Palestine, recognized officially as the State of Palestine by the United Nations and other entities, is a de jure sovereign state in Western Asia claiming the West Bank and Gaza Strip with Jerusalem as the designated capital, although its administrative center is currently located in Ramallah. The entirety of territory claimed by the State of Palestine has been occupied since 1948, first by Egypt and Jordan and then by Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967. Palestine has a population of 5,051,953 as of February 2020, ranked 121st in the world.
The sand cat, also known as the sand dune cat, is a small wild cat living in sandy and stony deserts far from water sources. With its sandy to light grey fur, it is well camouflaged in a desert environment. Its head-and-body length ranges from 39–52 cm (15–20 in) with a 23–31 cm (9.1–12.2 in) long tail. Its 5–7 cm (2.0–2.8 in) long ears are set low on the sides of the head, aiding detection of prey moving underground. The long hair covering the soles of its feet insulates its foot pads against the extremely hot and cold temperatures in deserts.
Za'atar is a culinary herb or family of herbs. It is also the name of a spice mixture that includes the herb along with toasted sesame seeds, dried sumac, often salt, as well as other spices. As a family of related Middle Eastern herbs, it contains plants from the genera Origanum (oregano), Calamintha, Thymus, and Satureja (savory) plants. The name za'atar alone most properly applies to Origanum syriacum, considered in biblical scholarship to be the hyssop of the Hebrew Bible. Used in Levantine cuisine, both the herb and spice mixture are popular throughout the Mediterranean region of the Middle East.
The marbled polecat is a small mammal belonging to the monotypic genus Vormela within the mustelid subfamily Ictonychinae. Vormela is from the German word Würmlein, which means "little worm". The specific name peregusna comes from perehuznya (перегузня), which is Ukrainian for "polecat". Marbled polecats are generally found in the drier areas and grasslands of southeastern Europe to western China. Like other members of Ictonychinae, it can emit a strong-smelling secretion from anal sacs under the tail when threatened.
Israel, officially known as the State of Israel, is a country in Western Asia, located on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. It has land borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan on the east, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to the east and west, respectively, and Egypt to the southwest. Israel's economic and technological center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, although international recognition of the state's sovereignty over Jerusalem is limited.
Helix lucorum is a species of large, edible, air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Helicidae, the typical snails.
The wildlife of Israel includes the flora and fauna of Israel, which is extremely diverse due to the country's location between the temperate and the tropical zones, bordering the Mediterranean Sea in the west and the desert in the east. Species such as the Syrian brown bear and the Arabian ostrich have become extinct in Israel because of their loss of habitat. As of May 2007, 190 nature reserves have been established in Israel.
Botta's serotine is a species of vesper bat, one of 25 in the genus Eptesicus. It can be found in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, possibly Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Yemen. It is found in rocky areas and temperate desert.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialised agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, the sciences, and culture. It has 193 member states and 11 associate members, as well as partners in the nongovernmental, intergovernmental, and private sector. Headquartered in Paris, France, UNESCO has 53 regional field offices and 199 national commissions that facilitate its global mandate.
Zethes insularis is a species of moth in the family Erebidae first described by Jules Pierre Rambur in 1833. The species is found in the warmer parts of the Mediterranean area: Armenia and the Caucasus, Iraq, south-western Iran, Lebanon, Israel, Syria and Jordan.
Apopestes spectrum is a species of moth in the family Erebidae first described by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper in 1787.
Autophila anaphanes is a moth of the family Erebidae first described by Charles Boursin in 1940. It is found in the eastern part of the Mediterranean, including the Balkans, Cyprus, Turkey, Lebanon and Israel.
Lygephila lusoria is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found in southern Europe, the Near East and Middle East, European south-eastern Russia, the Caucasus, Turkey and Israel.
Catocala diversa is a moth of the family Erebidae first described by Carl Geyer in 1826. It is found in Spain, south-eastern France, Italy, the Balkans, European southern Russia and Israel.
Crypsotidia maculifera is a species of moth in the family Erebidae first described by Otto Staudinger in 1898. The species is found in Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Cyprus and Israel.
Dysgonia torrida, the jigsaw, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Achille Guenée in 1852. It is found from the tropical and subtropical areas of Africa to Spain, southern Italy, Greece, Syria, Israel, Iran, Uzbekistan towards India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.
Grammodes bifasciata is a moth of the family Erebidae first described by Vincenzo Petagna in 1787. It is found in Madagascar, eastern Africa, North Africa and other parts of the Mediterranean Basin, including south of France and Israel.
Heteropalpia acrosticta is a species of moth in the family Erebidae first described by Rudolf Püngeler in 1904. The species is found from the western parts of the Sahara to Israel, Jordan, Egypt and most of the Arabian Peninsula.
This is a record of Israel's results at the FIFA World Cup. They have qualified for the tournament on one occasion, in 1970. Israel qualified for the 1970 World Cup as an Asian team. Soon after this, they were expelled from the Asian Football Confederation, and now compete in the European zone as a member of UEFA.
Chirayathumadom Venkatachalier Subramanian, popularly known as CVS, was an Indian mycologist, taxonomist and plant pathologist, known for his work on the classification of Fungi imperfecti, a group of fungi classified separately due to lack of specific taxonomic characteristics. He authored one monograph, Hyphomycetes: An Account of Indian Species, Except Cercosporae and three books, Hyphomycetes, taxonomy and biology, Moulds, Mushrooms and Men and Soil microfungi of Israel, besides several articles published in peer reviewed journals. He was a recipient of many honours including the Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the Janaki Ammal National Award of the Government of India and seven species of fungi have been named after him. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1965, for his contributions to biological sciences.
