1967
During the Six Day war, the Israelis defended it as a preventative military effort to counter what they saw as an impending attack by Arab nations that surrounded Israel.
A line of Egyptian prisoners, captured during the Israeli advance during the Six Day War in June 1967
Left, Israeli troops salute their flag as they occupy Syrian territory during the Six Day War on June 12, 1967; right, May 29, Israeli army's Southern Command General Ariel Sharon (2nd left) meets with his officers at their headquarters a week before the June 5 start of the Six Day war
May 29, Israeli army's Southern Command General Ariel Sharon (2nd left) meets with his officers at their headquarters a week before the June 5 start of the Six-Day War
Israeli troops and armour advance against Egyptian troops at the start of the war, near Rafah, Gaza Strip
A burnt-out Egyptian aircraft at El Auth airport, Sinai
Egyptian prisoners captured by Israeli troops, during the Six Day War
Left, an Israeli soldier studies an oil refinery at Port Suez set alight by Israeli shelling; right, Egyptian MiG-21 warplanes lie destroyed on airfield tarmac after an Israeli Air Force preemptive strike on June 5
1973
The Yom Kippur war was fought by a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria against Israel from October 6 to 25, 1973.
Israeli army Southern Command General Ariel Sharon (bandaged) with Defence Minister Moshe Dayan (left) during the Yom Kippur War in October on the western bank of the Suez Canal
Despite all their issues, Israelis are among the world’s happiest people.
Recent surveys by the OECD, Gallup and the United Nations’ World Happiness Report all had Israel near the top.
Most Israelis appear to have developed an ability to block out the nation’s problems and focus on life in a country that just a century ago was just a dream.
Yet it remains a divided society, and its most intractable problem — peace with its Arab neighbors — has yet to be resolved.
The Jewish renaissance in the Holy Land remains a work in progress.
1974
Three young men, believed to be Israeli troops, in the desert near Cairo
1978
L-R: Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat, US president Jimmy Carter and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin sign the Egyptian - Israeli peace agreement at the White House
1982
Israeli artillery soldiers fire shells at targets in Beirut, Lebanon on July 1
Israeli army paratroopers advance against a suspected terrorist hide-out during Israel's Peace For Galilee military campaign in the southern quarters of the Lebanese capital of Beirut
2002
Ultra-Orthodox Jews from the eastern European Vizhnitz sect read from the Scroll of Esther in their synagogue in Bnei Brak during Purim festivities
2006
A Palestinian Muslim performs his midday prayers in a mosque in the West Bank town of Bethlehem
Men pray at The Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, ahead of the Sabbath
Israeli soldiers walk past tanks and armored personnel carriers after their return from an early morning patrol in southern Lebanon to a forward base
An Israeli army reservist performs his morning prayers at a forward base
A Lebanese family look from a balcony at the destruction in Beirut's southern suburbs August 21, 2006 in Beirut. A ceasefire was held after 34 days of warfare between Israel and Hezbollah militants left the south of the city in ruin
A security officer brandishes an assault rifle while guarding members of Lebanon's government on a tour of Beirut's southern suburbs
Israeli soldiers prepare to enter Lebanon. Several Israeli soldiers were wounded in battle nearby with Hezbollah militants, as Israeli forces expanded their operations in southern Lebanon after the Israeli security committee approved expanded operations
An Israeli soldier jumps down from an armored personnel carrier moments after withdrawing from Lebanon on October 1 at the Zarit gate
An Israeli artillery team loads 155mm shells while firing onto suspected Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon
And from Catholic nuns and Greek Orthodox to the Passion of the Christ...
Catholic nuns descend to pray in the Grotto under the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
Brazilian Evangelist Christians hold a mass baptism in the waters of the Jordan River at Yardenit in northern Israel
Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Irineos I surveys the inside of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem; right, Muslim women with covered heads and long black clothing leave the Dome of the Rock
An American pilgrim from 'The Hope of Glory' order reenacts the Passion of Christ along the Via Dolorosa during a Good Friday procession
