Middle East / Africa
Country profile: Israel
Location: | Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Lebanon |
Climate: | temperate; hot and dry in southern and eastern desert areas |
Terrain: | Negev desert in the south; low coastal plain; central mountains; Jordan Rift Valley |
Size: | 20770 sq. km total (Land area: 20330 sq. km Water area: 440 sq.km) |
Population: | 7,112,359 |
Languages: | Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority, English most commonly used foreign language |
Government: | parliamentary democracy |
Capital city: | Jerusalem |
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); note - NIS is the curren |
Licensing: |
Country profile
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. An Israeli-Palestinian agreement reached at Sharm al-Sheikh in February 2005, along with an internally-brokered Palestinian ceasefire, significantly reduced the violence. 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 in January 2006 to head the Palestinian Legislative Council froze relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Ehud OLMERT became prime minister in March 2006; following an Israeli military operation in Gaza in June-July 2006 and a 34-day conflict with Hizballah in Lebanon in June-August 2006, he shelved plans to unilaterally evacuate from most of the West Bank. OLMERT in June 2007 resumed talks with the PA after HAMAS seized control of the Gaza Strip and PA President Mahmoud ABBAS formed a new government without HAMAS.
Energy production and consumption
Oil | Gas | |
Production: | 100 bbl/day (2006 est.) | 709 million cu m (2005 est.) |
Consumption: | 249,500 bbl/day (2006 est.) | 709 million cu m (2005 est.) |
Exports: | 75,980 bbl/day (2004 est.) | |
Imports: | 315,200 bbl/day (2004 est.) | |
Reserves: | 2 million bbl (1 January 2006 est.) | 37 billion cu m (2006 est.) |
Major fields: |
Israel - recent news
22 May 23 |
Israel: Zion Oil and Gas announces significant progress in Israel Zion Oil & Gas celebrates significant milestones leading the Company into a new phase of operations in Israel. Preparations for the re-entry of the Megiddo-Jezreel - 1 well (MJ-01) are underway, |
11 May 23 |
NewMed Energy's net profit leaps to some $121 million in Q1/2023 – up approx. 44% NewMed Energy has released its financial statements for the first quarter of 2023. The net profit in Q1 surged to some $121 million, up approx. 44% from $84 million in Q1/2022. The increase resulted mainly from an increase in revenues from natural gas sales from the Leviathan reservoir, and a decrease in depreciation, amortization and depletion expenses. |
14 Feb 23 |
Israel: Energean exports hydrocarbon liquids from Karish Energean has confirmed the first ever lifting of an Israeli crude oil cargo has taken place at the Company’s Karish field. For the first time in the history of Israeli oil & gas production, hydrocarbon liquids will be exported to global markets. |
08 Feb 23 |
Israel: Allseas to execute the installation scope for phase one of the Tamar expansion project Allseas will return to the East Mediterranean in the third quarter of 2024 to execute the installation scope for phase one of the Tamar expansion project. |
19 Dec 22 |
Israel: Zion Oil and Gas provides operations update on its Megiddo-Jezreel-2 (MJ-02) well, onshore Israel Following an analysis of the of the latest testing and completion procedures on the MJ-2 well, Zion Oil & Gas has determined that the well will not currently produce hydrocarbons in commercial quantities. Zion is currently re-analyzing data from the MJ-1 well, which was drilled on the same pad site, to determine whether the deep Mohilla zone was adequately tested in the MJ-1 well. |
Israel - more news
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