2) Biggest sources of employment are: higher end – software design and development; lower end – mineral extraction, development, and sales.

3) … check that out on the CIA website

4) unrest: Israeli Arabs of Christian or Moslem religion are not the same as Palestinians (citizens of the pal. authority). So if you count the PA as part of Israel, then you could say that the unrest is between Palestinians and Israelis. There is also internal unrest at times between the religious Jewish Israelis and the secular Jewish Israelis.

Almost forgot! When people who populate and build on “settlements’ to the east of the green line are told to leave the settlements because a politician has given the land to the PA, there is a lot of problems, with the army taking out people who start with passive reisistence, but it has been known to get to rock-throwing and punches.

5) Israel, in its Declaration of Indenpendence and on official documents is The Jewish State.

The laws of Israeli Jurisprudence are taken from the following sources: ancient Jewish law (mostly for family matters; like needed a religious divorce for a divorce to be official); Turkish law from when this land was part of the Ottoman Empire; British law from when this land was under the British Mandate; and new State of Israel laws from the precedence set by court rulings.

Any person who can prove a Jewish mother or maternal Jewish grandmother is granted citizenship.

In every day living, almost everything is closed on the Sabbath (Friday sundown to Saturday night).

Major supermarkets sell only kosher food (so they cannot sell bread on Passover).

El-Al airlines does not work on the Sabbath.

and so on

6) trends in what? fashion? music? art?

7) secular women of all religions work and live the same as men, taking on the same roles and responsibilities. Golda Meir (a woman) was Prime Minister, remember. religious women of all religions that abide by their sub-culture/society are restricted in what they feel is proper. Religious Jewish women often work outside of the house, to allow the man to fulfill his “more important” role of study and prayer.

7) social issues:

arab vs israeli

religious vs secular

eastern background vs western (Israelis who came from, or whose parents came from North African or Middle Eastern countries have some things in common with eadh other, and likewise those from Europe/Americas have similar issues. Sometimes the two sub-populations conflict. In the past, the Westerners had more political power and say and the Easterners felt persecuted to a degree.)

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761575008/Israel_(country).html