1.
Mossad
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Mossad, short for HaMossad leModiʿin uleTafkidim Meyuḥadim, is the national intelligence agency of Israel. It is one of the entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with Aman. Its director reports directly to the Prime Minister, the largest department of Mossad is Collections, tasked with many aspects of conducting espionage overseas. Employees in the Collections Department operate under a variety of covers, including diplomatic, the Political Action and Liaison Department is responsible for working with allied foreign intelligence services, and nations that have no normal diplomatic relations with Israel. Additionally, Mossad has a Research Department, tasked with production. Metsada is the unit responsible for attacking the enemy, which is different from the assassination unit. Mossad was formed on December 13,1949, as the Central Institute for Coordination at the recommendation of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to Reuven Shiloah, in March 1951, it was reorganized and made a part of the prime ministers office, reporting directly to the prime minister. Mossads former motto, be-tachbūlōt taaseh lekhā milchāmāh is a quote from the Bible, the motto was later changed to another Proverbs passage, be-éyn tachbūlōt yippol ām, ū-teshūāh be-rov yōéts. This is translated by NRSV as, Where there is no guidance, a nation falls, the Kidon is described by Yaakov Katz as an elite group of expert assassins who operate under the Caesarea branch of the espionage organization. Not much is known about this unit, details of which are some of the most closely guarded secrets in the Israeli intelligence community. The unit only recruits from former soldiers from the elite IDF special force units, a team of five Mossad agents led by Shimon Ben Aharon slipped into Argentina and through surveillance, confirmed that he had been living there under the name of Ricardo Klement. He was abducted on May 11,1960 and taken to a hideout and he was subsequently smuggled to Israel, where he was tried and executed. Mossad abandoned a second operation, intended to capture Josef Mengele, during the 1990s, Mossad discovered a Hezbollah agent operating within the United States in order to procure materials needed to manufacture IEDs and other weapons. In a joint operation with U. S. intelligence, the agent was kept under surveillance in hopes that he would betray more Hezbollah operatives, but was eventually arrested. Mossad informed the FBI and CIA in August 2001 that based on its intelligence as many as 200 terrorists were slipping into the United States and planning a major assault on the United States. The Israeli intelligence agency cautioned the FBI that it had picked up indications of a target in the United States. However, It is not known whether U. S. authorities thought the warning to be credible, a month later, terrorists struck at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the largest terrorist attack in history. Mossad assassinated Latvian Nazi collaborator Herberts Cukurs in 1965, Mossad gathered information on Austrian politician Jörg Haider using a mole
2.
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
3.
National Security Advisor (Israel)
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However, national security decisions typically made by national security councils in other countries are handled by the Security Cabinet. The Council draws its authority from the government and operates according to guidelines from the Prime Minister, the NSC was established in 1999 by the office of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu following Government Resolution 4889, in the framework of drawing lessons from the Yom Kippur War. Its responsibilities were anchored in law starting in July 2008, partly as a response to the Second Lebanon War, Government Resolution 4889, dated March 71999, established the National Security Council. The NSC derives its authority from the Government and operates in accordance with directives issued by the Prime Minister, the National Security Council is the Prime Ministers and the Governments staff forum in the field of national security. The roles of the NSC, as stipulated in the Government Resolution, are as follows, To hold senior council forums for the Prime Minister, to coordinate integrative assessments of processes and trends in all aspects of national security. To direct integrative staff operations between offices and authorities dealing with security in order to increase coordination and integration between them. To prepare for deliberations by the government, ministerial committee for national security, to advise the government on policies relating to national security. To plan, based on a long-term perspective, national security components, with the assistance of existing planning bodies in State offices, to follow up and provide updates regarding activities and implementation of resolutions related to national security. To maintain coordination and cooperation with national security authorities in selected countries. Other functions include long-term planning of security approaches, and maintaining cooperative and coordinative relations with the national security elements of selected countries, the NSC also maintains high-level diplomatic communications with world powers. Super powers, the United States, Russia, European Union, China, key countries, Turkey and India Major international organizations such as the United Nations, NATO and OECD. The Council comprises three wings, Security Policy, Foreign Policy, and the Counter-Terrorism Bureau and it has two advisors, legal and economic. The remaining staff of the NSC and the Counter-Terrorism Bureau headquarters are based at the NSC facility in Ramat Hasharon, the Councils work is considered secret, and is done outside the publics eye. Its authority is vague and the Prime Minister is not obligated to accept its recommendations, unlike with those of the Attorney General, the first National Security Advisor and Head of NSC was General David Ivri. The current Head is Yossi Cohen
4.
Yaakov Amidror
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Yaakov Amidror is a former major general and National Security Advisor of Israel, and was also the head of the Research Department of Israeli military intelligence. Amidror was born in Yad Eliyahu, Israel, on the day after the Israeli Declaration of Independence and his father, Leo, had enlisted in the British Army during World War II, and spent five years in German captivity after being taken prisoner in Greece. His mother, Tzila, was an Irgun member, active in the finance department, who had been arrested by the British in 1941. Amidror was considered a candidate to lead the Military Intelligence Directorate, instead, he became president of Israels National Defense College before retiring from his military career in 2002. Amidror was selected to draw up the list of candidates for the Religious Zionist The Jewish Home party in the lead-up to the elections for the 18th Knesset, Amidror became enmeshed in internecine fighting within the party, and with competing right-wing factions. He clashed particularly with MK Uri Ariel, calling him a liar and he was appointed to lead Israels National Security Council in May 2011 and held the position until November 2013. Amidror is considered a hawk on security matters and he wrote an op-ed in the New York Times opposing the Geneva interim agreement on Iranian nuclear program. However, he has also warned privately that Israels settlement policy was isolating it from the international community, in March 2014, Amidror joined the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies as the Anne and Greg Rosshandler Senior Fellow. He is also a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, columns written by Yaakov Amidror at Ynet Yaakov Amidror. Winning Counterinsurgency War, The Israeli Experience, Jerusalem, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. International Law and Military Operations in Practice, hamas, the Gaza War and Accountability, Under International Law, Updated Proceedings of an International Conference on June 18,2009. Jerusalem, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
5.
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
6.
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
7.
Katamon
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Katamon or Qatamon is a neighbourhood in south-central Jerusalem, Israel. The official Hebrew name, Gonen, is used in municipal publications. Katamon is derived from the Greek kata tōi monastēriōi. e, in 1524, after the Ottoman Turks conquered the region from the Mamluks, it was reported that a church of St Simeon, previously held by the Georgians, was now empty in the wake of Muslim attacks. The Greek Orthodox acquired the site in 1859 and in 1881 they built there a new church and residence for their Patriarch, in 1890 the Greek–Orthodox patriarch Nicodemus I of Jerusalem built his summer house near the monastery. The neighborhood began to develop in the late Ottoman Era, in the early 1900s, according to Israeli geographer Gideon Biger, Katamon was probably planned before World War I. The lands in Katamon, like in Talbiya and Baka, were owned by the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, in the late 19th century the church had a financial crisis which worsened during World War I. The Church sold, shortly before the war, some of its estate outside of the Old City, which were deemed as less holy including Katamon, fresh air and an affordable price. Provided, however, you continue to pay this small amount. If you want to more than one plot, you are allowed to do so. And when the raffle take place, you may win adjacent plots, German aerial photographs taken during the war show building lots demarcated by stones at Katamon in a grid plan way, and a system of dirt roads. Despite the low prices, the neighborhood did not attract Jewish buyers because the area was completely Christian, next to the Greek Colony, German Colony, until the war five houses were built in Katamon. During the 1920s, some 90 new residential plots were planned in Katamon and their construction began shortly after the war, in a short time, some 40 luxurious buildings were built in the neighborhood, by Christian–Arab families. The buildings were built in plan for different blocs and not for the entire neighborhood, about half of Katamons buildings were built between 1927 and 1937, and the rest were built until 1948. Most of Katamons residents were mostly educators, teachers, businessmen, contractors, traders and other professionals from the upper, along with private houses, apartment buildings were built for the purpose of rent. The neighborhood developed into a prosperous, bourgeois neighborhood with a European–Cosmopolitan character whilst retaining the local, oriental culture, most of the builders were Arab–Christians from the Greek–Orthodox community, headed by Issa Michael al-Toubbeh, but among them were some Latin rite Catholics and Armenian Protestants. A phenomenon which contributed to the cosmopolitan character was intermarriage between different Christian communities. The apartments were rented to Arab people and British officials, army officers and their families, most of the children were sent to high quality and expensive schools, usually private ones. The schools teaching languages were usually English, Italian, German or French, the members of the Greek–Orthodox community lived a secular lifestyle, visiting churches only on holidays and family events
8.
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
9.
Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot
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Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot is the fourth-largest bank in Israel. The bank is the largest among Israels mortgage lenders, Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot was formed by a merger of Bank Mizrahi HaMeuhad and Bank Tefahot in 2004. Bank Mizrahi was established in 1923 by the Mizrachi movement and later merged with Bank Hapoel HaMizrachi to form Bank Mizrahi HaMeuhad
10.
Ronen Bergman
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Ronen Bergman is an Israeli investigative journalist and author. He is a political and military analyst for Yedioth Ahronoth. He is also interviewed frequently by the media in the United States and Europe and he has published four books in Hebrew, which were all well received, and which topped Israeli non-fiction best-seller lists. His books cover corruption in the Palestinian Authority, the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Iranian nuclear project, a translation of his third book, The Secret War with Iran, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2008. The book appeared in the Boston Globe’s recommended reading list for summer 2009 and he is a regular co-anchor of a daytime news and current affairs magazine on Israeli TV. He often appears on major U. S. broadcasting networks and the BBC, Bergman lectures frequently to academic and military audiences, as well as to the general public. Bergman was born in 1972, and grew up in Kiryat Bialik and his mother was a teacher and his father was an accountant. He is the youngest of three children, as a boy, he was a reporter for a youth television show. He studied law at the University of Haifa, and graduated cum laude from its law school and he is a member of the Israeli Bar. He is a member of the Körber Foundation Munich Young Leaders 2010 and he is a former senior staff feature writer for Haaretz. Bergman is the recipient of the 1995 Bnei Brith Worlds Center Award for Journalism and the 1996 Ha’aretz award for Best Story
11.
French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
12.
Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
13.
Marathon
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The marathon is a long-distance running race with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres, usually run as a road race. The event was instituted in commemoration of the run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens. The marathon was one of the original modern Olympic events in 1896, more than 800 marathons are held throughout the world each year, with the vast majority of competitors being recreational athletes as larger marathons can have tens of thousands of participants. The name Marathon comes from the legend of Philippides or Pheidippides and it is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming νενικήκαμεν, before collapsing and dying. Lucian of Samosata also gives the story, but names the runner Philippides, there is debate about the historical accuracy of this legend. In some Herodotus manuscripts, the name of the runner between Athens and Sparta is given as Philippides, in 1879, Robert Browning wrote the poem Pheidippides. Brownings poem, his story, became part of late 19th century popular culture and was accepted as a historic legend. This route, as it existed when the Olympics were revived in 1896, was approximately 40 kilometres long, and this route is considerably shorter, some 35 kilometres, but includes a very steep initial climb of more than 5 kilometres. When the modern Olympics began in 1896, the initiators and organizers were looking for a great popularizing event, the idea of a marathon race came from Michel Bréal, who wanted the event to feature in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens. This idea was supported by Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics. The Greeks staged a race for the Olympic marathon on 10 March 1896 that was won by Charilaos Vasilakos in 3 hours and 18 minutes. The winner of the first Olympic marathon, on 10 April 1896, was Spyridon Louis, the marathon of the 2004 Summer Olympics was run on the traditional route from Marathon to Athens, ending at Panathinaiko Stadium, the venue for the 1896 Summer Olympics. The womens marathon was introduced at the 1984 Summer Olympics and was won by Joan Benoit of the United States with a time of 2 hours 24 minutes and 52 seconds. It has become a tradition for the mens Olympic marathon to be the last event of the athletics calendar, often, the mens marathon medals are awarded during the closing ceremony. The Olympic mens record is 2,06,32, set at the 2008 Summer Olympics by Samuel Kamau Wanjiru of Kenya, the Olympic womens record is 2,23,07, set at the 2012 Summer Olympics by Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia. The mens London 2012 Summer Olympic marathon winner was Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda, per capita, the Kalenjin ethnic group of Rift Valley Province in Kenya has produced a highly disproportionate share of marathon and track-and-field winners. Johnny Hayes victory at the 1908 Summer Olympics contributed to the growth of long-distance running and marathoning in the United States. Later that year, races around the season including the Empire City Marathon held on New Years Day 1909 in Yonkers, New York
14.
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
15.
Unit 8200
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Unit 8200 is an Israeli Intelligence Corps unit responsible for collecting signal intelligence and code decryption. It also appears in publications as the Central Collection Unit of the Intelligence Corps and is sometimes referred to as Israeli SIGINT National Unit. Unit 8200 was established in 1952 using primitive surplus American military equipment, originally, it was called the 2nd Intelligence Service Unit and then the 515th Intelligence Service Unit. In 1954, the unit moved from Jaffa to its current base at the Glilot junction, Unit 8200 is the largest unit in the Israel Defense Forces, comprising several thousand soldiers. It is comparable in its function to the United States National Security Agency and is a Ministry of Defense body just as the NSA is part of the United States Department of Defense, subordinate to Unit 8200 is Unit Hatzav, responsible for collecting OSINT intelligence. The unit monitors and collects military intelligence–related information from television, radio, newspapers, the translation of various items accounts for part of what is termed basic intelligence, which is collected by the units. According to media reports, the unit provides over half of the intelligence information for the Israeli Intelligence Community. The IDFs most important signal intelligence–gathering installation is the Urim SIGINT Base, Urim is located in the Negev desert approximately 30 km from Beersheba. In 2010, the French newspaper Le Monde diplomatique wrote that Unit 8200 operates a massive spying network. Ronen Bergman revealed in a 2009 book that a Hezbollah bomb, disguised as a phone, was picked up by agents. Inside the laboratory the cell phone exploded, many media reports alleged that Unit 8200 was responsible for the creation of the Stuxnet computer worm that in 2010 infected industrial computers, including Iranian nuclear facilities. In 2014,43 veterans of Unit 8200 signed a protest letter decrying what they called the electronic surveillance units abusive gathering of Palestinians private information. According to the veterans, Unit 8200 would gather information on subjects sexual preferences or health problems so that it might be used to extort people into becoming informants. In response,200 other reservists signed a counter-protest letter expressing shock, disgust and total renouncement by our fellow soldiers, the soldiers and officers there are doing Gods work, night and day. Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein said that the signatories had done a service to haters of Israel. This is a political statement against the IDF and published just as harsh criticisms with no basis or understanding of our situation are being thrown at us. Labor MK Shelly Yachimovich called them cowards, havatzalot Program – elite Military Intelligence Directorate training program Enter Unit 8200, Israel arms for cyberwar, UPI,11 May 2011 Unit 8200, Israels cyber spy agency,10 July 2015
16.
John Kerry
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John Forbes Kerry is an American politician who served as the 68th United States Secretary of State from 2013 to 2017. A Democrat, he previously served Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1985 to 2013 and he was the Democratic nominee in the 2004 presidential election, losing narrowly to Republican incumbent George W. Bush. Kerry was born in Aurora, Colorado and attended boarding school in Massachusetts and he graduated from Yale University in 1966 with a major in political science. Kerry enlisted in the Naval Reserve in 1966, and between 1968 and 1969, he served an abbreviated four-month tour of duty in South Vietnam as officer-in-charge of a Swift Boat. For that service, he was awarded combat medals that include the Silver Star Medal, Bronze Star Medal and he appeared in the Fulbright Hearings before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs where he deemed United States war policy in Vietnam to be the cause of war crimes. After receiving a J. D. from Boston College Law School and he served as Lieutenant Governor under Michael Dukakis from 1983 to 1985 and was elected to the U. S. Senate in 1984 and was sworn in the following January. On the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he led a series of hearings from 1987 to 1989 which were a precursor to the Iran–Contra affair, Kerry was re-elected to additional terms in 1990,1996,2002, and 2008. In his 2004 presidential campaign, Kerry criticized George W. Bush for the Iraq War and he and his running mate, North Carolina Senator John Edwards, lost the election, finishing 35 electoral votes behind Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Kerry returned to the Senate, becoming Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship in 2007 and then of the Foreign Relations Committee in 2009. In January 2013, Kerry was nominated by President Barack Obama to succeed outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and then confirmed by the U. S. Senate, John Forbes Kerry was born on December 11,1943, in Aurora, Colorado, at Fitzsimons Army Hospital. He is the second of four born to Richard John Kerry, a Foreign Service officer and lawyer, and Rosemary Isabel Forbes. His father was raised Catholic and his mother was Episcopalian and he was raised with an elder sister named Margaret, a younger sister named Diana and a younger brother named Cameron. The children were raised in their fathers faith, John Kerry served as an altar boy, Kerry grew up a military brat until his father was discharged from the Army Air Corps, causing the family to settle in Washington, D. C. in 1949. While in Washington, Richard took a spot in the Department of the Navys Office of General Counsel and his extended maternal family enjoyed great wealth as members of the Forbes and Dudley–Winthrop families. Kerrys parents themselves were upper-middle class, and a great aunt paid for him to attend elite boarding schools. In 1957, his father was stationed at the U. S. Embassy in Oslo, Norway, and Kerry was sent back to the United States to attend boarding school. He first attended the Fessenden School in Newton, Massachusetts, and later St. Pauls, Concord, New Hampshire, Kerry founded the John Winant Society at St. Pauls to debate the issues of the day, the Society still exists there. In 1962, Kerry entered Yale University, majoring in political science and he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1966
17.
Mayflower Hotel
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The Mayflower Hotel, is a historic hotel in downtown Washington, D. C. located on Connecticut Avenue NW. It is two blocks north of Farragut Square, the hotel is managed by the Autograph Collection Hotels division of Marriott International. The Mayflower is known as the Grande Dame of Washington, the Hotel of Presidents, the site on which the Mayflower Hotel sits was, after the organization of the District of Columbia in 1792, initially owned by the federal government. The federal government finally sold the property to Nathaniel Carusi for $5,089, Carusi sold the site to the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary in 1867 for $50,000. The order built the Convent of the Visitation on the site, the Mayflower Hotel was built by Allen E. Walker, the land developer behind Brookland and other residential neighborhoods of Washington. Initially called the Hotel Walker, it was to have 11 stories,1,100 rooms, on May 27,1922, the Walker Hotel Company was organized, with Allen Walker as president. Indiana limestone would be used for the facade on the first three floors, with rusticated brick and terra cotta trim on all upper floors, ground for the new hotel was broken in July 1922. Structural engineer F. E. Gillen designed the foundation, as excavation began, workers quickly uncovered the stumps of massive cypress trees, some of the trunks nearly 8 feet in diameter. Geologists estimated the stumps at 100,000 years old, as workers dug deeper, they discovered that an underground branch of Rock Creek ran below the site. This forced the foundation to be dug to bedrock, some 40 feet below ground, the facade along Connecticut Avenue was 153 feet in length, along DeSales Street 455 feet in length, and along 17th Street 140 feet in length. The main promenade running through the center of the hotel was 24 feet wide and 400 feet long, wainscoting and floors in the public rooms of the hotel were of Botticino marble and featured walnut moldings. A glass dome covered the Palm Court, which as decorated on the interior with ornamental ironwork in the Italianate style, excavation of the foundation was completed in late November 1922, several weeks ahead of schedule. Steel for the frame began arriving the week of January 21,1923, more than 500 men worked on erecting the frame, while 2,000 men erected the facade and interior walls, and worked laying electrical, water, sewer, and gas lines. Longacre Engineering Company of New York was the general contractor, construction costs continued to rise, however. Although scheduled to open January 1,1924, the hotel remained unfinished, the Allen E. Walker Investment Company, the largest shareholder in the Hotel Walker Company began running short of funds, slowing construction. Nearing bankruptcy, the Walker Investment sold its interest in the Hotel Walker to C. C, mitchell & Company, builder of large apartment complexes and hotels in Boston and Detroit. The reported price of the sale was $5.7 million for the $8.5 million hotel, but in fact, costs had risen much higher, and the hotels final cost was closer to $11 million. The new owners changed the name to the Mayflower Hotel in honor of the 300th anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower, the Mayflower Hotel opened on February 18,1925
18.
Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
19.
The Times of Israel
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The Times of Israel is an Israeli-based news website launched in 2012. It was co-founded by journalist David Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, the online English website covers developments in Israel, the Middle East and around the Jewish world, according to the sites nameplate. It also covers news related to the American Jewish community, the website also publishes Arabic, French, Chinese and Persian editions. In addition to publishing news reports and analysis, the hosts a multi-author blog platform. In February 2014, two years after its launch, The Times of Israel claimed a readership of two million, in 2017, readership increased to 3.5 million. The Times of Israel was launched in February 2012, both the Arabic and French editions combine translations of English content with original material in their respective languages, and also host a blog platform. In announcing the Arabic edition, Horovitz suggested, The Times of Israel may have created the first Arabic blog platform that draw articles from across the spectrum of opinion. Were inviting those of our Arabic readers with something of value that they want to say to blog on our pages, respecting the parameters of legitimate debate, in February 2014, two years after its launch, The Times of Israel claimed a readership of two million. In 2017, readership increased to 3.5 million, in March 2016, The New York Jewish Week announced a partnership with The Times of Israel. Other partnerships with the paper include Britains Jewish News, the New Jersey Jewish Standard. According to co-founder David Horovitz, The Times of Israel is intended to be apolitical, yehuda Avner, a former Israeli ambassador and adviser to several Israeli prime ministers, was a member of the editorial board until his death in March 2015. In addition to the newspaper, The Times of Israel hosts an open blog platform for any writer who applies and is approved to become a blogger on the site. He put the nub of his argument, as it related to the headline, what other way is there to deal with an enemy of this nature other than obliterate them completely. The writer soon issued a public apology, the article was posted by an unknown individual using the bogus name Dinah Silverstein and a picture of columnist Nancy Goldstein. The article was deleted and the blogger banned, but the incident led to The Times of Israel being criticized for not verifying the identities of its bloggers. On 9 April 2015, an article titled Understanding the Idea of Israeli Land Under Talmudic Law was posted on The Times of Israels blog platform, the article described in great detail how Israel should exterminate the Palestinians, who were described as cockroaches and vermin. The article was submitted by a person who had impersonated Australian lawyer Josh Bornstein, the Times of Israel later scrubbed the article and issued an apology. Bornstein would later write an article in The Guardian describing the affair, the Times of Israel competes for readership with The Jerusalem Post, Arutz Sheva, Haaretz, Israel Hayom and The Forward
20.
The Jerusalem Post
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The Jerusalem Post is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, publishing only English and French editions. It was founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post, in 2004, the paper was bought by Mirkaei Tikshoret, a diversified Israeli media firm controlled by investor Eli Azur. In April 2014, Eli Azur acquired the newspaper Maariv, formerly regarded as left-wing, the paper underwent a noticeable shift to the right in the late 1980s. From 2004, under then editor-in-chief David Horovitz, the took a more centrist position. In April 2016, Linde stepped down as editor-in-chief and was replaced by Yaakov Katz, an antecedent paper, The Palestine Bulletin was founded in January 1925 by Jacob Landau of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. It was owned by the Palestine Telegraphic Agency, which was in part of the JTA even though it was legally separate. On 1 November 1931, editorship of the Bulletin was taken over by American journalist Gershon Agronsky, in March 1932, a dispute arose between Landau and Agronsky, which Agronsky resolved to settle by establishing an independent newspaper. However, Landau and Agronsky instead came to an agreement to transform the Bulletin into a new jointly owned newspaper, accordingly, the Palestine Bulletin published its last issue on 30 November 1932 and the The Palestine Post Incorporating The Palestine Bulletin appeared the following day,1 December 1932. On 25 April 1933, the masthead was reduced to just The Palestine Post, according to one commentator, Zionist institutions considered the newspaper one of the most effective means of exerting influence on the British authorities. The building also contained other newspaper offices, the British press censor, the Jewish settlement police, three persons died in the bombing, a newspaper typesetter and two people who lived in a nearby block of flats. Dozens of others were injured and the press was destroyed. The morning paper came out in a format of two pages, printed up at a small print shop nearby. In 1950, two years after the State of Israel was declared, the paper was renamed The Jerusalem Post, the broadsheet newspaper is published from Sunday to Friday, with no edition appearing on Saturday and Jewish religious holidays. Regular opinion columnists write on subjects such as religion, foreign affairs, as of 2016 the managing editor is David Brinn. Some of the material is translated and included in the free Hebrew daily Israel Post, in January,2008, the paper announced a new partnership with The Wall Street Journal, including joint marketing and exclusive publication in Israel of The Wall Street Journal Europe. The Jerusalem Post also publishes a magazine titled IVRIT edited by Dr. Sarit Yalov. Its target audience is people learning Hebrew language and it is described as an easy-Hebrew publication and it uses the vowel notation system to make comprehension of the Hebrew alphabet abjad simpler. The Jerusalem Report edited by Ilan Evyatar, is a fortnightly print, until 1989, the paper supported the forerunners of the Labor Party
21.
The Economist
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The Economist is an English-language weekly magazine-format newspaper owned by the Economist Group and edited at offices in London. Continuous publication began under its founder, James Wilson, in September 1843, in 2015 its average weekly circulation was a little over 1.5 million, about half of which were sold in the United States. The publication belongs to the Economist Group and it is 50% owned by the English branch of the Rothschild family and by the Agnelli family through its holding company Exor. The remaining 50% is held by investors including the editors. The Rothschilds and the Agnellis are represented on the board of directors, a board of trustees formally appoints the editor, who cannot be removed without its permission. Although The Economist has an emphasis and scope, about two-thirds of the 75 staff journalists are based in the London borough of Westminster. For the year to March 2016 the Economist Group declared operating profit of £61m, previous major shareholders include Pearson PLC. The Economist takes a stance of classical and economic liberalism which is supportive of free trade, globalisation, free immigration. The publication has described itself as a product of the Caledonian liberalism of Adam Smith and it targets highly educated readers and claims an audience containing many influential executives and policy-makers. The publications CEO described this recent global change, which was first noticed in the 1990s and accelerated in the beginning of the 21st century, on the contents page of each issue, The Economists mission statement is written in italics. The Economist was founded by the British businessman and banker James Wilson in 1843, to advance the repeal of the Corn Laws, articles relating to some practical, commercial, agricultural, or foreign topic of passing interest, such as foreign treaties. An article on the principles of political economy, applied to practical experience, covering the laws related to prices, wages, rent, exchange, revenue. Parliamentary reports, with focus on commerce, agriculture and free trade. Reports and accounts of popular movements advocating free trade, general news from the Court of St. Jamess, the Metropolis, the Provinces, Scotland, and Ireland. Law reports, confined chiefly to areas important to commerce, manufacturing, books, confined chiefly, but not so exclusively, to commerce, manufacturing, and agriculture, and including all treatises on political economy, finance, or taxation. A commercial gazette, with prices and statistics of the week, correspondence and inquiries from the news magazines readers. It has long respected as one of the most competent. Its logo was designed in 1959 by Reynolds Stone, in January 2012 The Economist launched a new weekly section devoted exclusively to China, the first new country section since the introduction of a section about the United States in 1942
22.
Israel
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Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. The country contains geographically diverse features within its small area. Israels economy and technology center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, in 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, next year, the Jewish Agency declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights and it extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank. Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories is the worlds longest military occupation in modern times, efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been signed, the population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was estimated in 2017 to be 8,671,100 people. It is the worlds only Jewish-majority state, with 74. 8% being designated as Jewish, the countrys second largest group of citizens are Arabs, at 20. 8%. The great majority of Israeli Arabs are Sunni Muslims, including significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins, other minorities include Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Black Hebrew Israelites, Circassians, Maronites and Samaritans. Israel also hosts a significant population of foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia, including illegal migrants from Sudan, Eritrea. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish, Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage. The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature, Israel is a developed country and an OECD member, with the 35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2016. The country benefits from a skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia, in the early weeks of independence, the government chose the term Israeli to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett. The names Land of Israel and Children of Israel have historically used to refer to the biblical Kingdom of Israel. The name Israel in these phrases refers to the patriarch Jacob who, jacobs twelve sons became the ancestors of the Israelites, also known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel or Children of Israel. The earliest known artifact to mention the word Israel as a collective is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt. The area is known as the Holy Land, being holy for all Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam
23.
Reuven Shiloah
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Reuven Shiloah was the first Director of the Mossad from 1949 to 1953. Reuven Zaslanski was born in Ottoman-ruled Jerusalem, Shiloah married Betty Borden of New York in 1936. Shiloahs involvement in political and defense matters commenced before the establishment of the State of Israel and he was a close friend of David Ben-Gurion. Before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War Shiloah obtained the plans of the Arab League. At the urging of Shiloah, Prime Minister Ben-Gurion created the Central Institute for Coordination in December 1949, however, it was not until April 1,1951 that the Mossad became operational under Shiloah because bureaucratic fighting had delayed Ben-Gurions initial order. After his tenure at the Mossad Shiloah worked in the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC, reuven Shiloah – the Man Behind the Mossad, Secret Diplomacy in the Creation of Israel
24.
Isser Harel
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Isser Harel was spymaster of the intelligence and the security services of Israel and the Director of the Mossad. In his capacity as Mossad director he oversaw the capture and covert transportation to Israel of Holocaust organizer Adolf Eichmann, Isser Harel was born in Vitebsk, Russia to a large, wealthy family. The exact date of his birth was not passed on to him because the book of Gemara in which the date was recorded was lost in the migrations of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the family had a vinegar factory in Vitebsk. It was a gift of his grandfather, who had a concession to make vinegar in large parts of Tsarist Russia. Young Isser was five years old when the revolution broke out, on one occasion he saw Leon Trotsky give a speech in the town. The Harel family faced hardship when the Soviet regime confiscated their property, in 1922 they emigrated from the Soviet Union to Daugavpils in independent Latvia. On the way, Soviet soldiers stole their suitcases, which contained the rest of their possessions, in Daugavpils, Isser began his formal studies, completed primary school, and began secondary school. As he grew, a Jewish national consciousness grew within him, when he was 16, Harel began preparations to emigrate to British Mandate for Palestine. During this preparatory year he worked in agriculture with the aspiration to join a kibbutz, with the outbreak of the 1929 Hebron massacre, his friends decided to move up their emigration date in order to reinforce the Jewish settlement in Palestine. Documents were prepared for the 17-year-old Harel stating that he was 18, at the beginning of 1930 he emigrated to Israel. He crossed Europe from north to south to board a ship in Genoa, after the creation of Israel in 1948, Harel founded and became the first director of Israels internal security agency, Shin Bet. Later, he took over the Mossad a year after it was created in 1951, as chief of two of the nations three intelligence agencies, Harel wielded considerable power in Israels first 15 years. In 1957, members of the West German government provided Israel with information that indicated Adolph Eichmann was living in hiding in Argentina under the name Ricardo Klement, Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion believed that seeking Eichmanns extradition from Argentina by legal and diplomatic methods would be unsuccessful. In 1959, he placed Harel in charge of the operation to locate, seize, in April 1960, Harels team of agents arrived in Buenos Aires, and tracked Eichmann to a residence in the San Fernando neighborhood of the city. On May 11, they kidnapped Eichmann as he walked from a bus stop to his home, days later, Eichmann was drugged and clandestinely placed on an Israeli diplomatic aircraft, disguised as a crew member. He was flown to Tel Aviv, according to Harel himself, when he arrived back in Israel with the captured Eichmann, Harel went to Ben-Gurions office and told the prime minister, Ive brought you a present. Eichmann stood trial for, among other charges, crimes against humanity, war crimes, crimes against the Jewish people and he was found guilty in December 1961 and sentenced to death, the penalty was carried out on May 31,1962. Eichmanns body was cremated and the ashes were scattered by the Israeli Navy in international waters and his book about the operation, The House on Garibaldi Street, became a best-seller and a TV Movie
25.
Meir Amit
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Meir Amit was an Israeli politician & cabinet minister. He served as the Chief Director & the head of operations for Mossad from 1963 to 1968, before entering into politics. He was also regarded as the most successful intelligence officer. Amit was born in Tiberias as Meir Slutsky during the Mandate era, cousin of the Russian poet and he later adopted the name Amit which means friend in Hebrew and was called Meir Amit Slutsky. At a young age, he joined kibbutz Alonim in the lower Galilee and he fought for the Haganah during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. He remained in the military and rose through the ranks to become a major general, during his military career he came to be regarded as a protégé of Moshe Dayan. In the late 1950s Amit studied at Columbia Business School in New York City, after returning to Israel, Amit entered the Israeli intelligence community, first as a major general at the head of IDF Intelligence in 1961, and then as Mossad Director in 1963. He was the figure in Israels history to hold the position of Mossad chief. As Director, he orchestrated some of the Mossads greatest successes and it was also during his time that the Mossad engineered the defection of an Assyrian Iraqi pilot who flew the then new Mig-21 from Iraq to Israel. Amit is particularly known for his success in expanding Israels human intelligence, one of the most notable examples was in the mid 1980s when he personally recruited and help train what turned out to be one of Mossads most successful agents. The recruit was an American from Illinois attending Columbia University in New York and his code name was Ranan, and under Amits mentoring the nineteen-year-old American became the youngest team leader of its most prolific Kidon unit, Israels elite espionage and assassination outfit. Following his retirement from the Mossad, he continued to be a voice in the intelligence community. Following the lead of other generals, Amit joined the Democratic Movement for Change party. Amit subsequently joined Shinui, before defecting to the Alignment in 1980 and he lost his seat in the 1981 elections. He was later the chairman of Israels Center for Special Studies, and in 2003, was awarded the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement and special contribution to society and the State. He was a leader, whom people trusted, and at the same time he was a visionary for the state. We are proud to have a personality of his stature born in our country Oren, six Days of War, June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East. New York, Oxford University Press,2002, ISBN 0-19-515174-7, 145-6 p. Thomas Gordon
26.
Yitzhak Hofi
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Yitzhak Hofi was a member of the Palmach, IDF General, chief of the Israeli Northern Command, and director of the Mossad. Hofi was born in Tel Aviv and he joined the Haganah in 1944 and commanded a company in the Arab-Israeli War in 1948. He continued to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces in a variety of command, staff and he headed the Northern Command of the IDF during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. He was Acting Chief of Staff for a period in 1974, before retiring from the military. Before that he was a general in the Israeli Defense Forces in charge of the Northern Command, during his tenure as Director of the Mossad, Israel carried out Operation Opera, a surprise Israeli attack on Iraqs nuclear reactor in Osirak. In addition, the Mossad under his command assassinated a number of Palestinian terrorists, including Ali Hassan Salameh, after retiring from the Mossad in 1982, Hofi served as director of the Israel Electric Corporation until 1990. He died on 15 September 2014, Israels Secret Wars, A History of Israels Intelligence Services. Foreign Intelligence and Security Services,1979, included in the volume Documents from the US Espionage Den, Tehran,1982
27.
Danny Yatom
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Danny Yatom is a former Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Labor. In 1996–1998, Yatom was head of the Mossad security service, danny Yatom was born and raised in Netanya, his brother is Ehud Yatom. He studied mathematics, physics, and computer science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in 1994 Yatom served as the IDF commander for the West Bank. As commander during the events of the cave of the Patriarchs massacre, between 1996 and 1998 he served as head of the Mossad. Between 1999 and 2001 he served as Prime Minister Ehud Baraks Chief Of Staff and he then became a Knesset member and served in the 16th and 17th Knesset, from 2003 until June 2008, when he resigned from the Knesset and from Israeli politics. In 2003 he was elected to the Knesset on Labours list, and served as head of the committee on workers, as well as chairing the lobbies for enlisted soldiers. He retained his seat in the 2006 elections and served as head of the West Bank barrier lobby and he was replaced by Leon Litinski. Danny Yatom on the Knesset website Former chief of Mossad not wary of Gaydamak
28.
Efraim Halevy
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Efraim Halevy is a lawyer and an Israeli intelligence expert. He was the director of Mossad and the 4th head of the Israeli National Security Council. Above all, he is remembered for his part in bringing about the Israel–Jordan peace treaty, Halevy was born in London to an established Orthodox Jewish family. He emigrated to Israel in 1948 and he attended Maaleh, a religious high school in Jerusalem, and later, graduated in law from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Between 1957–1961 he was the editor of the journal Monthly Survey, in 1961, he began his work in the Mossad. In 1967, he was selected to the Chief Branches Forum, Halevy remained in the Mossad for the next 28 years, heading three different branches throughout. Between 1990-1995, under the directorship of Shabtai Shavit, he served as deputy director, in 1996, he became the Israeli ambassador to the European Union in Brussels. In March 1998, he became the director of Mossad following the resignation of Danny Yatom, Halevy served as the envoy and confidant of five Prime Ministers, Yitzhak Shamir, Yitzhak Rabin, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon. He took a part in a special mission by Rabin in forging the Israel–Jordan Treaty of Peace. On October 2002, he was appointed the head of the National Security Council. He is the author of the book The role of the community in the age of strategic alternatives for Israel. He believes that Israel should take up Hamass offer of a truce and try negotiating, because the Islamic movement is respected by Palestinians and generally keeps its word. He pointed to the cease-fire in attacks on Israel that Hamas declared two years ago and has largely honored, theyre not very pleasant people, but they are very, very credible, Halevy said. He believes in an approach, but at the same time in recognizing the moderate leaders of Hamas as a partner in the Palestinian government. In 2006 he published the book Man in the Shadows, covering Middle Eastern history since the late 1980s and he added The growing haredi radicalization poses a bigger risk than Ahmadinejad. Halevy has written extensively on Israels relationship with the United States, generally taking a moderate and he wrote, for example, Never, but NEVER surprise the president of the United States is a dictum I learned very quickly when entering the Mossad in 1961. He concluded, Thats food for thought in October 2012, in 2013, Halevy became chairman of the Shorashim program, a program that helps immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union verify their Jewish ancestry. In December 2014 Halevy was interviewed by The Times of Israel and he claimed that Israel would never have peace unless Palestinians were treated with dignity as equals
29.
Meir Dagan
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Aluf Meir Dagan was a former Israel Defense Forces Major General and former Director of the Mossad. His maternal grandfather, Ber Erlich Sloshny, was killed by the Nazis, in 2009, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth published two photos of Nazi soldiers standing next to a kneeling Sloshny shortly before they shot him. During his term as Director-General of the Mossad, Dagan kept one of the hanging in his office. Meir and his parents survived the Holocaust, and in 1950, during the ships approach to Israel, it encountered a storm, during which Meir stood on the stern, praying to reach the shore safely. The family initially lived in an immigrant camp in Lod before settling in Bat Yam, Dagan was a vegetarian and an amateur painter, who studied painting and sculpture at Tel Aviv University. He was married with three children, Dagan was conscripted into the Israel Defense Forces in 1963. He was considered for the elite Sayeret Matkal unit, but ended up joining the Paratroopers Brigade. He completed his service in 1966, but was called up as a reservist in 1967. In the early 1970s, he commanded an ad hoc undercover commando unit, known as Sayeret Rimon, in 1971, he received a Medal of Courage for tackling a wanted terrorist who was holding a live grenade. Dagan later fought in the 1973 Yom Kippur War as an officer on the Sinai front, during the 1982 Lebanon War, he commanded the Barak Armored Brigade, and was one of the first brigade commanders to enter Beirut. In the 1990s, he held a series of positions in the IDF command, eventually reaching the rank of Major General before retiring from the army in 1995. Dagan later served as an adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sharon appointed him Director-General of Mossad in August 2002, replacing outgoing Director Efraim Halevy, as Mossad director, Dagan was responsible for intelligence, counter-intelligence, and counter-terrorism activities outside of Israel and the Palestinian Territories. He was allegedly aggressive in ordering killings of terrorists on foreign soil, Meir Dagan fully subscribes to this thinking, unlike some of his predecessors. By November 2004, at least four terrorists had already been killed in suspected Mossad operations. Ehud Yatom, a member of the Knesset Subcommittee on Secret Services, stated that as someone who is privy to the facts but not at liberty to divulge them, the Mossad under Meir Dagan has undergone a revolution in terms of organization, intelligence and operations. Under Dagans watch, Mossad tripled its recruitment efforts, launching a website people can apply to join. Reportedly, much of its budget of $350 million was diverted from traditional intelligence gathering and analysis to field operations
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