ISRAEL (Continued)
Organized labor: 90% of labor force
GOVERNMENT
Official name: State of Israel
Type: republic
Capital: Jerusalem; not recognized by US, which maintains Embassy in Tel Aviv
Political subdivisions: six administrative districts
Legal system: mixture of English common law and, in personal area, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim legal systems; commercial matters regulated substantially by codes adopted since 1948; no formal constitution; some of the functions of a constitution are filled by the Declaration of Establishment (1948), the basic laws of the Knesset (legislature) relating to the Knesset, Israeli lands, the president, the government and the Israel citizenship law; no judicial review of legislative acts; legal education at Hebrew University in Jerusalem; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday: Independence Day, 14 May
Branches: President Yitzhak Navon has largely ceremonial functions, except for the authority to decide which political leader should try to form a ruling coalition following an election or the fall of a previous government; executive power vested in Cabinet; unicameral parliament (Knesset) of 120 members elected under a system of proportional representation; legislation provides fundamental laws in absence of a written constitution; two distinct court systems (secular and religious)
Government leader: Prime Minister Menachem BEGIN
Suffrage: universal over age 18
Elections: held every four years unless required by dissolution of Knesset; last election held in June 1981
Political parties and leaders: Herut, Prime Minister Menachem Begin, Foreign Affairs Minister Yitzhak Shamir; Liberal Party, Deputy Prime Minister Simcha Ehrlich; La'am, Eliezer Shostak; State List, Yitzhak Peretz (Likud is a coalition formed in 1973 of Herut, Liberals, La am, and State List); National Religious Party, Yosef Burg, Zevulun Hammer; Israel's Labor Alignment (includes MAPAM, Victor Shemtov, and Israel Labor Party, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin); RAKAH Communist Party, Meir Wilner; TAMI, Aharon Aba-Hatzeira; TELEM, Mordechai Ben-Porat; Orthodox Agudat Israel, Avraham Shapira; Citizens Rights Movement, Shulamit Aloni; Shinui Party, Amnon Rubinstein; Tehiya (Rebirth, formed by Likud defectors), Yuval Neeman
Voting strength: Likud, 48 seats; National Religious Party, 6 seats; Orthodox Agudat Israel, 4 seats; Israel's Labor-Alignment (Labor Party-MAPAM), 47 seats; Shinui Party, 2 seats; Citizens Rights Movement, 1 seat; RAKAH, 4 seats; Tehiya, 3 seats; TAMI, 3 seats; TELEM, 2 seats
Communists: RAKAH (predominantly Arab but with Jews in its leadership) has some 1,500 members; the Jewish Communist Party, MAKI, is now part of Moked, which is a far-left Zionist party included in SHELLI
Other political or pressure groups: rightwing Kach Movement led by Rabbi Meir Kahane; Black Panthers, a loosely organized youth group seeking more benefits for oriental Jews; Gush Emunim, Jewish religious zealots pushing for freedom for Jews to settle anywhere on the West Bank
Member of: FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, IOOC, IPU, ITU, IWC—International Wheat Council, OAS (observer), UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO
ECONOMY
GNP: $19.5 billion (1980, in 1980 prices), $4,640 per capita; 1980 growth of real GNP 2.3%
Agriculture: main products—citrus and other fruits, vegetables, beef and dairy products, poultry products
Major industries: food processing, diamond cutting and polishing, textiles and clothing, chemicals, metal products, transport equipment, electrical equipment, miscellaneous machinery, rubber and plastic products, potash mining
Electric power: 2,693,000 kW capacity (1980); 12.528 billion kWh produced (1980), 3,285 kWh per capita
Exports: $5.8 billion (f.o.b., 1980); major items—polished diamonds, citrus and other fruits, textiles and clothing, processed foods, fertilizer and chemical products; tourism is important foreign exchange earner
Imports: $9.2 billion (f.o.b., 1980); major items—military equipment, rough diamonds, oil, chemicals, machinery, iron and steel, cereals, textiles, vehicles, ships, and aircraft
Major trade partners: exports—US, West Germany, UK, Switzerland, France, Italy; imports—US, West Germany, UK, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy
Budget: public revenue $14.5 billion, current expenditures $13.7 billion, development expenditures $1.6 billion
Monetary conversion rate: the Israeli pound was allowed to float on 31 October 1977; the shekel became the unit of account on 1 October 1980 (1 shekel=10 Israeli pounds) and as of October 1981 13.74 shekels=US$1
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 767 km standard gauge (1.435 m)
Highways: 4,459 km paved, 7 km gravel/crushed stone, remainder unknown
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