Culture

The culture of Israel was in development long before the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948 and is a combination of secular-life and religious heritage. Much of the diversity of Israel's culture is due to the diversity of the people who make up Israel. Originating from around the world, they all brought individual cultural rituals from their country, as well as having open horizons which mean that Israeli culture still develops as Israelis see changes in the international world.

Dance

The traditional folk dance of Israel is the Hora, originally an Eastern European circle dance. Israeli folk dancing today is choreographed for recreational as well as performance dance groups.

The Palestinian population's folk dance is the Dabke, a dance of community, often performed at weddings and other joyous occasions, with various versions in different villages and cities.

Modern dance in Israel is a flourishing field, and several Israeli choreographers such as Ohad Naharin are considered to be among the most versatile and original international creators working today. Famous Israeli companies include the Batsheva Dance Company and the Bat-Dor Dance Company.

Literature

Israeli literature is mostly written in Hebrew and the history of Israeli literature is mostly the product of the revival of the Hebrew language as a spoken language in modern times.

Since the middle of the nineteenth century, the Hebrew language was increasingly used for speaking as well as writing modern forms of prose, poetry and drama. Every year thousands of new books are published in Hebrew and most of them are original to the Hebrew language.

Shmuel Yosef Agnon won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1966.

Museums

Tel Aviv, Haifa, Herzliya, and Jerusalem have excellent art museums, and many towns and kibbutzim have smaller high-quality museums. The Israel Museum in Jerusalem houses the Dead Sea Scrolls along with an extensive collection of Jewish religious and folk art. The Museum of the Diaspora is located on the campus of Tel Aviv University. Israel has artist colonies in Safed, Jaffa, and Ein Hod.

Music

Israeli music is diverse and combines elements of both western and eastern music. It tends toward eclecticism and contains a wide variety of influences from today's Jewish diaspora. It also makes use of modern cultural importation. Hassidic songs, Asian and Arab pop, especially Yemenite singers, hip hop and heavy metal are all part of the musical scene.

Israel's canonical folk songs often deal with Zionist hopes and dreams and glorify the life of idealistic Jewish youth who intend on building a home and defending their homeland. These are usually known as "Songs of the land of Israel".

Israel is well-known for its famous classical orchestras and the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra under the management of Zubin Mehta has a worldwide reputation. Dudu Fisher, Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman are some of the more renowned classical musicians from Israel.

Music styles popular in Israel include pop, rock, heavy metal, hip hop and rap, trance (especially Goa trance and psychedelic trance), Oriental Mizrahi music and ethnic music of various sorts.

Israel has won the Eurovision Song Contest three times.

Sports

Sports in Israel, as in other countries, are an important part of the national culture. The Israeli sporting culture is much like that of European countries. Israeli athletics go back as far as before the establishment of the state of Israel. While football (soccer) and basketball are considered the most popular sports in Israel, the nation has attained achievements in other sports, such as American Football, handball and athletics. Israelis are also involved in hockey, rugby and chess.

To date, Israel has won six Olympic medals.