Riots Break Out in Jerusalem’s Old City During Muslim Festival
A Muslim pilgrimage festival erupts into violence against Jews in Jerusalem, leaving nine dead and hundreds wounded.
Restrictive U.S. Immigration Act of 1924 Boosts Jewish Immigration to PalestineCIE+
Unable to immigrate to the US, many European Jews immigrate to the land of Israel. Between 1924 and 1929, the period known as the Fourth Aliyah, 82,000 Jews arrive in Palestine.
Israeli Spymaster Rafi Eitan Is BornCIE+
November 23, 1926 Rafi Eitan, whose intelligence career ranges from the high of capturing Adolf Eichmann in Argentina to the low of handling U.S. Navy analyst Jonathan Pollard as a spy, is born on a…
Recha Freier Establishes Youth Aliyah in GermanyCIE+
The same day that Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul Von Hindenburg, Recha Freier establishes the Committee for the Assistance of Jewish Youth.
Weizmann Expresses Dismay Over Britain’s Pro-Arab Position to MacDonaldCIE+
As part of the Zionist strategy to engage the British government in political negotiations, Chaim Weizmann airs his grievances against the British government for reversing their pro-Zionist policy.
Nazi Plan for “Final Solution” Is Drafted at Wannsee ConferenceCIE+
Nazis draw up a plan for the “Final Solution” of European Jewry in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee.
Russian Sub Sinks Refugee Ship StrumaCIE+
After being mistaken as an enemy ship, the SS Struma, carrying nearly 800 Jewish refugees hoping to immigrate into Palestine, including 70 children, is sunk by a Russian submarine in the Black Sea.
U.S. Reveals It Will Not Bomb Nazi Death CampsCIE+
In a letter written to Leon Kubowitzki, head of the Rescue Department of the World Jewish Congress, US Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy states that the War Department would not order the bombing of Nazi Death Camps because they did not see it as a priority for US military resources.
Hannah Senesh Is ExecutedCIE+
Hannah Senesh (Szenes), the poet and Haganah fighter who parachuted into Nazi-occupied Europe to rescue Jews, is executed by Hungarian firing squad in a Budapest prison courtyard.
Bergen-Belsen Is Liberated
April 15, 1945 The British 11th Armored Division liberates the Nazis’ Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in northern Germany, discovering 60,000 starving prisoners, most of them seriously ill, and 13,000 unburied corpses. They are the remnants of…
Eichmann Trial Begins in Jerusalem
The trial of Adolf Eichmann, architect of the Nazi Final Solution, begins in front of a special panel of three judges at the Beit Ha’am community center in Jerusalem.
Bones of Moshe Hess Brought to IsraelCIE+
Moshe Hess, a 19th century Zionist, is reburied in the Kibbutz Kinneret cemetery beside other fathers of socialist Zionism.
Former Cairo Jewish Leader Salvator Cicurel DiesCIE+
Former Egyptian Olympic fencer and leader of the Cairo Jewish community, Salvator Cicurel passes away.
U.N. Resolution Declares Zionism Is RacismCIE+
The United Nations passes UN Resolution 3379, which defines Zionism as a form of racism and racial discrimination. It passes with a vote of 72 in favor, 35 against, and 32 abstentions.
Prisoners of Zion Arrive in Israel
At Ben-Gurion Airport, five recently released Soviet Jewish prisoners are welcomed by Prime Minister Menachem Begin and cheering crowds. The five had been convicted in a 1970 hijacking plot, attempting to escape the anti-Semitic policies of the Soviet Union at the time.
Palestinian Terrorists Attack Jewish Restaurant in ParisCIE+
Chez Jo Goldberg, a Jewish deli in Paris, is attacked by two terrorists wielding grenades and machine guns. Six people are killed and twenty-two injured. The attack is believed to have been planned and carried out by the Abu Nidal Organization, an international Palestinian terrorist group.
Achille Lauro Is HijackedCIE+
Members of the Palestinian Liberation Front hijack the cruise ship Achille Lauro off the coast of Egypt. The ship had departed from Genoa, Italy on October 3rd with 748 passengers on board for an 11-day cruise with planned stops in Naples, Alexandria, Port Said, and Ashdod, Israel.
Natan Sharansky Reaches IsraelCIE+
World-famous Soviet refusenik Anatoly Shcharansky is released after eight years in a Siberian labor camp and flies to his new life as Natan Sharansky in Israel.
Operation Solomon Rescues Ethiopian JewsCIE+
May 25, 1991 Operation Solomon flies more than 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 36 hours using 34 airplanes, including a Boeing 747 that sets a record with 1,087 passengers. The operation brings almost twice…
Hamas Wins Parliamentary ElectionsCIE+
January 26, 2006 Hamas, the militant Palestinian opposition group, wins 76 of the 132 seats in the Palestinian Authority’s legislature, a groundbreaking power shift. Because Hamas rejects Israel’s existence, the election results present a new…
Yemeni Jews Are Secretly Flown to IsraelCIE+
The leader of the Jewish community in Yemen and nine others immigrate to Israel to escape terrorist threats.
Holocaust Survivor Dies as World’s Oldest ManCIE+
August 11, 2017 Holocaust survivor Yisrael Kristal, recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s oldest living man and one of the 10 longest-lived men ever, dies in Haifa one month before his…
