Israel

The history of the Israeli educational system reflects a consistent need to address diversity of population, conflicting points of view, and varying needs, while adhering to essential principles of excellence in curriculum and student development. The State of Israel was founded on May 15, 1948, under the auspices of the United Nations, ending a long period of British Mandate. During the past half century, Israel has fought a number of wars with neighboring countries.

Immigrants have reshaped Israeli society and its educational needs and system. Although Jews have been in Israel for centuries, settlement of the modern state has occurred through six major waves of immigration. The first of these in the late nineteenth century included mostly Jews from eastern Europe, followed by a largely Russian group who went to Israel following the 1905 Russian Revolution, and the pogroms in Russia. These immigrants were particularly interested in establishing a collective and collaborative society, thus, they were the force behind the formation of kibbutzim, or collective settlements.

The first third of the twentieth century also brought additional Jews from Europe, particularly following World War I, as antisemitism there escalated. This immigration was supported by Britain's Balfour Declaration in 1917, which committed Britain to help create a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Britain received a mandate from the League of Nations in 1923 to govern Palestine, further enhancing immigration. However, Arab residents of the area resisted the growing immigration pattern and the British then attempted to limit the numbers of immigrants.

Large numbers of German Jews arrived in Israel in the period immediately preceding World War II, as many sought to escape the Nazi regime and its persecution of Jews. These immigrants were generally wealthier than most of those who moved to Israel before them, and so brought capital, trade, and industry. Modern Israel has considerable ethnic diversity, because current inhabitants consist of both Ashkenazim (i.e., Jews from European countries), and Sephardim (i.e., Jews from the Mediterranean, Africa, and other parts of the Middle East). Additional immigration from a variety of source countries followed the war, particularly after the independence of the state of Israel in 1948. The last major wave of immigrants arrived in the early 1990s, coming from Russia and Ethiopia.

Contemporary Israel is a country of about 8,000 square miles and almost 6 million people. More than 80 percent of the population is Jewish, though they are not homogeneously religious. The rest of the population consists of other groups, mostly Arab. There is a separate Arabic educational system, in which Arabic is the language of instruction.

In addition to the capital city of Jerusalem, there are four other major cities: Tel Aviv, Haifa, Holon, and Petach Tikva. The government, headed by a Prime Minister, is a parliamentary democracy, with leadership in the Knesset (Parliament) achieved through a coalition of various parties and factions. Elections are held every four years unless the government is dissolved and elections occur sooner.