Since its creation as a modern state in 1948 lsrael has never been far from international attention. A combination of Promised Land, postcard beaches and political powder keg, everyoune has their own perception of what larael should be. The capital, Jerusalem, is a sacred place to Jews, muslims and Christians, but it is as much a modern city as a concept, as full of living, breathing people as ghosts and biblical figures. And behind the political headlines is a bustling, noisy, modern country.

The summer months are warm, but during major Jewish holidays the country fills up with pilgrims, accommodation prices double and travel between cities is impossible

Admiring the magnificent Dome of the Rock, built on the spot where Mohammed ascended to heaven Being dazzled by the golden view of Jerusalem’s Old City dawn Hitting the clubs or shopping in Tel Aviv, lsrael’s most cosmopolitan city Saying a prayer for peace at Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall Escaping to Hula Valley -Nature Reserve, a beautiful valley with unique wetlands wildlife Splashing out at the water-sports capital of Eilat, with coral-fringed beaches for swimming, windsurfing, parasailing water-skiing Witnessing the many security fences and walls dividing lsrael and Palestine

Read the meditations of lsraeli novelist, Amoz Oz, on his country culture

Listen to pop princess of Sarit Hadad, especially her Eurovision hit, ‘Let’s Light a Candal Together’

Watch Promises, an honest portrait of seven children from lsrael and the Palestinian Territories by Justine Shapiro, BZ Goldberg and Carlos Bolado

Eat malawach, a buttery pastry served with fillings or spicy tomato salsa

Drink the ubiquitous sahlab, a milky, spicy concoction originally from Egypt, but drunk everywhere in lsrael

Shalom (hello, literally ‘peace’)

Nobel Peace prize winner Shimon Peres; the Star of David adorning tanks; troubled war-zone; international kids on kibbutzim; dark-clothed Hasidics sweltering in the heat: diplomatic imbroglor

A fifth of lsrael’s landmass is national parks-there are 300 of them

lsrael is alone among the Mediterranean seaboard nations in allowing the free sale and export of its antiquities. What could earn you a stiff jail sentence in Greece or Egypt, can provide you with an unusual and often inexpensive memento from biblical times for your mantelpiece or your collection of travel artifacts.