Arab League Says No, No, No
September 1, 1967 The Arab League summit in Khartoum, Sudan, ends with the signing of the Khartoum Resolutions, best known for the conclusions that become known as the “Three Nos”: no recognition of Israel, no…
Fourth Arab League Summit Convenes
The Fourth Arab League Summit convenes in Khartoum, Sudan. Participants agree that all measures should be taken to regain lands controlled by Israel after the War, and that the oil-rich countries would finance an increased Arab military presence in the region.
Israel’s Allon Plan Is Unilaterally Presented
Penned by Yigal Allon, the Plan is a strategic proposal for Israel’s retention of the Jordan Valley in the West Bank. It includes a series of Jewish settlements and military installations to act as buffers against potential Arab attacks from the east.
Israel Annexes East Jerusalem After June 1967 War
Following Israel’s victory and subsequent acquisition of Jordan’s territory along the West Bank of the Jordan River in the war, the Israeli government annexes roughly 70 square kilometers of land next to West Jerusalem.
Syria, Egypt Sign Defense Treaty
November 4, 1966 Egypt and Syria sign a mutual defense treaty and create a joint military command. The move comes amid constant low-level violence on the Israeli-Syrian border, characterized by Syrian guerrilla raids and shelling…
PLO Is Established
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is established during a Palestinian National Council meeting of nearly 400 delegates convened by King Hussein of Jordan.
Operation Yachin Begins Bringing Jews From Morocco
November 28, 1961 Israel launches Operation Yachin to enable members of the 2,000-year-old Moroccan Jewish community to make aliyah. By the time the operation ends in 1964, more than 97,000 Jews emigrate from Morocco via…
U.N. Head Protests Egyptian Seizure of Cargo
April 8, 1960 U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold for the first time publicly criticizes Egypt’s confiscation of Israeli cargo on ships going through the Suez Canal. The Egyptian closure of the Straits of Tiran and the…
U.N. Official, 4 Israelis Killed on Mount Scopus
May 26, 1958 Four Israeli police officers and the chairman of the United Nations’ Israel-Jordan Mixed Armistice Commission are fatally shot by Jordanian fire in the demilitarized zone on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. Both Israel…
Eisenhower Urges Israel to Adhere to U.N. Resolutions
In a nationally televised address to the American people, President Dwight Eisenhower discusses the tense situation in the Middle East in the aftermath of the October 1956 Suez War.
Dulles Outlines U.S. Plan for Middle East
August 26, 1955 Secretary of State John Foster Dulles delivers a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations that points to the Eisenhower administration’s new plan to launch covert discussions between Israeli Prime Minister David…
39 Egyptians, 8 Israelis Killed in IDF Raid on Gaza
Two Israeli paratrooper platoons made up of approximately fifty IDF soldiers storm an Egyptian army camp in Gaza. The raid is a reprisal for continued fedayeen (Palestinian militants) attacks against Israeli civilians.
Nasser Is Named Egypt’s Premier
April 17, 1954 Gamal Abdel Nasser, 36, is appointed the prime minister of Egypt. Nasser’s interest in politics goes back to age 12 when he accidentally participated in an ultranationalist protest calling for the overthrow…
Israel Begins Jordan River Project
September 2, 1953 Israel starts work on a project to divert some of the water of the Jordan River at the B’not Yaakov (Daughters of Jacob) Bridge in the north of the state for use…
Dulles Travels to Middle East
May 11, 1953 U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles arrives in Cairo at the start of a 2½-week fact-finding trip to Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, India, Pakistan, Turkey and Libya. Dulles emphasizes…
Histadrut Labor Federation Accepts Arab Workers
Created in 1920 to serve as a neutral, independent trade union representing all Jewish workers in Palestine, the Histadrut had grown to 503,000 members by 1953, representing approximately 75% of the country’s workers.
First President Chaim Weizmann Dies
Chaim Weizmann, a leader of the Zionist movement and the first president of the State of Israel, dies in Rehovot after a yearlong illness.
9 Killed in Raid on Arab Village
February 6, 1951 Israeli soldiers launch an overnight raid across the Green Line to Sharafat, an Arab waqf village of about 200 residents south of the portion of Jerusalem controlled by Israel at the end…
Saudi Arabia Will Never Recognize Israel, Diplomat Tells U.S.
Shaikh Yusuf Yassin, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, states that “Arab states would never agree to any working relationship with Israel.”
Iraq Allows Jews to Leave
March 3, 1950 The Iraqi government retracts a policy banning emigration to move to Israel, on the condition that Jews give up their Iraqi citizenship when they leave the country. In addition, those who previously…
Mossad Is Established
December 13, 1949 Prime Minster David Ben-Gurion appoints Reuven Shiloah, a former Jewish Agency official and a Foreign Ministry special operations adviser, to establish and lead the Institute for Collating and Coordinating Intelligence Operations, the…
Ben-Gurion Rejects International Status for Jerusalem
December 5, 1949 Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion declares in a Knesset speech that “Jewish Jerusalem is an organic, inseparable part of the state of Israel” and that Israel rejects any attempt by the United Nations…
Benjamin Netanyahu Is Born in Tel Aviv
Benjamin Netanyahu, the ninth and current Prime Minister of Israel, is born in Tel Aviv. Although he spends a good portion of his childhood in Philadelphia, Netanyahu returns to Israel in 1967 to fulfill his service in the IDF.
Syrian-Israeli Armistice Agreement Is Signed
Israel’s War of Independence ends in 1949 with the signing of armistice agreements between the newly established Jewish state and four Arab states. Separate agreements are signed with each state.
