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IMAM - Muslim religious leader. Any person who leads a congregational prayer is called an Imam. A religious leader who also leads his community in the political affairs may be called an Imam, an Amir, or a Caliph. An Imam is not infallible and is responsible for his mistakes to all the members of the community and to Allah.

INTERIM AGREEMENT ("OSLO II") - Agreement signed between Israel and the PLO on September 28, 1995, which stipulated the redeployment of Israeli forces out of Palestinian cities in the West Bank and handing over to the Palestinian Authority civilian control in the West Bank's Palestinian villages in conjunction with Palestinian commitments to Israeli security.

INTIFADA - (Arabic, lit. "shaking off."). Palestinian civil uprising in Gaza and the West Bank, December 1987-September 1993, to protest Israeli occupation. A second uprising began in 2000 and was essentially over by the end of 2004.

INTRAFADA - Cycle of violence coinciding with the intifada in which nearly 1,000 Palestinians were killed by other Palestinians on suspicion of "collaborating" with Israel.

ISLAM - A monotheistic religion characterized by the acceptance of the doctrine of submission to God and to Muhammad as the chief and last prophet of God.

ISLAMIC JIHAD - A terrorist group that split from the Muslim Brotherhood in the mid-1980s. They advocate armed struggle to liberate Palestine and strongly oppose the Oslo accords.

ISLAMISM - An Islamic revivalist movement, often characterized by moral conservatism, literalism, and the attempt to implement Islamic values in all spheres of life.

ISRAEL - A name given to the Jewish patriarch Jacob according to the etiology of Genesis 32.38. In Jewish biblical times, this name refers to the northern tribes, but also to the entire nation. Historically, Jews have continued to regard themselves as the true continuation of the ancient Israelite national-religious community. The term thus has a strong cultural sense. In modern times, it also refers to the political state of Israel. Christians came to consider themselves to be the "true" Israel, thus, also a continuation of the ancient traditions.

ISRAELI ARABS - Arabs who are citizens of Israel, including Palestinian Arabs who chose to stay in their homes rather than flee in 1947-1949, and other Arabs who were allowed to become naturalized citizens. Approximately 20 percent of the Israeli population are Arabs. Israeli Arabs enjoy equal rights with Israeli Jews in Israel. The one exception is that Israeli Arabs are not required to serve in the military, though some, including all Druze, do choose to serve.

ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES (IDF) - (Heb., Tzahal [Tzva Haganah Leyisrael]). The armed services of Israel.

ISRAEL-EGYPT PEACE TREATY - 1979 treaty in which Israel withdrew all its armed forces and civilians from Sinai in return for the termination of Egyptian strikes on Israel. 

IZZ EDDIN AL-QASSEM - The military wing of Hamas, but also the umbrella for other smaller terrorist groups. This group is responsible for most of the attacks on Israeli civilians.