Many of these are specific to a particular time period. Replace these examples with more current accomplishments,and facts about technology, culture and government.

Sports

  1. Mules, originally used to get up these slopes, were replaced by a ski lift on this mountain. Mount Hermon
  2. Israel’s two most popular spectator sports. Basketball, soccer.
  3. Located south of Netanya, this national center for physical education and sport was named in honor of a non-Jewish British Army Officer, who believed in the destiny of the Jewish people and devoted his energies to training the State to defend itself. Orde Wingate
  4. This international Jewish Olympics, first held in 1932 in what then was Palestine, attracted 500 Jewish athletes from 23 countries. Maccabiah
  5. Israeli who won a gold medal in Olympic windsurfing competition in 2004 in Athens, Greece. Gal Friedman
  1. Soon to be joined by a new $150 million resort opening in 2011 in Mount Arbel, currently this is the location of Israel’s only 18-hole golf course. Caesarea.
  2. In 1970, Israel qualified for the finals in this event in Mexico for the first – and so far the only – time. World Cup Soccer.
  3. Yael Arad was the first Israeli to stand on the Olympic medal podium by winning a silver medal in this competition in Barcelona in 1992. Judo.
  4. EXAMPLE (BUT DATED) QUESTION: This championship team will be honored for its accomplishments at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield Massachusetts as part of the celebrations for Israel’s 60th anniversary in 2008. Maccabi Tel Aviv.
  5. EXAMPLE QUESTION, etc etc: Israeli doubles tennis team with groundbreaking win in 2008's Australian Open. Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram

Science & Technology

  1. Second to English, this language is heard at international trade fairs of the high tech industry indicating Israel’s momentous role in this field. Hebrew
  2. Israelis Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko, who shared the Nobel Prize in chemistry with American Irwin Rose in 2004 were from this Institute of Technology founded in Haifa in 1924. Technion
  3. First Israeli astronaut to take off with the crew of NASA Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003. Ilan Ramon
  4. These two companies built their only Research & Development facilities outside the US in Israel. Microsoft, Cisco.
  5. The instant messaging developed by Israelis and purchased by AOL in 1998 for $287 million. ICQ (I seek you)
  1. Arizona’s Hopi Indians use this Israeli technology to make their desert bloom. Drip irrigation
  2. Company with largest center in Israel responsible for developing the cell phone. Motorola.
  3. This microprocessor found in your computer was designed in and most likely made in Israel. Pentium and Centrino.
  4. Moshe Stern, head of Clean Energy, has developed a revolutionary breakthrough that will enable automobile manufacturers to produce and sell cars using this form of fuel instead of gas. Hydrogen power.
  5. Robert Aumann of Hebrew University shared the Nobel Prize with Thomas Schelling of the University of Maryland in 2005 for his work on conflict and cooperation through game-theoryin this area of study. Economics

Culture

  1. Once known as the Palestine Orchestra, it was formed in 1936 at a time when many Jewish musicians were being fired from European orchestras and held its inaugural concertconducted by Arturo Toscanini in Tel Aviv. Israel Philharmonic.
  2. Funded by Israel, private philanthropists, and Jewish communities around the world, this program first began bringing young Jewish adults to Israel in 2000 and more than 160,000 have visited since. Birthright.
  3. Born Shmuel Yosef Halevi Czaczkes in what is now theUkraine, he published his first poem in Yiddish and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1965 for his Hebrew & Yiddish poems and stories about Jewish life. S.Y. Agnon: “As a result of the historic catastrophe in which Titus of Rome destroyed Jerusalem and Israel was exiled from its land, I was born in one of the cities of the Exile. But always I regarded myself as one who was born in Jerusalem.”
  4. The only time the death penalty was carried out under Israeli law was for this infamous person hanged in 1962. Adolf Eichmann
  5. Israeli folk dancing helped to create a new culture in an old-new land using this common dance step which consists of three steps, with a short pause on the final step ("quick, quick, slow") and can be done forward or back, and right or left.Yemenite.
  1. The Israeli flag is based on the design of this ritual item. Talit
  2. Also the national dance of Romania, this circle dance is the unofficial king of Israeli folk dances in Israel. Hora.
  3. In 1981, his title was elevated to Music Director for Life for the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Zubin Mehta
  4. Company founded by two Hungarian refugees who initially made raincoats and after realizing the market was limited by short Israeli winters, shifted to swimwear. Gottex
  5. For the first time in more the 20 years, an Israeli film was nominated for this award. Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.Beaufort: This patriotic film was about Israeli soldiers during the 2000 withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Israel originally announced that they would be sending the comedy The Band’s Visit, which was widely tipped as Israel's best chance at a Foreign Film Oscar nomination in years. However, AMPAS informed the Israeli Film Academy that over 50% of the film's dialogue was in English, and was thus ineligible for consideration. Israel was asked to submit another film. After an unsuccessful appeal, Israel sent Joseph Cedar's Beaufort instead.
  6. Born in Jerusalem, this Israeli novelist was educated on a kibbutz and many of his stories are set either on a kibbutz or in Jerusalem, both of which he presents as microcosms of Israeli society. Although strongly identified with the Israeli left, and one of the leading figures in the Israeli 'Peace Now' movement, he is quoted as saying: “It is crystal clear to me that if the Arabs put down a draft UN resolution blaming Israel for a recent earthquake in Iran, it would probably have a majority. The US would veto it and Britain and France would abstain.”He is a full Professor and holds the Agnon Chair of Hebrew Literature at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and was awarded his country’s most prestigious prize: the Israel Prize for Literature in 1998. Amos Oz

Quotes

  1. At Basle, I founded the Jewish State. If I said this out loud today, I would be answered by universal laughter. If not in 5 years, certainly in 50, everyone will know it.Theodore Herzl
  2. Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.(Or) We do not rejoice in victories. We rejoice when a new kind of cotton is grown and when strawberries bloom in Israel.Golda Meir
  3. The truth is that if Israel were to put down its arms there would be no more Israel. If the Arabs were to put down their arms there would be no more war.Binyamin Netanyahu
  4. If a visitor from a far away galaxy were to land at an American or Canadian university and peruse some of the petitions that were circulating around the campus, he would probably come away with the conclusion that the Earth is a peaceful and fair planet with only one villainous nation determined to destroy the peace and to violate human rights. (Or) That nation would not be Iraq, Libya, Serbia, Russia or Iran. It would be Israel. Alan Dershowitz
  5. We will stand up for our friends in the world. And one of the most important friends is the State of Israel. My administration will be steadfast in support of Israel against terrorism and violence, and in seeking the peace for which all Israelis pray. George W. Bush
  1. In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.David Ben Gurion
  2. We can forgive you for killing our sons. But we will never forgive you for making us kill yours. (Or) We have always said that in our war with the Arabs we had a secret weapon—no alternative.Golda Meir
  3. The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunityAbba Eban
  4. Americans admire a people who can scratch a desert and produce a garden. The Israelis have shown qualities that Americans identify with: guts, patriotism, idealism, a passion for freedom. I have seen it. I know. I believe that.Richard M. Nixon
  5. We are going to a war that has no dead or injured, no blood or suffering - the war for peace.Yitzhak Rabin
  1. Our dear Imam (referring to Ayatollah Khomeini) said that the occupying regime must be wiped off the map and this was a very wise statement. We cannot compromise over the issue of Palestine. Iranian President Ahmadinejad
  2. It simply cannot be disputed that for decades the Palestinian leadership was more interested in there not being a Jewish state than in there being a Palestinian state.Alan Dershowitz

War & Peace

  1. Formerly the underground military organization of the settlements in Israel from 1920 to 1948 that was transformed into this organization by the provisional government of Israel in 1948. The Israel Defense Forces, Tzahal, Tzva Hagana leYisrael.
  2. Prime Minister Begin and President Sadat signed a peace treaty based on the Camp David Agreement in 1979 as a result of the efforts of this American President. President Jimmy Carter
  3. In Operation Jonathan, IDF commandos flew to this location on July 4, 1976 to rescue over 100 hostages held on a hijacked plane. Entebbe, Uganda, Originally codenamed Operation Thunderbolt by the IDF, the operation was retroactively renamed Operation Yonatan in memory of the commander Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan ‘Yoni’ Netanyah who was killed in action.
  4. This dictator launched 39 scud missile attacks on Israel during the Gulf War in 1991. Saddam Hussein
  5. This terrorist Lebanese group was responsible for sending more than 4,000 rockets into northern Israel, sending more than one million Israelis into shelters during its 2006 war. Hezbollah.
  1. Egypt’s blockage of this narrow passage of water that connects the Gulf of Aqaba to the Red Sea led to the 1956 Sinai Campaign and the Six Day War in 1967. Straits of Tiran.
  2. This Israeli military warrior, who played a key role in four wars and also became a crusader for peace, spoke the following, “Soldiers of Israel, we have no aims of conquest. Our purpose is to bring to naught the attempts of the Arab armies to conquer our land.” –Moshe Dayan
  3. Prayer for the Government and the State of Israel was written by these Chief Rabbis in 1948. Rabbi Yitzhak Isaac Halevi Herzog and Rabbi Ben Zion Uziel. (Edited by SY Agon—improved the style here and there and added the phrase “reishit zemihat geulateinu” “the flowering of our redemption” to the beginning of the prayer)
  4. This Washington Declaration, which ended the 46-year war between Israel and Jordan, was signed in 1994 by these two heads of states and witnessed by this head of state who also signed the document. Prime Minister Rabin, King Hussein, President Clinton.
  5. In 2007, Israel allegedly conductedan air strike in this countrybecause of their development of a nuclear facility, built with North Korean aid. Syria.

Government & Politics

  1. Israel’s parliament, the Knesset contains the same number of members as this Jewish Supreme Court which governed Biblical Israel. Great Sanhedrin, 120
  2. Israel’s first president who had a science institute named after him. Chaim Weizmann.
  3. Named posthumously, one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Important People of the Century, he led Israel to victory in the War of Independence, and as the first prime minister of Israel, he subsequently helped build the state institutions and oversaw the absorption of vast numbers of Jews from all over the world. (Upon retiring from political life in 1970, he moved to Sde Boker. He had a university and airport named after him. His name means Hebrew for "lion cub") David Ben Gurion.
  4. Referred to as “the only man in the cabinet” by Ben Gurion, this prime minister resigned in 1974 following popular protest over the Yom Kippur War. Golda Meir. (Meir was Israel's first woman prime minister and the first woman in the world to hold this office without a family member having been head of state or government.)
  5. The first native-born Prime Minister of Israel, serving two periods in office (1974-1977 and 1992-1995) who was assassinated by an Israeli opposed to his peace initiatives in 1995. Yitzhak Rabin.
  6. A first cousin of actress Lauren Bacall (nee Perski) and author of 11 books, he has served three times as Prime Minister, shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Yitzhak Rabin and Arafat in 1994 and is the ninth and current President. Shimon Peres. (He became the first Israeli president to speak before the legislature of a Muslim country when he addressed the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.)
  1. Fluent in 10 languages, this brilliant orator and distinguished diplomat once said, “There is certainly no other state, big or small, young or old, that would consider mere recognition of its 'right to exist' a favor, or a negotiable concession.” Abba Eban. (In the words of Henry Kissinger: "I have never encountered anyone who matched his command of the English language. Sentences poured forth in mellifluous constructions complicated enough to test the listener’s intelligence and simultaneously leave him transfixed by the speaker’s virtuosity.")
  2. He became the first Prime Minister of Israel, who did not belong to either Labor or Likud, and instead formed a new party called Kadima. (Received his law degree from Tel Aviv University, was a brilliant leader in the wartime, “father of the settlement movement,” his visit to the Temple Mount as an excuse by the PLO for a planned violence/intifada, responsible for implementing the Gaza disengagement plan, suffered a massive stroke in 2006) Ariel Sharon.
  3. In 2005, the ruling by this court found that Israel’s security fence was not contrary to international law.Israeli Supreme court
  4. While serving as Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations in the late 1970’s, he condemned and symbolically tore up the UN resolution of "Zionism is Racism" resolution, and as the sixth president of Israel, he became the first Israeli president to make an official visit to Germany. (Born in Ireland, when serving in the British Army during World War II, he was given his lifelong nickname of "Vivian" because the British could not pronounce the ‘chet’ at the beginning of his name) Chaim Herzog.
  5. With 5 medal decorations, he is the most decorated soldier in Israeli history. Credited with dismantling the Palestinian terrorist cell of Black September and an overall decline in international terrorism for over 20 years, one of the missions for which he is well known is the one in which he was disguised as a woman in order to assassinate members of the PLO. Also served as the 10th prime minister of Israel in 1999, participated in the failed Camp David summit with Arafat in 2000, and is currently the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.

Food

  1. Because it is licked, the glue on Israeli postage stamps received this certification. Kosher
  2. Three Israeli foods that start with a ‘shin’. Shishlik, shakshuka, shwarma.
  3. The best wines of Israel come from these two regions. Golan and Carmel.
  4. Gold Star and Maccabee. Israeli beers.
  5. Falafel and hummus are made from this high-protein legume. Chickpea.

Immigration

  1. Named Operation Magic Carpet, this program rescued almost the entire Jewish population of more than 50,000 Jews from this country in 1948 and again in 1992. Yemen
  2. Named after the second book of the Bible, this program brought more than 185,200 from the USSR to Israel in 1990. Operation Exodus
  3. Operation Moses in 1984, Operation Joshua in 1985, Operation Solomon in 1991 and Operation Promise in 2005, flew Jews known as Beta Israel to Israel from this country. Ethiopia.
  4. Named after a prophet, this program brought 125,000 Iraqi Jews to Israel in 1948. Operation Ezra
  5. In 1994, emigration of all but approximately 300 of Jews from this country was completed and publicized for the first time. Syria. 3,656 Jews

Final Jewpardy Questions

Name at least five different ventures spearheaded by Israel to rescue Jews that were being persecuted and the countries from which those Jews were brought.

Name at least three different Israeli foods that begin with the letter shin.

Questions and research due to Dr Reena Seltzer, Woodbridge, CT

Permission is granted for personal, non-commercial use.