Taxes On Income (Narrative) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Corporate tax rates	25.00%	24.00%	25.00%
Period for certain income from approved enterprise program to be tax exempt, in years	2 years
Tax rate for certain income from approved enterprise program	25.00%
Period of reduced tax rate for certain income from approved enterprise program, in years	8 years
Commencement of production maximum period for tax exempt income, in years	12 years
Period after date of approval which income is not longer tax exempt, in years	14 years
Alternative tax rate	25.00%
Minimum percentage of income from exports	25.00%
Tax-exempt profits earned by the company's "Approved Enterprises" and "Privileged Enterprises	$ 694,342
Income tax liability	173,585
Withholding tax rate	15.00%
Liability for unrecognized tax benefits	52,599	53,183	48,791
Accrued interest and penalties	8,449	5,916
Reduction in other income taxes liabilities		4,684	1,508
Taxes on income		0	800
Available carry forward tax losses	163,812
Available carry forward tax losses non-Israeli subsidiaries	$ 43,526
Reduced tax rate, payable period, in days	30 days
Development Area A [Member]
Tax rate in 2012	10.00%
Tax rate in 2013	7.00%
Tax rate in 2014	7.00%
Tax rate in 2015	6.00%
Other Regions [Member]
Tax rate in 2012	15.00%
Tax rate in 2013	12.50%
Tax rate in 2014	12.50%
Tax rate in 2015	12.00%
Maximum [Member]
Period of reduced tax rate for certain income from approved enterprise program, in years	10 years
Reduced tax rate, due to amendment law	17.50%
Minimum [Member]
Period of reduced tax rate for certain income from approved enterprise program, in years	5 years
Reduced tax rate, due to amendment law	6.00%

Alternative Tax Rate

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Expected Tax Rate Current Year

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Expected Tax Rate Year One

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Expected Tax Rate Year Three

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Expected Tax Rate Year Two

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Income Tax, Tax-Exempt Profits

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Minimum Percentage Of Income From Exports

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Period After Date Of Approval Which Income Is Not Longer Tax Exempt, In Years

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Withholding Tax Rate

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- Definition

Carrying amount as of the balance sheet date of the unpaid sum of the known and estimated amounts payable to satisfy all domestic and foreign income tax obligations due. This amount is the total of current and noncurrent accrued income taxes.

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Amount before allocation of valuation allowances of deferred tax asset attributable to deductible foreign operating loss carryforwards.

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The domestic federal statutory tax rate applicable under enacted tax laws to the Company's pretax income from continuing operations for the period. The "statutory" tax rate is the regular tax rate if there are alternative tax systems.

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The amount of cash paid during the current period to foreign, federal, state, and local authorities as taxes on income, net of any cash received during the current period as refunds for the overpayment of taxes.

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The increase (decrease) during the period in the amount due for taxes based on the reporting entity's earnings or attributable to the entity's income earning process (business presence) within a given jurisdiction.

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The sum of domestic, foreign and state and local operating loss carryforwards, before tax effects, available to reduce future taxable income under enacted tax laws.

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The gross amount of unrecognized tax benefits pertaining to uncertain tax positions taken in tax returns as of the balance sheet date.

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This element represents the total of accruals as of the date of the statement of financial position for interest recognized for an underpayment of income taxes computed by applying the applicable statutory rate of interest to the difference between a tax position recognized for financial reporting purposes and the amount previously taken or expected to be taken in a tax return of the entity and the amount of statutory penalties for a tax position claimed or expected to be claimed by the entity, in its tax return, that does not meet the minimum statutory threshold to avoid payment of penalties.

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