It has an extremely varied geography and climate. Most of the coastline lies on the Mediterranean Sea. In the south are the valleys of Jezreel and Hulveh. There is the lake Tiberias and in the east the hills of Samaria ad Judea on the west bank. There is also the Negev desert to the south, which makes up sixty percent of the total land area. Coastal inhabitants face a hot but temperate climate with more rain relative to the north. Inland temperatures are cooler with seldom snow.

Tel Aviv is the largest city and the centre of industry. Jerusalem has been declared the capital but has not been recognised as such by the international community. Major towns in the West Bank include Nablus, Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah and Jericho.

Agriculture and industry employ millions of Israelis. Today Israel is a leading fruit exporter. The industry is mai

Meanwhile the Canal Zone had become a source of conflict between Egypt and the Suez Canal Company runs by Britain and France. Israel attacked Egyptian positions in Gaza and the Sinai on Oct 29; Britain and France then issued ultimatoms to both sides to withdraw from the Canal. The three main consequences of the brief Suez war were: "i) diminution of Britain's role in the region; ii) increasing ties between the Soviet Union and the radical Arab States of Egypt, Syria and Iraq; and iii) a growing US role in the region, backing Israel and conservative Arab states, partly to counter the Soviet Union's influence."*

After the personal negotiations of President Carter the two sides signed a peace treaty on March 26,1979, in Washington. The terms of their new treaty included: "i) Israeli military and civilian withdrawal from the whole Sinai Peninsula over three years, ii) installation of UN forces in key border areas; iii) restoration of normal diplomatic relations between the countries; iv) guaranteed rights of passage for Israeli shipping and cargo in the Suez Canal; v) the recognition of the Straits of Tiran and Gulf of Aquaba as international waterways; vi) Egyptian agreement to sell Israel oil from her Sinai oilfields; and vii) negotiations towards granting "full autonomy" to the Palestenians of the West Bank and Gaza."*

The following issues divided Israel: i) Lebanon with the left criticising Likud for putting military conscripts in a compromising position, and for allowing excessive civilian causalities; and with the right critical of the failure to remove the PLO presence; the 400 percent rate of inflation partly fuelled by the Lebanese campaign; West Bank settlements and the treatment of Palestinians; the growing gulf between secular Zionists and Orthodox Jews; and Israel's loss of allies. In the elections voters deserted the two major groupings for the smaller parties and the result was inconclusive. After much bargaining, the Allignments and Likud agreed on a national coalition government. The coalition government pursued the Camp David autonomy talks, and sought direct negotiations with Jordan. Relations with Egypt had deteriorated after the recall of Egyptian ambassador. Israel received military aid from the USA, and also increased contacts with France, the UK, West Germany and China. Peres maintained his efforts for diplomatic advance and met king Hassan of Morocco. He tried to show PLO as "the greatest obstacle to peace". At the same time, the Israel's economy was at last improving, but political and financial scandals continued. Also the terror in the streets increasingly continued.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Middle East, Black September, Jews Palestinians, Lebanon Army, Jezreel Hulveh, Secretary Council, Israel Palestinian, Lebanese Israeli, Suez Canal, Israel Lebanon, west bank, middle east, suez canal, britain france, golan heights, east jerusalem, israeli withdrawal, south lebanon, syria iraq, peace treaty, egypt syria iraq, strategic middle east,
Approximate Word count = 3067
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)