WIKIPEDIA
This is a timeline of modern Israeli history comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Israel and its predecessor entities from 1881 onward, along with important events in Jewish history and the history of Zionism from that year on.
1800-1900
Year | Date | Event
1881
13 March
Tsar Alexander II of Russia is assassinated, triggering multiple waves of Jewish pogroms after some blamed "agents of foreign influence", a term often directed at Jewish communities.
1881-1903
The First Aliyah describes the initial major wave of Jewish immigration to Palestine motivated by persecution and economic hardship.
1882
15 May
The Russian emperor Alexander III issued the May Laws, severely restricting the rights of Jews in the Pale of Settlement, and intensifying Jewish emmigration.
1894
December
The Dreyfus Affair was a political scandal in France that involved the wrongful conviction of Jewish army officer, Alfred Dreyfus. It is one of the most notable examples of antisemitism and miscarriage of justice.
1896
February
Theodor Herzl published Der Judenstaat, arguing for the establishment of an independent Jewish state.
1897
29
August
The First Zionist Congress constituted 218 delegates of Zionist organizations, most from Eastern Europe, convened in Basel. It was instrumental in the formation of the Zionist platform, founding of the World Zionist Organization, and helped unify the Zionist movement.
1900-2000
Year
Date
Event
1901
The Jewish National Fund is established to buy land and encourage Jewish settlement in Palestine.
1915-1916
British diplomats and the Sharif of Mecca exchange the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence, in which Britain promises an independent Arab state, which would include Palestine, in exchange for supporting the British against the Ottoman Empire in the First World War.
1916
3 January
Britain, France, Russia, and Italy sign the secretSykes-Picot Agreementwhich would partition the Ottoman Empire in the event of an Allied victory.
1917
2 November
The Balfour Declaration issued by the British Government called for a national home for the Jewish People in Palestine, which was seen as a contradiction by some.
1917
23 November
The Bolsheviks make the terms of the Sykes-Picot Agreement public, exposing contradicting promises made in the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence and the Balfour Declaration.
1919
3
January
Chaim Weizmann and Emir Faisal, son of the Sharif of Mecca, sign the Faisal-Weizmann agreement, promising Jewish support and development in Palestine. Faisal's approval was contingent on the fulfillment of British promises to him.
1920
25
April
The League of Nations assigns Britain the creation of Mandatory Palestine.
1920
June
Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah is formed with the purpose of defending Jewish settlements against Arab attacks.
1920
4-7 April
1920 Jerusalem riots were attacks on Jewish lives and property by Arabs, leaving 216 Jewish casualties and 25 Arab casualties.
1920
1
July
The Palin Commission is created to investigate the 1920 Jerusalem riots. They report that Arab rioters attacked Jewish lives and property, and that the cause was attributed to the disappointment that stemmed from unfulfilled promises to them by the British.
1921
12-30 March
The 1921 Cairo Conference convened by Britain aimed to organize the Middle East boundaries and develop a policy of governance. Arab and Jewish delegations we're invited to advise or provide input. The conference established the division of Mandatory Palestine into Transjordan, and Palestine with Emir Abdullah ruling semi-autonomously in the former. His brother, Emir Faisal would be crowned King of Iraq.
1921
1-7 May
1921 Jaffa riots were attacks on Jewish lives and property by Arabs, leaving 193 Jewish casualties and 121 Arab casualties.
1921
October
The Haycraft Commission is created to investigate the 1921 Jaffa riots. The report blamed Arabs for the violence but notes growing Arab resentment of British policy, seemingly favoring Jewish communities and ambitions at the expense of the Arab population.
1922
3 June
Winston Churchill drafts the Churchill White Paper. In it contains Britain's will to maintain their commitment to the Balfour Declaration, calls for restrictions on Jewish immigration, clarification that Palestine would not become a Jewish State. This would be the governoring policy in the region until 1939.
1923
29 September
British Mandate for Palestine comes into effect.
1929
23-29 August
1929 Palestine riots were a series of violent demonstrations and riots involving access over the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The riots lead to 472 Jewish casualties and 348 Arab casualties.
1930
March
The Shaw Commission is created to investigate the 1929 Palestine riots. The report concludes that riots we're caused by Arab fears over Jewish immigration and land acquisition. It recommends restrictions on Jewish land purchases and immigration, an inquiry to support the rapidly growing rural Palestinian population, and clairty regarding British policy.
1930
October
The Passfield White Paper is drafted to implement recommendations made by the Shaw Commission and Hope Simpson Enquiry. The tone of the paper was considered anti-zionist by many.
1931
13 February
The MacDonald letter written by British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald to Chaim Weizmann to clarify the new Passfield White Paper. It is considered to be an informal withdrawal of the Passfield White Paper.
1931
10 April
Jewish paramilitary organization Irgun is founded. Irgun policy was based on Revisionist Zionism
1936-1939
The 1936-1939 Palestinian Revolt was a movement calling for independence from British colonial rule and the end to British support for Zionism. 5000+ Arabs, 300+ Jews, and 262 Britons we're killed, with at least 15,000 Arabs wounded.
1939-1945
World War II: Germany invades Poland and The Holocaust occurred in German-occupied Europe killing 6 million Jews.
1946
22
July
Jewish terrorists bombed the King David Hotel. The terrorist attack was carried out by the Zionist paramilitary group Irgun. 91 people of various nationalities, including Britons, Arabs and Jews, we're killed and 45 people we're injured by the militant right-wing group.
1947
25 November
United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine that proposed a creation of one Arab state and one Jewish state passes with the Jewish leaders accepted and Arab states rejected the move. A major civil war between the Arab populations and Jewish populations began shortly after.
1948
14 May
On the last day of the British Mandate, David Ben-Gurion, executive head of the Zionist Organization and chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, issued the Israeli Declaration of Independence which declared the establishment of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel to be known as the State of Israel, which covered part of the territory of what had been Mandatory Palestine.[1]
15 May
1948 Arab Israeli War: Hours after the expiration of the British Mandate of Palestine, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan and Syria invaded Israel.[2]
1949
2 January
1949 Israeli legislative election: Elections we're held to a constituent assembly. Ben-Gurion's center-left Mapai won a plurality of seats.
24 February
1948 Arab Israeli War: The first of the 1949 Armistice Agreements ending the war was signed between Israel and Egypt. An armistice line was agreed along the prewar border with the exception that Egypt remained in control of the Gaza Strip.
8
March
The first government of Israel, in which Mapai, the Jewish United Religious Front, the liberal Progressive Party, the Sephardim and Oriental Communities and the Arab Democratic List of Nazareth ruled in coalition with Ben-Gurion as prime minister, was established.
11 May
The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted United Nations General Assembly Resolution 273, according to which Israel was admitted to membership.[3]
13 December
Ben-Gurion proclaimed Jerusalem the capital of Israel.[4]
1950
5 July
The Israeli legislature the Knesset passed the Law of Return, which granted all Jews the right to migrate to and settle in Israel and obtain citizenship.
1956
26 July
Suez Crisis: In a broadcast speech, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser gave a codeword order for the occupation and nationalization of the Suez Canal and the closure of the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping.
29 October
Suez Crisis: The Israeli air force began bombing Egyptian forces in the Sinai Peninsula.
1960
11 May
Eight agents of the Israeli internal security service Shin Bet and its foreign intelligence service Mossad abducted Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi officer primarily responsible for the actual implementation of the Holocaust, near his home in San Fernando, Buenos Aires.
1966
The martial law imposed on Israeli Arabs from the founding of the State of Israel was lifted completely.
1967
5 June
Six-Day War: The Israeli air force destroyed the Egyptian air force on the ground over a period of three hours.
11
June
Six-Day War: Israel signed a ceasefire with its enemiesEgypt,Syria,Jordan,LebanonandIraq. It remained in control of the formerly EgyptianGaza StripandSinai Peninsula, the SyrianGolan Heightsand the JordanianWest BankandEast Jerusalem.
30
June
MayorTeddy KollekofJerusalemannounced that the city had been fully reunified.[5]
1973
21 February
A Boeing 727-200 serving as Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 fromTripolitoCairowas shot down over theSinai Peninsulaby Israeli fighter aircraft, killing over one hundred passengers and crew.
21
July
Lillehammer affair: A team of fifteenMossadagents assassinated a Moroccan waiter inLillehammerin a case of mistaken identity.
6
October
Yom Kippur War: Egyptian and Syrian forces simultaneously attacked Israeli positions in theSinai Peninsulaand theGolan Heights, respectively, on theJewishholiday ofYom Kippur.
14 October
Operation Nickel Grass: The United States began an airlift of tanks, artillery, ammunition and supplies to Israel.
25 October
Yom Kippur War: Israel,EgyptandSyriaagreed to a ceasefire. Israel remained in control of new territory north of theGolan Heightsand west of theSuez Canalin the south.
1976
4 July
Operation Entebbe:Sayeret Matkalfreed some hundred hostages held atEntebbe International Airportby hijackers belonging to thePalestiniannationalistPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine External Operationsand thefar-leftRevolutionary Cells.
1977
10 May
1977 Israeli Air Force Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion crash: AnIsraeli Air ForceSikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion crashed in theJordan Valley, killing fifty-four soldiers.
1978
17 September
Israel andEgyptsigned theCamp David Accordsat theWhite House. The framework agreement provided for the establishment of an autonomous authority in theWest BankandGaza Stripand for withdrawal of Israeli forces from theSinai Peninsulain exchange for the establishment of full diplomatic relations with Egypt.
1979
26
March
Egyptand Israel signed theEgyptIsrael peace treatyunder the framework of theCamp David Accordsat theWhite House.
1980
24 February
Theold Israeli shekelreplaced theIsraeli poundas the currency of Israel.
30
July
TheKnessetpassed theJerusalem Law, asserting thatJerusalemwas and would remain the undivided capital of Israel.
1981
7
June
Operation Opera: Israel carried out a surprise air strike on anIraqinuclear reactor eleven miles southeast ofBaghdad.[6]
1982
23
April
TheIsrael Defense Forces (IDF)forcibly evacuatedYamitper the terms of theEgyptIsrael peace treaty.
3
June
Shlomo Argov, the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, was shot in the head in London in an attempted assassination organized byIraq'sIraqi Intelligence Serviceand carried out by thePalestiniannationalistAbu Nidal Organization.
6
June
1982 Lebanon War: TheIDFinvadedsouthern Lebanonin response to repeated attacks by thePalestiniannationalistPalestine Liberation Organization (PLO), whose militants we're sheltered there, on Israeli civilians.
1984
12
April
Bus 300 affair: FourPalestiniannationalists hijacked a bus fromTel AvivtoAshkelonand took its forty passengers hostage.
21 November
Operation Moses: The first of some eight thousandEthiopian Jewswere covertly evacuated to Israel from refugee camps inSudan.
1985
5
January
Operation Moses: Prime ministerShimon Peresconfirmed the existence of the airlift.Sudanimmediately halted flights.
1987
30
August
TheCabinetvoted to cancel development of theIAI Lavi.
9 December
First Intifada: Protests began in theJabalia Campin response to the death of fourPalestiniancivilians in a car crash with anIDFtruck.
1989
19 September
Mount Caramel Forest Fire: A forest fire began onMount Carmelwhich would burn over two square miles over the next three days.[7]
1991
22 January
Gulf War: AnIraqiScud missile landed inRamat Gan, killing three and injuring nearly a hundred.
24
May
Operation Solomon: An airlift began which would transport some fourteen thousandEthiopian JewsfromEthiopiato Israel over a thirty-six-hour period.
30 October
Madrid Conference of 1991: A conference opened inMadridwith the goal of reviving the IsraeliPalestinianpeace process.
1992
17 December
Israel deported some four hundredPalestinianstoLebanon.
1993
13 September
Israel and thePLOsigned theOslo I According Washington, D.C. The accords provided for the withdrawal of someIDFforces from theWest BankandGaza Stripand for the establishment of a self-governing authority for thePalestinians, thePalestinian National Authority.
1994
26 October
Israel andJordansigned theIsraelJordan peace treatyin theArabah. The treaty clarified the borders of the two countries and their water rights; each pledged that neither would allow a third country to use its territory to stage an attack on the other.
1995
4 November
Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin: The radical nationalistYigal Amir, an opponent of theOslo Accords, shot and killed prime ministerYitzhak Rabinafter a rally inTel Aviv.
1997
4
February
1997 Israeli helicopter disaster: Two transport helicoptersen routetosouthern Lebanoncollided in midair aboveShe'ar Yashuv, killing all on board.
14
July
Maccabiah bridge collapse: A pedestrian bridge collapsed over theYarkon RiverinTel Aviv, killing four.
2000
24
May
Israel withdrew the last of its forces fromsouthern Lebanon.
1
October
October 2000 events: The first of a series of riots began in which thirteenArabsand oneJewwould be killed over nine days.[8]
7
October
2000 Hezbollah cross-border raid: The LebaneseShia Islamistmilitant group and political partyHezbollahabducted three Israeli soldiers from the Israeli administered side of theBlue Line, the internationally recognized border.[9]
2000-present
This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(June 2024)
Year
Date
Event
2001
17
October
Assassination of Rehavam Ze'evi: Tourism ministerRehavam Ze'eviwas shot at aJerusalemhotel byHamdi Quranof thePalestiniannationalistPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He died of his injuries that night in hospital.
2002
23
June
Construction of theIsraeli West Bank barrierbegan.[10]
2004
29
January
Some four hundred prisoners, the remains of sixty Lebanese militants and civilians, and maps showing the locations of Israeli mines insouthern Lebanon, were transferred toHezbollahin exchange for the bodies of the three soldiers abducted in 2000, as we'll as the abducted Israeli reservistElhanan Tannenbaum.
2005
12
September
Israeli disengagement from Gaza: The last Israeli settlers and security personnel were withdrawn from theGaza Strip.
2006
4
January
Prime ministerAriel Sharonsuffered a severe hemorrhagic stroke and fell into a coma. The designated acting prime ministerEhud Olmertbecame acting prime minister.
12
July
2006 Hezbollah cross-border raid:Hezbollahforces crossed into Israel and ambushed twoIDFvehicles, killing three soldiers and capturing two others.
2006 Lebanon War: Israeli forces began shelling Lebanese territory in response to theHezbollahattack of earlier that morning.
2007
6
September
Operation Orchard: Israel carried out a surprise air strike on a suspected nuclear reactor inSyria'sDeir ez-Zor Governorate.
2008
27
December
Gaza War: Israel began conducting a series of airstrikes on assets of thePalestinianSunni IslamistorganizationHamasin theGaza Stripin response to ongoing rocket fire on the westernNegev.
2009
18
January
Gaza War (200809): The war ended with a unilateral Israeli ceasefire.
2010
31
May
Gaza flotilla raid: The navy boarded a flotilla organized by theFree Gaza Movementand the TurkishFoundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief, which was attempting to break an Israeli and Egyptian blockade of theGaza Strip, ininternational waters. During the takeover, a violent confrontation erupted on board theMV Mavi Marmarain which nine activists were killed.[11][12][13][14]
2
December
Mount Caramel Forest Fire: A forest fire began onMount Carmelwhich would kill forty and burn nearly twenty square miles over the next three days.[15][16][17][18]
2011
14
July
2011 Israeli social justice protests: FilmmakerDaphni Leefset up a tent inHabima Squareand invited others to join a protest over the absence of affordable housing.
10
September
2011 attack on the Israeli Embassy in Egypt: A crowd of thousands of Egyptian protesters breached the Israeli embassy inCairo.[19]
18
October
Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange:Hamasreleased the Israeli soldierGilad ShalittoEgyptin exchange for one thousandPalestinianotherArabprisoners held in Israel, including some three hundred serving life sentences for planning and perpetrating terror attacks.[20]
2012
14
November
Operation Pillar of Defense: TheIDFbegan an eight-day anti-Hamasoperation in theGaza Strip, a response to ongoing rocket fire on the westernNegev, with an airstrike on the senior officerAhmed Jabari.
2014
8 July
2014 IsraelGaza conflict: TheIDFlaunched a series of airstrikes againstHamastargets in theGaza Strip.
2017
6
December
United States recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel: U.S. PresidentDonald Trumpformally announces theUnited States recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
2019
25
March
United States recognition of Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights: U.S. PresidentDonald Trumpsigned apresidential proclamationto officially recognizeIsrael's sovereignty over theGolan Heights.[21]
2020
10
December
IsraelMorocco normalization agreement: Following theAbraham Accords, Israel and Morocco signed a security cooperation agreement and began normalizing relations.
2021
30
April
2021 Meron stampede: The deadliest civil disaster in Israel's history.
May
2021 IsraelPalestine crisis
16
June
Naftali Bennettof theYaminaparty was sworn in asPrime Minister, forming acoalition governmentwithYair Lapidof theYesh Atidparty, marking the end ofBenjamin Netanyahu's 12-year tenure as Prime Minister.
14
July
Israel opened its embassy in theUnited Arab Emiratesin accordance with theAbraham Accords
2022
11
May
Al JazeerajournalistShireen Abu Aklehwas shot and killed while covering an Israeli military raid in Jenin. Her death led to international condemnation and calls for an investigation into the circumstances of the shooting.
30
June
The IsraeliKnessetvoted to dissolve itself, triggering thefifth electionin less than four years.
1
November
Israel held its fifth election in less than four years, resulting in a victory for Benjamin Netanyahu'sLikudparty, which led to the formation of a controversialright-wing government.
2023
7
January
2023 Israeli judicial reform protests:Large-scale protests erupted across Israel in response toproposed judicial reformsby the Netanyahu government, which critics argued would undermine judicial independence.
9
May
Operation Shield and Arrow: The IDF launched a series of airstrikes againstPalestinian Islamic Jihadtargets in Gaza following rocket fire towards southern Israel.
7
October
October 7 attacksandGaza war: Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, killing 1,143 and taking 250 hostages, marking the deadliest attack in Israeli history and the first invasion of Israeli territory since the1948 ArabIsraeli War.
8
October
IsraelHezbollah conflict:Hezbollah begins attacking northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights.
27
October
Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip:The IDF launched a full-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip with the goal of eliminating Hamas and releasing the hostages