Israel — books & literature

The story of Israel

The land now called Israel carries one of the longest continuous human histories on Earth, central to Jewish, Christian, and Islamic tradition. Ancient Israelite and Judean kingdoms rose in the region in antiquity, and Jerusalem's Temple Mount became sacred ground across three faiths. Successive empires - Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Crusader, Mamluk, and Ottoman - ruled the territory over the centuries, while a Jewish presence and diaspora longing for return persisted throughout. Modern Zionist immigration grew from the late 19th century, and after the fall of the Ottoman Empire the area became British Mandate Palestine. Following a 1947 UN partition plan, the State of Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, immediately fighting a war with neighbouring Arab states. Israel absorbed waves of Jewish immigrants and refugees from Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa in the decades that followed, revived Hebrew as an everyday spoken language, and built a diverse, densely layered society. Today Israel is a small country of major religious, historical, and technological significance, still at the centre of an unresolved regional conflict over land and statehood.

Timeline — key moments

1. circa 1000 BCE

   Israelite kingdoms traditionally associated with David and Solomon, per biblical and archaeological record.

2. 586 BCE

   Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem; First Temple destroyed.

3. 70 CE

   Roman forces destroy the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

4. 1917

   Balfour Declaration expresses British support for a Jewish national home in Palestine.

5. 1947

   United Nations adopts a partition plan for British Mandate Palestine.

6. 1948

   State of Israel declares independence (14 May); War of Independence follows.

7. 1967

   Six-Day War; Israel takes control of the West Bank, Gaza, Sinai, and Golan Heights.

8. 1979

   Israel-Egypt peace treaty, the first between Israel and an Arab state.

9. 1993

   Oslo Accords establish interim Palestinian self-government.

10. 1994

    Israel-Jordan peace treaty signed.

Top 10 things to know about Israel

1. Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, ending British Mandate rule.
2. Hebrew is one of the only languages in history to be revived from largely liturgical use into a living national language spoken by millions.
3. Jerusalem holds sites sacred to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam within a small area of the Old City.
4. The Dead Sea, on Israel's border with Jordan, is the lowest point on Earth's land surface and one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world.
5. Tel Aviv is a major global technology hub, often nicknamed "Silicon Wadi" for its dense startup ecosystem.
6. Israel has one of the highest concentrations of museums per capita of any country.
7. Most Israeli citizens serve mandatory military service, a formative shared experience.
8. The kibbutz, a collective agricultural community, is a distinctively Israeli social model dating to the early 20th century.
9. Israel's population includes Jewish immigrants and their descendants from dozens of countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and beyond.
10. Archaeological sites layered across millennia - from ancient fortresses to Roman ruins to Crusader walls - are found throughout the country.

Famous people from Israel

Say it in Israel's language

Did you know?

• ★The Dead Sea's shoreline is the lowest point on any land surface on Earth.
• ★Hebrew went from a language mostly used for prayer and scripture to a thriving everyday national language in about a century.
• ★Israel is home to one of the highest numbers of startups per capita of any country in the world.

Israel culture

• Shabbat, from Friday sunset to Saturday night, is a central weekly rhythm across much of Israeli society.
• Israeli cuisine blends Middle Eastern, North African, and European Jewish traditions - hummus, falafel, and shakshuka are everyday staples.
• The kibbutz movement shaped early Israeli society around shared labour and communal living, and many kibbutzim still operate today.
• Israel's population is religiously and culturally diverse, spanning Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Druze, and other communities.

Why read Israel's books

Israeli and Hebrew-language literature spans an unbroken thread from ancient scripture to a modern literary revival built alongside the rebirth of Hebrew itself. Reading Israel's books is a way into that layered, living story.