Postage stamps and postal history of Israel

The postage stamps and postal history of Israel is a survey of the postage stamp

Postage stamp

A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...

s issued by the state of Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, and its postal history

Postal history

Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of postage stamps and covers and associated material illustrating historical episodes of postal systems...

, since independence was proclaimed on May 14, 1948. The first postage stamps were issued two days later on May 16, 1948. Pre-1948 postal history is discussed in postage stamps and postal history of Palestine.

Historical context

The postal history of Israel builds upon the centuries-long development of postal services in Palestine

Postal history of Palestine

The postage stamps and postal history of Palestine emerges out of its geographic location as a crossroads amidst the empires of the ancient Near East, the Levant and the Middle East...

. During the rule of the Mamluks, mounted mail service was operated in Deir el-Balah

Deir el-Balah

Deir el-Balah or Dayr al-Balah is located in the central Gaza Strip and is the capital or muhfaza of the Deir el-Balah Governorate...

, Lydda

Lod

Lod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod...

and other towns on the Cairo to Damascus route. During the Ottoman period, postal services relied upon Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

's stamps (Palestine FAQ). Foreign consulates set up the early post offices. During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

Egyptian Expeditionary Force

The Egyptian Expeditionary Force was formed in March 1916 to command the British and British Empire military forces in Egypt during World War I. Originally known as the 'Force in Egypt' it had been commanded by General Maxwell who was recalled to England...

occupied Palestine and demarcated stamps as "E.E.F." in 1918.

During the British mandate

Mandate Palestine

Mandate Palestine existed while the British Mandate for Palestine, which formally began in September 1923 and terminated in May 1948, was in effect...

, postage stamps and services were provided by British authorities. From 1933-1948, mandate services included airmail

Airmail

Airmail is mail that is transported by aircraft. It typically arrives more quickly than surface mail, and usually costs more to send...

stamps and, as an innovation, air letter cards. British postal offices and operations were, in part, turned over to the Israeli government. In May 1948, as the British withdrew and postal services broke down, the provisional government

Provisional government of Israel

The provisional government of Israel was the temporary cabinet which governed Israel from shortly before independence until the formation of the first government in March 1949 following the first Knesset elections in January that year....

issued overprints on Jewish National Fund

Jewish National Fund

The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...

stamps and ad hoc postage was created in Nahariya

Nahariya

Nahariya is the northernmost coastal city in Israel, with an estimated population of 51,200.-History:Nahariya was founded by German Jewish immigrants from the Fifth Aliyah in the 1930s...

and Safed

Safed

Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...

Postal history

In 1948, stamps were issued by Israel Post

Israel Postal Company

Israel Postal Company , formerly the Israel Postal Authority, is a government-owned corporation that handles postal services in Israel....

the Israeli postal operator. Because Saturday is a day of rest, Sunday, May 16, was the first business day after independence was declared on which stamps could be sold. The first set of stamps was entitled Doar Ivri ("Hebrew Post") because the country's name had not yet been chosen. The first set of definitive stamp

Definitive stamp

A definitive stamp is a postage stamp, that is part of a regular issue of a country's stamps available for sale by the postal service for an extended period of time...

s included values of 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 50, 250, 500, and 1000 mils. The stamps were printed by letterpress, perforated or as a rouletted

Postage stamp separation

For postage stamps, separation is the means by which individual stamps are made easily detachable from each other.Methods of separation include:# perforation: cutting rows and columns of small holes...

variation, and with Israel's emblematic "tabs" with marginalia

Marginalia

Marginalia are scribbles, comments, and illuminations in the margins of a book.- Biblical manuscripts :Biblical manuscripts have liturgical notes at the margin, for liturgical use. Numbers of texts' divisions are given at the margin...

about the stamp. Stamp booklet

Postage stamp booklet

A postage stamp booklet is a booklet made up of one or more small panes of postage stamps in a cardboard cover. Booklets are often made from sheets especially printed for this purpose, with a narrow selvedge at one side of the booklet pane for binding. From the cutting, the panes are usually...

s were issued for the 5, 10, 15 and 20 mil stamps. The Doar Ivri stamps were designed by Otte Wallish

Otte Wallish

Otte Wallish was an emigre to Israel who established himself as a graphic designer and contributed to the symbolic self-representation of the Jewish state....

using ancient coins from the First Jewish-Roman War

First Jewish-Roman War

The First Jewish–Roman War , sometimes called The Great Revolt , was the first of three major rebellions by the Jews of Judaea Province , against the Roman Empire...

and later Bar Kochba revolt (as pictured at top of article).

Israeli stamps are trilingual, in Arabic, English and Hebrew, following the practice of the British Mandate of Palestine (as required by the League of Nations

League of Nations

The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...

). Israel Post first issued postage due

Postage due

Postage due is the term used for mail sent with insufficient postage. A postage due stamp is a stamp added to an underpaid piece of mail to indicate the extra postage due.- Background :...

stamps, tete-beche

Tête-bêche

In philately, tête-bêche is a joined pair of stamps in which one is upside-down in relation to the other, produced intentionally or accidentally. Like any pair of stamps, a pair of tête-bêches can be a vertical or a horizontal pair. In the case of a pair of triangular stamps, they cannot help but...

and gutter pairs

Gutter (philately)

The philatelic use of the word gutter is the space left between postage stamps which allows them to be separated or perforated. When stamps are printed on large sheets of paper that will be guillotined into smaller sheets along the gutter it will not exist on the finished sheet of stamps...

in 1948, airmail stamps in 1950, service stamps, for government offices, in 1951 and provisional stamp

Provisional stamp

Linn's World Stamp Almanac defines a provisional stamp as "a postage stamp issued for temporary use to meet postal demands until new or regular stocks of stamps can be obtained."...

s in 1960. The tabs have gone through three unofficial phases. From 1948 to 1954, the tabs were written in Hebrew (with four exceptions: the Maccabia, Israel Bonds, Zionist Congress and Z.O.A.

Zionist Organization of America

The Zionist Organization of America , founded in 1897, was one of the first official Zionist organizations in the United States, and, especially early in the 20th century, the primary representative of Jewish Americans to the World Zionist Organization, espousing primarily Political Zionism.Today,...

stamps). From 1954 until 1967, the inscriptions were usually in Hebrew and French. Since 1967, the tabs are typically Hebrew and English. Rarely, a tab is matched with the wrong stamp, as with two mix-ups on some Doar Ivri stamps.

From the outset, Israel created its own commemorative cancellations, including a first day cancel for the new Doar Ivri on May 16, 1948, and cancels for the Maccabiah Games

Maccabiah Games

The Maccabiah is an international Jewish athletic event similar to the Olympics held in Israel every four years under the auspices of the Maccabi Federation, affiliated with the Maccabi World Union. The Maccabiah Games is the third largest international sports competition in the world...

and its major cities the same year. By 1960, more than 325 unique postmarks had been designed. Beginning with the Doar Ivri stamps, too, Israel has provided first day covers. For instance, on July 5, 1967, a first day cover featuring Moshe Dayan

Moshe Dayan

Moshe Dayan was an Israeli military leader and politician. The fourth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces , he became a fighting symbol to the world of the new State of Israel...

was issued from the new post office in Jerusalem, soon after the Six Day War.

Israel has 64 post offices in 1950, expanding to 114 by 1960 and, after the Six Day War, to 178 branches by 1970. In 1955, two settlements in the Negev

Negev

The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...

began Israel's first mobile post office

Mobile post office

Mobile post offices deliver mail and other postal services through specially equipped vehicles, such as trucks and trains.-United Kingdom:The United Kingdom pioneered the modern use of what it calls the Travelling Post Office , a railway service that operated for the first time in 1838...

, a red truck. By 1990, Israel ran 53 routes for 1,058 locations, including Israeli settlements in the West Bank

West Bank

The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...

and Gaza

Gaza

Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...

.

Due to hyperinflation

Hyperinflation

In economics, hyperinflation is inflation that is very high or out of control. While the real values of the specific economic items generally stay the same in terms of relatively stable foreign currencies, in hyperinflationary conditions the general price level within a specific economy increases...

, in 1982 and 1984 Israel issued non-denominated stamps

Non-denominated postage

Non-denominated postage is postage intended to meet a certain postage rate that retains full validity for that intended postage rate even after the rate is increased. It does not show a monetary value, or denomination, on the face. In many English speaking countries, it is called non-value...

with an olive branch

Olive branch

The olive branch in Western culture, derived from the customs of Ancient Greece, symbolizes peace or victory and was worn by brides.-Ancient Greece and Rome:...

design. These stamps were said to be dreary yet convenient, insofar as they avoided the need for both the government and the customers to constantly update their postage.

During the 1990s, Israel experimented with vending machines

Stamp vending machine

A stamp vending machine is a mechanical, electrical or electro-mechanical device which can be used to automatically vend postage stamps to users in exchange for a pre-determined amount of money, normally in coin. Most SVMs were positioned in public places to provide a useful service to customers...

for postal labels (franking labels). The Klussendorf machines and their labels were withdrawn from service in 1999. Twenty-two colorful designs were issued, including 12 tourist sites and seven holiday season designs. Israel Post also provides the Express Mail Service

Express mail

In most postal systems express mail refers to an accelerated delivery service for which the customer pays a surcharge and receives faster delivery. Express mail is a service for domestic mail and is governed by a country's own postal administration...

in cooperation with 143 other postal suthorities.

The Israeli Defense Forces provides mail services for the military. During the 1973 Yom Kippur War

Yom Kippur War

The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...

, for example, the IDF postal agency issued a series of postcard

Postcard

A postcard or post card is a rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard intended for writing and mailing without an envelope....

s with cartoons to boost morale. Postcards show an Israeli cartoon character looming over Damascus

Damascus

Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

, hail

Hail

Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is referred to as a hail stone. Hail stones on Earth consist mostly of water ice and measure between and in diameter, with the larger stones coming from severe thunderstorms...

and fire raining down on Egyptian pyramids (quoting Exodus 9:24), and "Judgment Day

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...

, pictured here."

Postage stamps

In its early years, Israel issued stamps picturing the Jewish holidays, Jerusalem, Petah Tikva

Petah Tikva

Petah Tikva known as Em HaMoshavot , is a city in the Center District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv.According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2009, the city's population stood at 209,600. The population density is approximately...

, the Negev

Negev

, the Maccabiah Games

Maccabiah Games

, and Independence bonds. Every year, Israel issues a festival series to commemorate Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah , , is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im which occur in the autumn...

. In 1948, the festival series featured the "flying scrolls." In a self-reflective gesture, the postal authority also issued a souvenir sheet commemorating its own first stamps. In 1952, Israel issued its first stamp honoring a named person, Chaim Weizman. Other honorees of the 1950s included Theodore Herzl, Edmond de Rothschild, Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...

, Sholem Aleichem, Hayyim Nahman Bialik

Hayyim Nahman Bialik

Hayim Nahman Bialik , also Chaim or Haim, was a Jewish poet who wrote in Hebrew. Bialik was one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew poets and came to be recognized as Israel's national poet.-Biography:...

and Eliezer Ben-Yehuda

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda

Eliezer Ben‑Yehuda was a Jewish lexicographer and newspaper editor. He was the driving spirit behind the revival of the Hebrew language in the modern era.-Biography:...

. The first woman honored was Henrietta Szold

Henrietta Szold

Henrietta Szold was a U.S. Jewish Zionist leader and founder of the Hadassah Women's Organization. In 1942, she co-founded Ihud, a political party in Mandate Palestine dedicated to a binational solution.-Biography:...

(1960), the first rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

was the Baal Shem Tov (1961), and the first non-Jew was Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...

(1964).

In 1998, Israel was the first country to honor Chiune Sugihara

Chiune Sugihara

was a Japanese diplomat who served as Vice-Consul for the Japanese Empire in Lithuania. During World War II, he helped several thousand Jews leave the country by issuing transit visas to Jewish refugees so that they could travel to Japan. Most of the Jews who escaped were refugees from...

, who has since been honored on stamps from Gambia, Grenada

Grenada

Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...

, Guinea

Guinea

Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Liberia

Liberia

Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...

, Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

, and Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...

. Stamps were issued in memory of two Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

leaders, King Hassan II of Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

and King Hussein of Jordan, in 2000.

Researchers at Emory University

Emory University

Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...

found that, through 2005, 161 Israeli stamps deal with women, though most do so anonymously. Of the 45 stamps dedicated to individual women, 11 concerned Biblical characters and eight were of fighters

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

: Haviva Reik

Haviva Reik

Haviva Reick was one of 32 or 33 Palestinian Jewish parachutists sent by the Jewish Agency and Britain's Special Operations Executive on military missions in Nazi-occupied Europe....

, Hannah Szenes

Hannah Szenes

Hannah Szenes , often anglicized as Hannah Senesh was a Hungarian Jew, one of 37 Jews from the British Mandate for Palestine that were trained by the British army to parachute into Yugoslavia during the Second World War in order to help save the Jews of Hungary, who were about to be deported to...

, Rachel Yanait Ben Zvi, Rivka Guber

Rivka Guber

Rivka Guber was an Israeli social worker and pioneer, and a recipient of the Israel Prize.-Biography:Rivka Guber was born in Ukraine, Russian Empire and immigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1925. She settled in Rehovot, with her husband, Mordecai, and together they helped found Kfar Bilu...

, Rene Levy, Zivia Lubetkin

Zivia Lubetkin

Zivia Lubetkin was one of the leaders of the Jewish underground in Nazi-occupied Warsaw and the only woman on the High Command of the resistance group Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa .-Pre-World War II:...

, Sarah Aaronsohn

Sarah Aaronsohn

Sarah Aaronsohn was a member of Nili, a ring of Jewish spies working for the British in World War I, and a sister of notable botanist Aaron Aaronsohn. Sometimes she is referred to as the "heroine of Nili."-Early life:...

(pictured here), and an unnamed member of the Jewish brigade

Jewish Brigade

The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group was a military formation of the British Army that served in Europe during the Second World War. The brigade was formed in late 1944, and its personnel fought the Germans in Italy...

.

Israeli stamps cover general themes, including philately

Philately

Philately is the study of stamps and postal history and other related items. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting, which does not necessarily involve the study of stamps. It is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps...

itself, such as the 1954 stamp exhibition in Jerusalem, as well as themes emblematic of the state, such as Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

and Jewish history

Jewish history

Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their religion and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Since Jewish history is over 4000 years long and includes hundreds of different populations, any treatment can only be provided in broad strokes...

. For instance, in its first 40 years, nearly 10% of Israeli stamps included archeological motifs, for intellectual and ideological reasons.

The country produced a total of 110 new issues in the 1960s, 151 in the 1970s, 162 in the 1980s and 216 in the 1990s. Israel Post produces several dozen new issues each year: 40 new issues in 2000, 33 in 2001, 50 in 2002, 46 in 2003, 38 in 2004, 42 in 2005, 38 in 2006, and 44 in 2007. In 2008, new issues have honored Israel Rokach

Israel Rokach

Israel Rokach, Honorary CBE was an Israeli politician, Knesset member, and mayor of Tel Aviv from November 15, 1936 to April 13, 1953.-Biography:...

and Akiva Aryeh Weiss, two UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

World Heritage Sites (The Biblical Tel

TEL

- Acronyms :TEL is a three-letter acronym for:* Tetra-ethyl lead, a gasoline additive to make leaded gasoline* Tokyo Electron, a semiconductor equipment manufacturer* Transporter erector launcher, a mobile missile launch platform...

s and the Incense Route), and Mekorot

Mekorot

Mekorot is the national water company of Israel and the country's top agency for water management.Mekorot was founded in 1937. It supplies 90% of Israel's drinking water and 80% of its water supplies. The company runs 3,000 installations throughout the country for water supply, water quality,...

(the national water system).

Joint issues

Since its 1993 stamp for the 50th anniversary of Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the Jewish resistance that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto in German occupied Poland during World War II, and which opposed Nazi Germany's effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to Treblinka extermination camp....

, issued jointly with Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, such joint issue

Joint issue

A joint issue is the release of stamps or postal stationery by two or more countries to commemorate the same topic, event or person of relevance to both countries...

stamps have been produced with other postal authorities and in 1996, a joint Hanukkah stamp was issued with the United States, in miniature sheet

Miniature sheet

A souvenir sheet or miniature sheet is a small group of postage stamps still attached to the sheet on which they were printed. They may be either regular issues that just happen to be printed in small groups , or special issues often commemorating some event, such as a national anniversary,...

format. This was Israel's first self-adhesive stamp

Self-adhesive stamp

A self-adhesive stamp is a postage stamp with a pressure sensitive adhesive that does not require moistening in order to adhere to paper. They are usually issued on a removable backing paper....

.

On January 27, 2008, a joint issue with the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

debuted for the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Stamps were also issued jointly with Germany (in 2005) to honor their diplomatic relations, Austria and Hungary (2004, honoring Theodore Herzl), Italy (2004, honoring the Great Synagogue of Rome

Great Synagogue of Rome

-History:The Jewish community of Rome goes back to the 2nd century BC when the Roman Empire had an alliance of sorts with Judea under the leadership of Judah Maccabeus. At that time, many Jews came to Rome from Judea. Their numbers increased during the following centuries due to the settlement that...

), Georgia (in 2001, honoring Shota Rustaveli

Shota Rustaveli

Shota Rustaveli was a Georgian poet of the 12th century, and one of the greatest contributors to Georgian literature. He is author of "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" , the Georgian national epic poem....

), and Hungary (in 2001, honoring the Dohány Synagogue

Dohány Street Synagogue

The Great Synagogue, also known as Dohány Street Synagogue or Tabakgasse Synagogue, is located in Erzsébetváros, the 7th district of Budapest. It is the third largest synagogue in Eurasia and the fifth largest in the world...

of Budapest).

Withdrawals

Israel Post has been forced on a number of occasions to withdraw certain stamps which caused concern in religious circles. In November 2006 a stamp bearing the Divine Name

Tetragrammaton

The term Tetragrammaton refers to the name of the God of Israel YHWH used in the Hebrew Bible.-Hebrew Bible:...

was taken out of circulation over fear that it may be treated with disrespect. Similar action was taken over a series that depicted passages from the Talmud.

Relations with Palestinian postal services

Starting in 1994-1995, Israel shifted away from providing postal services for territories that, under the Oslo Accords

Oslo Accords

The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles , was an attempt to resolve the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict...

, were to come under the auspices of the Palestinian National Authority

Palestinian National Authority

The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...

(PNA). The PNA established post offices throughout the PNA, developed its own unique postmark

Postmark

thumb|USS TexasA postmark is a postal marking made on a letter, package, postcard or the like indicating the date and time that the item was delivered into the care of the postal service...

s and issued stamps. The PNA's Ministry of Telecom & Information Technology issued a critical report on postal services in areas under Israeli control.

Stamp collecting

Philately is popular among Israelis. The Israel Philatelic Federation lists two dozen stamp clubs, and 15 philatelic businesses throughout the small country. The country has stamp fairs (using its own cancellation), annual souvenir sheets, postage exhibitions, philatelic journals, and catalogs (pictured). In 1998, the Israel Post established the Postal and Philatelic Museum in Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

. Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv

was selected to host the 2008 World Stamp Championship under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie

Fédération Internationale de Philatélie

The Fédération Internationale de Philatélie was founded on June 18, 1926 and is the world federation for philately based in Zürich, Switzerland.- Aims :The primary aims of the FIP are:*To promote stamp collecting and philately....

, the international organization for philately.

Collecting stamps of broadly Jewish interest, forming topical Judaica collections, is a hobby of philatelists everywhere. While the sources listed in the previous paragraph catalogue Israeli stamps, there is no central catalogue of topical Judaica stamps. There is, however, the Judaica Topical Association and Judaica Topical News.

Emory University in Atlanta (GA, USA) created an ongoing database for both Israeli and topical Judaica stamps rooted in, but not limited to, its own Sol Singer Collection of Philatelic Judaica http://marbl.library.emory.edu/findingaids/browse_results?q=findingaids/content&id=singer909_10823. The database, composed of downloadable “stampcharts” and articles of philatelic interest http://www.js.emory.edu/BLUMENTHAL/Philatlely.html, is available to the public and Emory University welcomes comments

Owing to sales to collectors, including those in the Jewish diaspora

Diaspora

A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...

, philatelic items has been a considerable revenue stream for Israel's government and the Israeli post office is a client of the Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation

Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation

The Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation, or IGPC, is a philatelic agency that represents over 70 different countries in the design, production and marketing of postage stamps. It also assists postal administrations with the running of their postal services...

External links

Israel Philatelic Federation with full catalog
Israel Postal Authority: History and Postal and Philatelic Museum
Society of Israel Philatelists (SIP)
Oriental Philatelic Association of London (OPAL)
Palestine Philatelic Society (PPS) (semi-dead website)
Sandafayre Stamp Atlas: Israel (commercial website)
Holyland Philatelic Society (HPS-BAPIP) Index to The BAPIP Bulletin
Cercle Français Philatélique d'Israël (fr)
Postage Rates 1948-1952 (commercial website)
The Bible Odyssey on Israeli Stamps

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Historical context

Postal history

Postage stamps

Joint issues

Withdrawals

Relations with Palestinian postal services

Stamp collecting

See also

External links