Country Trading Profiles Israel - General information

Political outline | Living conditions | Useful resources | Communications

Political outline

Executive Power: The President is Head of the State and he is elected by the Parliament of the country for a seven year term. His role is essentially ceremonial. The President chooses the leader of the party or majority coalition in the parliament to exercise the functions of the Prime Minister, for a four year term. The Prime Minister is head of the government and it is he who holds the executive power, namely the execution of the law and management of current affaire of the country. The Cabinet is chosen by the Prime Minister before being approved by the Parliament.
Legislative Power: The legislative power is Israel is unicameral. The parliament consists of 120 members, elected by universal suffrage universal for a four year term. The parliament can decide to be dissolved by a simple majority, during a censure motion. The Prime Minister cannot directly dissolve the parliament, he cannot veto it. The Israeli citizens have considerable political rights.
Main political parties: The Israeli political system is based on proportional representation, which allows having a system with several parties. No one is in a position to solely assume power,which forces them to cooperate to form coalition governments. The main political parties of the country are :
- Kadima : centrist party, which advocates fixing the borders with the future Palestinian State;
- The Workers Party (Havoda) : left center zionist political party;
- Le Likoud : right nationalist party which draws its roots from the Zionist movement
- Shas : advocates ultra-orthodox Judaism.
Current political leaders: President: Shimon PERES (since July 2007)
Prime Minister: Binjamin NETANYAHU (since March 2009) as head of the coalition government
Next election dates: Presidential: 2014 ; legislative : 2013.

Living conditions

Health and safety

Health precautions: No requirement regarding vaccination for international travel. DT, Polio, Hepatitis A and B are advisable presently. Protect the passenger against diarrhoea. Visitors are strongly advised to carry their general medicines. Water should be boiled, filtered or consumed in encapsulated bottles. Avoid walking barefoot on sand or wet/muddy ground. Be careful of insect bites during rural stays : mosquito nets, mosquito repellants are advisable.
For further information on sanitary conditions: Israel Travel guide
WHO Recommendations
For further information on safety conditions: Warnings given by the American State Department
Advice of the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Contact your Embassy: Embassy of Greece in Israel
3, Tower Building, Daniel Grise
64731 TEL AVIV , ISRAEL
Phone: 00972 3 6953060, 6094981, 6951088
Fax: 00972 3 6951329
gremil@netvision.net.il

Emergency numbers

Police	100
Samu	101
Fire Department	102

Time difference and climate

Time and time difference: It is %T:%M %A in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem (GMT+2 in winter, GMT+3 in summer)
Summer time period: Summer time from March to October.

Map of the time zone

Type of climate: The average temperatures in January are 13°C and in June 24°C. The temperatures are mild the whole year on the coasts. Summer lasts from April to October. Winters are cold in the mountain regions. The ideal period for visiting the country is from April to May.

For further information: Israeli Meteorological Service

Average annual temperatures and rainfall

Useful resources

To find an accommodation: Israeli Hotels Association The Kibboutz chain of Israel
Kibboutzim Camping Association Israeli Youth Hostels Association Israel Zimmer Association National Tourism Office
To find an apartment: Israel Real Estate
Anglo-saxon real estate

Israelimmo
Immobilier.co.il
To find a job: Jobnet
Jobmaster
Jobs in Israel

Communications

Telephone codes: To make a call from Israel to Greece: dial 00 (or +) 30
To make a call to in Israel from Greece: dial 00 (or +) +972
Mobile telephone standards: GSM
Internet suffix: .il

COUNTRY TRADING PROFILES

General Information

Political outline

Living conditions

Health and safety

Emergency numbers

Time difference and climate

Map of the time zone

Average annual temperatures and rainfall

Useful resources

Communications