Israel

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.
==Economical characteristics==
* Currency: Shekel (ISO code: ILS or NIS)
* Central bank discount rate: 1.25% (31 December 2009)
* Commercial banks lending rate: 6.06% (31 December 2008)
* Stock of money (M1): $18.9 billion (31 December 2008)
* Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $170.6 billion (31 December 2008)
===Statistics===
Statistic / Year 	1999 	2000 	2001 	2002 	2003 	2004 	2005 	2006 	2007 	2008
GDP (million USD)World Bank. "Israel: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30. 	110 791	124 749	123 059	113 010	118 904	126 843	134 247	145 844	166 990	202 101
Govt. debt (% of GDP)World Bank. "Israel: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30. 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)World Bank. "Israel: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30. 	 	39.523 	40.060 	40.713 	37.970 	38.311 	38.582 	38.568 	39.319 	36.784
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)World Bank. "Israel: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.	 	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.
==External links==
* Israel on Wikipedia
* Central bank of Israel
* Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
* BBC country profile
Category:Countries