10 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 man pictured is Yair Lapid, a former Israeli TV star, finance minister, and the head of the centrist Yesh Atid party. Under the coalition agreement with Naftali Bennet’s Rightist party, he became Israel’s Prime Minister when their coalition broke apart on June 20, 2022. He lost the elections to Benjamin Netanyahu’s extreme right-wing coalition.

Who is Naftali Bennett?

Photo by Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class James K. Lee, U.S. Secretary of Defense, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Israel’s former Prime Minister is Benjamin Netanyahu’s former chief of staff, the son of American immigrants from San Francisco, who became a self-made tech millionaire before entering Israeli politics. He is 50, married to a pastry cook, with whom he has four school-age kids.

How to pronounce Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid?

Naftalī Bennett is named after Naphtali, the sixth son of Jacob and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Naphtali, according to the Book of Genesis. It is pronounced: naaf·taa·lee. Bennett’s family name is Anglo-Norman, not Hebrew, meaning “blessed,” and pronounced as you’d imagine: beh·nuht.

Yair Lapid’s name derives from the Biblical Book of Judges. Yair was a man from Gilead of the Tribe of Manasseh who judged Israel for 22 years. The literal Hebrew meaning of the name is “(He) will (make) light/illuminate” and is pronounced yaa·eer. Lapid is a torch in Hebrew and is pronounced laa·peed. And yes, the literal meaning of Yair Lapid’s name is “He will light a torch.”

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 March 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.

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.

Gal Gadot’s appearance in Shazam! Fury of the Gods was her final appearance in the DC Extended Universe. Due to scheduling difficulties, she performed separately from the rest of the cast and had to be digitally composited into the movie’s Wonder Woman date scene. A body double was there to reference lighting and ensure director David F. Sandberg got full coverage of the scene. Sandberg tweeted this explanation on March 18, 2023, to clarify rumors that a Gal Gadot deep fake was used in the film.