Talk:Israel

view · edit Frequently asked questions Q1: Why is Jerusalem listed as Israel's capital in the infobox? A1: Israel declares Jerusalem to be its capital, and has its seat of government there. However, the lack of international recognition is notable, hence the subtext was added "(limited recognition)" as the result of a 2018 request for comment (RfC). For further information see Status of Jerusalem. Q2: Why does the article's introduction state that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, even though this is heavily contested and neither the ICJ nor the ICC have issued a final judgment? A2: The text Following the October 7 attacks in 2023, Israel began committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza was added following a November 2025 request for comment (RfC), which concluded that Israel should be described in the introduction as committing genocide without in-text attribution. For further information see Gaza genocide and another relevant RfC which was previously held there.

This article is written in British English, which has its own spelling conventions (colour, travelled, centre, defence, artefact, analyse) and some terms may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

	Israel is a former featured article. Please see the links under Article milestones below for its original nomination page (for older articles, check the nomination archive) and why it was removed.
	This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on May 8, 2008.
Article milestones Date Process Result February 16, 2007 Good article nominee Not listed May 25, 2007 Good article nominee Listed September 4, 2007 Peer review Reviewed September 30, 2007 Featured article candidate Promoted June 23, 2010 Featured article review Demoted April 20, 2012 Peer review Reviewed Current status: Former featured article

This  level-3 vital article is rated B-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to multiple WikiProjects.

Israel Top‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Israel, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Israel on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.IsraelWikipedia:WikiProject IsraelTemplate:WikiProject IsraelIsrael-related Top This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale. Project Israel To Do: edit history watch purge Here are some tasks awaiting attention: Assess : Rate the Unassessed Israel-related articles and Unknown-importance Israel-related articles. Cleanup : Cleanup listing for this project is available. See also the list by category and the tool's wiki page. Collaborate : Participate in WikiProject Israel Palestine Collaboration. Copyedit : Timeline of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2005 Deletion sorting : Participate in discussions at WikiProject Deletion sorting/Israel. Expand : Ayala Procaccia, Diamond industry in Israel, Edna Arbel, Levin Kipnis, Rami Kleinstein, Sephardic Haredim, Zman Tel Aviv, Nachum Heiman, Public Defence (Israel), Prisoner of Zion, Trial of Benjamin Netanyahu, Day to Mark the Departure and Expulsion of Jews from the Arab Countries and Iran, Pre-Modern Aliyah See also Articles needing translation from Hebrew Wikipedia. Geographical coordinates : Add geographic coordinates to Israel articles missing geocoordinate data. Infobox : Add infoboxes to Israel articles needing infoboxes. Maintain : See Israel articles needing attention. Map : See discussion at Module:Location map/data/Israel. Add maps to articles in Wikipedia requested maps in Israel. NPOV : Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries Photo : Add pictures to articles in Wikipedia requested photographs in Israel. Stubs : See Israel stubs. Update : Basic Law proposal: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People Other : Translate to Hebrew : David Bar-Hayim, Guy Bavli, and Guy Oseary. Kings of Judah Trail – archaeological trail for tourists in Jerusalem and nearby places; unofficial name Jewish history Top‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Jewish history, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Jewish history on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Jewish historyWikipedia:WikiProject Jewish historyTemplate:WikiProject Jewish historyJewish history-related Top This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale. Palestine Top‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Palestine, a team effort dedicated to building and maintaining comprehensive, informative and balanced articles related to the geographic Palestine region, the Palestinian people and the State of Palestine on Wikipedia. Join us by visiting the project page, where you can add your name to the list of members where you can contribute to the discussions.PalestineWikipedia:WikiProject PalestineTemplate:WikiProject PalestinePalestine-related Top This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale. Judaism Top‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Judaism, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Judaism-related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.JudaismWikipedia:WikiProject JudaismTemplate:WikiProject JudaismJudaism Top This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale. Countries This article is within the scope of WikiProject Countries, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of countries on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.CountriesWikipedia:WikiProject CountriesTemplate:WikiProject Countriescountry WikiProject Countries to-do list: edit history watch purge Here are some tasks awaiting attention: Article requests : Check out the article alerts; see if anything catches your fancy. Cleanup : clean-up listing for Countries Stubs : de-stub articles in Category:Stubs by region. Other : add {{WPCountries}} to talk pages of related articles, and assess. Asia Top‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Asia, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Asia on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.AsiaWikipedia:WikiProject AsiaTemplate:WikiProject AsiaAsia Top This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale. Western Asia (inactive) This article is within the scope of WikiProject Western Asia, a project which is currently considered to be inactive.Western AsiaWikipedia:WikiProject Western AsiaTemplate:WikiProject Western AsiaWestern Asia Israel Palestine Collaboration This article is within the scope of WikiProject Israel Palestine Collaboration, a collaborative, bipartisan effort to improve Wikipedia's coverage of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. For guidelines and a participants list, see the project page. See also {{Palestine-Israel enforcement}}, the ArbCom-authorized discretionary sanctions, the log of blocks and bans, and Working group on ethnic and cultural edit wars. You can discuss this project at its talk page.Israel Palestine CollaborationWikipedia:WikiProject Israel Palestine CollaborationTemplate:WikiProject Israel Palestine CollaborationIsrael Palestine Collaboration

This article has been mentioned by multiple media organizations: Shabi, Rachel; Kiss, Jemima (18 August 2010). "Wikipedia editing courses launched by Zionist groups". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 December 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) "Topics that spark Wikipedia 'edit wars' revealed". BBC News. 18 July 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2013. Omer Benjakob (December 7, 2017). "After Trump Move, Jerusalem Battle Now Plays Out on Wikipedia". Haaretz. The main Wikipedia article for Israel presently lists Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Aaron Bandler (December 18, 2025). "In new change, main Wikipedia 'Israel' entry says Jewish state committing 'genocide'". Jewish News Syndicate. Retrieved December 19, 2025. As of Dec. 11, Wikipedia states as a matter of fact, just some 425 words into its main page on Israel, that "following the Oct. 7 attacks in 2023, Israel began committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza." Mathilda Heller (December 21, 2025). "Wikipedia's Israel page now unequivocally states Jewish state is 'committing genocide'". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved December 23, 2025. The edit was made on December 11 and has not been reversed despite extensive discussion between editors. The section appears at the end of the third paragraph in the top section of the page.

	Archives: Index 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113
	Subpages: Israel and the Occupied Territories discussion: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; Talk:Jerusalem/capital
	This page has archives. Topics inactive for 60 days are automatically archived by Lowercase sigmabot III.

You are an administrator, so you may disregard the message below You are seeing this because of the limitations of {{If extended confirmed}} and {{If admin}} You can hide this message box by adding the following to a new line of your common.css page: .ECR-edit-request-warning { display: none; } Stop: You may only use this page to create an edit request This article is related to the Arab–Israeli conflict, which is subject to the extended-confirmed restriction. You are not an extended-confirmed user, so you must not edit or discuss this topic anywhere on Wikipedia except to make an edit request. (Additional details are in the message box just below this one.)

Warning: active arbitration remedies The contentious topics procedure applies to this article. This article relates to the Arab–Israeli conflict. The following restrictions apply to everyone editing this article: All participants in formal discussions (RfCs, RMs, etc) within the area of conflict are urged to keep their comments concise, and are limited to 1,000 words per discussion, excepting citations and quotations. You must be logged-in and extended-confirmed to edit or discuss this topic on any page, except for making constructive edit requests. You may not make more than 1 revert within 24 hours (except in limited circumstances). Editors who repeatedly or seriously fail to adhere to the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standards of behaviour, or any normal editorial process may be blocked or restricted by an administrator.

This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Readerships and mentions

This article has been viewed enough times in a single year to make it into the Top 50 Report annual list. This happened in 2023, when it received 13,344,140 views. This article has been viewed enough times in a single week to appear in the Top 25 Report 14 times. The weeks in which this happened: July 13 to 19, 2014 July 20 to 26, 2014 July 27 to August 2, 2014 August 3 to 9, 2014 July 2 to 8, 2017 December 3 to 9, 2017 May 9 to 15, 2021 May 16 to 22, 2021 October 8 to 14, 2023 October 15 to 21, 2023 October 22 to 28, 2023 October 29 to November 4, 2023 November 5 to 11, 2023 June 15 to 21, 2025 Section sizes Section size for Israel (52 sections) Section name Byte count Prose size (words) Header Total Header Total (Top) 42,256 42,256 482 482 Etymology 7,003 7,003 173 173 History 133 151,404 0 5,259 Prehistory 2,603 2,603 65 65 Bronze and Iron Ages 11,631 11,631 365 365 Classical antiquity 12,325 12,325 162 162 Late antiquity and the medieval period 10,783 10,783 278 278 Modern period and the emergence of Zionism 13,160 13,160 673 673 British Mandate for Palestine 23,563 23,563 1,045 1,045 Independence and early years 9,883 9,883 513 513 Arab–Israeli conflict 18,162 18,162 647 647 Peace process 14,268 14,268 778 778 21st century 34,893 34,893 733 733 Geography 8,954 18,033 382 853 Tectonics and seismicity 3,278 3,278 199 199 Climate 5,801 5,801 272 272 Government and politics 11,023 95,928 333 3,624 Administrative divisions 4,045 4,045 78 78 Israeli citizenship law 1,620 1,620 72 72 Israeli-occupied territories 15,543 41,350 698 1,477 International opinion 14,695 14,695 415 415 Accusations of apartheid 11,112 11,112 364 364 Foreign relations 15,148 21,370 588 798 Foreign aid 6,222 6,222 210 210 Military 12,367 12,367 568 568 Legal system 4,153 4,153 298 298 Economy 9,465 34,011 430 1,383 Science and technology 14,784 14,784 507 507 Energy 3,109 3,109 127 127 Transport 3,501 3,501 178 178 Tourism 1,235 1,235 57 57 Real estate 1,917 1,917 84 84 Demographics 14,944 39,713 573 1,791 Major urban areas 2,716 2,716 134 134 Language 6,911 6,911 310 310 Religion 6,988 6,988 405 405 Education 8,154 8,154 369 369 Culture 2,596 30,958 83 1,511 Literature 2,241 2,241 110 110 Music and dance 3,065 3,065 115 115 Cinema and theatre 1,609 1,609 88 88 Visual arts 3,755 3,755 180 180 Architecture 2,909 2,909 137 137 Museums 2,822 2,822 139 139 Mass media 3,875 3,875 161 161 Cuisine 3,229 3,229 177 177 Sports 4,857 4,857 321 321 See also 38 38 0 0 Notes 45 45 0 0 References 28 13,830 0 0 Sources 13,802 13,802 0 0 External links 1,774 1,774 0 0 Total 434,993 434,993 15,076 15,076

These questions arise frequently on the talk page concerning Israel.

Why is Jerusalem listed as Israel's capital in the infobox?

Israel declares Jerusalem to be its capital, and has its seat of government there. However, the lack of international recognition is notable, hence the subtext was added "(limited recognition)" as the result of a 2018 request for comment (RfC). For further information see Status of Jerusalem.

Why does the article's introduction state that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, even though this is heavily contested and neither the ICJ nor the ICC have issued a final judgment?

The text Following the October 7 attacks in 2023, Israel began committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza was added following a November 2025 request for comment (RfC), which concluded that Israel should be described in the introduction as committing genocide without in-text attribution. For further information see Gaza genocide and another relevant RfC which was previously held there.

This section is permanently on this talk page and does not get archived. It is for mobile-device users for whom the normal talk page header and FAQ are not shown.

Since the start of the 2026 Lebanon war, Israel has maintained an indefinite illegal occupation of Lebanon. This is widely reported by sources:

• In his report, the Secretary-General notes that the IDF’s presence north of the Blue Line is a violation of Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as of resolution 1701, and undermines the efforts of the Lebanese authorities to extend state authority throughout its territory.
• He also calls on Israel to withdraw completely from north of the Blue Line, in full respect for Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity.
• In short, Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon is illegal even on the assumption that Israel’s right of self-defense is engaged by Hezbollah’s strikes. Even on that assumption, Israel’s military campaign would still violate the necessity requirement internal to the right of self-defense and would be illegal on that basis.

Separately Israel's actions are also regarded as illegal:

• “The orders issued to the inhabitants of South Lebanon and southern Beirut to leave their homes are blatantly illegal,” the experts said.

This should be added to the article, alongside the other already-included illegal Israeli occupations. JasonMacker (talk) 13:56, 27 April 2026 (UTC)[reply]

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Issrael is not country in West Africa, that doesnt make any sense. Everyone knows that Israel is country in the Middle East. Please let me change that, or get it changed. Thank you! ~2026-26471-74 (talk) 16:05, 1 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Is West Africa even mentioned in this article? IOHANNVSVERVS (talk) 16:09, 1 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Israel is in the western part of Asia. Being in the Middle East doesn't change that. It's in both. Grilledcheeseisgreat ^✉ 16:22, 1 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Wait, West Africa? I'll check that. I thought you said it was West Asia, whoops. Grilledcheeseisgreat ^✉ 16:25, 1 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

And... it never said West Africa after all. It did say West Asia, which is why I was confused. So, what exactly are you trying to say? Grilledcheeseisgreat ^✉ 16:26, 1 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done: Both unclear what exactly should be changed and what should be changed from is not mentioned in the article currently. Skynxnex (talk) 17:12, 1 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I think they might be talking about the Uganda plan, which never actually came to be! ~2026-31257-53 (talk) 01:46, 26 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

? Grilledcheeseisgreat ^✉ 20:21, 27 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@~2026-26471-74 I agree that it sould say Middle East. It says West Asia right now on June 7 2026 Mm4902 (talk) 20:56, 7 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]

on second thought, the other countries say west asia so it should stay the same for consistency. I'm not sure if a geographer would say "west asia" rather than "middle east". Mm4902 (talk) 21:03, 7 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Middle East is a rather vague term, referring to various regions ranging from the Balkans to Afghanistan, depending on who used the expression and when. The Europe–Asia boundary is fairly arbitrary, but I think it has more general agreement at least.—Odysseus1479 21:17, 7 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]

The redirect State Of israel has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2026 May 10 § State Of israel until a consensus is reached. 𝔅𝔦𝔰-𝔖𝔢𝔯𝔧𝔢𝔱𝔞? 20:44, 10 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

The redirect Israeli (nation) has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2026 May 10 § Israeli (nation) until a consensus is reached. 𝔅𝔦𝔰-𝔖𝔢𝔯𝔧𝔢𝔱𝔞? 20:48, 10 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Under === Peace process ===, please change "The PLO also recognised Israel's right to exist and pledged an end to terrorism.^[1]" to "The PLO also recognised Israel's right to exist and pledged an end to terrorism.^[1]". With the "s" in "Organisation" to be replaced with a "z" for "Organization". So it can properly link to the page for the Israel–Palestine Liberation Organization letters of recognition. PenguAlex (talk) 21:31, 30 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

 Done Day Creature (talk) 21:53, 30 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

I wanted to edit this because the largest city is Tel Aviv in realty Spencer.m.Roeder (talk) 01:55, 6 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want made. CMD (talk) 02:23, 6 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

The information about Israel committing genocide is very biased and completely not factual. Sources: https://www.ajc.org/news/israel-is-not-committing-genocide https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2025/09/11/uk-government-rejects-determination-of-israeli-genocide-in-gaza/ Israel has only retaliated to the attacks of October 7th since the Palestinians kept people hostage, it is not about elimination of the Palestinians, it is about elimination of the terrorist organization, Hamas. ~2026-33696-95 (talk) 22:39, 6 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done: This would require a discussion you cannot participate in. SuperPianoMan9167 (talk) 23:12, 6 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Please see the FAQ at the top. 331dot (talk) 01:16, 7 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Israel has occupied Southern Lebanon, this is widely reporting and needs to be included in the article, along with updating the map to invoice this occupation. ~2026-34153-27 (talk) 05:52, 10 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Adding a link to Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon (2026) in the body somewhere might work, but the map is separate from this article. Consider requesting at c:File talk:Israel (centered orthographic projection).svg. SuperPianoMan9167 (talk) 18:53, 10 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I've seen this done for articles like Joseph Stalin and Japan. If there is more than one native name, you remove all the native names altogether, or, if, in Japan's case, there is more than one recognized language by law, just include the native name in the official language of the country. In Israel's case, that is Hebrew, isn't it? Arabic only has a special status. UltraCobson (talk) 01:47, 14 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Arabic was changed from an official language to a special status language in 2017 though legally its use remained the same. See Arabic language in Israel. Your proposed change is likely to be controversial so should be properly discussed here first. Erp (talk) 02:23, 14 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Replace the current paragraph (beginning with "Israel declared independence as the British Mandate ended..." and ending with the sentence "Israel and its allies, including the United States, deny that Israel's actions constitute genocide.") with the following more neutral version:

Israel declared independence as the British Mandate ended on 14 May 1948, followed by an invasion by several Arab states. The 1949 armistice agreements left Israel in control of territory beyond the area allocated in the 1947 UN Partition Plan, while no Arab state was established in the remaining territory; the Gaza Strip came under Egyptian control and the West Bank was annexed by Jordan. Most Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled during the Nakba, while the creation of Israel and the war triggered a wave of antisemitism in the Arab world and the Jewish exodus from the Muslim world, with the majority of those Jews resettling in Israel.

After the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Egyptian Sinai, and Syrian Golan Heights, and later annexed East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. Peace treaties were signed with Egypt in 1979 (with the Sinai returned in 1982) and Jordan in 1994. The 1993 Oslo Accords led to limited Palestinian self-rule in parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The 2020 Abraham Accords normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states, but the Israeli–Palestinian conflict remains unresolved.

Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories has drawn sustained international criticism and legal scrutiny. Some UN experts, human rights organizations, and governments have accused Israel of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and (in relation to the Gaza war) acts of genocide. Israel and its allies reject these accusations, maintaining that its operations constitute lawful self-defense against Hamas and other designated terrorist groups following the October 7, 2023 attacks, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage. A case filed by South Africa alleging violations of the Genocide Convention is pending before the International Court of Justice, with no final judgment on the merits issued as of 2026.

This change attributes controversial claims to their sources rather than stating them in Wikipedia's voice, provides necessary historical context for the October 7 attacks, and reflects the current status of the ICJ case, in line with the neutral point of view policy. Emiliolsp (talk) 00:24, 16 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done: This would require a discussion you cannot participate in. Also, please read Talk:Israel/FAQ answer #2. SuperPianoMan9167 (talk) 00:56, 16 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Change the redirect in the name of istael to the Hebrew language from Hebrew Language to Modern Hebrew. Draecho (talk) 18:27, 24 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done: No reason was given for the proposed change, and I don't see an issue with linking to the main article for the Hebrew language there. Day Creature (talk) 04:37, 25 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Reason: The Hebrew Language page is more of a summary of the entire Hebrew Language (including the extinct versions), while the Modern Hebrew page gives details on the language spoken, which is what is being referred to. Compare Greek Language to Modern Greek. Draecho (talk) 13:00, 25 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]