Israel

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Country summary

Capital

Jerusalem

Borders

Egypt 266 km, Gaza Strip 51 km, Jordan 238 km, Lebanon 79 km, Syria 76 km, West Bank 307 km

Government type

parliamentary democracy

Population

7,233,701[1]

Population growth

1.671% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

80.73 years[1]

Unemployment

7.6% (2009 est.)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

44[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

32[3]

Doing Business ranking

29[4]


Following World War II, the British withdrew from their mandate of Palestine, and the UN partitioned the area into Arab and Jewish states, an arrangement rejected by the Arabs. Subsequently, the Israelis defeated the Arabs in a series of wars without ending the deep tensions between the two sides. The territories Israel occupied since the 1967 war are not included in the Israel country profile, unless otherwise noted. On 25 April 1982, Israel withdrew from the Sinai pursuant to the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. In keeping with the framework established at the Madrid Conference in October 1991, bilateral negotiations were conducted between Israel and Palestinian representatives and Syria to achieve a permanent settlement. Israel and Palestinian officials signed on 13 September 1993 a Declaration of Principles (also known as the "Oslo Accords") guiding an interim period of Palestinian self-rule. Outstanding territorial and other disputes with Jordan were resolved in the 26 October 1994 Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace. In addition, on 25 May 2000, Israel withdrew unilaterally from southern Lebanon, which it had occupied since 1982. In April 2003, US President BUSH, working in conjunction with the EU, UN, and Russia - the "Quartet" - took the lead in laying out a roadmap to a final settlement of the conflict by 2005, based on reciprocal steps by the two parties leading to two states, Israel and a democratic Palestine. However, progress toward a permanent status agreement was undermined by Israeli-Palestinian violence between September 2003 and February 2005. In the summer of 2005, Israel unilaterally disengaged from the Gaza Strip, evacuating settlers and its military while retaining control over most points of entry into the Gaza Strip. The election of HAMAS to head the Palestinian Legislative Council froze relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Ehud OLMERT became prime minister in March 2006 and presided over a 34-day conflict with Hizballah in Lebanon in June-August 2006 and a 23-day conflict with HAMAS in the Gaza Strip during December 2008 and January 2009. OLMERT, who in June 2007 resumed talks with PA President Mahmoud ABBAS, resigned in September 2008. Prime Minister Binyamin NETANYAHU formed a coalition in March 2009 following a February 2009 general election. Peace talks are currently stalled.[1]

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Shekel (ISO code: ILS or NIS)
  • Central bank discount rate: 1.25% (31 December 2009)[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: 6.06% (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $18.9 billion (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $170.6 billion (31 December 2008)[1]

Notable events:

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[6] 110 791 124 749 123 059 113 010 118 904 126 843 134 247 145 844 166 990 202 101
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[7]
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[8] 39.523 40.060 40.713 37.970 38.311 38.582 38.568 39.319 36.784
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[9] 44.248 46.754 47.715 47.085 44.724 42.970 42.407 41.552 40.708
Debt to revenue (years)

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Israel", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  2. Heritage Foundation. "Israel", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  3. Transparency International. "Israel", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  4. Doing Business. "Israel", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  5. Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 368. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-20.
  6. World Bank. "Israel: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  7. World Bank. "Israel: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  8. World Bank. "Israel: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  9. World Bank. "Israel: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.

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