Adenauer, West Germany’s chancellor from 1949 to 1963, initiated talks in March 1952 that resulted in West Germany agreeing to pay Israel 3 billion marks over 12 years as Holocaust reparations. The funds were crucial to the fledgling state’s economy but were criticized as “blood money” by Menachem Begin and others. The two states established full diplomatic relations two years after Adenauer left office.
The fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act shifts U.S. military cooperation with Israel to a postwar focus, including support for neighbors facing Iranian proxies and a response to military embargoes of Israel.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio explains the urgent need to establish the Board of Peace and the International Stabilization Force for Gaza to move from Phase 1 to Phase 2 in the ceasefire, but he also warns that the work likely will last longer than the Trump administration.
Failing to account for the effects on his re-election hopes, President Jimmy Carter for the second of three times in 1980 lets the U.N. Security Council enact a resolution criticizing Israeli behavior beyond the Green Line.
December 7, 1988 Arafat, Yasser, et al. “Joint Statement by Yasser Arafat and a Group of Five American Jews, Stockholm.” The Washington Post, Washington, D.C., published December 8, 1988. The Stockholm Declaration emerged as a…
In an unprecedented presidential political gamble, President Carter meets Prime Minister Begin and then President Sadat to tie up loose ends for an Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, signed two weeks later. During the trip, he delivers the first Knesset address by a U.S. president.
Maya Rezak and Ken Stein, December 6, 2025 Eric Alter and Nickolay Mladenov, “Not Final, but Forward: The Abraham Accords at a Crossroads,” The National Interest, November 4, 2025. Sagiv Asulin and Dan Diker, “700…
Chancellor Merz’s visit coincides with Germany signing the largest Israeli military arms export agreement, covering the Arrow 3, and his support of a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Netanyahu recalls centuries of efforts to annihilate Jews, including those in Germany and by Hamas, and says Israel will not give up military control of West Bank land.
This timeline includes maps, photos, and hyperlinks to documents and sources also found on the website. There are four dozen hyperlinks age appropriate for teens and older; updated November 21, 2025.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman and President Donald Trump continued a decades-long process of strengthening Saudi-U.S. ties during a White House meeting that put Saudi security and investment ahead of the Abraham Accords.
