Israel is a country you&#8217;ll constantly find on the news. When we think Israel we think controversy, war, and religion. However, those who live in the country see something you&#8217;ll never find on the news. Just like any other country in the world that we&#8217;ve never been to, we imagine a life there based on limited information.

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However, the only people who know what life is really like, are the ones who live there. If you never visited Iran, Australia, and or Russia, you&#8217;ll paint an image of what life is like based on news snippets and TV shows.Popular Everything decided to explore the life of a country that is so talked about. The world forgets that actual life takes place in the countries we hear very little about. So here&#8217;s a list of what it&#8217;s like to live in this tiny country smaller than the state of New Jersey.

For all of you who&#8217;ve wondered &#8220;how low can you go,&#8221; the answer is the Dead Sea. This sea is the lowest point on Earth. It&#8217;s also the only ocean in the world with enough salt in it to float anything. There is so much salt that no underwater life can survive in it.

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Sharks and drowning are two fears to cross off when you enter the dead sea. However one should totally be afraid of getting splashed. The salt concentration is so high that it stings everything!

Israel is home to people of so many different ethnic backgrounds. Moroccan, Yemenite, Russian, Polish and more make up the Israeli population. The mix of ethnicities leads to some of the most exotic looking people on the planet.

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One thing tourists realize when they travel is just how interesting and unique the people look.

Israel is not considered a socialist country, but the people who live there have the option to live in a socialist way. Villages called Kibbutzim&nbsp;are built with the socialist mindset. Members of Kibbutzim share everything, including their salary.

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These places are usually funded by the item, crop or service that a Kibbutz offers. Some Kibbutzim have dairy farms, and others have water parks.

Tel Aviv, a city in Israel, is crazy about dogs. There is one dog for every 17 people, that&#8217;s barking nuts! There are various dog parks throughout the city and nearly every restaurant or cafe has a bowl of water outside for thirsty dogs.

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Every year there is a city-funded&nbsp;Dog Day where dogs get massages, treats, and hopefully adopted!

Over the past decade, Israel experienced an influx of Ethiopians in their population. Many people from the country claim to come from the ancient, lost, Jewish tribe of Ephraim. Jewish people from all over the world have saved their money in order to move to Israel.

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The Ethiopians who come to Israel experience things that we consider to be normal occurrences for the first time. For example, they are exposed to fluorescent lights, toilets, and airplanes. The Ethiopian community is growing and slowly but surely acclimating to the Israeli society.

Tel Aviv was rated one of the best cities to live for those who identify as LGBT. The city welcomes the gay community with bars, beaches, clubs, and even hotels. Each year, over 250,000 people gather in Tel Aviv for a huge gay parade that takes place along the beach.

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IN Tel Aviv, Singles, couples, families, homosexuals, and heterosexuals all celebrate gay pride.

Surprisingly, the cherry tomato is a relatively new invention. Cherry tomatoes were invented in Israel in 1973. An Israeli seed breeder Hazera Genetics developed this strain of tomatoes that the world has fallen in love with.

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Scientists from the Hebrew University wanted to develop a small tomato that is resistant to a specific virus and will survive shipment. They were a huge success.

Israel&#8217;s electronic and deep house music is something locals take seriously.

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There are a ton of clubs that open in the wee hours of the morning so that the house and electronic lovers can get their fix.

The Government has rules about what can be up and running on the Sabbath. With the exception of Tel Aviv, all stores must close down before the Sabbath. Busses do not run anywhere in the county during these times.

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So if you’re planning a vacation to this diverse land, be sure to work around this day of rest.

Some neighborhoods in Israel are populated with a majority of religious people. While the country does not enforce any dress code laws, the people in these neighborhoods created unofficial rules about how to dress. Signs outside of the neighborhood ask people entering to be respectful with regards to how they dress.

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Traditionally the arms are covered up to the elbow; the legs are covered up to the knee and collar bones are not exposed.&nbsp;

There is a law in Israel stating that Pigs cannot be raised on the land, but you’ll find loads of bacon if you know where to look. Farmers found a clever loophole around this law.

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They place a slap of concrete below their pig farm. So when they raise their pigs, it won&#8217;t be technically “on the land.”

Israeli soccer is not top notch, but that doesn&#8217;t mean it doesn&#8217;t have a local following. Soccer fans in Israel are either die-hard Hapoel fans or die-hard Beitar Yerushalaim fans. The two are serious rivals. The soccer teams are also associated with political views.

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So the fights between the fans are not just about soccer; they go way deeper than that.

One of the best college parties in the world is held in the south of Israel. A private college in Hertzelia prepares year round for their exclusive a luxurious three-day pool party. Each day, the party is hosted at a different highly ranked hotel.

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The hotels are reserved for the students, and the party never stops. Shortly after the day party, a night rave awaits. It&#8217;s madness.

Many Jewish Israelis have a strict religious diet. They follow all the Kosher laws and only eat at places that have a certificate to prove that the food is Kosher. One of the laws includes the separating&nbsp;of meat and milk.

So if you walk into a kosher burger restaurant, you won&#8217;t be able to put cheese on it.

Israelis don&#8217;t work out the old fashion way. Outdoor, public gyms are very popular; gymnasiums exist all over multiple cities. They are equipped with standard gym structures.

However, you&#8217;ll find that the people use the equipment for everything they&#8217;re not supposed to be used for.. and it&#8217;s awesome!

The Jewish people celebrate surviving after a decree to kill all the Jews was signed thousands of years ago in what was known as Persia. The traditional celebration includes dressing up, drinking and partying. Some of the best parties take place on this day.

For the holiday of Purim, DJs from all over the world come to Israel and perform at festivals. This is the one day you will find religious men dressed as women.

Coca-Cola alters its products flavors to fit the liking of the people in every country. Israel is the country with the second sweetest flavor. According to experts, the Israeli people love strong flavors. If something is sweet in Israel it is really sweet!

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The same applies for spicy and sour foods as well. Strauss reported that when they made their vanilla ice cream for the people in the middle east, they had to make sure it was extremely sweet.

Israel has had its history with terror attacks. Because of that, the country has very strict rules about things we think are simple. All garbage cans are clear so that no one can hide something dangerous in them.

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And anytime a bag is forgotten somewhere, the citizens report it to the police, and the police use a device that covers the bag and safely explodes it, just in case it was going to anyways. So make sure you don’t forget anything anywhere if you ever want to see it again.

Israel has a serious cat problem. The country has the highest ratio of cats to humans in the world. That&#8217;s why its citizens are so divided about feeding stray cats.

There are cat ladies who come out in the dark of the night to feed the neighborhood strays. This upsets many as they believe in letting nature take its course rather than making the cat problem bigger.

Women make up 23.4% of Research and Development industry in Israel. Israel is second in the world, behind Denmark, for the most woman in R&amp;D.

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Not to mention, women make up 37% of the degrees earned in the country, which is one of the highest percentages in the world. So if you’re planning on dating an Israeli woman, you better read a few books beforehand.

In every major city in Israel, markets that sell everything from food to household supplies. Although they are nothing like Walmart or Target they have something special about them.

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No price is set in stone. If you’re good enough, you bargain down any price you see. But, be careful, the owners of these stands have a lot of experience, so you better bring your A-Game.

It&#8217;s common to hear men call each other bro, man, dude and to name a few.

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However, you can be sure that you won’t hear men working at auto repair shop calling each other sweetie. In Israel, it’s not uncommon to call your buddy from the army or best friend “motek” which means sweetie.

It&#8217;s an unwritten rule that you must stand give your seat to an elderly person on the train or bus if they don&#8217;t have one.

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We think that this is an unwritten rule everywhere, but in Israel, people will personally ask you what your problem is if you refuse to give up your seat.

There are 26 official Muslim States, 18 official Christian States, but there is only 1 Jewish State &#8211; Israel. However, Israel is home to holy sites for all three religions. Jews, Christians, and Muslims all have a holy site on the land of Israel.

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While these sites are visited often and highly respected, they don’t have much of a wow factor for people who live there. Tourists come from all places on the planet to see the Western Wall. You’ll find them weeping when they see it. However, for the residents of the land, the Western Wall is something they pass by on the way to work.

According to studies, Israel is the 11th happiest countries on earth.

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Despite everything you see in the news, and all of the conflicts that occur, the Israeli people still manage to have a higher quality of life than people in countries like America, Japan, France, and the UK.

Some cities in Israel are extremely close to the border. They often receive rockets from neighboring countries. Once a rocket siren goes off, people have only a few seconds to get to a shelter. This stopped children from living their lives and playing outside.

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That&#8217;s why people donated playgrounds that double as shelters. It’s strange to imagine playing in a bomb shelter playground, but at least the Israelis are determined to continue life as normally as they can.

Tourists leave Israel learning that pick up lines don’t work on the women there. The Israeli women are notorious for not giving men who hit on them the time of day.

If you thought your foreign accent would entice them into letting you buy them a drink… prepare for some hardcore rejection. This is one of the only Middle Eastern countries where the woman has all the say in who she talks to.

Although Israel is running with the big boys in terms of technology, research, development and so on, they’re a little behind on certain things. Israel is a desert so that it can get really hot and really cold within 24 hours.

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However, the people who live there don’t usually have central Air Conditioning and or Central heating. They stick to space heaters and coolers. A huge factor in this choice of lifestyle has to do with the assumption that the heater and the Air Conditioning make people sick. Just ask any Israeli mother or grandmother what they think about it.

About one-third of the Israeli population does some form of volunteer work. They feel strongly about certain causes and often pair their views with action.

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Not to mention, most companies in Israel have volunteer days. For example; you and your co-workers might spend a day at the animal shelter!

Can you imagine what kind of chaos would unravel if there were elections every year in the US? People would go crazy defending their choice candidate.

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That’s pretty much what happens every year in Israel. The Prime Minister is given exactly one year to get whatever he needs to get done before the next elections. However, there are no limits on how many years a Prime Minister can serve in a row.

Every road sign in Israel is written in three different languages which usually are English, Hebrew, and Arabic. However, you might even see Russian added to the signs, as Israel has a large Russian community.

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All the translations make the country perfect for travel. Everything you need to know is written in your language. But anyways, you could just use the countries famous navigation app Waze.

The Israeli City of Tel Aviv is proudly the Vegan capital of the world. While you will find meat restaurants selling shwarma on almost every corner, you’ll also have no issue finding a vegan-friendly sticker on every food joint you pass by.

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Tel Avivians are passionate about animal rights. There’s a protest against eating animals almost every day.

Some people think that women can&#8217;t vote in Israel, but that&#8217;s just another false rumor.

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The fourth person to hold the title of Prime Minister in the country was Golda Meir, a woman from Kiev, Russia. So equality was never a question, as it has always existed.

In the northern city of Haifa, there is a school that teaches people how to be clowns.

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Although many countries have clown schools, Israel is one of the few countries that has therapeutic clown schools, where people learn how to work with children in hospitals.

When you go to Israel, you’ll notice just how many cats there are. It’s something that’s impossible to miss. They act like they own the place and even have a bit of an attitude problem.

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What people don’t know is that Israeli’s brought cats to the land. Israel is, in fact, a desert. That means that snakes, scorpions, and spiders are a seriously lethal issue. Long ago, Israelies imported cats knowing that they attack these types of animals. The idea worked, but now no one knows what to do with all these cats!

The Israeli people come from many different backgrounds. Many North African and Iranian Jews fled to Israel as they were kicked out of their countries.

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They brought a lot of the typical superstitions from back home, including those about the “evil eye.” To prevent there from being an evil eye on someone, you don’t outwardly compliment them. However, if you insult them, it’s ok. Many Israeli grandmothers call their grandchildren ugly when really they want to say that they’re pretty.

According to the OCED, Israel happens to have one of the best healthcare systems in the world. Although, you should be warned that the doctors do not like complainers.

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They are not paid as well as the doctors in the US, so if you’re a hypochondriac, you won’t do well in Israel.

Israeli men are known for being extremely confident. They&#8217;ll go up to any person, even if they&#8217;re totally out of their league, and ask them on a date.

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Tourists find it very surprising. But, don&#8217;t worry, if you reject their offer to &#8220;take a coffee&#8221; you won&#8217;t hurt their ego one bit.

While they are pleasantly surprised but how nice the tourists are; they don’t get the feeling that it’s so genuine. The Israeli people are known for being very straight up about things

If they don’t want to know how you are, they won’t ask. They won’t say “I would be happy to help” to a customer if that’s really not what they feel. This trait has its pros and cons. Apparently many Europeans feel the same way about Americans. Go figure.

When you go to a football, basketball and or baseball games, there are staff members who shout “ice cold beer, cotton candy, and soda!” The beach in Israel is no different.

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When you’re sitting and soaking up the sun, you’ll hear people shouting “banana, chocolate, lemon!&#8221; There are a few people who are licensed to sell ice cream on the shore. You don’t have to move; they come to you!

If you’re in Israel for the first time and you see huts outside peoples homes, it’s probably because you got there on Sukkot. While there are many people who don’t follow all of the Jewish traditions in Israel, a lot do.

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The Jewish people celebrate a holiday called Sukkot. Traditionally people build temporary huts to eat, drink, and sometimes sleep in if the weather is nice. They do this to remember the days that, according to the Bible, the Jews lived in the Desert. After the seven day holiday is over, they take down these huts and continue with their lives normally.

Israel is one of the countries that have the most solar-powered water heaters. This type of system is great for the environment, and in the summers, there’s endless hot water. However, wintertime gets rough.

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If you want to take a shower in the winter, you’ll have to turn on the electric water heater and wait anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour only to take a 10-minute hot shower.

In Israel, you have many different types of Jews. There are Reform, Orthodox, nonpracticing and then there are the Jews who follow the teachings of Rabbi Nachman. They focus on signing, happiness, and bringing spirituality to all corners of the earth.

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On holidays and the first day of the Jewish month, they drive vans around the streets and blast music. They’ll dance on the car and even stop in the middle of the road to make sure you hear the music and can celebrate with them. It’s an awesome thing to see, and everyone is welcome to join the party.

It’s not uncommon for a person in Israel to ask you your last name and start playing the guessing game.

The Jews in Israel come from all over the world, and usually, you can tell where a person is from based off of their last name. Jews fled to Israel from countries such as Morocco, Yemen, and Germany with last names that are specific to their region.

When you go to a restaurant that serves middle eastern food in Israel, you better go hungry. Israelies love salads and spread.

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It’s almost strange for them to start a meal without having a basket of bread and at least five different salads and spreads on the table… and you bet yourself hummus is one of them! Only after you finish the salads will you enter phase two of your meal.

Some bus stops and streets in Israel have libraries that are totally based on trust. That means that there are no checkout lists, no return dates, there’s no angry librarian and no late fees!

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People donate their books to the libraries. People walking by can pick up a book and are trusted to return it on their own time. If you think about it, it’s a good way to spread some knowledge for free as well as share your old books.

Israel, like many other countries, is heavily influenced by American culture on TV. An Isreali most likely viewed an American movie about college life and decided that chasers are small shots and that actual shots are doubles.

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Apparently, they didn&#8217;t get the memo that chasers are meant to chase down tough shots… but they tried their best. Just make sure you don’t go to a bar and order a shot… you’ll get more and pay more than you expect.

Israeli’s are known for a very specific type of stubbornness, especially when it comes to business. It’s Israeli culture to teach your kids the saying “if you can dream it can be true.” An Israeli entrepreneur, Nir Barkat, explains Israeli stubbornness perfectly.

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He gives the example; &#8220;When an Entrepreneur knocks on your door and offers something, and you throw him out the door and comes in through the window, that is associated with using Hutzpa (a word used to describe this type of stubbornness).&#8221; This character is often intimidating, but because of Hutzpa, Israel was dubbed the “Start-Up Nation,” and recognized for their incredible contribution to the medical-tech world.

Israelis will tell you what they think, even if you didn’t ask and you have no idea who they are. It’s very common to go to the park and see a parent approach another parent and tell them that they should put a helmet on their child.

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Whereas in other countries, people are taught to mind their own business and not give other people a lesson about parenting; in Israel, it&#8217;s totally acceptable. So don’t be surprised if someone screams at you for riding a bike without a helmet… it comes from a good place.

The Israeli people have mastered the cappuccino, Instant coffee, and Turkish coffee. They consider Starbucks a “low quality” drink. Because of their high standards, they get really specific with the cup they drink coffee from.

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No, there aren&#8217;t just funny mugs lying around; it’s much more serious than that. Apparently, the size of the cup and whether or not its glass or ceramic makes a Huge difference. That’s why, when you go to a cafe, the waiter will ask what type of cup you want to drink from.

On Holocaust Memorial Day and Israeli Veterans Day, a memorial siren sounds for about two minutes. No matter where they are or what they’re doing, the citizens of Israel stand in silence to remember the millions murdered in the Holocaust and those who fell while fighting the country.

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You’ll see students in classrooms, workers in offices, and people in stores stopping what they&#8217;re doing and standing respectfully. The most incredible sight are all the drivers pulling over on the highways and streets so that they could get out and stand with the rest of the country.

For some reason, flip-flops and jeans are still socially acceptable in Israel. Although many of us believed that these days were long over in the ‘90s, they’re still strong in Israel.

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American women who moved to Israel were interviewed and asked what the biggest turn off was for them when it came to dating in Israel. The majority of them replied, jeans and flip-flops!

For a country that is the size of New Jersey, that is very impressive! You can drive from the top to the bottom of the country in as little as 5 and a half hours.

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But, somehow, there happens to be every type of landscape you want to see in it.

In the ceremony called “Birkat Kohanim,” or the blessing of the Cohanim, about 100,000 Jewish people go to the Western wall to be blessed by Jews who stem from the ancient Jewish tribe of priests called Cohanim.

If you know someone with the last name Cohen, he or she is most likely a descendant. Cohanim have a few rituals specific to them, and one of them is blessing the Jewish people. The Jewish people hold up their white praying garments and cover their families while the blessing is being said. It’s beautiful and looks like a sea of white.

Israeli security is not just a pain in the airport. It&#8217;s a pain all over the country.

The country has a history of terror attacks in places like malls and markets, and nightclubs. That&#8217;s why you will have to stand in line to get your bag checked before you enter most places in Israel. It’s a pain in the butt, however, it does benefit the people who live there.

Most countries make Sunday a part of the weekend. People always look forward to Sunday football or family time. However, because Israel is a Jewish state, they swapped out Sunday for Friday because that’s when the Sabbath ends.

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All of Israel&#8217;s citizens run around on a Friday morning so that they could get everything done before the sun goes down and all the stores close.

When Israel first became a state in 1948, the land was in pretty bad shape. However, this all changed for a few reasons.

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A Polish immigrant who escaped the Holocaust devised a plan to irrigate the land using a minimal amount of water. This system, the drip irrigation system, is still used today and has been very effective in turning desert land into something that&#8217;s blooming to this day. Not to mention, planting trees is a very strong Jewish tradition that clearly has its benefits in the desert.

This is a really random fact but it’s important to bring up. Israelies invented a snack that exactly likes cheese puffs, except they’re peanut butter puffs. With the rate of peanut allergies rapidly growing, scientists decided to look into the reason why Israelies rarely have this allergy.

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Some researchers concluded that the peanut butter snack, Bamba, is the reason why the allergy is not developing. Bamba is popular amongst adults and is a total staple for babies in Israel. They believe the early exposure is likely to prevent the allergy from developing.

If you listen to the top hits on the Israeli radio and the Greek radio, you’ll hear the same song with different words. Israelies and Greeks totally agree on what kind of songs they want to jam out to.

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That&#8217;s why they share their tunes with each other, and there’s no shame about it. Some Israelis even prefer listening to the Greek versions of the song.

Israel noticed the growing problem revolving around body image. That’s why they made the decision to ban underweight models from the catwalk.

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They don’t think it should make health issues a trend. After they enforced this,&nbsp;many other countries did the same.

It’s a well-known fact that Israelis love hummus. The chickpea and sesame seed based spread is a hit.

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The people who live in Israel, and anywhere else in the Middle East, get really defensive about their favorite hummus joint. In a city called Jaffa, you can even find hummus flavored ice cream!

Not all Israelis keep the traditional Jewish dietary restrictions. However, it is easy to find anything in “Kosher form.”

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For example, the glue on the postage stamps in Israel is Kosher. The government wanted to make sure that all Israelis can use their stamps, so they had to clarify that the glue complied with Kosher laws.

Israelis seriously love their dogs, especially those who hail from Tel Aviv.

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That&#8217;s why the people who live in Israel are not surprised when they hear their country has the largest dog cemetery in the world! You can find it in the city called Ashkelon.

The Israeli cows in Israel produce more milk per cow than almost any country in the world.

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The only country whose cow milk production is as close to Israel’s is South Korea.

In the city of Tel Aviv, there are over 100 sushi restaurants to choose from.

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This makes it the city with the most sushi restaurants per capita after Tokyo and NYC.

Israeli paper currency was made to accommodate everyone, including blind people.

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The paper notes made with braille on them so that blind people can identify what bill they’re holding.

The modern-day wonder woman is Gal Gadot. She impressed the world with her strength beauty and power in the Marvel movies.

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Gal was born and raised in Israel and even has a slight accent when she speaks English.

The Israeli people take pride in the noticeable high quality of their fruits and vegetables.

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They happen to be the largest consumers of fruits and vegetable in the world per capita. Perhaps that&#8217;s why they have one of the highest life expediencies.

Israelis do not take chess lightly. In fact, one of the world champions of chess is an Israeli.

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The city of Beer Sheva has the most chess grandmasters than any city in the world. So if you plan on challenging someone in chess, you better prong your A-game.

Not Your Average War Zone: The Truth About Life In Israel