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Israel
City of Jerusalem State Medal – Year 5726
1966 Bronze Medal 45mm (38.90 grams)
Reference: ICMC# 15056456 | Designer: Jean David, Alex Berlyne
MOUNTAINS ROUND ABOUT JERUSALEM, A symbolic sketch of Jerusalem atop mountains surrounded by clouds. Inscription amid the clouds.
BAR-KOCHBA COIN OF JERUSALEM 133 C.E., A replica of the Bar Kochba Jerusalem coin (sela), struck during the second year of the revolt. In the center of the medal, four columns, an arc – a symbol of the Torah.
Edge Lettering:
STATE OF ISRAEL
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
Jerusalem is mentioned six hundred and fifty six times in Scriptures and has played a unique role in Jewish history as a capital city, as a holy city. The city is holy for Christians and Moslems as well. Its sacred character for these religions stems from their Judaic roots, and to other sacred places in Palestine. For the Jewish people, however, Jerusalem is a capital in both the profane and sacred sense, the very essence of its foundation; “If I forget thee Jerusalem, may my right arm lose its cunning”. Jerusalem looms large in its people’s memory for its glorious history, for the vision of prophets who paced in its precincts, for the royal figures who governed it and for the heritage of its sages who preached therein. King David captured the city some three thousand years ago and made it his capital, the city of David, Solomon added to its glory and established the Temple there, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Temple and sent the people into captivity. During the reign of Cyrus, the Jews returned to their land and built the Second Temple which endured for 608 years ending in the Roman destruction. Bar Kochba, sixty years later, returned Jewish sovereignty to the city. When the city fell again to the Romans, Jews were forbidden to enter it or the Temple site. For more than 18 centuries, Jerusalem was held by various conquerors – Romans, Byzantines, Persians, Arabs, Crusaders, Mamelukes and Turks. During recent centuries, however, Jerusalem became the largest Jewish settlement in Palestine. By 1860 a series of new neighborhoods were established in the city. The Jewish population grew gradually and in time became dominant in the city. During the War of Independence, Jewish Jerusalem defended itself with supreme valor. Neither steady bombardment, nor the siege; neither starvation nor the indifferent antagonistic attitude of the British Mandatory rulers, could defeat it. To be sure, the Old City and its eastern part were captured by the Jordanian Legion, but the attempt to wrest Jerusalem from the Jewish State failed. On 22 Kislev 5710, Prime Minister David Ben Gurion proclaimed Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and during the Six Day War, the Old City and the eastern part were liberated and Jerusalem was again united under Israeli rule.
 Israel (/ˈɪzriəl, ˈɪzreɪəl/; Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל; Arabic: إِسْرَائِيل), officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. It has land borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan on the east, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the east and west, respectively, and Egypt to the southwest. The country contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. Israel’s economic and technological center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, although the state’s sovereignty over Jerusalem has only partial recognition.
Israel has evidence of the earliest migration of hominids out of Africa. Canaanite tribes are archaeologically attested since the Middle Bronze Age, while the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah emerged during the Iron Age. The Neo-Assyrian Empire destroyed Israel around 720 BCE. Judah was later conquered by the Babylonian, Persian and Hellenistic empires and had existed as Jewish autonomous provinces. The successful Maccabean Revolt led to an independent Hasmonean kingdom by 110 BCE, which in 63 BCE however became a client state of the Roman Republic that subsequently installed the Herodian dynasty in 37 BCE, and in 6 CE created the Roman province of Judea. Judea lasted as a Roman province until the failed Jewish revolts resulted in widespread destruction, expulsion of Jewish population and the renaming of the region from Iudaea to Syria Palaestina.[34] Jewish presence in the region has persisted to a certain extent over the centuries. In the 7th century the Levant was taken from the Byzantine Empire by the Arabs and remained in Muslim control until the First Crusade of 1099, followed by the Ayyubid conquest of 1187. The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt extended its control over the Levant in the 13th century until its defeat by the Ottoman Empire in 1517. During the 19th century, national awakening among Jews led to the establishment of the Zionist movement in the diaspora followed by waves of immigration to Ottoman and later British Palestine.
 In 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency, and rejected by Arab leaders. The following year, the Jewish Agency declared the independence of the State of Israel, and the subsequent 1948 Arab-Israeli War saw Israel’s establishment over most of the former Mandate territory, while the West Bank and Gaza were held by neighboring Arab states. Israel has since fought several wars with Arab countries, and it has since 1967 occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights and the Gaza Strip (still considered occupied after 2005 disengagement, although some legal experts dispute this claim).[41][42][43][fn 4] It extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank. Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories is the world’s longest military occupation in modern times.[fn 4][49] Efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have not resulted in a final peace agreement. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have been signed.
In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish and democratic state. Israel is a representative democracy[neutrality is disputed] with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage. The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature. Israel is a developed country and an OECD member, with the 32nd-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2017. The country benefits from a highly skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentages of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. Israel has the highest standard of living in the Middle East, and has one of the highest life expectancies in the world.
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