Amazing Facts About Israel and Israel Tourism

Not too many people realize or appreciate how amazing Israel and Israel Tourism are. Why do I combine the terms together? Let me use just a few facts and figures to explain my point, which literally speak volumes.

Who would ever have imagined that a tiny country, against all odds and seen as an event without precedent in world history, that the people of Israel would return to their ancestral homeland, revive an ancient language (Hebrew) and establish a nation in an area of the world surrounded by hostile neighbors bent on its destruction and in a constant state of war since its founding?!

Although no bigger than the size of the state of New Jersey, do not let its size deceive you. Despite its “small” size, it is a modern, highly developed and advanced society, having a strong economy, formidable army, rich in history and culture.

Just for your information:

Israel is the only democratic nation in the region.

It has the largest number of scientists and technicians in the world.

An instrument to detect breast cancer, an ingestible video camera and a device that helps the heart pump blood are all Israeli innovations.

Israel has found ways to make the desert bloom, which includes a drip irrigation system designed to assist agricultural development in arid regions of the world, as well as raising fish in the desert,

Israel has the distinguished honor of specializing in immigrant absorption. Since its founding in 1948 Israel has successfully absorbed over three million Jews from all over the world. Israel took in almost 1 million Jews expelled from Arab and other Islamic countries from 1948 – 1960 without leaving them in “refugee camps”. No other country has ever resettled as high a percentage of refugees to total population.

A record 3.03 million people visited Israel in 2008. According to the Tourism Ministry, Israel is anticipating over 5,000,000 visitors by the year 2020.

Israel is a fascinating country. I am not saying this simply because I live here. I can not think of any modern day country in the world today that has accomplished so much in such a short span of time not only for its own people but for the sake of mankind as well. Transforming a desolate, malaria infested desert into a blooming, thriving and prosperous nation is, to put it mildly, nothing but a miracle!

Israel is a country full of amazing and dramatic contrasts. Israel’s western coast consists of beautiful “French Riviera” – style Mediterranean beaches. From the heights of Mt. Hermon in the north, Israel’s “Swiss Alps” in the Golan Heights, one descends to the lowest point on earth in the world – the Dead Sea – which happens to be one of 28 finalists in the New 7 Wonders of Nature competition.

Jerusalem’s Old City, which was reunited in June of 1967 in the most amazing and spectacular military operation of its kind in history, is the “heart and soul” as well as the spiritual center of the Jewish people. This is the place where King David ruled over the Jewish nation over 3000 years ago. This is the place where King Solomon build his majestic Temple, which if it stood today, for which Jews pray every day that we will merit that a third and final Temple be built to hail in the Messianic period, would have been regarded as The Wonder of the the World. As it states in the Babylonian Talmud: God bestowed on the world ten measures of beauty. Nine measures He gave to Jerusalem and one He gave to the rest of the world – Tractate Sukkah: 51-b.

In addition, the British, who were the temporary caretakers of the Holy Land prior to Israel’s declaration of Independence in 1948, recognized the uniqueness and holiness of Jerusalem. The legacy they left behind, which is still in effect to this very day, insists that all building, both public and private, be required to use Jerusalem stone facing.

On the other hand, just an hour a way, in the Tel Aviv area, you will find a world of skyscrapers, high-tech industries, modern, international airport and Israel’s diamond exchange, everything reminiscent of a highly developed industrialized society.

So, if you are looking for an incredible adventure, full of wonderful, meaningful and memorable experiences, Israel definitely is the place to be. You owe it, at least once in a lifetime, to yourself as well as to your family. Who knows, perhaps after your visit here your life may never be the same.