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Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in Western Asia, on the south-eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It shares land borders with Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan on the east, the Palestinian territories, or State of Palestine, which comprises the West Bank and Gaza Strip on the east and southwest respectively, Egypt and the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea to the south, and it contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area.

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In its Basic Laws Israel defines itself as a Jewish and Democratic State and it is the world's only Jewish-majority state. Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage. Israel is a developed country and an OECD member with the 43^rd largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2012. Israel has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia, and among the highest life expectancies in the world that is at 82. According to OECD, in Israel, the average household net financial wealth is estimated at $49,240/ year, which is higher than the OECD average of $40,516. While the ideal measure of household wealth should include real assets such as land and dwellings, and the top 20% of the population earn $39,32/ year, whereas the bottom 20% earn an estimated $13,691/ year.

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To know more about impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Israel economy please reach our blog post titled Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Israel and its Policy Response.