11 Unusual Israel Trivia Questions: What’s Up with Israel?

Benjamin Netanyahu served in office for 15 years until 2021 and was reelected in 2023, the longest-serving Israeli prime minister. Israel’s national founder David Ben-Gurion is the previous Israeli record holder with 13 years in power.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are ancient fragments of biblical texts dating back almost 2,000 years and thought to have been hidden during a Jewish revolt against Rome. The first set of Dead Sea Scrolls was found by a Bedouin shepherd near the salty lake in 1947 and are among the most important archaeological finds of the 20th century.

Were new dead sea scrolls found lately?

The Israel Antiquities Authority announced Tuesday, March 16, 2021, that a four-year archaeological project uncovered portions of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets, including the books of Zechariah and Nahum. It is the first such discovery in 60 years.

Nancy Pelosi quoted Israeli poet Ehud Manor’s song ‘I Have No Other Country’ in Congress on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2021, one day before Donald Trump’s historic second impeachment. The lyrics go, ‘I won’t be silent because my country has changed her face / I will not give up reminding her / And sing in her ears until she will open her eyes.’ 

Watch Israeli Indie rocker Ninet Tayeb perform this song in a Yitzhak Rabin memorial (Hebrew).

Hundreds of elite officers in Israel’s military reserves said they would not show up for duty starting Mar. 19, 2023. This is in protest against the ruling coalition’s planned overhaul of the judicial system. The protesters say the plan undermines democracy by restricting the power of the Supreme Court. The protests paused after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, and the reservists did not follow their threat.

Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is also the leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, made this shocking statement after a gunman killed two Israeli brothers in the West Bank village of Huwara on February 26, 2023, and just after 400 Israeli settlers executed violent revenge on the village. He also said the state should do it, not civilians. Smotrich later retracted his statement but did not apologize and accused the world of ignoring Palestinian violence.

How did the international community react?

The international community, including the US State Department, the UN human rights chief, and the Palestinian Authority, widely condemned his remarks. Smotrich is scheduled to visit Washington to speak at the annual Israel Bonds conference from March 12 to 14. During his visit, he may face a cold reception from the US administration and the Jewish community.

Is there a legal reform in Israel?

Smotrich is also a supporter of a controversial legal reform that would limit the power of the Israeli Supreme Court and the attorney general. This would allow the parliament to override the court’s rulings. The reform could save Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from his corruption trial and prevent the court from interfering with the government’s policies on settlements, security, and immigration. And yes, that’s scary. By March 7, 2023, hundreds of Israeli reservists, including three dozen reservist fighter pilots, have signed letters promising not to serve if the overhaul passes.

On March 26, 2023, thousands of Israelis protested the country’s planned judicial overhaul after Prime Minister Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who said the judicial overhaul must be stopped due to the damage it is doing to the military. The next day, Netanyahu agreed to delay his flagship judicial changes to the next parliamentary session, saying he wanted time to compromise with his political opponents over the divisive package, but not before passing a law protecting him from prosecution while in office.

A new book by Yuval Noah Harari, UNSTOPPABLE US: How Humans Took Over the World, was released in 2022. The book explores why humans became the world’s ruling specie and the consequences for other species.

The oil used to anoint King Charles III is called Chrism oil. It was created using olives harvested from two groves on the Mount of Olives, a mountain ridge east of Jerusalem’s Old City, Israel. The olives were pressed just outside the Palestinian town of Bethlehem, where Christians believe Jesus was born. The ceremony was held at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christians believe Jesus was crucified. The March 3, 2023, event was attended by Buckingham Palace representatives. The Archbishop of Canterbury, who performed the May 6 anointing service at Westminster Abbey, said the oil demonstrates the deep historical link between the coronation, the Bible, and the Holy Land.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque is in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem. This mosque has stood for centuries and has been a focal point in the longstanding and deeply rooted conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. The attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, involving a large-scale surprise terror attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians, were named Al-Aqsa Floods by the Gazan forces committing the atrocities. 1,400 Israelis were murdered by Hamas terrorists in their homes and at a music festival massacre, resulting in the evacuation of 1.1 million Gazans as the IDF retaliated.

A kibbutz is, traditionally, a collective community in Israel based on agriculture and known for its communal living ethos. The kibbutz concept aimed to create a society where all members contribute according to their ability and receive according to their needs, though most, if not all, kibbutzim are privatized today. The Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel brought global attention to the Kibbutzim Kfar Aza, Be’eri, Re’im, and other locations in southern Israel, where a brutal attack by Hamas militants resulted in a horrifying massacre of some 1,300 civilians in their homes, including children, with about 200 civilians kidnapped by the ISIS-inspired organization.