Agreement on the Gaza Strip and Jericho Area Is Signed
The Agreement on the Gaza Strip and Jericho Area, the first of its kind to grant Palestinians a measure of autonomy, is signed by Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat in a ceremony in Cairo.
Mubarak Chastises Arab States for Not Negotiating With Israel
Delivering a Labor Day speech in Cairo that is broadcast on Egyptian radio, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak discusses issues relating to the peace process.
Madrid Middle East Peace Conference Convenes
The Soviet Union and the United States convene the Madrid Middle East Peace Conference, based on a two-track approach for bi-lateral as well as multi-lateral talks.
King Hussein of Jordan Officially Disassociates from the West Bank
King Hussein of Jordan announces his intention to politically disengage from the West Bank, leaving the PLO to fill the political vacuum.
First Intifada Breaks Out
December 9, 1987 Riots erupt in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in what comes to be recognized as the start of the First Intifada, an Arabic word meaning “awakening.” The immediate cause of…
Arabs Stage National Equality Strike
June 24, 1987 Arabs across Israel hold an Equality Day strike, organized by the National Committee of Local Arab Council Heads, to demand an end to all discrimination against Israel’s 700,000 Arabs, who at the…
Abu Musa Declares a Palestinian Revolt Against Arafat
Palestinian militant factions unsuccessfully challenge Arafat’s control during the First Lebanon War.
Palestinian Terrorists Attack Jewish Restaurant in Paris
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.
Israel Passes Basic Law on Jerusalem
In 1950, the Knesset passes a law that states, “Whereas with establishment of the state of Israel, Jerusalem once more becomes the capital.” In 1980, the Knesset elevates the law to a Basic Law, giving the political status of Jerusalem increased legislative weight.
38 Killed in Coastal Road Massacre
A group of eleven Palestinian terrorists, who had departed from Lebanon by boat, land on a beachhead north of Tel Aviv and embark on one of the worst terrorist attacks in Israel’s history.
Allon Proposes Home Rule for West Bank
Deputy Prime Minister Yigal Allon, a former IDF general, reveals in remarks to the Foreign Press Association of Israel his plan for “home rule” for Arabs living in the West Bank.
Arson Burns Al-Aqsa
August 21, 1969 A new immigrant to Israel, Denis Michael Rohan, sets fire to Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Born and raised in Australia, Rohan moved to Israel only a few months before the attack. He…
Arab Knesset Member Hanin Zoabi Is Born
May 23, 1969 Pioneering Knesset member Hanin Zoabi is born into a Muslim family in Nazareth. Zoabi earns a bachelor’s in philosophy and psychology from the University of Haifa and a master’s from the Hebrew…
United Nations Adopts Resolution 242
In the wake of the June 1967 Six Day War, the United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 242, a document which has served as a framework for all major Arab/Israel negotiations since.
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.
Sale of Waqf Property Approved
February 2, 1965 The Knesset revises the Absentees’ Property Law to allow the Custodian for Absentees’ Property, a state office, to maintain, rent or sell property in Israel held in a waqf, an endowment created…
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.
Arabs Massacred at Kfar Kassem
IDF troops kill 48 Israeli Arabs returning from their fields at dusk.
Ro’i Rothberg Is Killed Near Nahal Oz
Killed in an ambush along the Gaza border, Ro’i Rothberg is eulogized by Moshe Dayan. Rothberg becomes a symbol for the inability to achieve peace in Israel’s early years.
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.
Israel Declares Independence
On Friday afternoon in the Tel Aviv Museum, David Ben-Gurion, chairman of the Provisional State Council, declares Israel’s independence. The United States is the first country to recognize the new and already besieged state of Israel.
U.N. Approves Partition Plan
The United Nations General Assembly passes Resolution 181 by a vote of 33-13 with 10 abstentions. The Resolution recommended the creation of separate Arab and Jewish states in Palestine, linked by an economic union.
Arab Committee Rejects U.N. Partition Plan
September 29, 1947 The Arab Higher Committee for Palestine formally rejects the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine’s partition plan, which advocates for the division of the land into a separate Jewish and Arab states and…
U.N. Special Committee on Palestine Holds Final Meeting
The United Nations had set up UNSCOP in April 1947. Its purpose, like previous commissions that visited Palestine, is to investigate underlying causes for communal unrest and to make political recommendations about curtailing violence.
