Israel is one of the oldest states, even despite the fact that it has disappeared from the world map more than once, and its main nationality has been persecuted more than once over the millennia and in many other countries.
The birth and death of ancient Israel
The first people of the modern type appeared on the territory of present-day Israel 75,000 years ago. At that time they shared these lands with the Neanderthals, but there were no permanent settlements for the next 53,000 years (only cave shelters and seasonal camps). Those on this territory appeared only 11,000 years ago. Among them is the city of Jericho that has survived to the present day, which now claims to be the most ancient.
The first clearly Jewish tribes on the territory of modern Israel were formed about 6-5 thousand years ago. Around the same time, the land inhabited by them received its present name from the ancient Jews; in Hebrew, it sounds like "Eretz Yisrael", which means "Land of Israel".
However, in this and subsequent time, this territory is dependent, being under the rule of Ancient Egypt. The independence of Israel, and a little later, of the Kingdom of Judah will come a little later - in 2-3 thousand years and will last for one millennium with some interruptions.
However, starting from the VIII century BC, Israel, as an independent state, actually ceased to exist. Its territory was consistently ruled by stronger states such as Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Macedonia, etc. With the arrival of the Roman Empire, Israel ceased to exist altogether, even as an autonomous entity, being divided into several parts (Galilee, Judea, Perea, Samaria), which turned into Roman provinces.
Following an unsuccessful Jewish uprising in the region against the Romans in 135 AD, the Roman Empire expelled a significant number of Jews from Israel and renamed the main Jewish province of Judea to Syria Palestine in order to erase forever the memory of the Jewish past of this land. As a result, the next 2 thousand years, the Jewish people scattered around the world, partially assimilating with other nations. And the idea of Israel as a separate independent state has sunk into oblivion.
Our time and the revival of Israel
Since the end of the 19th century, Jews, persecuted by numerous anti-Semitic pogroms in Europe, have intensively migrated to British Palestine (a land in the Middle East, including historical Israel). At about the same time, there are organized political attempts (primarily led by Theodor Herzl) to raise the issue of creating an independent Israel on the world stage.
After World War II, when many Jews were exterminated by Hitler's regime in Europe, and the British government abandoned the Palestine mandate due to the insoluble conflict between Arabs and Jews, the newly created United Nations decided to partition Palestine and form Israel as an independent country.
Of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition and the main participants in the UN, the Soviet Union was the first to recognize the new state. Some time later, after long disagreements, the State of Israel was also recognized by the United States and Great Britain.
Thus, on May 17, 1948, Israel, almost 2,000 years after its destruction, reappeared on the world map.
