65 Facts for Israel at 65

http://israelcampusbeat.org/archives/2548/65- facts- for- israel- at- 65/ April 18, 2013

Maya Kraidman

As Israel celebrates its 65th Independence Day, Israel Campus Beat presents 65 indispensable tidbits that every campus activist should know. Did we miss something? Of course we did! There are thousands of nuggets that could have been in our list, and we look forward to hearing yours. Send them to comments@IsraelCampusBeat.org. Israel by t he Numbers 1 t o 10, plus 34: 1: Israel is the one and only Jewish state in the world. 2: Israel has two official languages- Hebrew and Arabic. 3: Golda Meir was the 3rd woman in history to serve as a countrys prime minister. 4: Israeli professor Yosi Shacham-Diamond created advanced artificial hands for amputees four years ago. 5: Israel has won five bronze Olympic medals, one silver and one gold. 6: Israel is 1/6 of one percent of the Middle Easts total size. 7:Israel has fought seven wars since its establishment. 8: Israels population has reached 8 million as of Independence Day 2013! 9: Nine Israelis have won a Nobel Prize 10: Developed by Major Uzi Gaf, more than 10 million Uzi machine guns have been build since 1948.. 11. 34 political parties participated in Israels 2013 elections.

Think you know your Israeli Hist ory?: 12.1947: The United Nations voted to partition Palestine into two states: one Jewish and one Arab. 13) 1948: Israel declared its independence. 14) 1977: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat made a historic trip to Israel, marking the first time any Arab leader had negotiated with the Jewish state. 15) 1984 and 1991: Israel airlifted a total of 22,00 Ethiopian Jews to the State of Israel. 16) Israel is the only country in the world to revive an unspoken language.

Celebrit ies, Sport s and Societ y: 16) Academy Award-winning actress Natalie Portman and supermodel Bar Rafaeli both call Israel home. 17) Out Magazine named Israel the gay capital of the Middle East. 18) Omri Casspi was the first Israeli basketball pro to be drafted to play on an NBA team (the Sacramento Kings.) 19) Yiytish Aynaw became Israels first Ethiopian Miss Israel in 2013. 20) KISS frontman Gene Simmons was born in Israel.

Hebrew Sayings, Slang and Slogans

21) Yalla- Lets go! 23) Sababa- No worries 24) Haval al hazman- thats cool or literally a shame on time 25) Shalom- Hello, Goodbye, Peace!

Sust ainabilit y, Science and Sechel*: 26) Israel invented drip irrigation, helping the world conserve millions of gallons of water a year. 27) Israel has the largest number of startups in proportion to population in the world. Overall, it only has less startups than the United States a country that has 40 times the population! 28) Israel is the only country in the world with a consistently increasing number of trees. 29) The worlds first flying car is being developed by Israeli inventor Rafi Yoeli. 30) Israeli universities produce more scientific papers than any country in the world per capita. 31) Voice mail was invented in Israel. 32) Jellyfish repellent was invented by an Israeli company. 33) The solar energy system that powers 95% of Israeli solar water heaters today was developed in Israel. 34) The first baby monitor was created in Israel in 1991. 35) Four young Israelis invented the first instant messaging system ICQ and sold the technology to AOL for $400 million. The rest, as they say, is history. * Hebrew for common sense, or brainpower Tikkun Olam (Repairing t he World): 36) 220: The number of Israeli doctors and relief works sent to Haiti a day after the 2010 earthquake. 37) The Israeli nonprofit Save a Childs Heart provides free open-heart procedures to children worldwide. 49% of patients are from Palestinian communities. 38) Innovation: Africa provides Israeli innovation to African villages. 39) Ofanim provides education to rural areas in Israel through mobile classrooms. 40) Tsofen promotes involvement of Israeli Arabs in the countrys growing high tech industry.

Bisli, Bamba, Hummus and Halva! 41) Israelis consume the most fruits and vegetables per capita of any country in the world. 42) Cherry tomatoes were originally engineered in Israel in 1973. 43) Kosher stamp glue?! Only in Israel. 44) There are more than 40 kosher McDonalds in Israel. 45) Bamba, a peanut butter flavored snack made exclusively in Israel, is considered by many to be Israels national food.

From t he Golan t o Eilat : 46) At 695 ft. below sea level, the Sea of Galilee is the lowest freshwater lake in the world. 47) The Dead Sea is 1,373 ft. below sea level and is the lowest place on earth. 48) Israels highest mountain, Mt. Hermon, is located in the Golan Heights. 49) Eilat is one of the best bird watching sites in the world, with the greatest concentration of migrating birds passing through Israel each year. 50) While the Negev makes up 60% of Israels land, only 8% of the countrys population resides there.

See t he Sit es!: 51)Tel Aviv is home to 18 of Israels 35 performing arts centers. 52) Over half of the Western Wall is located below the street level of Jerusalem. 53) Jerusalem is home to over 2,000 archeological sites. 54) Masada, a final stronghold of Jews against Roman conquerors, is recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site. 55) Tel Aviv served as the temporary capital of Israel when the Jewish state was first established.

Coexist ence: 56) A joint biofuel project between Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians will help increase the production of biofuel worldwide. 57) The Druze community, representing 8.3% of the Israeli-Arab population, serve in the IDF. 58) All Israeli citizens, regardless of race, gender or religion, have the right to vote. 59) Israel has become a haven for Bahai and is home to the Bahai World Center in Haifa. 60) Hand in Hand Center for Jewish-Arab Education provides a setting for Jewish and Arab students to study and coexist.

Fun f act s!: 61) The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were invented by Israeli Haim Saban. 62) An estimated million notes are left in the Western Wall each year. 63) Israel requires all models to meet a normal BMI (body mass index). 64) Three in ten Israelis are immigrants from over 100 different countries. 65) Celebrate! Israel is 65 years old today!