set up a joint Occupied Enemy Territory Administration in what had been Ottoman Syria, the British achieved legitimacy for their continued control by obtaining a mandate from the League of Nations in June 1922. The civil Mandate administration was formalized with the League of Nations consent in 1923 under the British Mandate for Palestine, the land west of the Jordan River, known as Palestine, was under direct British administration until 1948. The land east of the Jordan, a region known as Transjordan, under the rule of the Hashemite family from the Hijaz. The divergent tendencies regarding the nature and purpose of the mandate are visible already in the discussions concerning the name for this new entity. As a set-off to this, certain of the Arab politicians suggested that the country should be called Southern Syria in order to emphasise its close relation with another Arab State. During the British Mandate period the area experienced the ascent of two major nationalist movements, one among the Jews and the other among the Arabs, following its occupation by British troops in 1917–1918, Palestine was governed by the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration. In July 1920, the administration was replaced by a civilian administration headed by a High Commissioner. The first High Commissioner, Herbert Samuel, a Zionist recent cabinet minister, arrived in Palestine on 20 June 1920, following the arrival of the British, Muslim-Christian Associations were established in all the major towns. In 1919 they joined to hold the first Palestine Arab Congress in Jerusalem and its main platforms were a call for representative government and opposition to the Balfour Declaration. The Zionist Commission was formed in March 1918 and was active in promoting Zionist objectives in Palestine, on 19 April 1920, elections were held for the Assembly of Representatives of the Palestinian Jewish community. The Zionist Commission received official recognition in 1922 as representative of the Palestinian Jewish community, Rutenberg soon established an electric company whose shareholders were Zionist organizations, investors, and philanthropists. Palestinian-Arabs saw it as proof that the British intended to favor Zionism, when Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Kamil al-Husayni died in March 1921, High Commissioner Samuel appointed his half-brother Mohammad Amin al-Husseini to the position. Amin al-Husseini, a member of the clan of Jerusalem, was an Arab nationalist. As Grand Mufti, as well as the influential positions that he held during this period. In 1922, al-Husseini was elected President of the Supreme Muslim Council which had created by Samuel in December 1921. The Council controlled the Waqf funds, worth annually tens of thousands of pounds, in addition, he controlled the Islamic courts in Palestine
13.
Likud
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The Likud, officially the Likud–National Liberal Movement, is a major center-right to right-wing political party in Israel. A secular party, it was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing, Likuds landslide victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the countrys political history, marking the first time the left had lost power. In addition, it was the first time in Israel that a party won the plurality of the votes. However, after ruling the country for most of the 1980s, nevertheless, Likuds candidate Benjamin Netanyahu did win the vote for Prime Minister in 1996 and was given the task of forming a government after the 1996 elections. Netanyahus government fell apart after a vote of no confidence, which led to elections being called in 1999, in 2001, Likuds Ariel Sharon, who replaced Netanyahu following the 1999 election, defeated Barak in an election called by the Prime Minister following his resignation. After the party recorded a win in the 2003 elections. This resulted in Likud slumping to fourth place in the 2006 elections, Netanyahu has been Prime Minister since and Likud has been the leading vote-getter in each election. A member of the party is called a Likudnik. Herut had been the nations largest right-wing party since growing out of the Irgun in 1948 and it had already been in coalition with the Liberals since 1965 as Gahal, with Herut as the senior partner. Herut remained the senior partner in the new grouping, which was given the name Likud, meaning Consolidation and it worked as a coalition under Heruts leadership until 1988, when the member parties merged into a single party under the Likud name. From its establishment in 1973, Likud enjoyed great support from blue-collar Sephardim who felt discriminated against by the ruling Alignment, Likud made a strong showing in its first elections in 1973, reducing the Alignments lead to 12 seats. The party went on to win the 1977 elections, finishing 11 seats ahead of the Alignment, Begin was able to form a government with the support of the religious parties, consigning the left-wing to opposition for the first time since independence. A former leader of the hard-line paramilitary Irgun, Begin helped initiate the process with Egypt, which resulted in the 1978 Camp David Accords. Likud was reelected with a reduced mandate in 1981. Likud has long been an alliance between politicians committed to different and sometimes opposing policy preferences and ideologies. Begin resigned in October 1983 and was succeeded as Likud leader, although Shamir lost the 1984 election, the Alignment was unable to form a government on its own. Likud and the Alignment thus formed a unity government, with Peres as Prime Minister. After two years, Peres and Shamir switched posts and this government remained in power through 1990, when the Alignment pulled out and Shamir stitched together a right-wing coalition that held on until its defeat in 1992 by Labor
14.
Kadima
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Kadima is a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely to support the issue of Ariel Sharons unilateral disengagement plan, and was soon joined by like-minded Labor politicians. With Ehud Olmert as party chairman following Sharons stroke, it became the largest party in the Knesset after the 2006 elections, winning 29 of the 120 seats, and led a coalition government. Although Kadima also won the most seats in the 2009 elections under Tzipi Livnis leadership, Livni was defeated in the 2012 leadership election, losing out to the more conservative Shaul Mofaz. Following Livnis defeat, the progressive wing broke away at the end of 2012, to form a new centre-left party, Hatnuah. In the 2013 elections, Kadima became the smallest party in the Knesset, winning only 2 seats and it did not enter the 2015 elections. A number of factors contributed to Sharons decision to split from the Likud. In the past Sharon had switched between left- and right-wing politics, having been a Mapai member, he joined Likud in the early 1970s, before leaving the party. After acting as an advisor to Alignment PM Yitzhak Rabin in the mid-1970s, he established an economically left-wing Shlomtzion party. On becoming Prime Minister in the 2000s, Sharon twice formed unity governments with the Labor Party, in 2005 the implementation of the Gaza disengagement plan exposed enormous rifts inside the Likud and wider society in Israel. Binyamin Netanyahu capitalised on the split within the Likud by aligning himself with the rejectionist faction, while Sharons popularity grew among the Israeli populace at large, it declined inside the Likud party structure. Netanyahu resigned as Finance Minister on 7 August 2005, saying the governments implementation of the disengagement plan endangered the safety of Israeli citizens, Sharon was then unable to get approval from the Likud Central Committee for his key ally Ehud Olmert to that position. Peretz demanded that all Labor Party ministers resign from the unity government and called for dissolution of the Knesset and for early elections, the name Kadima emerged within the first days of the split and was favored by Sharon. Although National Responsibility was regarded as provisional, subsequent tests conducted with focus groups proved it much more popular than Kadima, National Responsibility seemed certain to become permanent. Surprisingly, however, it was announced on 24 November 2005 that the party had registered under the name Kadima. The decision to name the party Kadima was criticised by Shinui leader Yosef Lapid, according to Sharon supporters, on the first day after its founding, Kadima already had nearly 150 members, most of whom were defectors from Likud. Several Knesset members from Labor, Likud, and other parties joined the new party, including cabinet ministers Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni, Meir Sheetrit, Gideon Ezra. Deputy ministers Ruhama Avraham, Majalli Wahabi, Eli Aflalo, Marina Solodkin, Zeev Boim and Yaakov Edri also joined the party, along with Likud MKs Roni Bar-On, former Histadrut chairman Haim Ramon of Labor decided to join the party shortly thereafter
15.
Aliza Olmert
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Aliza Olmert is an Israeli artist, photographer, author and social worker. She is married to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Aliza Olmert was born in a displaced persons camp in Eschwege, Germany. Her parents were Holocaust survivors from Łódź, Poland and she immigrated to Israel with her family in 1949, grew up in Ramat Gan, and served as a topographer and platoon commander in the Israel Defense Forces. She met her husband, Ehud Olmert, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Olmerts live in Jerusalems Katamon neighborhood. They have five children, one of them adopted, in 1985–1988, at the age of 40, Olmert studied environmental design at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. In Israel, Olmert has exhibited at the Museum on the Seam in Jerusalem, the Museum of Israeli Art in Ramat Gan, the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv and the Tel Aviv Artists House. Her work has also exhibited in Japan, Uruguay, Italy, Britain, Poland, Argentina. In March 2008, she was awarded the Steiger Prize in Germany, Olmert espouses left-wing politics, and has been accused of influencing her husbands political views. Olmert dislikes the political limelight, and says that their most difficult period as a couple was 1993–2003 and she is said to support Meretz. Olmert is active in social programs promoting child welfare and she is the chairman of Or Shalom and Tlalim, which aid children at risk and families with homebound sick children. Olmert is also a member of the Action Committee for Children of Foreign Workers, wall Language Fantasy for Piano Aliza Olmert Bio on pmo. gov. il Aliza Olmert - Dead End - Exhibition Aliza Olmert - Israel - Exhibition Davide Frattini. Ritratto di Aliza Olmert, la first lady israeliana, nir Magal. עליזה אולמרט, לא אוותר על הבריחות לתל אביב
16.
Shaul Olmert
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Shaul Olmert is an Israeli entrepreneur and business executive. He is the co-founder of Playbuzz, an online content publishing platform where he serves as the companys CEO and he has been involved in numerous other startups including NetAlign, GameGround, and Sundaysky. Olmert also worked as an executive with Nickelodeon/MTV Networks and Conduit, as a child he liked to develop computer programs and build machines out of electrical circuits from old radio transistors and walkie-talkie type gadgets. His grandparents Bella and Mordechai Olmert came to Israel in 1933 after escaping from Odessa during the Russian Civil War in 1919 and they traveled to China prior to settling in 1930s Palestine. His father is former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and he served in the Israeli Army. After his service, Olmert worked as a school teacher in Jerusalem where he taught computers. He went on to attend New York University where he earned a degree in Interactive Telecommunications. Olmert began his business career as the director of business partnerships at Oberon Media prior to beginning his career for Nickelodeon/MTV Networks. Olmert worked as the president of digital products for MTV Networks. During his time with MTV he was in charge of adapting its television properties for the game industry. Olmert left MTV in 2007 and served as president and chief marketing officer of SundaySky prior to joining Conduit as that companys chief marketing officer, in 2008, Olmert co-founded GameGround, a social network for gamers that sends game updates such as high scores to members through a feed. It also provides tips and tricks for playing video games. In 2012, Olmert founded the online content publishing platform Playbuzz with Tom Pachys, by September 2014, seven of the 10 biggest stories on Facebook involved content that originated on Playbuzz. The company took over the one spot as the most shared publisher on Facebook in November 2014 with approximately 9 million shares. It was also listed by Inc. as one of the 15 Israeli Startups Getting Hot at the Turn of 2015, shaul Olmert on LinkedIn Playbuzz official website
17.
Dana Olmert
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Dana Olmert, is an Israeli left wing activist, literary theorist and editor. She is a daughter of Israels former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Olmert graduated with a PhD in literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on The Growth of Hebrew Poetry by Women During the Twenties, Psychoanalytical and Feminist Perspectives. She teaches literature at Tel Aviv University and lately teaches creative writing workshops and she is the editor of a poetry series and was invited to several juries of literary prizes. She was active in the Jerusalem branch of the Israeli left-wing human rights organization Machsom Watch, in June 2006 she attended a march in Tel Aviv protesting alleged Israeli complicity in the Gaza beach blast which made her the subject of bitter criticism from right wing personalities. Olmert is a lesbian and defends Pride parade in Israel. She lives with her partner, Dafna Ben-Zvi, in Tel Aviv. The couple raise a daughter birthed by Ben-Zvi
18.
Alma mater
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Alma mater is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. In modern usage, it is a school or university which an individual has attended, the phrase is variously translated as nourishing mother, nursing mother, or fostering mother, suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students. Before its modern usage, Alma mater was a title in Latin for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele. The source of its current use is the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum, of the oldest university in continuous operation in the Western world and it is related to the term alumnus, denoting a university graduate, which literally means a nursling or one who is nourished. The phrase can also denote a song or hymn associated with a school, although alma was a common epithet for Ceres, Cybele, Venus, and other mother goddesses, it was not frequently used in conjunction with mater in classical Latin. Alma Redemptoris Mater is a well-known 11th century antiphon devoted to Mary, the earliest documented English use of the term to refer to a university is in 1600, when University of Cambridge printer John Legate began using an emblem for the universitys press. In English etymological reference works, the first university-related usage is often cited in 1710, many historic European universities have adopted Alma Mater as part of the Latin translation of their official name. The University of Bologna Latin name, Alma Mater Studiorum, refers to its status as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. At least one, the Alma Mater Europaea in Salzburg, Austria, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has been called the Alma Mater of the Nation because of its ties to the founding of the United States. At Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, the ancient Roman world had many statues of the Alma Mater, some still extant. Modern sculptures are found in prominent locations on several American university campuses, outside the United States, there is an Alma Mater sculpture on the steps of the monumental entrance to the Universidad de La Habana, in Havana, Cuba. Media related to Alma mater at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of alma mater at Wiktionary Alma Mater Europaea website
19.
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is Israels second oldest university established in 1918,30 years before the State of Israel. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot, the worlds largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J. Safra Givat Ram campus. The university has 5 affiliated teaching hospitals including the Hadassah Medical Center,7 faculties, more than 100 research centers, a third of all the doctoral candidates in Israel are studying in the Hebrew University. The first Board of Governors included Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Martin Buber, four of Israels prime ministers are alumni of the Hebrew University. In the last decade, eight researchers and alumni of the University received the Nobel Prize, one was awarded the Fields Medal, one of the visions of the Zionist movement was the establishment of a Jewish university in the Land of Israel. Founding a university was proposed as far back as 1884 in the Kattowitz conference of the Hovevei Zion society, the cornerstone for the university was laid on July 24,1918. The Universitys first Chancellor was Judah Magnes, by 1947, the University had become a large research and teaching institution. Plans for a school were approved in May 1949, and in November 1949. In 1952, it was announced that the institute founded by the University in 1940 would become a full-fledged faculty. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, attacks were carried out against convoys moving between the Israeli-controlled section of Jerusalem and the University. The leader of the Arab forces in Jerusalem, Abdul Kader Husseini, after the Hadassah medical convoy massacre, in which 79 Jews, including doctors and nurses, were slaughtered, the Mount Scopus campus was cut off from Jerusalem. British soldier Jack Churchill coordinated the evacuation of 700 Jewish doctors, when the Jordan government denied Israeli access to Mount Scopus, a new campus was built at Givat Ram in western Jerusalem and completed in 1958. In the interim, classes were held in 40 different buildings around the city, the Terra Santa building in Rehavia, rented from the Franciscan Custodians of the Latin Holy Places, was also used for this purpose. A few years later, together with the Hadassah Medical Organization, by the beginning of 1967, the students numbered 12,500, spread among the two campuses in Jerusalem and the agricultural faculty in Rehovot. After the unification of Jerusalem, following the Six-Day War of June 1967, the University was able to return to Mount Scopus, in 1981 the construction work was completed, and Mount Scopus again became the main campus of the University. On July 31,2002, a member of a terrorist cell detonated a bomb during lunch hour at the Universitys Frank Sinatra cafeteria when it was crowded with staff and students. Nine people — five Israelis, three Americans, and one dual French-American citizen — were murdered and more than 70 wounded, World leaders, including Kofi Annan, President Bush, and the President of the European Union issued statements of condemnation. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Rothberg International School, the Rothberg International School features secular studies and Jewish/Israeli studies
20.
Hebrew language
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Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. Hebrew had ceased to be a spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Aramaic and to a lesser extent Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among elites and it survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, had become, as of 1998, the language of 5 million people worldwide. After Israel, the United States has the second largest Hebrew-speaking population, with 220,000 fluent speakers, Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of the State of Israel, while premodern Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world today. Ancient Hebrew is also the tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon Hakodesh, the modern word Hebrew is derived from the word Ivri, one of several names for the Israelite people. It is traditionally understood to be a based on the name of Abrahams ancestor, Eber. This name is based upon the root ʕ-b-r meaning to cross over. Interpretations of the term ʕibrim link it to this verb, cross over, in the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit because Judah was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation. In Isaiah 19,18 it is called the Language of Canaan, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn, the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, according to Avraham ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during about 1200 to 586 BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile. In July 2008 Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa which he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating around 3000 years ago. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks, the Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it
21.
Jerusalem
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Jerusalem is a city located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is considered a city in the three major Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, the part of Jerusalem called the City of David was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent, today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage Site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger, Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the Old Citys boundaries. These foundational events, straddling the dawn of the 1st millennium BCE, the sobriquet of holy city was probably attached to Jerusalem in post-exilic times. The holiness of Jerusalem in Christianity, conserved in the Septuagint which Christians adopted as their own authority, was reinforced by the New Testament account of Jesuss crucifixion there, in Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina. As a result, despite having an area of only 0, outside the Old City stands the Garden Tomb. Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, West Jerusalem was among the captured and later annexed by Israel while East Jerusalem, including the Old City, was captured. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed it into Jerusalem, one of Israels Basic Laws, the 1980 Jerusalem Law, refers to Jerusalem as the countrys undivided capital. All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset, the residences of the Prime Minister and President, the international community does not recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, and the city hosts no foreign embassies. Jerusalem is also home to some non-governmental Israeli institutions of importance, such as the Hebrew University. In 2011, Jerusalem had a population of 801,000, of which Jews comprised 497,000, Muslims 281,000, a city called Rušalim in the Execration texts of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt is widely, but not universally, identified as Jerusalem. Jerusalem is called Urušalim in the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba, the name Jerusalem is variously etymologized to mean foundation of the god Shalem, the god Shalem was thus the original tutelary deity of the Bronze Age city. The form Yerushalem or Yerushalayim first appears in the Bible, in the Book of Joshua, according to a Midrash, the name is a combination of Yhwh Yireh and the town Shalem. The earliest extra-biblical Hebrew writing of the word Jerusalem is dated to the sixth or seventh century BCE and was discovered in Khirbet Beit Lei near Beit Guvrin in 1961. The inscription states, I am Yahweh thy God, I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem, or as other scholars suggest, the mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem
22.
Mordechai Olmert
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Mordechai Olmert was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Herut between 1955 and 1961. He was also the father of Ehud Olmert, who served as Prime Minister between 2006 and 2009, born in Buguruslan in the Russian Empire, Olmerts family moved to Harbin in China in 1919. He studied at a polytechnic, and was amongst the founders of the Jewish Students Organisation. During this time he met Bella Wagman, who he later married, between 1931 and 1933 he taught Russian at a Chinese high school, before making aliyah to Mandatory Palestine in 1933. He joined the Betar work group in Hadera, and worked as a labourer until 1939. He was amongst the founders of the Irgun, as well as the Jabotinsky neighbourhood in Binyamina in 1946, in 1949 he returned to China as an emissary for the Irgun fund. He returned to Israel to head Heruts settlement department, where he remained until 1953, a member of the partys central committee, he was elected to the Knesset on its list in 1955, and was re-elected in 1959. He lost his seat in the 1961 elections, and in 1965 left the central committee. In 1969 he joined the Free Centre, and was a founder of Laam in 1976 and he died in 1998 at the age of 90. Mordechai Olmert on the Knesset website
23.
Ukraine
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Ukraine is currently in territorial dispute with Russia over the Crimean Peninsula which Russia annexed in 2014 but which Ukraine and most of the international community recognise as Ukrainian. Including Crimea, Ukraine has an area of 603,628 km2, making it the largest country entirely within Europe and it has a population of about 42.5 million, making it the 32nd most populous country in the world. The territory of modern Ukraine has been inhabited since 32,000 BC, during the Middle Ages, the area was a key centre of East Slavic culture, with the powerful state of Kievan Rus forming the basis of Ukrainian identity. Following its fragmentation in the 13th century, the territory was contested, ruled and divided by a variety of powers, including Lithuania, Poland, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. A Cossack republic emerged and prospered during the 17th and 18th centuries, two brief periods of independence occurred during the 20th century, once near the end of World War I and another during World War II. Before its independence, Ukraine was typically referred to in English as The Ukraine, following independence, Ukraine declared itself a neutral state. Nonetheless it formed a limited partnership with the Russian Federation and other CIS countries. In the 2000s, the government began leaning towards NATO, and it was later agreed that the question of joining NATO should be answered by a national referendum at some point in the future. Former President Viktor Yanukovych considered the current level of co-operation between Ukraine and NATO sufficient, and was against Ukraine joining NATO and these events formed the background for the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014, and the War in Donbass in April 2014. On 1 January 2016, Ukraine applied the economic part of the Deep, Ukraine has long been a global breadbasket because of its extensive, fertile farmlands and is one of the worlds largest grain exporters. The diversified economy of Ukraine includes a heavy industry sector, particularly in aerospace. Ukraine is a republic under a semi-presidential system with separate powers, legislative, executive. Its capital and largest city is Kiev, taking into account reserves and paramilitary personnel, Ukraine maintains the second-largest military in Europe after that of Russia. Ukrainian is the language and its alphabet is Cyrillic. The dominant religion in the country is Eastern Orthodoxy, which has strongly influenced Ukrainian architecture, literature, there are different hypotheses as to the etymology of the name Ukraine. According to the older and most widespread hypothesis, it means borderland, while more recently some studies claim a different meaning, homeland or region. The Ukraine now implies disregard for the sovereignty, according to U. S. ambassador William Taylor. Neanderthal settlement in Ukraine is seen in the Molodova archaeological sites include a mammoth bone dwelling
24.
Harbin
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Harbin is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang province in the northeastern region of the Peoples Republic of China. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Harbin has direct jurisdiction over nine metropolitan districts, Harbin is the eighth most populous Chinese city and the most populous city in Northeast China. According to the 2010 census, the area made of seven out of nine urban districts had 5,282,093 inhabitants. Harbin serves as a key political, economic, scientific, cultural, Harbin, which was originally a Manchu word meaning a place for drying fishing nets, grew from a small rural settlement on the Songhua River to become one of the largest cities in Northeast China. Founded in 1898 with the coming of the Chinese Eastern Railway, having the most bitterly cold winters among major Chinese cities, Harbin is heralded as the Ice City for its well-known winter tourism and recreations. Harbin is notable for its ice sculpture festival in the winter. Besides being well known for its historical Russian legacy, the city serves as an important gateway in Sino-Russian trade today, in the 1920s, the city was considered Chinas fashion capital since new designs from Paris and Moscow reached here first before arriving in Shanghai. The city has been voted China Top Tourist City by China National Tourism Administration in 2004, on 22 June 2010, Harbin was appointed a City of Music by the UN. Human settlement in the Harbin area dates from at least 2200 BC during the late Stone Age, Wanyan Aguda, the founder and first emperor of the Jin dynasty, was born in the Jurchen Wanyan tribes who resided near the Ashi River in this region. In AD1115 Aguda established Jins capital Shangjing Huining Prefecture in todays Acheng District of Harbin, after Agudas death, the new emperor Wanyan Sheng ordered the construction of a new city on a uniform plan. The planning and construction emulated major Chinese cities, in particular Bianjing, Huining Prefecture served as the first superior capital of the Jin empire until Wanyan Liang moved the capital to Yanjing in 1153. Liang even went so far as to destroy all palaces in his capital in 1157. Wanyan Liangs successor Wanyan Yong restored the city and established it as a capital in 1173. Ruins of the Shangjing Huining Prefecture were discovered and excavated about 2 km from present-day Achengs central urban area, the site of the old Jin capital ruins is a national historic reserve, and includes the Jin Dynasty History Museum. The museum, open to the public, was renovated in late 2005, mounted statues of Aguda and of his chief commander Wanyan Zonghan stand in the grounds of the museum. Many of the artifacts there are on display in nearby Harbin. After the Mongol conquest of the Jin Empire, Huining Prefecture was abandoned, in the 17th century, the Manchus used building materials from Huining Prefecture to construct their new stronghold in Alchuka. The region of Harbin remained largely rural until the 1800s, with ten villages
25.
Herut
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Herut was the major right-wing nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism and was known in part for its militia actions. Herut was founded by Menachem Begin on 15 June 1948 as a successor to the Revisionist Irgun, the new party was a challenge to the Hatzohar party established by Zeev Jabotinsky. Herut also established a newspaper, with many of its founding journalists defecting from Hatzohars HaMashkif. Heruts political expectations were high as the first election approached in 1949 and it took credit for driving the British government out and as a young movement, reflecting the esprit of the nation, it perceived its image as being more attractive than the old establishment. They hoped to win 25 seats, which would place second and make them leader of the opposition. This analysis was shared by other parties, objection to withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces and negotiations with Arab states was the partys main platform in the first election. The party vigorously opposed the agreements with the Arab states until the annexation of Gaza Strip. According to Joseph Heller, Herut was a one-issue party intent on expanding Israels borders, Heruts socio-economic platform represented a clear shift to the right, with support for private initiative but also for legislation preventing the trusts from exploiting workers. Begin was at first careful not to appear anti-socialist, stressing his opposition to monopolies and trusts, Herut was from the outset inclined to sympathise with the underdog and, according to Hannah Torok Yablonka, tended to serve as a lodestone for societys misfits. The party was renowned for its views and militia actions. The practical differences between Herut and Mapai, however, were less dramatic than the rhetoric suggested, the party and its leader, Begin, had met fierce resistance from the Labor Zionist establishment in Israel and abroad for many years. They were criticised by Jewish intellectuals on the occasion of Begins visit to New York City in an letter to The New York Times on 4 December 1948. The letter condemned Herut as akin to Nazi and Fascist parties and it was signed by over twenty prominent Jewish intellectuals, including Albert Einstein, Hannah Arendt, Zellig Harris and Sidney Hook. It was formed out of the membership and following of the former Irgun Zvai Leumi, today they speak of freedom, democracy and anti-imperialism, whereas until recently they openly preached the doctrine of the Fascist state. It is in its actions that the terrorist party betrays its real character, the hostility between Begin and Israels first Prime Minister, the Mapai leader, David Ben-Gurion, which had begun over the Altalena Affair was evident in the Knesset. Ben-Gurion coined the phrase without Herut and Maki, a reference to his position that he would any party in his coalition. In fact, Herut was approached at least three times by Mapai for government negotiations but Begin turned down the each time, suspecting that they were designed to divide his party
26.
Betar
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The Betar Movement (ביתר, also spelled Beitar} is a Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Vladimir Jabotinsky. Chapters sprang up across Europe, even during World War II, after the war and during the settlement of what became Israel, Betar was traditionally linked to the original Herut and then Likud political parties of Jewish pioneers. It was closely affiliated with the pre-Israel Revisionist Zionist splinter group Irgun Zevai Leumi and it was one of many right-wing movements and youth groups arising at that time that adopted special salutes and uniforms. Some of the most prominent politicians of Israel were Betarim in their youth, most notably prime ministers Yitzhak Shamir and Menachem Begin, today, Betar promotes Jewish leadership on university campuses as well as in local communities. Its history of empowering Jewish youth dates back to before the State of Israel, across Europe, Betar militias played major roles in independently resisting Nazi forces and their various assaults on Jewish communities. Betar was founded by Zeev Jabotinsky at a meeting of Jewish youth in Riga, Latvia, Jabotinsky spoke of the Arab attacks on the settlement of Tel Hai and other Jewish settlements in the Galilee. This is the philosophy of Revisionist Zionism. Jabotinsky proposed creating Betar to foster a new generation of Jews thoroughly indoctrinated in these nationalist ideals, in 1931, Jabotinsky was elected rosh Betar at the first world conference in Danzig. Joseph Trumpeldor, the leader of the Jewish settlers who were killed at Tel Hai in 1920, served as the primary role model of the Betar. A disabled man with one arm, he led his people in the futile defense of the settlement and died with the words, Never mind. The words of Shir Betar, written by Jabotinsky, include a line that quotes Trumpeldors last words to never mind, as the song expresses, Betar youth were to be as proud, generous, and fierce as Trumpeldor, and as ready to sacrifice themselves for Israel. The name Betar ביתר refers to both the last Jewish fort to fall in the Bar Kokhba revolt and to the altered Hebrew name of Brit Yosef Trumpeldor, although Trumpeldors name is properly spelt with tet, it was written with taf so as to produce the acronym. Despite resistance from both Zionist and non-Zionist Jews, Betar quickly gained a following in Poland, Palestine, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany. It was particularly successful in Poland, which had the largest Jewish population in Europe at the time, in 1934, Poland was home to 40,000 of Betars 70,000 members. Routine Betar activities in Warsaw included military drilling, instruction in Hebrew, militia groups organized by Betar Poland helped to defend against attacks by the anti-Semitic ONR. The interwar Polish government helped Betar with military training, some members admired the Polish nationalist camp and imitated some of its aspects. The group initially praised Mussolini for his anti-Communism and fascist principles, mussolinis invasion of Abyssinia, however, was seen as cowardly by Betar and they broke with him shortly after. In total, Betar was responsible for the entrance of over 40,000 Jews into Palestine under such restrictions, during World War II, Betar members, including former Polish Army officers, founded Żydowski Związek Wojskowy, which fought in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
27.
Irgun
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The Irgun was a Zionist paramilitary organization that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the older and larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah, when the group broke from the Haganah it became known as the Haganah Bet, or alternatively as haHaganah haLeumit or Hamaamad. Irgun members were absorbed into the Israel Defense Forces at the start of the 1948 Arab–Israeli war, the Irgun is also referred to as Etzel, an acronym of the Hebrew initials, or by the abbreviation IZL. The Irgun policy was based on what was then called Revisionist Zionism founded by Zeev Jabotinsky, the Irgun has been viewed as a terrorist organization or organization which carried out terrorist acts. Irguns tactics appealed to many Jews who believed that any action taken in the cause of the creation of a Jewish state was justified, the Irgun was a political predecessor to Israels right-wing Herut party, which led to todays Likud party. Likud has led or been part of most Israeli governments since 1977, members of the Irgun came mostly from Betar and from the Revisionist Party both in Palestine and abroad. The Revisionist Movement made up a backing for the underground organization. Zeev Jabotinsky, founder of Revisionist Zionism, commanded the organization until he died in 1940 and he formulated the general realm of operation, regarding Restraint and the end thereof, and was the inspiration for the organization overall. An additional major source of inspiration was the poetry of Uri Zvi Greenberg. The number of members of the Irgun varied from a few hundred to a few thousand, most of its members were people who joined the organizations command, under which they carried out various operations and filled positions, largely in opposition to British law. Most of them were people, who held regular jobs. Therefore, the Irgun tended to ignore the decisions made by the Zionist leadership, the Irgun put out numerous advertisements, an underground newspaper and even ran the first independent Hebrew radio station – Kol Zion HaLochemet. As members of an armed organization, Irgun personnel did not normally call Irgun by its name. In the first years of its existence it was primarily as Ha-Haganah Leumit, and also by names such as Haganah Bet, Irgun Bet, the Parallel Organization. Later on it became most widely known as המעמד, the anthem adopted by the Irgun was Anonymous Soldiers, written by Avraham Stern who was at the time a commander in the Irgun. Later on Stern defected from the Irgun and founded Lehi, the Irguns new anthem then became the third verse of the Betar Song, by Zeev Jabotinsky. The Irgun gradually evolved from its origins into a serious. The movement developed a hierarchy of ranks and a sophisticated command-structure and it developed clandestine networks of hidden arms-caches and weapons-production workshops, safe-houses, and training camps
28.
Mapai
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The party was founded on 5 January 1930 by the merger of the Hapoel Hatzair founded by A. D. Gordon and the original Ahdut HaAvoda. It was also responsible for the founding of Hashomer and Haganah, by the early 1930s, David Ben-Gurion had taken over the party, and had become de facto leader of the Jewish community in Palestine. It was a member of the Labour and Socialist International between 1930 and 1940, Ben-Gurion became Prime Minister and formed a coalition with the United Religious Front, the Progressive Party, the Sephardim and Oriental Communities and the Democratic List of Nazareth. A notable piece of legislation enacted during Mapais first term in office was a law in 1949 which introduced compulsory schooling for all children between the ages of 5 to 14. In the second elections in 1951 Mapai increased its vote to 37. 3% despite the economic problems. However, he shocked the nation by resigning on 6 December 1953 in order to settle in the small Negev kibbutz of Sde Boker, the 1955 elections saw a drop in the partys support to 32. 2%, though still well ahead of the second-placed Herut. Later the Progressive Party was also added, in contrast to the previous one, the 1959 election saw a surge in support, as the party recorded its best electoral performance, taking 38. 2% of the vote and 47 seats. Firstly, Ben-Gurion resigned as head of the party citing personal reasons and he set up a new party, Rafi, taking with him seven other Mapai members. Secondly, the two major right-wing opposition parties, Herut and the Liberal Party had merged into Gahal and this meant by the end of the Knesset session, Mapai had only 34 seats to Gahals 27. The partys response to the strength of the opposition was to seek support from other parties with similar ideologies. The result was an alliance with Ahdut HaAvoda to form the Labor Alignment before the 1965 election, the new party won 36. 7% of the vote and 45 seats, and comfortably beat Gahal. On 23 January 1968 Mapai, Ahdut HaAvoda and Rafi merged into the Israeli Labor Party, 1930-1953 – David Ben-Gurion 1953-1955 – Moshe Sharett 1955-1963 – David Ben-Gurion 1963-1968 – Levi Eshkol Workers Party of Eretz Yisrael Knesset website
29.
Psychology
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Psychology is the science of behavior and mind, embracing all aspects of conscious and unconscious experience as well as thought. It is a discipline and a social science which seeks to understand individuals and groups by establishing general principles. In this field, a professional practitioner or researcher is called a psychologist and can be classified as a social, behavioral, Psychologists explore behavior and mental processes, including perception, cognition, attention, emotion, intelligence, phenomenology, motivation, brain functioning, and personality. This extends to interaction between people, such as relationships, including psychological resilience, family resilience, and other areas. Psychologists of diverse orientations also consider the unconscious mind, Psychologists employ empirical methods to infer causal and correlational relationships between psychosocial variables. Psychology has been described as a hub science, with psychological findings linking to research and perspectives from the sciences, natural sciences, medicine, humanities. By many accounts psychology ultimately aims to benefit society, the majority of psychologists are involved in some kind of therapeutic role, practicing in clinical, counseling, or school settings. Many do scientific research on a range of topics related to mental processes and behavior. The word psychology derives from Greek roots meaning study of the psyche, the Latin word psychologia was first used by the Croatian humanist and Latinist Marko Marulić in his book, Psichiologia de ratione animae humanae in the late 15th century or early 16th century. In 1890, William James defined psychology as the science of mental life and this definition enjoyed widespread currency for decades. Also since James defined it, the more strongly connotes techniques of scientific experimentation. Folk psychology refers to the understanding of people, as contrasted with that of psychology professionals. The ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, China, India, historians note that Greek philosophers, including Thales, Plato, and Aristotle, addressed the workings of the mind. As early as the 4th century BC, Greek physician Hippocrates theorized that mental disorders had physical rather than supernatural causes, in China, psychological understanding grew from the philosophical works of Laozi and Confucius, and later from the doctrines of Buddhism. This body of knowledge involves insights drawn from introspection and observation and it frames the universe as a division of, and interaction between, physical reality and mental reality, with an emphasis on purifying the mind in order to increase virtue and power. Chinese scholarship focused on the advanced in the Qing Dynasty with the work of Western-educated Fang Yizhi, Liu Zhi. Distinctions in types of awareness appear in the ancient thought of India, a central idea of the Upanishads is the distinction between a persons transient mundane self and their eternal unchanging soul. Divergent Hindu doctrines, and Buddhism, have challenged this hierarchy of selves, yoga is a range of techniques used in pursuit of this goal
30.
Israel Defense Forces
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The Israel Defense Forces, commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal, are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the forces, air force, and navy. It is the military wing of the Israeli security forces. The IDF is headed by its Chief of General Staff, the Ramatkal, subordinate to the Defense Minister of Israel, Lieutenant general Gadi Eizenkot has served as Chief of Staff since 2015. The number of wars and border conflicts in which the IDF has been involved in its history makes it one of the most battle-trained armed forces in the world. The Israel Defense Forces differs from most armed forces in the world in many ways, differences include the mandatory conscription of women and its structure, which emphasizes close relations between the army, navy, and air force. Since its founding, the IDF has been designed to match Israels unique security situation. The IDF is one of Israeli societys most prominent institutions, influencing the economy, culture. In 1965, the Israel Defense Forces was awarded the Israel Prize for its contribution to education, the Uzi submachine gun was invented in Israel and used by the IDF until December 2003, ending a service that began in 1954. The Israeli cabinet ratified the name Israel Defense Forces, Tzva HaHagana LeYisrael, literally army for the defense of Israel, the other main contender was Tzva Yisrael. The name was chosen because it conveyed the idea that the role was defense, and because it incorporated the name Haganah. Among the primary opponents of the name were Minister Haim-Moshe Shapira, the IDF traces its roots to Jewish paramilitary organizations in the New Yishuv, starting with the Second Aliyah. The first such organization was Bar-Giora, founded in September 1907 and it was converted to Hashomer in April 1909, which operated until the British Mandate of Palestine came into being in 1920. Hashomer was an elitist organization with narrow scope, and was created to protect against criminal gangs seeking to steal property. During World War I, the forerunners of the Haganah/IDF were the Zion Mule Corps, after the Arab riots against Jews in April 1920, the Yishuvs leadership saw the need to create a nationwide underground defense organization, and the Haganah was founded in June of the same year. The Haganah became a defense force after the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine with an organized structure. During World War II the successor to the Jewish Legion of World War I was the Jewish Brigade, the IDF was founded following the establishment of the State of Israel, after Defense Minister and Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion issued an order on 26 May 1948. The order called for the establishment of the Israel Defense Forces, although Ben-Gurion had no legal authority to issue such an order, the order was made legal by the cabinet on 31 May
31.
Golani Brigade
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The Golani Brigade is an Israeli regular service infantry brigade that is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. It is one of the five regular infantry brigades of the Israel Defense Forces. Its symbol is an olive tree against a yellow background. It is one of the most highly decorated units in the IDF. The brigade consists of five battalions, including two which it kept from its inception, one transferred from the Givati Brigade, and two special forces battalions. The brigade was formed on February 22,1948 during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, when the Levanoni Brigade in the Galilee split into the 1st Golani Brigade and the 2nd Carmeli Brigade. As the end of the British Mandate of Palestine was fast approaching, on February 28,1948, the Levanoni Brigade was split into two—Carmeli in the northwest, and Golani in the northeast. Golanis area of operations included much of the Lower Galilee and Jezreel Valley, the Jordan Valley and it extended to al-Jalama and Bat Shlomo in the west. Major population centers included Safed, Tiberias, Beit Shean and Nazareth, the 12th Battalion captured al-Shajara on May 6,1948 and the 13th captured Beit Shean on May 12. After these operations, responsibility over the part of the brigades sector, was handed over to the Oded Brigade. In December 1948, the 14th and 15th battalions were merged into the Mechanized Attack Battalion, the first Golani action following the Arab intervention in the 1948 war was the defense of the kibbutzim Degania Alef and Bet from the Syrian Army in the Battles of the Kinarot Valley. Units from the Barak Battalion, with Yiftach and Guard Corps reinforcements, the brigade was also successful at repelling Iraqi forces at the Battle of Gesher to the south. The attack eventually succeeded, but Jenin was retaken by the Iraqi Army shortly after, in December 1948, the brigade was largely transferred to the south in preparation for Operation Horev. Golani fought the Egyptians in the Gaza Strip, in Operation Assaf, in March 1949, the brigade was tasked with capturing Umm Rashrash with the 7th Armored Brigade. Golani advanced through the Arabah region in the east and arrived at the two hours after the 7th. This was the last operation of the war, after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the Golani Brigade participated in a number of reprisal raids in the first part of the 1950s. In 1951, a Syrian patrol entered the zone near Tel Mutilla. Golani reinforced a reserve battalion and entered a battle lasted five days
32.
Yom Kippur War
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The fighting mostly took place in the Sinai and the Golan Heights, territories that had been occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat wanted also to reopen the Suez Canal, neither specifically planned to destroy Israel, although the Israeli leaders could not be sure of that. Egyptian and Syrian forces crossed ceasefire lines to enter the Sinai Peninsula, both the United States and the Soviet Union initiated massive resupply efforts to their respective allies during the war, and this led to a near-confrontation between the two nuclear superpowers. The war began with a massive and successful Egyptian crossing of the Suez Canal, after crossing the cease-fire lines, Egyptian forces advanced virtually unopposed into the Sinai Peninsula. After three days, Israel had mobilized most of its forces and halted the Egyptian offensive, resulting in a military stalemate, the Syrians coordinated their attack on the Golan Heights to coincide with the Egyptian offensive and initially made threatening gains into Israeli-held territory. Within three days, however, Israeli forces had pushed the Syrians back to the ceasefire lines. The Israel Defense Forces then launched a four-day counter-offensive deep into Syria, within a week, Israeli artillery began to shell the outskirts of Damascus. He therefore ordered the Egyptians to go back on the offensive, on October 22 a United Nations–brokered ceasefire quickly unraveled, with each side blaming the other for the breach. By October 24, the Israelis had improved their positions considerably and completed their encirclement of Egypts Third Army and this development led to tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. As a result, a ceasefire was imposed cooperatively on October 25 to end the war. These changes paved the way for the subsequent peace process, the 1978 Camp David Accords that followed led to the return of the Sinai to Egypt and normalized relations—the first peaceful recognition of Israel by an Arab country. Egypt continued its drift away from the Soviet Union and left the Soviet sphere of influence entirely, the war was part of the Arab–Israeli conflict, an ongoing dispute that included many battles and wars since 1948, when the state of Israel was formed. During the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel had captured Egypts Sinai Peninsula, roughly half of Syrias Golan Heights, and the territories of the West Bank which had been held by Jordan since 1948. On June 19,1967, shortly after the Six-Day War, the Israeli government voted to return the Sinai to Egypt, the Arab position, as it emerged in September 1967 at the Khartoum Arab Summit, was to reject any peaceful settlement with the state of Israel. Prior to that, King Hussein of Jordan had stated that he could not rule out a possibility of a real, permanent peace between Israel and the Arab states. Armed hostilities continued on a limited scale after the Six-Day War and escalated into the War of Attrition, a ceasefire was signed in August 1970. President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt died in September 1970 and he was succeeded by Anwar Sadat. A peace initiative led by both Sadat and UN intermediary Gunnar Jarring was tabled in 1971 and it resembled a proposal independently made by Moshe Dayan
33.
Knesset
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The Knesset is the unicameral national legislature of Israel. As the legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister, approves the cabinet, in addition, the Knesset elects the State Comptroller. The Prime Minister may also dissolve the Knesset, however, until an election is completed, the Knesset maintains authority in its current composition. The Knesset is located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem, as the legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the president, approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government through its committees. It also has the power to waive the immunity of its members, remove the President and the State Comptroller from office, the Knesset is presided over by a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker. The Knesset is divided into committees, which amend bills on the appropriate subjects, Committee chairpersons are chosen by their members, on recommendation of the House Committee, and their factional composition represents that of the Knesset itself. Committees may elect sub-committees and delegate powers to them, or establish joint committees for issues concerning more than one committee, to further their deliberations, they invite government ministers, senior officials, and experts in the matter being discussed. There are four types of committees in the Knesset, permanent committees amend proposed legislation dealing with their area of expertise, and may initiate legislation. However, such legislation may only deal with Basic Laws and laws dealing with the Knesset, elections to the Knesset, Knesset members, or the State Comptroller. Special committees function in a manner to permanent committees, but are appointed to deal with particular manners at hand. Parliamentary inquiry committees are appointed by the plenum to deal with issues viewed as having national importance. The Ethics Committee is responsible for jurisdiction over Knesset members who violate the rules of ethics of the Knesset, within the framework of responsibility, the Ethics Committee may place various sanctions on a member, but is not allowed to restrict a members right to vote. The Knesset numbers 120 members, a subject which has often been a cause for proposed reforms and this proposed law has also been favoured by other politicians, including Benjamin Netanyahu. The 120 members of the Knesset are popularly elected from a single electoral district to concurrent four-year terms. All Israeli citizens 18 years or older may vote in legislative elections, Knesset seats are allocated among the various parties using the DHondt method of party list proportional representation. A party or electoral alliance must pass the threshold of 3. 25% of the overall vote to be allocated a Knesset seat. Parties select their candidates using a closed list, thus, voters select the party of their choice, not any specific candidate. The electoral threshold was set at 1% from 1949 to 1992, then 1. 5% from 1992 to 2003
34.
Menachem Begin
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Menachem Begin was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. Before the creation of the state of Israel, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun and he proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944, against the British mandatory government, which was opposed by the Jewish Agency. As head of the Irgun, he targeted the British in Palestine, later, the Irgun fought the Arabs during the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. He remained in opposition in the eight elections, but became more acceptable to the political center. His 1977 electoral victory and premiership ended three decades of Labor Party political dominance, Begin’s most significant achievement as Prime Minister was the signing of a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979, for which he and Anwar Sadat shared the Nobel Prize for Peace. In the wake of the Camp David Accords, the Israel Defense Forces withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula, later, Begin’s government promoted the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Begin authorized the bombing of the Osirak nuclear plant in Iraq, as IDF forces remained mired in Lebanon and the economy suffered from hyperinflation, the public pressure on Begin mounted. Depressed by the death of his wife Aliza in November 1982, he withdrew from public life. He was the youngest of three children, on his mothers side he was descended from distinguished rabbis. His father, a merchant, was a community leader, a passionate Zionist. The midwife who attended his birth was the grandmother of Ariel Sharon, after a year of a traditional cheder education Begin started studying at a Tachkemoni school, associated with the religious Zionist movement. In his childhood, Begin, like most Jewish children in his town, was a member of the Zionist scouts movement Hashomer Hatzair and he was a member of Hashomer Hatzair until the age of 13, and at 16, he joined Betar. At 14, he was sent to a Polish government school, Begin studied law at the University of Warsaw, where he learned the oratory and rhetoric skills that became his trademark as a politician, and viewed as demagogy by his critics. During his studies, he organized a group of Jewish students to counter harassment by anti-Semites on campus. He graduated in 1935, but never practiced law, at this time, he became a disciple of Vladimir Zeev Jabotinsky, the founder of the nationalist Revisionist Zionism movement and its Betar youth wing. His rise within Betar was rapid, At 22, he shared the dais with his mentor at the Betar World Congress in Kraków, the pre-war Polish government actively supported Zionist youth and paramilitary movements. Begins leadership qualities were quickly recognised, in 1937 he was the active head of Betar in Czechoslovakia and became head of the largest branch, that of Poland. As head of Betars Polish branch, Begin traveled among regional branches to encourage supporters, to save money, he stayed at the homes of Betar members
35.
Minister without portfolio
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A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. Stanley Bruce was given the title of Minister without Portfolio when he took up his position in 1932 as the Commonwealth Minister in London and he was given the title by Lyons Cabinet so that he could better represent the PM and his colleagues free from the limitations of a portfolio. In this case the title was a promotion and carried considerable responsibilities, bangladesh appoints ministers without portfolio during cabinet reshuffles or fresh appointments. Ministers are not usually appointed without portfolio as a coalition negotiation – all long run ministers end up with a portfolio, suranjit Sengupta was a minister without portfolio in Sheikh Hasinas second government. Notable Conservatives who filled the role include R. B, bennett, and Arthur Meighen, however, Meighen served this role after he had been prime minister. The practice has continued under the guise of ministers of state without responsibilities in the ministers titles, three control ministers served as ministers without portfolio during World War I. After the Liberation of Denmark in May 1945, the first Danish cabinet included four ministers without portfolio, kauffmann served in this capacity from 12 May to 7 November 1945. The three other holders of this title had joined the cabinet a few days before – Aksel Larsen, lise Østergaard held a position as minister without portfolio with special attention to foreign policy issues in Anker Jørgensens cabinet from 26 February 1977 to 28 February 1980. Anders Fogh Rasmussen appointed Bertel Haarder to Minister without Portfolio, Haarder served in this capacity from 27 November 2001 to 18 February 2005. The reason for appointing a minister without a ministry was the Danish European Union Presidency of 2002, Haarder was considered the most experienced Danish politician on European affairs. Tamás Fellegi Kunwar Natwar Singh Since the inception of the state, Indonesia had ministers without portfolio, the number was not fixed, entirely depended on the behest of the President. Below is the list of Ministers without Portfolio in each Cabinet, Mohammad Amir Abdul Wahid Hasyim Sartono Alexander Andries Maramis Mohammad Amir Oto Iskandar di Nata Rasjidi Wikana Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwana IX Abdul Wahid Hasyim Wikana Dr. Such a minister may nevertheless be given a specific title, the only substantive minister without portfolio has been Frank Aiken, the Minister for the Co-ordination of Defensive Measures during World War II. By the Emergency Powers Act 1939 then in force, the Minister for Defence was able to delegate some competences to him, such delegation is now done instead with Ministers of State, junior ministers who are not members of the government. Junior ministers can be given a right to sit at cabinet and this allows the Government to circumvent the Constitutional limit on the number of Senior Ministers. On several occasions a minister has been appointed to a government with the title of a new Department of State. Between the date of appointment and the date of creation of the department, examples include, It is common practice in Israel to appoint ministers without portfolio as part of the coalition negotiations. All cabinets in recent years have had at least some such appointment, departments on equalities, European affairs and relations with regions, for example, are usually led by ministers without portfolio
36.
Curitiba
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Curitiba is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Paraná. The citys population numbered approximately 1,879,355 people as of 2015, making it the eighth most populous city in the country, and the largest in Brazils South Region. The Curitiba Metropolitan area comprises 26 municipalities with a population of over 3.2 million. Curitiba is an important cultural, political, and economic centre in Latin America, the city sits on a plateau at 932 metres above sea level. It is located 105 kilometres west of the seaport of Paranaguá and is served by the Afonso Pena International, the city hosts the Federal University of Paraná, established in 1912. In the 1700s Curitiba possessed a favorable location between cattle-breeding country and marketplaces, leading to a successful trade and the citys first major expansion. Later, between 1850 and 1950, it grew due to logging and agricultural expansion in the Paraná State, in the 1850s waves of European immigrants arrived in Curitiba, mainly Germans, Italians, Poles and Ukrainians, contributing to the citys economic and cultural development. Nowadays, only numbers of foreign immigrants arrive, primarily from Middle Eastern. The biggest expansion occurred after the 1960s, with urban planning that changed the population size from some hundreds of thousands to more than a million people. Curitibas economy is based on industry and services and is the fourth largest in Brazil, economic growth occurred in parallel to a substantial inward flow of Brazilians from other cities of the country, as approximately half of the citys population was not born in Curitiba. According to US magazine Readers Digest, Curitiba is the best Brazilian Big City in which to live. One theory is that the name Curitiba comes from the Tupi words kurí tyba, another version, also using words from the Tupi language, is that it originates in the combination of kurit and yba. The Portuguese who founded a settlement on the site in 1693 named it Vila da Nossa Senhora da Luz dos Pinhais, the name was changed to Curitiba in 1721. Curitiba officially became a town in 1812, spelling its name as Curityba and this was used in press and state documents. A state decree in 1919 settled the dispute by adopting Curitiba, as of 2013 the mayor was Gustavo Fruet, who replaced Luciano Ducci. The City Council of Curitiba has 38 councillors elected since 2004, Curitiba is divided into nine regional governments, who manage the municipalitys 75 districts. The Rua da Cidadania is the symbol of administrative decentralization, it is a reference point, several units are annexed to public transport terminals. Their nuclei offer services in the local, state and federal areas, Jaime Lerner is perhaps Curitibas best-known mayor
37.
Light rail
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Light rail, light rail transit or fast tram is urban public transport using rolling stock similar to a tramway, but operating at a higher capacity, and often on an exclusive right-of-way. A few light rail networks tend to have closer to rapid transit or even commuter rail. Other light rail networks are tram-like in nature and partially operate on streets, Light rail systems are found throughout the world, on all inhabited continents. They have been popular in recent years due to their lower capital costs. The term light rail was coined in 1972 by the U. S, Urban Mass Transportation Administration to describe new streetcar transformations that were taking place in Europe and the United States. In Germany the term Stadtbahn was used to describe the concept, and many in UMTA wanted to adopt the direct translation, however, UMTA finally adopted the term light rail instead. Light in this context is used in the sense of intended for light loads and fast movement, the infrastructure investment is also usually lighter than would be found for a heavy rail system. The Transportation Research Board defined light rail in 1977 as a mode of urban transportation utilizing predominantly reserved, electrically propelled rail vehicles operate singly or in trains. LRT provides a range of passenger capabilities and performance characteristics at moderate costs. Light rail is a generic international English phrase for these types of rail systems, the use of the generic term light rail avoids some serious incompatibilities between British and American English. The word trolley is used as a synonym for streetcar in the United States. A further difference arose because, while Britain abandoned all of its trams except Blackpool after World War II, when these cities upgraded to new technology, they called it light rail to differentiate it from their existing streetcars since some continued to operate both the old and new systems. Conventional rail technologies including high-speed, freight, commuter/regional, and metro/subway/elevated urban transit systems are considered heavy rail, people movers and personal rapid transit are even lighter, at least in terms of capacity. Monorail is a technology that has been more successful in specialized services than in a commuter transit role. Due to varying definitions, it is hard to distinguish between what is called light rail, and other forms of urban and commuter rail, a system described as light rail in one city may be considered to be a streetcar or tram system in another. Conversely, some lines that are called light rail are in very similar to rapid transit, in recent years. Some light rail systems, such as Sprinter, bear little similarity to urban rail, in the United States, light rail has become a catch-all term to describe a wide variety of passenger rail systems. There is a significant difference in cost between these different classes of light rail transit, tram-like systems are often less expensive than metro-like systems by a factor of two or more
38.
Israeli new shekel
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The new shekel is divided into 100 agora. The new shekel has been in use since 1 January 1986, the currency sign for the new shekel ⟨ ₪ ⟩ is a combination of the first Hebrew letters of the words shekel and ẖadash. Alongside the shekel sign, the abbreviations of NIS, שח. The origin of the shekel is from the ancient biblical currency by the same name. Shekel is any of several ancient units of weight or of currency in ancient Israel, initially, it may have referred to a weight of barley. In ancient Israel, the shekel was known to be about 180 grains, from the formation of the modern State of Israel on 14 May 1948 through 1952 banknotes continued to be issued by the Anglo-Palestine Bank as Palestine pound which was pegged to the British Pound. In 1952, the Anglo-Palestine Bank changed its name to Bank Leumi Le-Yisrael, the Israeli pound was the currency of the State of Israel from June 1952 until 23 February 1980, when it was replaced with the shekel on 24 February 1980. From 1955, after the Bank of Israel was established and took over the duty of issuing banknotes, only the Hebrew name was used, along with the symbol I£. The pegging to the British Pound was abolished on 1 January 1954, and in 1960, during the 1960s, a debate over the non-Hebrew name of the Israeli currency resulted in a law ordering the Minister of Finance to change the name pound into a Hebrew name, Shekel. The law allowed the minister to decide on a date for the change. The law did not come into effect until February 1980, when the Israeli government decided to change the monetary system, the shekel, now known as the old shekel, was the currency of the State of Israel between 24 February 1980 and 31 December 1985. The Israeli pound and its successor, the old shekel, all experienced frequent devaluations against foreign currencies during the 1960s and 70s and this trend culminated in the old shekel experiencing hyperinflation in the early 1980s. After inflation was contained as a result of the 1985 Economic Stabilization Plan, as a result of these factors, inflation has been relatively low and the country now maintains a positive balance of payments, with a current account surplus equivalent to about 3% of its GDP in 2010. Since 1 January 2003, the new shekel has been a freely convertible currency, since 7 May 2006, new shekel derivative trading has also been available on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. This makes the new one of only twenty or so world currencies for which there are widely available currency futures contracts in the foreign exchange market. It is also a currency that can be exchanged by consumers in parts of the world. On 26 May 2008, CLS Bank International announced that it would settle payment instructions in new shekels, since 20 March 2003, the new shekel has gained more than 30% in value against the US dollar. In 1985, coins in denominations of 1,5, and 10 agora and ₪½, in 1990, ₪5 coins were introduced, followed by ₪10 coins in 1995
39.
Public transport
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Public transport modes include city buses, trolleybuses, trams and passenger trains, rapid transit and ferries. Public transport between cities is dominated by airlines, coaches, and intercity rail, high-speed rail networks are being developed in many parts of the world. Most public transport runs to a timetable, with the most frequent services running to a headway. Share taxis offer services in many parts of the world. Paratransit is sometimes used in areas of low demand and for people who need a door-to-door service, there are distinct differences in urban public transit between Asia, North America, and Europe. In Asia, mass transit operations are run by profit-driven privately owned and publicly traded mass transit. In North America, mass transit operations are run by municipal transit authorities. In Europe, mass transit operations are run by both state-owned and private companies. Public transport services can be profit-driven by use of pay-by-the-distance fares or funded by government subsidies in which flat rate fares are charged to each passenger. Services can be profitable through high ridership numbers and high farebox recovery ratios, or can be regulated. Fully subsidized, zero-fare services operate in some towns and cities, for geographical, historical and economic reasons, there are differences internationally regarding use and extent of public transport. It has 3,400 members from 92 countries, conveyances designed for public hire are as old as the first ferries, and the earliest public transport was water transport, on land people walked or rode an animal. Ferries appear in Greek mythology—corpses in ancient Greece were buried with a coin underneath their tongue to pay the ferryman Charon to take them to Hades, the omnibus was introduced to London in July 1829. The first passenger railway opened in 1806, it ran between Swansea and Mumbles in southwest Wales in the United Kingdom. In 1825 George Stephenson built the Locomotion for the Stockton and Darlington Railway in northeast England, the usability of different types of public transport, and its overall appeal, can be measured by seven criteria, although they overlap somewhat. These are speed, comfort, safety, cost, proximity, speed is calculated from total journey time including transfers. Proximity means how far passengers have to walk or otherwise travel before they can begin the public transport leg of their journey, timeliness is how long they have to wait for the vehicle. Directness records how far a journey using public transport deviates from the shortest route, an airline provides scheduled service with aircraft between airports
40.
Derry
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Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name Daire meaning oak grove, in 1613, the city was granted a Royal Charter by King James I and gained the London prefix to reflect the funding of its construction by the London guilds. While the city is usually known colloquially as Derry, Londonderry is also commonly used. The old walled city lies on the west bank of the River Foyle, the city now covers both banks. The population of the city was 83,652 at the 2001 Census, the district administered by Derry City and Strabane District Council contains both Londonderry Port and City of Derry Airport. Derry is close to the border with County Donegal, with which it has had a link for many centuries. In 2013, Derry was the inaugural UK City of Culture, according to the citys Royal Charter of 10 April 1662, the official name is Londonderry. This was reaffirmed in a High Court decision in 2007 when Derry City Council sought guidance on the procedure for effecting a name change. The council had changed its name from Londonderry City Council to Derry City Council in 1984, the decision of the court was that it had not but it was clarified that the correct procedure to do so was via a petition to the Privy Council. Derry City Council since started this process and were involved in conducting an equality impact assessment report, then the EQIA held two consultative forums, and solicited comments from the general public on whether or not the city should have its name changed to Derry. A total of 12,136 comments were received, of which 3,108 were broadly in favour of the proposal, and 9,028 opposed to it. Despite the official name, the city is usually known as Derry, which is an anglicisation of the Irish Daire or Doire. The name derives from the settlements earliest references, Daire Calgaich, the name was changed from Derry in 1613 during the Plantation of Ulster to reflect the establishment of the city by the London guilds. In McCaffertys survey of language use in the city, only very few interviewees—all Protestants—use the official form, apart from the name of Derry City Council, the city is usually known as Londonderry in official use within the UK. In the Republic of Ireland, the city and county are almost always referred to as Derry, on maps, in the media and in conversation. Whereas official road signs in the Republic use the name Derry, usage varies among local organisations, with both names being used. Most companies within the city choose local area such as Pennyburn. Londonderry railway station is referred to as Waterside railway station within the city but is called Derry/Londonderry at other stations
41.
Israeli legislative election, 2003
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Elections for the 16th Knesset were held in Israel on 28 January 2003. The result was a victory for Ariel Sharons Likud. The previous separate election for Prime Minister was scrapped, and the post was returned to the leader of the party forming the working coalition government. This situation significantly affected the voters of the Labor Party. At the same time, Benyamin Ben-Eliezer competed against Matan Vilnai for the position of minister in the unity government. The Labor party primaries were set for September 4,2001, after a long series of discussions and accusations regarding ethnic discrimination of the Druze public, it was decided that the primaries would be held again in 51 polling stations on 26 December. Those elections had a low voter turnout and at the end of those elections. After making serious allegations of discrimination against him due to being Sephardi. The primaries were won by Amram Mitzna, who at that point in time was the mayor of Haifa. He won 53% of the votes while Ben Eliezer won 38% of the votes, a temporary lull in terrorist attacks against Israelis was among the reasons that the Shas party ministers opposed the emergency economic plan and voted against it in the Knesset. This situation caused Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to fire the Shas ministers on May 20, nevertheless, Shas rejoined the government on June 3, but this step was the beginning of the end of the unity government. On July 28 David Levy and his breakaway Gesher faction left the government due to their opposition to the budget, although their departure was not significant at the time, further ahead this caused difficulties for the continued existence of the unity government. As a result, Benjamin Netanyahu was appointed as the Foreign Minister on November 1, eventually Sharon announced the dissolvement of the Knesset and early elections. The coalition upheavals delayed the adoption of the Tal law. The main effect the Tal Law had in this elections was a significant strengthening to the Shinui party, the Comptrollers Report published in early September 2001 stated that these contributions were breaking the law. As a result, Sharon returned 1.5 million NIS to the donors on October 4, Cyril Kerns money was transferred to the Israel Discount Bank on 30 April 2002 and was returned to Cyril Kern on 17 December. On 6 January 2003, the details of the affair were revealed by Haaretz, the exposure of the affair caused a political storm and led to calls for the resignation of Ariel Sharon from the opposition. On the other hand, Likud members alleged that the leak of the details was politically motivated and intended to harm Sharons popularity
42.
Ministry of Economy (Israel)
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The Ministry of Economy is a ministry of the Israeli government that oversees commerce, industry and labor in Israel. The ministry was established in 1948 as the Ministry of Commerce, in 1977 the Tourism Ministry post was added to it, becoming the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Tourism. However, the merger was reversed in 1981 and the office was renamed Ministry of Industry, labor, which had been merged with the Welfare Ministry in the 1970s, was appended to the portfolio in 2003. Ministry website All Ministers in the Ministry of Trade and Industry Knesset website
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Communications Minister of Israel
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The Ministry of Communications is the Israeli government ministry responsible for Communications in Israel. It is a minor position in the cabinet. The ministry was established in 1952, and until 1970 was known as the Ministry of Postal Services, the Communications Minister of Israel is the political head of the ministry. There is occasionally a Deputy Minister, all Ministers in the Ministry of Communications Knesset website Israel Ministry of Communications site in English
44.
Israeli disengagement from Gaza
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Four settlements in the northern West Bank were also evacuated. The disengagement was proposed in 2003 by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the Government in June 2004, approved by the Knesset in February 2005 and enacted in August 2005. The eviction of all residents, demolition of the residential buildings, the eviction and dismantlement of the four settlements in the northern West Bank was completed ten days later. A total of 8,000 Jewish settlers from all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip were relocated, the average settler received compensation of over U. S $200,000. Post-disengagement, Israel continued to control over the external perimeter of Gaza, including seaports, air space. In his book Sharon, The Life of a Leader, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharons son Gilad wrote that he gave his father the idea of the disengagement. Sharon suggested his disengagement plan for the first time on December 18,2003 at the Fourth Herzliya Conference. ″ It was at time that he began to use the word occupation. Effectively, this package called the Palestinian state, with all that it entails, has been removed indefinitely from our agenda. And all this with authority and permission, all with a presidential blessing and the ratification of both houses of Congress. You know, the peace process is a bundle of concepts and commitments. The peace process is the establishment of a Palestinian state with all the security risks that entails, the peace process is the evacuation of settlements, its the return of refugees, its the partition of Jerusalem. And all that has now been frozen, what I effectively agreed to with the Americans was that part of the settlements would not be dealt with at all, and the rest will not be dealt with until the Palestinians turn into Finns. That is the significance of what we did, Sharon formally announced the plan in his April 14,2004 letter to U. S. President George W. Bush, stating that there exists no Palestinian partner with whom to advance peacefully toward a settlement. On June 6,2004, Sharons government approved an amended disengagement plan, on February 16,2005, the Knesset finalized and approved the plan. Failing to gain support from senior ministers, Sharon agreed that the Likud party would hold a referendum on the plan in advance of a vote by the Israeli Cabinet. Commentators and the described the rejection of the plan as a blow to Sharon. Sharon himself announced that he accepted the Likud referendum results and would take time to consider his steps and he ordered Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz to create an amended plan which Likud voters could accept. On June 6,2004, Sharons government approved an amended disengagement plan, following the approval of the plan, it was decided to close the Erez industrial zone and move its factories to cities and towns in Israel such as Ashkelon, Dimona, Yeruham, and Sderot
_-_P.M._Olmert_with_Shahar_Peer_and_Udi_Gal_(cropped)_(cropped).jpg)
listen); born 30 September 1945) is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as the 12th Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009 and before that as a cabinet minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006. Between his first and second stints as a cabinet member, he served as mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003, after serving as PM he was sentenced to serve a prison term over convictions for accepting bribes and for obstruction of justice during his terms as mayor of Jerusalem and as trade minister.
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