Bible Jacob: so named after wrestling with the angel: Gen. 32:28
the Jewish people, as descendants of Jacob
ancient land of the Hebrews at the SE end of the Mediterranean
kingdom in the N part of this region, formed (10th cent. ) by the ten tribes of Israel that broke with Judah & Benjamin
country between the Mediterranean Sea & Jordan: established (1948) as a Jewish state according to the United Nations plan (1947) partitioning Palestine into Arab and Jewish states: 8,463 sq mi (21,919 sq km); pop. 4,038,000; cap. Jerusalem
See Israel in American Heritage Dictionary 4
(ĭzˈrē-əl)
noun
Bible
a. Jacob.
b. The descendants of Jacob.
Judaism The Hebrew people, past, present, and future, regarded as the chosen people of God by virtue of the covenant of Jacob.
(ĭzˈrē-əl)
An ancient kingdom of Palestine founded by Saul c. 1025 B.C. After 933 it split into the Northern Kingdom, or kingdom of Israel, and the kingdom of Judah to the south. Israel was overthrown by the Assyrians in 721.
A country of southwest Asia on the eastern Mediterranean Sea. It was established in 1948 following the British withdrawal from Palestine, which had been divided by recommendation of the United Nations into Jewish and Arab states. Discord with neighboring Arab countries that had rejected the UN partition led to numerous wars, notably in 1948-1949, 1956-1957, 1967, and 1973. In the Six-Day War of 1967 Israel occupied the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jerusalem's Old City, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula. The Golan Heights and Jerusalem were later annexed, and the Sinai was returned to Egypt in 1982. A 1993 Israeli-Palestinian accord granted limited Palestinian autonomy in the Gaza Strip, and a similar accord calling for Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank was signed in 1994. Jerusalem is the capital and Tel Aviv-Yafo the largest city. Population: 6,430,000.