♥ღ♥10 facts about Israel you didn't know♥ღ♥. The most interesting facts about Israel You will never believe, but ...

Hello everyone, my dear viewers!

I am very glad to welcome you to my channel, in this video I want to talk about 10 things that can surprise a Russian person in Israel. If you're interested, stay with me. I would like to note right away that everything I will talk about today is exclusively my experience, my observations and my opinion, and completely different things may be unusual for you. Be sure to write in the comments what surprises you in Israel, it will be very interesting for me to read your opinion on this matter.

So, let's start, the first thing that can surprise a Russian person in Israel is that in Israel there are a lot of people with machine guns: on the street, in a store, in a shopping center, in a cafe - everywhere you can meet people with machine guns. When you come to Israel for the first time, it can be a little shocking that there are people with machine guns everywhere around you: soldiers, people in civilian clothes, fragile girls with machine guns. And when you have been living here for some time, it already becomes so ordinary, so ordinary, that you no longer pay attention to it.

The second thing that can be very surprising for a Russian person in Israel is that most Israelis consider military service not some kind of obligation that they do not want to fulfill, for most Israelis military service is an honor. And for me, as for a Russian girl who has lived almost her entire conscious life in Russia, it was very surprising for me to hear at first that people are happy to give several years of their lives to the army, to the service of their homeland, and that they remember this time as the best time in their lives, that they are proud of it and happy that they served in the army, of course, for me it was very unusual and surprising. Of course, there are exceptions, and there are people in Israel who want to avoid military service, by hook or by crook they try to do it, but this is very, very rare, and other people consider it a real shame, “and how is it that a person does not want to serve the army, does not want to pay his debt to his homeland, this is shameful. And such a person will not be respected for sure. Of course, in Russia, I am sure that there are people who are not trying to get away from the army, and are ready to pay their debt to their homeland, ready to serve in the army with joy, but most young people are trying in every possible, impossible way to get away from the army.

The third thing that can really surprise a Russian person in Israel is some religious traditions, prohibitions, and so on that sometimes reach the point of absurdity. I'll give you an example. Surely all of you know what Shabbat is. This is Saturday, this is the last day of the week in Israel, and on Saturday the believing Jew should only rest, he should not do any work. This does not mean that a believing Jew should not just not work on Saturday, it means that a believing Jew should not use any electrical appliances, he should not start a car, he should not cook, he should not light a fire ... Sometimes, under these religious prohibitions, Traditions should be adjusted by non-religious people who, in general, have some kind of only indirect relation to religion. Let me give you a specific example: we have an elevator in our house, to call the elevator you need to press a button, but a believing, religious Jew should in no case press the button on Saturday. And so all Saturday our elevator runs in Shabbat mode. What does it mean? This means that our elevator travels through all floors, stops at all floors, stays on each floor for a while, about a minute, and goes on, and so it goes up and down, up and down. But the fact is that while he passes all the floors, stops at each floor, it takes a very long time, sometimes you have to wait for the elevator for a very long time - five minutes, and ten, and sometimes even longer. Yes, of course, you can say that you can go down the stairs on foot, you can walk up the stairs on foot. Yes, in principle, you can, we live on the fourth floor, but the fact is that we have a child, and, therefore, a stroller, and somehow with a stroller it’s not very convenient to go up and down to the fourth floor all the time. stairs, so we have to wait.

The fourth thing that may seem very unusual to a Russian person in Israel is, let's say, the style of an average Israeli. As a rule, Israelis do not care what they wear, how they look, and others do not care how you look either. Very often you can meet on the street, in cafes, restaurants, shopping centers people in sweatpants with pulled knees, a torn T-shirt, and no one will look at this person accusingly, no one will think that this is a homeless person or a drunkard, he got into a fight, he they torn a T-shirt... For Israel, this is absolutely normal, and if you go to a restaurant in this form, for example, then no one will tell you that there is a dress control and you cannot enter here in this form. You can enter in any form in almost any restaurant. Of course, there are exceptions, for example, you cannot work in this form in a bank, the bank has some kind of dress code. But basically, people don’t care how they dress, the main thing is that it is comfortable, that everything is ventilated, everything is cool. This also includes the fact that Israeli girls very rarely wear heels. Of course, you can meet girls in heels on the streets of Israel, especially in the centers of large cities, but this is very rare. And mostly girls wear high heels only for some events. When compared with Russia, the vast majority of girls walk in heels, even judging by myself. When I lived in Russia, I constantly wore shoes with heels: I went to work in heels, I rode the subway in heels, went shopping in heels ... But when I arrived here, I realized that there was no such thing here, and this one such a relaxing atmosphere, the atmosphere to dress in something more comfortable, let's just say, it is, of course, very contagious, and I took off my heels, and now I put on shoes with heels only for some events.

Another interesting thing about the style of an average Israeli - a Russian person may be surprised that at 20 degrees Celsius you can meet people on the streets in down jackets, boots, boots. For example, at 20 degrees Celsius I put on a T-shirt, a skirt and open shoes, and very, very dressed people can walk around me, for me dressing like this is only suitable for zero degrees, for minus five degrees, but in Israel, Israelis, apparently, are 20 degrees of heat - it's cold, and therefore they are insulated, this, of course, still amazes me and very, very surprises me. And quite often you can see such situations that there is a guy in flip flops, shorts and a T-shirt, and next to him is a guy in a hat, down jacket, warm pants and some winter boots.

The fifth thing that can be very surprising to a Russian person in Israel is that, as a rule, a car in Israel is only a means of transportation. If in Russia, for example, a car is very often a means of prestige, and a person may not have an apartment, but, having accumulated a certain amount of money, buys a car for himself, then this will not happen in Israel. And very often you can come across such a situation that there is some very expensive mansion, a house in some very prestigious area of ​​Israel, and next to it there is a very, very simple car, some shaggy years. Sometimes you even come across very broken-down cars, in which the headlight is stuck with adhesive tape, the door, you already think, will fall off now. A person with an average income and a very, very rich person can drive one brand of car. You will never determine, either by car or by appearance, how much money a person has. And therefore, there are very few expensive cars in Israel, such as Mercedes, BMW. They, of course, occur, but if you look at the percentage of Russia, they are much smaller. And as for some very expensive sports cars, for example, Ferrari, Maserati, Bugatti, in the three years of my life in Israel, I have never seen such cars. Of course, I am sure that there are such cars in Israel, but I think that they can be counted on the fingers. Although everything here is conducive to the fact that if you have a lot of money, buy yourself such a car and enjoy driving on good roads, because in Israel, in fact, the roads are very good.

The sixth unusual fact that can surprise a Russian person is that there are a lot of stray cats and cats in Israel. This is due to the fact that cats live very, very well in Israel: they know that no one will touch them, they are fed, it’s warm here, it’s good, they sunbathe here in the sun and enjoy life. Of course, the state of Israel is trying to fight the breeding of cats, but somehow it doesn’t work out very well. The state catches cats, castrates them at its own expense and releases them back, but cats tend to multiply exponentially, of course, this method does not really work, so there are a lot of cats in Israel. By the way, a very interesting fact is that when a street cat or cat is castrated, a small piece of the ear is cut off to him or her so that people know whether this cat or cat is castrated or not.

On the eve of the celebration of the 67th anniversary of the Jewish state, we have collected 10 little-known facts from its difficult history.

1 El Al had flights to Tehran


Relations between Iran and Israel as a whole developed quite warmly until the Islamic revolution, as a result of which Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was overthrown in 1979. In 1950, Iran became the second Muslim country after Turkey to recognize Israel. Iran supplied Israel with oil during the OPEC oil embargo, and Israel sold weapons to it. At that time, there was active trade between the countries, civil aircraft regularly flew from the capital to the capital. A week after the removal of the Shah from power, Iran severed all ties with Israel, and an office of the Palestine Liberation Organization opened on the site of the Israeli embassy in Tehran. Today, even after 35 years of hostility, Iranians feel less negative towards Jews than other Muslim nations in the Middle East. In 2014, an international anti-Semitism poll by the Anti-Defamation League found that 56% of Iranians were anti-Jewish, compared to 80% of Moroccans and 93% of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip who were anti-Semitic. The 2014 documentary “Before the Revolution” tells about the relationship between Israel and Iran.

2. Descendants of the Nazis moved to Israel


At least 400 descendants of the Nazis converted to the Jewish faith and moved to Israel - the creators of the documentary released in 2013 are sure of this. Many former Nazis also became Jews or married Israelis, but do not live in Israel. For example, the great-niece of Heinrich Himmler, who married an Israeli Jew and now lives on another continent. In the early years of Israel's existence, there were heated discussions - to accept German reparations for the Holocaust or not (in the end, they were accepted). Yes, and Germany itself, like everything connected with it, for a long time remained an extremely acute controversial topic - from 1956 to 1967, films made in Germany were banned in Israel.

3. Ben Gurion invented a la couscous


Tiny flour balls of Israeli couscous - ptitim - appeared in the 50s. At that time, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion approached Osem, a food manufacturer, with a request to develop a local wheat product as an alternative to rice, which does not grow in the country and for which the country simply did not have the money in the face of austerity. Ptitim, which was called "Ben-Gurion's rice", immediately won the love of the population.

4. There was no television in Israel until the late 60s


This 1958 photo of a family sitting in front of a television could not have been taken in Israel because there was no television until 1966

The first Israeli television appeared in 1966 - primarily as an additional educational tool for schools. Regular public broadcasting began on Israel's Independence Day in 1968. For the next two decades, Israel had only one channel, and broadcasting was limited to a few hours a day. The second channel appeared in 1986, and cable television came to the country in 1990. Today, Israeli TV is a real source of inspiration for Hollywood. The series Homeland (Showtime), Patients (HBO), Your Family or Mine (TBS), Devotion (NBC), Tyrant and Boom (Showtime) are all remakes of Israeli projects.

5. Mother-in-law of Elizabeth II was buried in Jerusalem


Prince Philip's mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, was born in 1885. The girl was born with a diagnosis of deafness, however, she learned English and German in the language of the deaf and dumb and even married the Greek and Danish Prince Andrew. During the Nazi occupation of Greece, Alice hid a Jewish woman with children, for which Yad Vashem recognized her as one of the "Righteous Among the Nations" and the British government as a "Hero of the Holocaust." In 1967 she moved to London and settled in Buckingham Palace with her son and his wife, Queen Elizabeth II. Two years later, the princess died, and her body was placed in a tomb at Windsor Castle. In 1988, her remains were transferred to the monastery at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene on the Mount of Olives (Olive) - before her death, she expressed a desire to be buried there. One of the oldest cemeteries in operation today is located on this mountain.

6. Alaska Airlines flew thousands of Jewish Yemenis to Israel


After the victory of Israel in the war for independence in 1948, anti-Semitic riots broke out in Yemen, and local Jews decided to move en masse to historical lands. James Wooten, president of Alaska Airlines, was imbued with their difficult situation and gave the order to organize flights for returnees. From June 1949 to September 1950, as part of Alaska Airlines' covert Flying Carpet Operation, twin-engine C-46s and four-engine DC-4s made about 430 flights, transporting about 50,000 Jews from Yemen to Israel. The pilots had to overcome many difficulties: lack of fuel, sandstorms, shelling of the enemy, one of the planes even barely landed due to the loss of an engine. Despite all the difficulties of flights, all passengers were safely transported to Israel.

7 Golda Meir Was The World's Third Woman Prime Minister


Meir (née Meyerson) became Israel's prime minister in 1969. Prior to that, two women had already held such a high position in world history - Sirimavo Bandaranaike in Sri Lanka (1960-65) and Indira Gandhi (1966-77) in India. Meir was born in Kyiv, grew up in Milwaukee and, after her marriage, moved to Mandatory Palestine. She and her husband settled in a kibbutz, and Golda almost immediately began to be active in the Federation of Workers. Despite Meir's huge popularity among American Jews, her policies are still quite heavily criticized in Israel - primarily because of the obvious mistakes they made during the Yom Kippur War in 1973, when Meir decided not to launch a preemptive attack on Arab forces on the Israeli border with Syria.

And although the state investigative “Commission of Agranat” established that Meir was not directly responsible for what had happened, she left her post very soon. She was replaced in 1974 by Yitzhak Rabin, who held it until 1977. He was appointed Prime Minister again in 1992.

8. 1980 Israeli law requires all new homes to have solar water heaters


The law was adopted as a measure to combat the energy crisis of the late 70s - thanks to it, Israel became the first country in the world in terms of the use of solar energy per capita. According to official estimates, today 85% of homes use solar energy for water heating - this is 3% of electricity consumption in the entire country. But at the same time, today Israel is lagging behind other countries in the field of using solar energy for other purposes, and more and more developers and homeowners are using loopholes in the law to get around the need to install just such a boiler system.

9 Jerusalem's Mount Scopus Isn't Actually Part Of The West Bank


Despite the fact that Mount Scopus is located in eastern Jerusalem, where the Hebrew University campus and the Hadassah Medical Center stand, it has been Israeli since the founding of the state. After the end of the war for independence in 1949, the hill was controlled by Israeli troops, although it was located in Jordanian east Jerusalem. Every two weeks, under the protection of the United Nations, Israel moved troops and supplies to the enclave. The convoy often came under fire from Arab forces, and in 1958 it was attacked, in which 4 Israeli soldiers and one UN military were killed. Mount Scopus became part of the Jewish territory of Jerusalem as a result of the Six Day War in 1967.

10. Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel.


Einstein received this offer from David Ben-Gurion in November 1952, a few days after the death of Israel's first president, Chaim Weizmann. Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Ebman wrote to the genius scholar that the prime minister's proposal was "a gesture of the greatest respect that only the Jewish people can have for any of their sons." Enshtyen replied that he was "deeply moved by the offer of the State of Israel, but with regret and regret I must reject it." Einstein did not accept the post, but he did not stop worrying about the country. “My connection with the Jewish people has become my strongest human connection since I began to fully understand our precarious position among the peoples of the world,” he admitted. It is noteworthy that Ben-Gurion officially denied press reports that it was he who offered Einstein such a post. Three years later, the scientist died.

... An ancient land where the concentration of the mysterious and amazing just rolls over. And among this mysterious, touching and amazing, we have chosen the 10 most interesting facts. Enjoy!
1 Subway branch

The world's smallest metro line is located in Haifa. Its length is only 1.8 km, which accounts for as many as 4 stops. Milota!

2 Walk across the country

In Israel, this is easy, because it can be crossed on foot in 2 hours, if you go across (from east to west). But from north to south you would have to go about 9 days.

3

Israel's coastline is one of the smallest in the world (of course, among the powers that have it at all) - only 273 kilometers. And, nevertheless, the country has as many as 4 seas - the Red, Dead, Mediterranean and Galilee.

4 Weird Democracy

The Israeli state system was created on the principle of democracy. However, it is one of three countries in the world that does not have a constitution.

5 Watch out, jellyfish, I'm coming!

The Israelis were the first in the world to invent a "repellant" from jellyfish.

6

During excavations in Israel, a vessel with two thousand years old seeds was found. They were planted in the ground, and a palm tree grew, which became extinct almost 1800 years ago.

7 Honorary post

The post of President of Israel was once offered not to anyone, but to Albert Einstein. However, the scientist politely refused.

8 To treat or not to treat?

The Jerusalem Syndrome, in which people believe that a Divine gift has descended on them, occurs precisely in Jerusalem. Pilgrims stricken with illness change into togas, which are often made from sheets, read sermons and arrange processions in this form to the holy places of the city. He is being treated inpatient.

9 This is our everything!

In Israel, you can buy hummus flavored ice cream.

10 You won't believe it, but...

All Jews aged 18 to 26 are eligible for a free 10-day trip to Israel.

Officially, there are 26 Muslim states in the world, and 18 Christian ones, but there is only one Jewish state.

Israel is the only country that has revived a sacred language.

In Israel, there is no constitution and no declared state boundaries.

In addition to Jews, representatives of about 70 other nationalities live in Israel.

Unlike most peoples of the world, Jewish nationality is determined not by the father, but by the mother. Kabbalah explains this by the fact that the soul of a Jewish woman at the moment of conception "attracts" the Jewish soul. The "Law of Return" of the State of Israel currently states: "A Jew is one who is born of a Jewish mother and has not converted to another religion, as well as a person who converted to Judaism."

Israel ranks 8th in the world in terms of life expectancy - an average of 81.5 years. This is more than in the UK, USA and Germany.

Israelis are considered to be one of the most optimistic people in the world today, and people who are satisfied with their lives.

Scientists analyzed Wikipedia in 10 languages, including English, Spanish, Czech and Arabic (based on data from 2010). The first of the most controversial topics was Israel!

The most common Jewish surnames in Israel are: Kohen (Kogan), Levi, Mizrahi, Peretz, Biton, Dahan.

The oldest city in Israel is Jericho (Jericho). At the same time, Jericho is the oldest excavated city in the world, it has about 10 thousand years of almost continuous settlement. In addition, it is the world's lowest city, which is more than 350 m below sea level.

An interesting fact: the week in Israel begins on Sunday (therefore, the popular expression “Monday is a hard day” is invalid in Israel). And on Saturday (Shabbat) everything dies out (almost). According to Jewish customs, the day begins in the evening, so the weekend is practically 1.5 days: from mid-Friday (since Friday is a short working day) until Saturday evening 🙂

It is believed that the three main holidays of the Jewish people - Pesach (in Russian Easter), Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) and Shavuot (Feast of the giving of the Torah) - are dedicated to the same theme of getting out of slavery and gaining freedom.

Tu B'Av is a day of joy and love, in modern Israel this holiday is celebrated as Valentine's Day.

anemone blossomsThe Israeli spring starts early: already in February, anemones (Anemone coronaria) bloom in the Negev, covering all visible space with a bright scarlet carpet. This flower, like from the fairy tale "The Scarlet Flower", is one of the most common types of wildflowers in Israel, and according to the Nature Protection Agency, the most beloved by Israelis.

The area of ​​forests in Israel is increasing every year. Israel is the only country that has welcomed the 21st century with a record growth in green space, mostly in desert areas.

Through the skies of Israel passes the "route" of 500 million migratory birds (from Europe and Asia to Africa and back).

Israel ranked 2nd in space exploration. This is one of the 8 powers in the world that launch their own satellites into space.

Israeli research institutes are recognized as the third in the world.

Almost everyone knows that Israeli medicine is one of the best in the world.

Israel is the leader in the number of patents for medical devices.

Israel ranks 1st in the world in such a specific but important indicator as the survival rate of cancer patients.

People in Israel will always come to the rescue in case of trouble.

Israel has the world's highest percentage of college-educated people, scientists, and registered patents per capita. There are more award winners in Israel than in China, Mexico or Spain.

Since the founding of the state, Israel has received more Nobel Prizes per capita than any other country.

In 2013, Israel ranked 2nd (after South Korea) among 60 states in the field of science and technology according to the "global dynamic index" of the international expert network Grant Thornton.

It is noteworthy that in just 10 years - from 2003 to 2013 - Israeli GDP per capita increased from $15,600 to $38,310 - 2.5 times!

Israel attracts more investment per capita than any other country. 30 times more than in Europe.

There are many museums in Israel. In terms of the number of museums per capita, Israel is the first in the world.

If you are in Jerusalem, take the time to stroll through the quiet streets of the German Settlement (Moshav germanite) and look into the Museum of Nature (which is usually not included in the tour package to explore the Israeli capital) with its interesting exhibits and unique history. You will be able to get to know and feel the country better.

In Israel, you can easily meet a girl in sandals and a fur coat, or, conversely, in short shorts and a T-shirt, but in fur boots.

More than 90% of Israeli homes use solar energy for water heating - more than anywhere else in the world.

The first antivirus was developed in 1998 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem by three computer scientists after a virus infected the university's computers. The antivirus consisted of 2 parts - “immunity”, which informed users that the computer was infected, and an-virus, which provided a “cure” for infected computers.

Interesting fact: the @ sign is called “strudel” in Israel.

The ICQ instant messaging technology was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis.

The Pentium-4 and Centrino microprocessors were completely designed, constructed and first produced in Israel.

The flash drive (Disk-on-key) is an Israeli invention! The first commercial product was released by the Israeli company M-Systems in 2000 and had a size of 1 mb. The invention was an instant commercial success.

The Quicktionary is a pen-scanner with a built-in dictionary, invented in Israel. With this tool, you can scan a word or phrase and get an instant translation into another language, or store it in the tool's memory for later transfer to a PC.

The cell phone was developed by the Israelis at the Israeli branch of Motorola, the very research center of Israel.

Babylon is a multilingual translator program that, using OSR (optical character recognition) technologies on a certain area of ​​the monitor, allows you to get a text translation from any source with one click of the mouse, developed by Amnon Ovadia in 1995.

It is interesting to note that no other country in the world is addicted to social networks as much as Israel.

Hebrew alphabetHebrew (the official language of Israel) is a simple and very logical language. It uses the Hebrew alphabet, consisting of 22 letters, which are written in a special "square script". You just need to get used to Hebrew, especially to the fact that there are no vowels in the alphabet and that it is written from right to left.
/ And here is Russian folklore: “I live in a hole, I swim in a hole,” which means: “I live in an apartment, I swim in the sea.” Apartment in Hebrew - dira, sea - yam 🙂

There are about 8 million Hebrew speakers in the world.

An interesting fact is that in Hebrew, as well as in English, there is no familiar appeal “on you”.

One of Israel's most famous writers, Aharon Appelfeld, purchased his first book in Hebrew at only 25 and read it with a dictionary.

The word "stork" from Hebrew ("Hasid") - literally translated as "piety".

“Do not live in a city where you do not hear the barking of dogs,” says the Talmud, one of the most important books in the Jewish tradition.

Tanakh - Book of books. On Israel's Independence Day, the traditional International Tanakh Olympiad is held.

Israel prohibits same-sex marriage, but such marriages performed abroad are recognized by the Israeli Supreme Court.

The Menorah is the menorah, the oldest symbol of Israel.

Mezuzah is a parchment scroll with a prayer. It is attached to the jamb of the front door to protect the house from evil forces.

IDF - Israel Defense Forces - a special pride of all Israelis. To serve in the IDF is in fact an honorable duty of every citizen. The entire future fate of a person (as a rule) depends on service in the Army.

Israel has the highest (after Sweden) taxes.

Almost every city in Israel has a street named after Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (translated into Russian as “son of Judah”), the father of modern Hebrew.

A popular street name in Israel is Olive Street. There are about 124 of them in Israel.

In the north of Israel, olive trees have been preserved that are the same age as the Roman Empire - they are 2000 years old.

In Israel, there are about 100 ancient synagogues (II-VI century AD) and about 100 medieval castles.

In Israel, the Valley of Armageddon is located at the foot of the Tel Megiddo hill.

Tel Aviv is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the thousands of buildings in the unique BAUHAUS style (mid-1930s style).

Mini Israel Park, halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, a quarter of an hour's drive from Ben Gurion International Airport, features mock-ups of 380 Israeli sights. There you can feel like Gulliver among the colorful Israeli models of courtyards, embankments, mosques, fortresses.

Trains in Israel are 2-story.

Interestingly, the adhesive on Israeli postage stamps is kosher.

The most popular sports in Israel are football, basketball, chess.

The Jews call the ladybug Moses' cow.

The Dead Sea is only in Israel called the “Salt Sea” (translated from Hebrew “yam-ha-melah” means “salty sea”). This salty drainless lake is the best suited for medical tourists. It is good to learn to swim here - dense water itself holds the body. The healing properties of water and mud of the Dead Sea, saturated with minerals, are widely known. Its vapors saturate the environment with useful salts and create a kind of dome that absorbs harmful ultraviolet rays, so you can safely sunbathe. But it’s better not to taste the water from the Dead Sea, because. the human body does not perceive it in this form at all.
In Hamei Ein Gedi hot springs of hydrogen sulfide beat. You can visit the Ahava factory, where excellent cosmetics are made using local natural ingredients.

I have been living in Israel for several years, and now I have a desire to introduce you to this amazing country. I'll start with a review of simple facts. From them it is already clear how this country differs from others.))

1. The working week in Israel starts on Sunday. Many also work half day on Friday.
2. Shops, malls and other establishments close after lunch on Friday until after Shabbat (Saturday evening). Stops walking and transport. So, it is advisable to stock up on groceries in advance.
3. In Israel, there is no change of seasons familiar to most people. For example, I miss the multi-colored autumn foliage, the snow before the new year. Although this is not about precipitation, but about the mood that every season brings. Here it is warm all year round, which certainly pleases. The best time for a beach holiday is May-June and September-October. August is very hot. In winter, it rains heavily for several days, and sometimes even snow falls in the north. Then the Israelis go in droves to look at this miracle and play snowballs with the children.
4. In Israel, there is no central heating, and the floors in the apartments are tiled. All because of the almost year-round heat. The problem is that the house is very cold in winter. However, it can be hot outside during the day. We literally go for walks more often to warm up.)) In addition, there is no hot water - it is heated only from solar boilers.
5. There are three seas in Israel: the Mediterranean - along the western coast of the country, the Red - in the south in Eilat and the Dead - a famous health resort.
6. - the lowest point in the world. Due to the high concentration of salt on it, it is easy to stay afloat, but you will not be able to swim in the standard way. In addition, do not stay in it for more than 10 minutes. On the shore there is a whole tourist town with hotels and spas.
7. Eilat is a famous Israeli resort in the south of the country, located on the Red Sea on the border with Egypt. As a tourist, you can go diving here and watch the underwater world of colorful fish and corals. Also from Eilat there are excursions to the city of Petra (Jordan), which is one of the new wonders of the world.
8. - the largest lake in the country, the lowest on the planet, a place of natural "forays", and until recently the only source of fresh water in Israel. Now the country has already developed its own seawater desalination system, but local residents are still economical about its use.

Favorite photo: Dead Sea coast and infinity. Yes, yes, on the left - salt!
This is what swimming in the Dead Sea looks like.))
On the shores of Lake Kinneret (Sea of ​​Galilee).

1. Israel does not celebrate a standard new year. It has its own holiday - Rosh Hashanah, which begins on different dates every year according to the Jewish calendar. Usually it is September-October.
2. There are a lot of holidays and weekends in Israel. This year, almost the whole of October consisted of non-working days: starting from Rosh Hashanah and ending with Sukkot. During Catholic Christmas this year there will be Purim in the spring, when everyone puts on carnival costumes, and then, almost at the same time as the celebration of Orthodox Easter.
3. On Yom Kippur (Judgment Day) in Israel, all roads are blocked, transport stops running. The whole day you can freely roller-skate, bike and just walk along any streets of the country.

1. Despite the fact that half the country remains, Israel has a huge number of parks, trees, flowers. Everything is planted by human hands, and a water supply system is connected to each bush. Also in the center there is a chic park of rare plants and orchids.
2. Israel's currency is the new shekel (there used to be Israeli lira).
3. The official capital of Israel is not Tel Aviv, as many believe, but Jerusalem. Although the first is certainly the cultural, economic and tourist center of the country.

View of Tel Aviv from old Jaffa.
Viewpoint in Jerusalem.

1. Israel has 2 official languages ​​- and Arabic. However, many locals speak English well. revived from a language that was considered bookish for several centuries.
2. Israel is a country where more start-ups are opening than anywhere else in the world, as well as a huge number of entrepreneurs.
3. One of the oldest Israeli universities, the Technion, is located in Haifa. It occupies the highest rankings among technical universities in the world.
4. Any person with Jewish roots from 18 to 26 years old is entitled to a free 10-day trip to Israel to get to know the country, culture, and traditions.
5. Haifa is one of Israel's most important cities on the Mediterranean coast. The city is located on Mount Carmel and is famous for its seaport.
6. The smallest subway in the world, 2 kilometers long, is also located in Haifa. Its name is "Carmelite". These are 6 stations and a train of 4 cars that pass through a mountain tunnel by cable car. Thus, from the lower city you can get to the top in just 10 minutes.
7. Since many Christians live in Haifa, before Christmas and New Year, a Christmas tree and a menorah (a symbol of the Jewish holiday Hanukkah) are placed on the main square of the city, and the street is decorated with garlands and decorations. We even have a tradition - to walk here every year on December 31st. You feel like you are in pre-holiday Europe!

View of Mount Carmel and the Mediterranean Sea in Haifa.
Walk through the Bahai Gardens in Haifa.
View of the seaport and the lower city in Haifa.

1. Israel has one of the longest life expectancies at 82 years.
2. In Israel, not only men, but also women are liable for military service.
3. Israeli cuisine is something special! Falafel, hummus, pita, sesame, olive oil, Hanukkah sufganieh donuts... If you order breakfast or dinner in a cafe, you will be served a huge portion, and even with extra goodies.