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


Gaza is a tiny strip of land that hugs the Mediterranean Sea and is bordered by Israel and Egypt. The territory is about 25 miles long, and between 3.7 and 7.5 miles wide, for a total area of 140 square miles. With a population of 1.75 million, it is one of the most densely populated territories in the world.

In 1948, at the time of the Israeli War of Independence, Gaza was held by Egypt, which continued to rule there until 1967 but did not annex or claim Gaza as its own. When Israel conquered the area in the Six Day War. Leading up to the Six Day War, the Gaza Strip was in Egyptian control and was held as an Egyptian territorial interest. The land was not seen as a future Palestinian state, rather it was seen as a strategic position for Egypt due to its 1958 alliance with Syria that sought to create a pan-Arab state including Gaza.

In the first stage of the 1993 Oslo Accords, Israel handed daily administration of civilian affairs for the Palestinians in Gaza over to the newly created Palestinian National Authority.

In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza, removing all military and civilian operations. During the 2005 election, Hamas -  an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood - won a decisive victory granting them control of the economy and resources of the region. Following bloody battles between Fatah and Hamas forces in Gaza in 2007, Hamas maintained control of the Strip, and has ruled ever since. Hamas has launched thousands of rocket, mortar and missile attacks against Israel since 2005, and there have been multiple large-scale military confrontations between Israel and Gaza.
The Golan Heights is a region in Israel's north. About half of the population is Jewish, while the other half is mostly Druze. Golan Heights came under Israeli control legally during the Six Day War. Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981

Campus conversations about occupation generally do not include the Golan Heights.

Iran, or the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a Persian country in the Middle East bordered by Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, and Iraq.

Iran was one of 13 countries that voted against the UN Partition Plan of Palestine in 1947. Iran also voted against Israel's admission to the United Nations. Despite these actions, Iran was the second Muslim-majority nation to recognize Israel's sovereignty, although it later withdrew this recognition.

Iran and Israel currently have no diplomatic relations, and Iran does not recognize Israel's right to exist. Relations between the two nations rapidly deteriorated after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, when an Islamic government was installed. Since then, Iranian leaders have called for the destruction of Israel, and threatened to carry out nuclear actions against the Jewish state. Iran also funds Hezbollah and Hamas - two terrorist organizations that similarly have called for the destruction of Israel and have actively engaged in warfare.
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The modern Jewish state is known as the State of Israel. The name originates from the Jewish Bible as the name given to Jacob by God. According to biblical tradition, the descendants of Jacob developed into the 12 Tribes of Israel, collectively referred to as the Israelites. God promised the Israelites that they would prosper in the land of Canaan, the ancient name for the Land of Israel, which is believed to have stretched from southern Syria to the Eastern Sinai. The Jews were the sovereign in the Land of Israel for two periods of history, ending with their defeat by the Babylonians in 586 BCE and again, at the hands of the Romans, in 70 CE. Since the fall of the Second Temple and the exile of the Jews from the Land of Israel, Jews around the world continued to pray for their eventual return. To this day, Jews around the world face Jerusalem, the site of the ancient Temple that was the focal point of their nation, when they pray

Israel shares borders with four sovereign countries: Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. Additionally, it borders on Gaza and the West Bank.

Egypt : In the first 25 years of Israel's existence, Egypt and Israel fought five wars: the War of Independence, 1956 Suez Campaign, 1967 Six Day War, 1969-1970 War of Attrition, and 1973 Yom Kippur War.  In 1979, Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel, for which it was expelled from the Arab League (but has since rejoined.) Relations between the two countries have been characterized as "a cold peace," with ties strained by multiple regional and bilateral concerns. In recent years, the two countries have been working closely to combat terror and to coordinate their policies regarding the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which borders both countries.

Jordan : Although Jordan engaged in the 1948 and 1967 wars with Israel, its leaders engaged in behind-the-scenes diplomacy and coordination with Israeli leaders beginning even before 1948. The two countries signed a peace treaty in 1994. The treaty has not led to warm bilateral relations, but it is widely considered to have served both countries well since it took effect.

Syria : Syria fought in the 1948, 1967, and 1973 wars in addition to cross-border skirmishes ever since Israel gained independence, and significant but indirect roles via its Lebanese and Palestinian proxies over the years.  While always tense, relations between Israel and Syria have grown even more complex in light of the ongoing Syrian civil war.

Lebanon : Along with much of the Arab world, Lebanon has been in a state of war with Israel since 1948, and bound by the terms of an armistice agreement signed in 1949. The First and Second Lebanon wars, launched by Israel in 1982 and 2006, were fought primarily by non-governmental fighting forces on the Lebanese side. These wars were launched in response to sustained rocket and terror attacks by the Palestine Liberation Organization and Hezbollah, respectively, operating from southern Lebanon.
Jerusalem, one of the oldest cities in the world and important to the three monotheistic religions, is the capital of the State of Israel and the seat of the Israeli government. Between the establishment of Israel in 1948 and the Six Day War in 1967, Jerusalem was divided into two according to the Armistice Lines, with West Jerusalem under Israeli control and East Jerusalem under Jordanian control. (Jordan annexed East Jerusalem, along with the rest of the West Bank, but only the UK and Pakistan recognized the move.)

During the Six Day War, Israel captured Jerusalem's Old City and the rest of East Jerusalem, reuniting the city. Subsequently, Israel annexed East Jerusalem (but not the West Bank), in a move not recognized by any countries around the world. Although Israel asserts that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel, Palestinians demand East Jerusalem be included in an independent Palestinian state and they refer to Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem as settlements.
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  • [1] BBC
  • [2] BBC
Commonly known today as the West Bank, the areas of Judea and Samara comprise key parts of the biblical Land of Israel, and many Jews consider them cornerstones of Jewish civilization.

Hebrew term for the Western Wall.
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The Old City of Jerusalem is one square kilometer and surrounded by walls dating back to the early Ottoman Empire. There are 11 gates into the city, though only seven are open, and it is divided into four quarters: Jewish, Muslim, Armenian, and Christian. The Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif, which lies at the heart of the Old City, is the holiest site for Judaism, and among the holiest for Islam. The Old City is holy to all three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam., as it is home to the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (understood by a majority of Christians as the place where Jesus was entombed and subsequently resurrected), and the Temple Mount.

Until 1865, the entire population of Jerusalem lived inside the Old City walls. As the city's population increased, both Jews and Arabs began to build outside the walls. By the time the UN approved the Partition Plan in 1947, a thriving Jewish community was living in the Old City's Jewish Quarter and in East Jerusalem. When the new State of Israel lost control of these areas, the Jewish residents fled to West Jerusalem. Between 1949 and 1967, Jordan controlled East Jerusalem and the area was off-limits to Jews. In 1967, Israel captured the city in the Six Day War and formally annexed East Jerusalem and the Old City, declaring the united city the eternal capital of the State of Israel.  However, the international community considers Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem to be no different than settlements in the West Bank, a critical issue in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
The name dates back to the second century CE, when the Romans completed their conquest of Judea (approximately the Land of Israel as well as some outlying areas) and renamed it Palestina as a way of diminishing the Jewish connection to the land. After World War I, the League of Nations granted Britain a Mandate for Palestine, and those living there - Jews and Arabs alike - were referred to as Palestinians.

When the UN voted to partition Palestine into two states, it referred to a Jewish state and an Arab state - not to Israel and Palestine. After Israel's independence in 1948, there was no longer a place named Palestine but over time the Arab people living in the West Bank and Gaza - under Jordanian and Egyptian rule, respectively - came to be called Palestinians.

Since 2010, there have been no high-level negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leadership. The Palestinian Authority has unilaterally pursued recognition as an independent Palestinian state by the United Nations and the international community. Today, over 130 countries recognize Palestine as a state consisting of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. Such recognition is largely symbolic.

The name Palestine has multiple meanings, and those meanings carry a wide range of messages. On campus, references to Palestine most often are references to the West Bank and Gaza, or - among those who seek to delegitimize Israel - to the entirety of the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. At no time in history has there been an independent state called Palestine. Many on campus talk about Palestine as if it already is an independent state, but the Palestinian territories operate under a mix of various levels of self-rule, not independence.
The Temple Mount is the elevated area of the Old City in Jerusalem that was the site of the ancient Jewish Temple. It is one of the holiest sites for the world's three monotheistic religions; in addition to being the site of the Jewish Temple, Muslims believe it is the site from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven, and Christians believe that Jesus visited it  frequently. The Temple Mount, known in Arabic as Haram al Sharif or the Noble Sanctuary, is governed by the Supreme Muslim Religious Council, Waqf, and is home to the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque, which is the third-holiest site in Islam, after the holy cities of Mecca and Medina (both located in Saudi Arabia).

After the 1948 War of Independence,  Jordan controlled the Temple Mount and refused Jewish entry to the area. In the 1967 war, the Israel Defense Forces conquered Jerusalem and reestablished Jewish control for the first time since the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE. Today, the Temple Mount is controlled by the Jordanian Waqf with Israeli oversight.

Beginning in 2015, rumors that Israel was encroaching on Islamic access and control of the site, by expanding a Jewish prayer plaza, led to incitement of violence against Israelis and security forces. Similar rumors arise periodically, often leading to incitement of violence.
Another name for the Western Wall originating because of Jewish lamentation of the destruction of the Second Temple. This is not a term traditionally used by Jewish people.

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The West Bank refers to the land west of the Jordan River that was controlled by Jordan between 1949 and 1967. The term was coined to differentiate from the rest of Jordan, which lies on the east bank of the river. Conquered by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War, the area is  historically referred to as Judea and Samaria. Today, it forms the bulk of the Palestinian autonomous territories, as well as being home to hundreds of thousands of Israelis. Jordan annexed the West Bank in 1950, but only Britain and Pakistan recognized its sovereignty. In 1988, Jordan renounced its claim to the territory, saying it ultimately should be part of a Palestinian state. According to Israeli policy, the final status of the territory is to be determined in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

A remnant of the retaining wall of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, it was built by King Herod in 20 BCE as an expansion of the Second Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. As the only remaining structure of the Temple, the Western Wall is considered the holiest site in Judaism and has long been a site of pilgrimage and prayer by Jews.