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History and background of Israel

The modern state of Israel is the result of campaigns that began in the nineteenth century. After the First World War, the British felt the need to honor the contribution of the Jews by establishing Palestine as their home. This made the Jews have hope in establishing their nation. This hope attracted many Jews from all over the world especially in the wake of Nazi persecution of Jews. The large numbers of Jews in Palestine raised fears among the Arabs, which led to the war between Arabs and Jews. Britain stopped the migration of the Jews as an attempt to solve the war. The Jews were not happy with this and had to seek help from the Americans. America and the British formed a committee that concluded that it was not possible for Palestine to host Arabs and Jews together (The American Schools of Oriental Research 45). The U.N. intervened, and its intervention led to the creation of a new state of Israel, which led to the Arab-Israeli war.

Ethnic and religious groups in Israel

Israel houses a number of ethnic and religious groups. Majority of the inhabitants of Israel are the Jews who comprise of 80% of the population. The other population consists of Arabs. However, Israel has some additional ethnic groups like the Samaritans. Religious groups divide the Jews into two main groups. There are those that are religious and others that are secular. The same case applies to the Arabs. There are a number of religious groups in which the Arabs divide themselves. Some of the religious groups of the Arabs include the Moslems, Druze and Christians (The American Schools of Oriental Research 44). Therefore, the state of Israel is a diverse one due to the number of ethnic and religious groupings.

Work Cited

The American Schools of Oriental Research. “State Formation in Israel and Judah: A Contrast in Context, a Contrast in Trajectory.” Near Eastern Archaeology 62.1 (2009): 35-52.