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| Government Type |
parliamentary democracy |
| Legal System |
mixture of English common law, British Mandate regulations, and, in personal matters, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim legal systems; in December 1985, Israel informed the UN Secretariat that it would no longer accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Currency |
new Israeli shekel (ILS) |
| Economic Overview |
Israel has a technologically advanced market economy with substantial government participation. It depends on imports of crude oil, grains, raw materials, and military equipment. Despite limited natural resources, Israel has intensively developed its agricultural and industrial sectors over the past 20 years. Israel imports significant quantities of grain but is largely self-sufficient in other agricultural products. Cut diamonds, high-technology equipment, and agricultural products (fruits and vegetables) are the leading exports. Israel usually posts sizable current account deficits, which are covered by large transfer payments from abroad and by foreign loans. Roughly half of the government's external debt is owed to the US, which is its major source of economic and military aid. The influx of Jewish immigrants from the former USSR during the period 1989-99, coupled with the opening of new markets at the end of the Cold War, energized Israel's economy, which grew rapidly in the early 1990s; growth began moderating in 1996 when the government imposed tighter fiscal and monetary policies and the immigration bonus petered out. Growth was a strong 7.2% in 2000, but the bitter Israeli-Palestinian conflict, difficulties in the high-technology, construction, and tourist sectors, and fiscal austerity in the face of growing inflation led to small declines in GDP in 2001 and 2002. |
| Natural Resources |
timber, potash, copper ore, natural gas, phosphate rock, magnesium bromide, clays, sand |
| Primary Industries |
high-technology projects (including aviation, communications, computer-aided design and manufactures, medical electronics), wood and paper products, potash and phosphates, food, beverages, and tobacco, caustic soda, cement, diamond cutting |
| Agricultural Products |
citrus, vegetables, cotton; beef, poultry, dairy products |
| Import Commodities |
raw materials, military equipment, investment goods, rough diamonds, fuels, grain, consumer goods |
| Export Commodities |
machinery and equipment, software, cut diamonds, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles and apparel |
| Export Partners |
US 42.8%, Benelux 7.4%, Hong Kong 6.0%, Germany 4.8%, UK 4.8%, Japan 3.2% (2001) |
| AIRPORTS of Israel |
| Eilat-J Hozman Airport |
International, Eilat 1km (½mile), Position 29°33´34"N, 034°57´37"E, Elevation 42m (137ft),5 Aircraft Stands |
Detals |
| Haifa - U Michaeli Airport |
Position 32°48´34"N, 035°02´35"E, Elevation 9m (29ft) |
Detals |
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