IEC Lexicon

Welcome to The Lexicon. This resource is designed to clarify the vocabulary around Israel on campus. Like all subjects, Israel is complex and understanding the language in the context of campus is a key step toward meaningful, authentic conversation.

Entries include definitions and commentary, which is in italics. Each entry includes cross-references listed as "See: X, Y, Z." Beneath the cross-reference you'll find citations. Within each section of The Lexicon, entries are listed alphabetically and the entire database is searchable.

The Lexicon will always be a work in progress as we add entries and fine-tune the ones already here. We want it to be useful to you, so please be an active participant! If an entry is unclear, if you have questions about the way a term was presented, or if something is missing and you think it should be here-- contact us iec@juf.org


Fatah was founded in 1959 and led by Yasser Arafat with the goal of bringing about the demise of the State of Israel. Its followers engaged in terror attacks aimed primarily at Israeli civilian targets. By the 1960s, Fatah had become the most powerful member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and has remained a central  force in Palestinian politics. It dominated the Palestinian Parliament and the government headed by Yasser Arafat after the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1994.

In the last parliamentary elections held in the PA, in 2006, Hamas won control of the Parliament, while Fatah remained in control of the presidency. The following year, tensions between Fatah and Hamas grew dramatically and resulted in a split Palestinian government in which Hamas governed Gaza and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority governed the West Bank. In 2014, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority announced a reconciliation but it has since disintegrated and no apparent progress has been made.

  • Citation(s):
  • [1] BBC
Palestinians are among the world's largest per capita recipients of international foreign aid having received $1,246,802,615 in 2015 through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA)

According to UNRWA, the top 20 government donors in 2015 were (from highest to lowest): United States, European Commission, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Sweden, Japan, Kuwait, Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Ireland, Finland, and Luxembourg. The top 20 non-government donors in 2015 were: UN Agencies, Islamic Development Bank, Islamic Relief USA, Education Above All Foundation, American Friends of UNRWA, Opec (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) Fund for International Development, MBC Group, International Committee of the Red Cross, Al-Khair Foundation, RKK, Saudi Committee, UNRWA Spanish Committee, Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization, League of Arab States, Interpal, Islamic Relief Canada, OXFAM, Microclinic International and Tkiyet Un Ali.

On campus, it is common to hear claims that the United States and Israel do nothing to help the Palestinians.

Founded in 1988 by a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas is an Islamic Palestinian organization that calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and an Islamic Palestinian state in its place. The organization's Charter makes clear that Hamas will never accept a Jewish sovereign presence in the region, and it embraces any means - including violence - to eliminate Israel. The US, the EU, Canada, Japan, and other countries categorize Hamas as a terror organization. It has ruled Gaza since 2007 and has been responsible for the majority of terror attacks, suicide bombings, and rockets into Israel over the past two decades. As with other brutal regimes, dissent against Hamas is met with imprisonment, torture and death.

In Gaza, Hamas plays a central role in all aspects of Palestinian life, including military and social, giving the organization great influence over how Gazans view Israel, Jews, and violence. For example, Hamas uses youth groups and summer camps as venues for promoting suicide bombing and anti-Israel rhetoric. Escalating tensions between Hamas and the Israeli government have led to conflicts such as Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012 and Operation Protective Edge in 2014. Hamas was responsible for the 2023 terror attack on Israel that resulted in the murder of over 1,200 people, injury of over 5,000, and nearly 200 men, women, elderly, children, and babies being taken hostage. 

On campus, often support for Hamas is alleged to be about "resistance," "liberation," or "justice." These expressions of support for Hamas also include chants such as "bloody knives are justified" and "you give us occupation we give you genocide." Hamas supporters have claimed that Israeli reports of the atrocities of October 7th are exaggerated or fully untrue.

Hezbollah (Arabic for 'The Party of God') is a radical Shi'a Muslim group fighting against Israel and "western imperialism" in Lebanon. The group does not recognize the legitimacy of the State of Israel and it has been labeled as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department since October 1997. Hezbollah refers to itself with multiple titles including the "Organization of the Oppressed on Earth" and the "Revolutionary Justice Organization." Its main goal is the establishment of an Islamic government across the Arab world that will "liberate" Jerusalem and the entire area of present-day Israel.

Since Israel completed its withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000, Hezbollah has continued to use that country as a base for attacks on Israel. On July 12, 2006, Hezbollah attacked an IDF patrol in a cross-border raid. In the raid and its aftermath, eight IDF soldiers were killed and two others were  kidnapped. The assault sparked a month-long conflict, known as the Second Lebanon War, with Hezbollah launching thousands of rockets at Israel's northern cities and Israel targeting Hezbollah positions throughout Lebanon with air strikes and, eventually, a ground operation. The fighting ended after 34 days, in accordance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.

Hezbollah is also responsible for more American deaths than any other terrorist organization except al-Qaeda, including the 1983 attack in Beirut which resulted in the deaths of 241 US service personnel.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is the military of the State of israel. Established on May 31, 1948, soon after the State of Israel was founded, the IDF incorporated the pre-state paramilitary organizations of the Haganah, Palmach, Irgun, and Lehi. Its mission is "to defend the existence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of the State of Israel, to protect the inhabitants of Israel, and to combat all forms of terrorism which threaten daily life." Jewish citizens of Israel along with some minority populations are drafted at the age of 18; men serve for three years and women serve for two years.

In addition to being one of the strongest armies in the world, the IDF plays an important role in shaping Israeli society. The IDF is often touted on campus as an aggressive, heavy-handed entity that perpetuates the occupation and the oppression of the Palestinian people.

Israel provides humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people by supporting development projects, providing medical care, and working with the Palestinian Authority to strengthen the Palestinian economy. In 2015, over 190,000 Palestinians received medical treatment in Israel, and many more were cared for by IDF medical units in Gaza and West Bank.

Israel is actively working to support reconstruction efforts in Gaza despite concerns about the diversion of materials by Hamas for terrorist purposes. In 2015, Israel sent 2.5 million tons of construction materials to Gaza, which helped build 2,733 homes, repair 100,513 homes and construct 241 large scale development projects.  In addition, Israel supplies electricity, water, canned food, medical supplies, fuel, school supplies, and cosmetic products to the Palestinian people.

Supplies continue to flow into Gaza and the West Bank from Israel, despite full knowledge that those supplies often get used by terrorist organizations to threaten the Jewish state. Hamas routinely uses building supplies intended for rebuilding to instead create tunnels into Israel to try to kidnap and murder civilians and soldiers.

On campus, there is often the argument that Israel ignores the needs of the people in the Palestinian territories. However, as noted above, Israel provides significant resources to the Palestinian leadership for a wide of array of materials and services.

Israel is a parliamentary democracy with a legislative branch known as the Knesset (Parliament), an executive branch, and a judicial branch. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear criminal and civil appeals from judgments of the District Courts, similar to how the U.S. Supreme Court functions. National elections are held once every four years (or at shorter intervals, as is the case in all parliamentary democracies), and all Israeli citizens aged 18 and older are eligible to vote for a political party of their choice. The 120 seats in the Knesset are distributed in proportion to each party's percentage of votes and the head of one party- usually the party with the largest number of seats, but in some situations it may be the leader of the second-largest party- assembles a parliamentary majority coalition and becomes Prime Minister. The Knesset elects a President every seven years; while serving as the official head of state, the President's role is largely ceremonial. 

In the 2015 election, the three largest parties were Likud, with 30 seats, Zionist Union, with 24 seats, and the Joint (Arab) List, with 13 seats. As the head of the largest party, Benjamin Netanyahu was invited to present a parliamentary majority, and when he did so he became Prime Minister.

The Knesset, Israel's parliament, is the country's legislative body. The Knesset legislates and revises laws, provides the parliamentary majority required by governments in all parliamentary democracies,  holds public debates on issues of national importance, reviews government activities, and elects the President of the State and the State Comptroller. The name "Knesset," as well as its makeup of 120 members, is derived from the Knesset Hagedolah (Great Assembly), the representative Jewish council convened in Jerusalem by Ezra and Nehemiah in the 5th century BCE.  The 20th Knesset was sworn in on March 31, 2015, and includes representatives from 10 political parties. Largest among them:  Likud, Zionist Union, and Joint (Arab) List.

The Palestinian Authority was established in May 1994 under the Oslo Accords. The Palestine Liberation Organization formed the basis of an interim autonomous government that was to rule until democratic elections could be held. Today, the Palestinian Authority governs the West Bank (it governed Gaza until Hamas seized control in 2007), and acts as the Palestinian voice for the international community and in peace negotiations with Israel. Though less radical than Hamas, the PA is criticized by Israelis for celebrating terror activity and promulgating anti-Israel propaganda. The first leader of the PA, Yasser Arafat, died in 2004 and was succeeded by Mahmoud Abbas who remains in power today.

  • Citation(s):
  • [1] CNN
UNESCO is a specialized UN agency that promotes peace-building efforts through international collaboration in the fields of education, science, communication, and information.

Israel has been a UNESCO member since 1949. In recent years, UNESCO has passed highly controversial, anti-Israel resolutions that disregard the Jewish historical connection to the Land of Israel. Most recently, UNESCO passed a resolution that characterizes the Jerusalem holy sites, including the Western Wall, as Muslim holy sites. This arguably ignores both Jewish and Christian connections to the land and serves to delegitimize the Jewish state.

The UN General Assembly is the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative body of the United Nations in which all 193 member countries can discuss and make recommendations regarding international issues. Though the General Assembly has influence over international politics, its resolutions are non-binding under international law.

Since the 1970s, the UN has been a hotbed for antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric. From 1947 to 1991, there were 300 UN General Assembly resolutions about Israel. Between 2015-2016 the UN passed 20 resolutions against Israel, and three against the rest of the world combined (Iran, Syria, North Korea).

While SJP may cite United Nations resolutions as evidence against Israel, however the resolutions passed by the UN do not reflect its commitment to be a human rights centered organization looking out for the world's people. While the civil war in Syria has raged on, the North Korean regime continues to oppress their own people, and the Chinese government's continued condemnation of the Uyghurs and control of Tibet, Taiwan and Mayanmar, the United Nations has chosen to practically ignore these global issues, instead passing hundreds of redundant, inflammatory and biased resolutions condemning Israel.

The United Nations General Assembly established UNRWA in 1949 following the 1948 War of Independence with what was intended to be a short-term mandate to address the needs of Arab people who became refugees during the war. The General Assembly has renewed UNRWA's mandate multiple times, and the organization continues to provide services today. Whereas all other refugee populations around the world are cared for by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNRWA provides services exclusively to Palestinian refugees. Israel has documented multiple instances in which UNRWA has promoted or sponsored anti-Israel events in its facilities. During the 2014 Gaza war, multiple UNRWA facilities, such as schools and hospitals, were used as storage facilities for Hamas rockets.

When UNRWA was established in 1950, it listed 750,000 Palestinian refugees. As of 2016, that number exceeds five million. Palestinians are the only population in the world who can transfer refugee status to the next generation. UNWRA, unlike UNHCR, has never sought to resettle refugees. UNWRA is often accused of using Palestinian refugees as pawns to manipulate the international community into unjustly condemning Israel.

The 15-member United Nations Security Council is charged with maintaining international peace and security, admitting new members to the UN, and electing judges for the International Court of Justice. Five countries have permanent membership in the Security Council: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the US. Ten non-permanent members are elected to two-year terms. As of 2016, the non-permanent members are: Angola, Egypt, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Senegal, Spain, Ukraine, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

The five permanent members of the Security Council have veto power over any UNSC resolution. A vote can be 14-1, but if the "1" is the United States or any other permanent member the resolution fails. The United States has historically supported its ally, Israel, in the Security Council.
As one of Israel's closest allies, the United States' support of Israel has included more than $120 billion of direct and indirect assistance since 1949. The aid ensures Israel can maintain a qualitative military edge over  its current and potential adversaries.   In 2016, Israel and the U.S. signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) guaranteeing Israel over $38 billion in U.S. military aid between 2018 and 2027. This agreement came as the previous MOU, signed in 2007, neared completion. The previous MOU required that Israel spend 74% of the military aid in the United States; under the terms of the 2016 MOU, this figure will  increase to 100%  after 5 years. These MOU's have been approved by Congress annually over the past decade and underscore the bipartisan nature of American support for Israel.