On May 14, 1948, the Jewish People's Council declared the establishment of the State of Israel, following a prolonged campaign since the late 19th century, when the Zionist movement began working towards the goal of creating a homeland for the Jewish people. About 42% of the world's Jews live in Israel today. Modern Israel contains ancient sites sacred to several Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Druze faith and Bahai religion.

Modern Israel is roughly located on the site of the ancient kingdoms of Israel, Judah and the Phoenician dominated coastline.^{[citation needed]} The area, becoming the birthplace of Judaism, Samaritanism and later Christianity fell under the consequent influence of Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian Achaemenid, Hellenistic and Roman Empires, though demographically the region had mostly kept its integrity until the events of the 1st century CE. The Jews were mostly exterminated and driven out of the Judean and Samaritan mountains by the Romans over the course of Jewish-Roman Wars, becoming a minority in most regions, except Galilee. Consequently dominated by Greco-Romans and Samaritans, the region became increasingly Christianized since the 3rd century. The Samaritans, who expanded following a power decay of the Byzantine Empire, were as well marginilized following the Samaritan Revolts of the 5th and 6th centuries. Christian Greco-Romans, Nabateans and Ghassanids were however as well overwhelmed in the 7th century by the Sassanid Persian and eventually the Muslim Arab conquest and rule, which lasted without interruption until the Crusades. In the Middle Ages, the area formed the focal point of conflict between Christianity and Islam, beginning with the Crusade of 1096 and ending with the fall of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187 and finally the fall of Acre to the Mamluks in 1291.

Coordinates: 31°N 35°E / 31°N 35°E / 31; 35

Israel, officially the State of Israel ( /ˈɪzriːəl/ or  /ˈɪzreɪəl/; Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל‎, Medīnat Yisrā'el, IPA: [me̞diˈnät jisʁäˈʔe̞l] ( listen); Arabic: دَوْلَة إِسْرَائِيل‎, Dawlat Isrāʼīl, IPA: [dawlat ʔisraːˈʔiːl]), is a parliamentary republic in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan and the West Bank in the east, Egypt and the Gaza Strip on the southwest, and the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea to the south, and it contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. Israel is defined as a Jewish and Democratic State in its Basic Laws and is the world's only Jewish-majority state.

Following the adoption of a resolution by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 29 November 1947 recommending the adoption and implementation of the United Nations plan to partition Palestine, on 14 May 1948 David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel, a state independent from the British Mandate for Palestine. Neighboring Arab states invaded the next day in support of the Palestinian Arabs. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. Portions of these territories, including east Jerusalem, have been annexed by Israel, but the border with the neighboring West Bank has not yet been permanently defined.^{[neutrality is disputed]} Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, but efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have so far not resulted in peace.

David Vaughan Icke (pronounced /aɪk/, or IKE, born 29 April 1952) is an English writer and public speaker, best known for his views on what he calls "who and what is really controlling the world." Describing himself as the most controversial speaker in the world, he is the author of 19 books and has attracted a global following that cuts across the political spectrum. His 533-page The Biggest Secret (1999) has been called "the Rosetta Stone for conspiracy junkies."

Icke was a well-known BBC television sports presenter and spokesman for the Green Party, when in 1990 a psychic told him he was a healer who had been placed on Earth for a purpose, and that the spirit world was going to pass messages to him so he could educate others. In March 1991 he held a press conference to announce that he was a "Son of the Godhead" – a phrase he said later the media had misunderstood – and the following month told the BBC's Terry Wogan show that the world would soon be devastated by tidal waves and earthquakes. He said the show changed his life, turning him from a respected household name into someone who was laughed at whenever he appeared in public.