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Israel Country Quiz

Can you guess these facts about the country of Israel?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: March 31, 2020
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First submittedMarch 29, 2014
Times taken57,623
Average score65.0%
Rating4.15
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Answer
Capital of Israel according to Israel
Jerusalem
Two most populous cities on the Israeli coast
Tel Aviv
Haifa
Two seas that Israel borders
Mediterranean Sea
Red Sea
Official language
Hebrew
Peninsula that Israel returned to Egypt in 1982
Sinai Peninsula
"Ism" defined as the support of a Jewish homeland in the Holy Land
Zionism
River found on Israel's eastern border
Jordan River
Name of Israel's legislature
The Knesset
The name of Israel's national intelligence agency
Mossad
Salty inland sea found at 430 meters below sea level
Dead Sea
Body of water that Jesus walked on (according to the Bible)
Sea of Galilee
Area that Israel took from Syria in 1967
Golan Heights
War fought by Israel in 1967
Six-Day War
War fought by Israel in 1973
Yom Kippur War
Currency of Israel
The Shekel
The two Israelis who shared a Nobel Peace Prize with Yasser Arafat in 1994
(name either)
Yitzhak Rabin /
Shimon Peres
Desert which comprises the southern half of Israel
Negev
Object which appears on the flag
Star of David
+4
Level 83
May 5, 2014
Yay, one of these country quizzes that I for once easily got 100% on (not including the one I authored myself).
+1
Level 83
May 5, 2014
Actually, forgot about the recent Egypt quiz. I think that one was even easier.
+1
Level 54
Mar 31, 2020
Same for me)

Good quiz, thanks!

+2
Level 38
Jan 26, 2021
oof
+2
Level 83
Feb 21, 2022
Thanks for your valuable contribution as always, Histriman.
+3
Level 29
May 5, 2014
Nice quiz. Perhaps accept Gennesaret and Tiberias for Galilee?
+3
Level 74
Oct 13, 2015
Agreed. Accept Kinneret as well.
+4
Level ∞
Oct 22, 2016
Sure, why not!
+3
Level 55
May 8, 2014
%100 in 2:03. Can you Kinneret for Sea of Galilee?
+2
Level 52
Mar 16, 2015
22/22 with 2:22 left...
+17
Level 84
Mar 31, 2020
To your point, were you wearing a tutu too?
+1
Level 62
Aug 13, 2020
Hahaha!
+2
Level 66
Apr 26, 2015
Glad to have got 100% (bit worrying if I didn't)
+3
Level 64
Nov 30, 2015
I thought the sea was Galileo...
+3
Level 85
Feb 11, 2020
He was named after it.
+2
Level 33
Apr 15, 2016
Two changes: could you add 'June War' and 'October War' since that is how the Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War are generally described by Arabs and their allies in English? And please do add Shimon Peres to the Nobel answer, even if you don't add Arafat. I wasted lots of time on lots of permutations of Peres' name...

Nice short quiz!

+2
Level ∞
Oct 22, 2016
Sure, added some type-ins.
+22
Level 43
Aug 20, 2016
God Bless Israel
+11
Level 55
Oct 30, 2016
Am Yisrael Chai!
+12
Level 83
May 2, 2017
Yesterday Hamas announced to the world that, while it would not make a single meaningful change to its charter, they have decided that due to their inability to accomplish anything militarily they would make some superficial changes to wording and see if it was politically expedient to appear less overtly racist.
+29
Level 77
May 2, 2017
Wow! Someone contributing to JetPunk admits that Jerusalem as the capital is disputed. It's a start.
+17
Level 84
May 2, 2017
Yeah, I mean, why should a country get to choose its own capital?
+18
Level 88
Feb 14, 2020
Because it's technically a U.N. city under their jurisdiction under international law so as not to foster the religious crusades all over again, which is exactly what's going on.
+3
Level 37
Mar 4, 2020
I am not disputing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, but am responding to your statement 'why should a country be free to bame its capital'. Given that, why doesn't Jetpunk accept Cote d'Ivoire's right to name its COUNTRY!?
+1
Level 38
Jan 13, 2021
...srsly?
+3
Level 29
Mar 7, 2023
Jerusalem has always belonged to the Israelites. It was stolen from them when their temple was destroyed, later replaced with a mosque, and they were pretty much forced to leave their land that they had been trying to live in for thousands of years. Jerusalem (a Hebrew name, by the way) is, and always will truly be, Jewish.
+3
Level 45
Mar 8, 2023
Israelites translate to the people of God. Muslims, Christians, and Jews are all people of God. Palestinians were there when what you refer to occurred. They just stayed and eventually converted to Christianity and Islam, and with it, created their own national identity. It's the same people, just different religions. They came back and took the land from their same people and began to oppress them.
+2
Level 70
Mar 16, 2023
Israelites are the children of Israel. The Jews. Arabs didn't appear in Israel until the 600s. Jews have mourned and fasted every year continuously since the Roman invasion that ended Jewish self-governance in Israel and dispersed the Jews in a diaspora around the Mediterranean and Western Asia. There is a continuous cultural heritage and verifiable link between modern Jews and the Israelites who were occupied by the Romans.
+1
Level 67
May 2, 2017
english is also and official language of israel
+1
Level 88
May 2, 2017
Wikipedia disagrees with you.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Israel

+17
Level 83
May 3, 2017
It WAS. Thanks to the British basically establishing the country. In the 1940s there were 3 official languages in Israel: English, Hebrew, and Arabic. Nixing English as an official language was one of the first things the new country did. I believe that this was because they knew if they did not, then English would become the lingua franca, and that's something they didn't want happening because they were endeavoring to revive a dead language (Hebrew). They actually went really out of their way to avoid using English on signage, packaging, etc. I found Israel is one of the hardest places I've been to get trying to read just English. And it worked, Hebrew is again a living, breathing language with millions of native speakers after being dead for thousands of years. As a linguist I find this incredibly impressive.

Anyway long story short: English is definitely not an official language. Many Israelis don't speak it and it hasn't had official status since 1948 I believe.

+3
Level 76
Jul 21, 2020
My interest in linguistics in Euro-centric, but I also find this fascinating, and at the same time highly pragmatic. Thanks for your insight.
+3
Level 63
Oct 7, 2020
I wish we had done the same with Sanskrit :(
+1
Level 76
Oct 8, 2020
Years ago I heard they didn't want anyone speaking Yiddish, either. Does anyone know if that's still true?
+4
Level 83
Oct 10, 2020
Yiddish was considered as the official language for Israel, as very large numbers of East European Jews immigrating to the new state spoke the language. After they decided to revive Hebrew instead, they made efforts to suppress the use of Yiddish for the same reason that they strove to reduce the use of English.
+1
Level 28
Dec 6, 2020
Yidish never was official in israel, its the language of the jews that came from germany
+3
Level 83
Jan 19, 2021
I mean it was considered as in it was at one point in contention for the title of official language, not as in it was ever considered to be official. It never had official status. And though it is considered a Germanic dialect with elements of Hebrew, Aramaic, and many other Slavic languages, it was actually spoken by the Jewish diaspora all over Europe. All the way from northeastern Spain on up to Western Russia. Though there were a variety of dialects across the continent.
+3
Level 46
May 2, 2017
You might want to change "national intelligence agency" to "foreign intelligence agency" to not confuse it with shin bet
+3
Level 20
May 4, 2017
Can you add the spelling "Mosad" for Mossad?
+1
Level ∞
May 5, 2017
Ok
+3
Level 44
Mar 7, 2018
all the ones I missed I couldnt spell to save my life LOL
+2
Level 66
Aug 8, 2018
Can you accept Sheqel for Shekel?
+1
Level ∞
Feb 11, 2020
Okay
+2
Level 70
Aug 31, 2019
Arabic is no longer an official language, but a recognized language.
+1
Level 64
Feb 11, 2020
As for Pole it's easy quiz
+1
Level 69
Feb 11, 2020
What area of Syria did Israel occupy in 1967?
+8
Level 83
Mar 31, 2020
Would be very difficult to occupy a territory without first taking it, wouldn't it?
+3
Level 63
Feb 12, 2020
Since Jetpunk doesn't recognize Palestine as a country, shouldn't Gaza city be one of the biggest cities on the Israeli coast?
+8
Level ∞
Feb 12, 2020
Just because Palestine isn't an independent nation doesn't mean that it is part of Israel.
+1
Level 38
Mar 27, 2023
well technically, most of palestine is mainly controlled by israel, but its not really absorebed by it, just mostly surrounded, i would like to see palestine regocnized as it can be 197/197 along with israel too it just seems weird just not having them but it kind of seems odd having them, idk your choice though
+10
Level 83
Mar 31, 2020
Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Following the withdraw, free elections were held and the terrorist group Hamas was brought to power in the Gaza strip. After the election, Israel, with the aid of Egypt, blockaded Gaza, but they did not re-occupy it. Neither Israel nor Egypt claims Gaza as part of their territory, and since the region is still under the control of Hamas, which is not the PNA or Fatah, it can't accurately be called part of Palestine, either.
+11
Level 28
Apr 6, 2020
hamas is nota terrorist organization, just fighting for helpess palestinians
+24
Level 83
Apr 7, 2020
Hamas is definitely a terrorist organization, and they have done nothing to help the people that they claim to be fighting for. In many ways they have been worse for the "Palestinians" than the Israelis could ever hope to be.
+14
Level 67
Jul 30, 2020
Oh man — if you think that Hamas is a terrorist organization, just wait until you hear about all the stuff that Israel does! :O
+12
Level 83
Aug 4, 2020
I've heard. I'm sure I know more about this subject than you do, Mr. Ginger Ale man. Very few of the actions taken by the Israeli government or military could accurately be described as terrorist, though they get painted that way all the time by the many who hate the country for existing. A case could be made for some. Some of the actions taken during Operation Cast Lead spring to mind.

However, in the majority of definitions used for the word terrorist, state actors are excluded out of hand.

+10
Level 67
Oct 8, 2020
Terrorism is more about what you do than what you're fighting for. The IRA fought for the liberation of Northern Ireland from the UK, which is a fair enough cause...but they did it by blowing up cars in crowded areas, so...terrorism. Likewise, there could be constructed a legitimate grievance against the US's presence in the Middle East. That doesn't justify flying planes into buildings.
+12
Level 83
Oct 8, 2020
exactly. Terrorism is violence or destruction directed specifically and purposefully at random civilians or public property. It's not about achieving strategic goals, it's about scaring ordinary people into thinking that they might be hit next. The tactic of terrorism was almost universally condemned before the meaning of the word got so clouded by people who didn't understand it or who just wanted to try and apply it to everyone they don't like.
+3
Level 83
Jan 19, 2021
Is It Terrorism? helpful quiz on the subject linked here.
+4
Level 74
Jan 28, 2022
'Terrorism' is the unlawful use of violence, usually against civilians, in pursuit of political aims. Israel has, and still does, definitely use terrorist tactics. They destroy civilian infrastructure and implement collective punishment, for example. Not to mention the several Israeli leaders who were prominent members of terrorist organisations, some even proudly declaring themselves 'terrorists'. Which is not to say Hamas or the PLO aren't just as guilty, but a bit of balance never hurts.
+5
Level 83
Feb 21, 2022
You can find a vastly superior and significantly more defensible definition to the word terrorism on the above linked quiz. The one you're promoting here is confusing, overbroad, historically disfavored, and, in fact, dangerous. When terrorism starts to mean anything you want to label as unlawful or unjustified it's easy to abuse this for nefarious ends. Or the word becomes meaningless leading to denouncing terrorism being equally meaningless. Though I know from past conversations that we differ on the importance of applying consistent and uniform standards across the board, including to Israel. Personally I think this is very important.
+5
Level 83
Apr 24, 2022
and if this isn't already clear, defining something as "a thing that is unlawful" is meaningless because laws vary from place to place and change based on the whims of politicians or despots. There is no such thing as international law, not in any real or binding way. There are only treaties and conventions that countries sometimes choose to abide by and other times do not. Neglecting to go with a clearer and more specific definition leads to all of the bad things I mentioned in the last comment.
+1
Level 59
Mar 8, 2023
Goodness me kalbahamut, need I remind you of May 2021, where Israeli attacks on Gaza led to 242 deaths, 63 of them being children. I'd argue that's pretty unlawful and an act of terrorism.
+2
Level 49
Mar 8, 2023
As the above definition of terrorism states, just because people (even civilians or children) die, does not mean it is terrorism.
+1
Level 79
Feb 12, 2020
I think it's usually called the River Jordan (per European usage) rather than the Jordan River.
+4
Level 83
Mar 31, 2020
it's both
+2
Level 67
Feb 13, 2020
did everything in like two minutes and spent the other 2 trying to spell Mediterranean Sea
+2
Level 75
Feb 18, 2020
The Jordan River question needs a question mark
+2
Level 70
Mar 31, 2020
Can NIS (New Israeli Shekel) and ILS (the ISO code for Israel's currency) also be accepted for the question about currency? To be pedantic, a shekel is an ancient unit of weight, while the currency of Israel is one of the above.
+1
Level 66
Mar 31, 2020
So the Dead Sea isnt considered a border sea?
+1
Level 63
Mar 31, 2020
No, it's technically a lake, like the Caspian Sea
+1
Level 76
Mar 31, 2020
Seacoast city - Hoffa? Heffa? Hiffa? Haffe? So close, yet so wrong.
+1
Level 65
Oct 9, 2020
Aha! I've been looking for him!
+1
Level 56
Dec 16, 2021
He's under Giants Stadium still
+3
Level 81
Apr 1, 2020
My Israeli 14 year old completed this in about 60 seconds. I had him under threat of doing push ups. Anything but exercise...
+4
Level 73
Dec 11, 2020
Why have you got an Israeli 14 year old?
+2
Level 70
Jul 15, 2020
lol, these comments are spicy
+12
Level 56
Jul 29, 2020
Wait, Israel is real?
+5
Level 63
Jul 31, 2020
Always has been.
+4
Level 83
Aug 4, 2020
Since 1948
+5
Level 83
Aug 4, 2020
Why wouldn't it be?
+6
Level 67
Oct 8, 2020
I think this is just a play on "Israel" looking so much like "Is real." I remember a teacher showing us that in like third grade. I think she just thought it was funny. Or maybe she was pushing Zionism on us.
+8
Level 88
Oct 8, 2020
Israel is real, but Isfkae is fake.
+1
Level 63
Oct 8, 2020
haha lol
+2
Level 67
Oct 8, 2020
Jetpunkers, you're a clever bunch of quizzers, but it seems most lack a sense of humour/ sarcasm.
+3
Level 76
Oct 8, 2020
I got the pun - Israel/Is real. "Is real" is closer to how most people I know pronounce it, rather than Is-ra-el.
+5
Level 16
Sep 10, 2021
no it isnt israel is palestinian land
+2
Level 24
Apr 20, 2022
Get A life, it isn't palestine anymore, stop begging independence for 60+ years because it's worth nothing.
+4
Level 76
Sep 27, 2022
Well that’s kinda rude. Although I agree that Palestine’s current tactic is not working. I honestly believe that both groups have valid claims to the land and deserve to be countries in their own right. I just don’t know how we would go about that.
+1
Level 38
Mar 27, 2023
honestly yeah but i do think israel deserved to come back after years to take it back, palestine still hasa chance they just havent risen yet because most people just spam #freepalestine in the comments section on every thing that actually has comments instead of actually going to help serve for them and uprise for them, in my opinion palestinians doing that would just feel kind of stupid because saying #freepalestine once isnt going to make a difference, kind of the same with calling israel trash or isnotreal, isfake, etc because its stupid youre not doing anything to offend israels government or help palestine just become stronger on just one comment
+1
Level 65
Oct 2, 2020
Ah yes, the Mossad. That agency that shot Kennedy because he wanted to monitor the Dimona nuclear power plant if it produced nuclear weapons or not (it did and still does).
+8
Level 63
Oct 8, 2020
Of Course the Mossad is behind everything that takes place on Earth...
+6
Level 58
Oct 8, 2020
didn't mossad cause holocaust too?
+6
Level 83
Oct 8, 2020
I heard they trained vultures to be spies and sharks to eat Egyptian tourists.
+1
Level 63
Oct 8, 2020
We do not do that... smh
+6
Level 76
Oct 8, 2020
I've heard QM is hiring them to eliminate Belgium. I have no proof, you understand, but...
+1
Level 63
Oct 8, 2020
as a Mossad agent, I can assure you, we did not do that.
+6
Level 83
Oct 8, 2020
That's exactly the sort of thing that a man-eating Mossad shark would say!
+2
Level 67
Oct 8, 2020
Come on. That's ridiculous. It was Soros.
+1
Level 69
Oct 8, 2020
Nitpick: ""Ism" in defined as the support of a Jewish homeland in the Holy Land". This sentence is weird. @_@
+7
Level 58
Oct 8, 2020
I was expecting at least one question about the occupation of Palestine.
+9
Level 67
Oct 8, 2020
That would just invite a very hostile debate in the comments. QM seems content to let things proceed at a low simmer, but people aren't really welcome to get into very ugly politics. Which is for the best, I think.
+11
Level 64
Oct 26, 2020
Free Palestine from the blatant and disgusting oppression of Israel
+10
Level 83
Nov 5, 2020
you need to stop sampling the product, dude
+7
Level 76
Nov 24, 2020
Kal, why do I see you in absolutely every single comments section, ready for confrontation the second anybody says something remotely progressive?

This isn't Reddit.

+11
Level 83
Jan 19, 2021
Can I quote you on this next time someone in another comments section posts something like "we get it Kal. You hate Conservatives and Republicans. Give it a rest already!" open your mind and learn to think for yourself. And I've been commenting a lot less the past couple of months but might be hard for you to notice as there are comments on many quizzes going back to 2012.

Finally, there is nothing "progressive" about Pablo's comment above. Israel is by far the most progressive country in the Middle East. There's nothing progressive about wishing for it to be overrun by violent tribalists who are very much less progressive than the Israelis. It's just good ol' regular anti-semitism by a different name and of a slightly different flavor, filtered and distilled through various intermediaries starting with Husayni, al-Banna, Nasser and Arafat, working its way through Habash, Guevara, the UN and Newton, delivered to your doorstep by Chomsky, Foucault, Sarsour, et al.

+6
Level 83
Jan 19, 2021
If you want to see how a real progressive views these issues look up some books, videos, essays, TED Talks or whatever by any of the following... Sam Harris, Maajid Nawaz, Sarah Haider (not as well regarded as an intellectual but still good), Christopher Hitchens or Richard Dawkins (not true progressives in any sense but still very liberal), Reza Aslan (I wouldn't highly recommend his take, though still better than those I listed above), or Aayan Hirsi Ali (not very progressive, but again, better than those listed in the previous comment). Harris and Nawaz is a good starting point. They have a much better grasp of progressive values as they relate to the Muslim world than most self-described progressives do these days. And they don't engage in the casual and sinister racism of low expectations and cultural relativism - which is not progressive at all.
+10
Level 30
Dec 31, 2020
"Israel" what a weird way to spell Palestine, anyways...
+5
Level 38
Jan 13, 2021
bruh
+4
Level 24
Apr 20, 2022
You're still crying over a country that lost its power back at the 1950s? Get over it
+1
Level 38
Apr 3, 2023
*late 1940’s*
+1
Level 38
Mar 27, 2023
bro i said this a million times on a bunch of other comments, both are real places and also saying something to offend israel and help palestine just by saying #freepalestine wont do anything because palestine is still the same thing, if you actually want to help palestine serve for them and actually fight israel
+2
Level 38
Jan 13, 2021
Israel the country was established in 1948, but has been a kingdom since ancient times, you know, until the Ottomans conquered it, and then England secured it during the crusades and after WW1, before making it its own nation in '48
+5
Level 83
Jan 19, 2021
You missed a HUGE chunk of history there.... the original Kingdom of Israel broke apart into two successor states: Israel/Samaria and Judah. The northern kingdom was conquered by the Neo-Assyrians. Then both were conquered by the Neo-Babylonians. Then the Egyptians again. Then the Babylonians again. Then the Persians. Then Seleucia. Then the independent Jewish Hasmonean kingdom sprung up. Then the Romans. There was a short-lived Jewish kingdom that revolted against the Romans that was destroyed by Vespasian and Titus. After that the area stopped being called Judah and was renamed Palestine. Roman Empire broke into two so then it was the Byzantines. Then the Persians again. Then the Byzantines again. Then the Arab Rashiduns. Then the Umayyads. Then the Abbasids. Then the Mamluks, Fatimids, Seljuqs, Fatimids again, Christian Crusaders, Ayyubids, more Crusaders, more Ayyubids, Crusaders, Ayyubids, Mamluks again, and finally the Ottomans. and then the British.
+3
Level 83
Jan 19, 2021
This is somewhat comparable to relating the history of England as such:

there were many disunified indigenous tribes there until the Romans moved in, and then, you know, David Cameron put Brexit to a vote and so the UK withdrew from the Roman Empire.

Except in your case add an additional 500 years to the unexplained gap. :)

But this does put a nice spotlight on the huge and baffling blank spot most Westerners have in their heads when it comes to the history of this extremely important region...

+2
Level 38
Jan 26, 2021
Israel has always been in some kind of conflict, From being conquered by Egypt, to Battling the Philistines, to getting conquered by Babylon, to having many people fleeing and moving to Persia, to being conquered BY the Persians, to being conquered by the Greeks, to being conquered by the Romans, to being conquered by the Byzantine Empire, by being conquered by Islamic people "from the east", to being conquered by the Ottomans, to being a British colony, to becoming a free country, to literally fighting everyone around them, (Six days and Yom Kippur), to now having a little De Facto state on their back, named the West Bank, or Palestine
+6
Level 38
Jan 26, 2021
Jerusalem is the historical and current capital of Israel,
+1
Level 38
Jan 26, 2021
i just hope Biden does not move the US embassy back to Tel Aviv, because hat isnt the capital
+5
Level 83
Apr 18, 2021
it would make sense from a logistical, security, and diplomatic standpoint. Though it would cost a lot of money for something that is really kind of masturbatory and pointless. It should not have been moved from Tel Aviv in the first place. That's the sort of thing only an ignorant orange-tinted fool would think was a good idea. But since it's there already... y'know... whatever.
+1
Level 55
May 18, 2021
Now with the escalation in violence, Biden has defended Israel.
+4
Level 83
May 28, 2021
He has said that Israel has a right to exist and defend itself. Which they do. Not much of a defense of Israel, but it will get painted as such by those hypocrites and religious bigots who feel Israel does not have a right to exist. US policy since the Kennedy administration has been generally favorable and supportive toward Israel, though usually quite even handed when compared to policy toward Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, etc. And Biden is a mainstream center-left Democrat who has been in politics since 1972. Wouldn't expect any radical changes in direction coming from him.
+2
Level 83
May 28, 2021
and I don't expect Biden or any similarly centrist and pragmatic US president in the future to move the embassy again, either. Moving it in the first place was stupid, unnecessary, expensive, and contrary to US interests. It invited controversy and criticism for zero gain. But... once the embassy is located somewhere... nobody really cares anymore. It disappears from political relevance. Moving it again would invite more criticism and controversy, incur more expense, and net the US a similarly negligible or non-existent level of benefit. Moving it in either direction is just pandering to one group of people or the other. And while Biden certainly is not above pandering, I really don't think he will in this case as his pragmatism usually wins out over his impulse to pander.
+6
Level 16
Sep 10, 2021
Israel Aint A Country Palestine Is
+13
Level 83
Jan 12, 2022
Your mastery of geopolitics is rivaled only by your dominion over English grammar.
+1
Level 38
Mar 27, 2023
bro i said this a million times on a bunch of other comments, both are real places and also saying something to offend israel and help palestine just by saying #freepalestine wont do anything because palestine is still the same thing, if you actually want to help palestine serve for them and actually fight israel

I LITERALLY COPIED AND PASTED THIS FOR ANOTHER GUY WHO DOESNT UNDERSTNAD THIS IS MY SECOND TIME SAYING IT WHAT THE HECK, IT WAS ALSO ON THIS QUIZ

+2
Level 57
Jan 21, 2023
Should accept "NIS" (New Israeli Shekel) for the currency, it is the name of Israel's currency and the acronym is used both officially and colloquially.