Singer Hagit Yaso, a winner of Israel’s version of “American Idol,” is born in Sderot to parents who escaped poor conditions in an Ethiopian village by walking four months through the desert to reach Sudan and fly to Israel.
Known internationally for her beauty and business savvy, Bar Refaeli has lead modeling campaigns for major brands such as Gap and Samsung, and has one of the most recognizable faces in the fashion industry.
Romanian born artist Marcel Janco, one of the founders of the Dada art movement who made Aliyah in 1941, passes away at the age of 89.
The First International Conference and Festival of Jewish Theater opens in Tel Aviv. The festival coincides with the beginning of the first war in Lebanon and is almost canceled because many Israeli participants were called up for reserve duty.
February 3, 1980 Acclaimed actress Hanna Rovina dies in Ra’anana at age 91. Her body lies in state the next day at the Habima Theatre, and she is eulogized by Shimon Finkel as “the high…
July 5, 1979 Israel National Opera Company founder Edis De Philippe dies at age 67 after brain surgery. A New York native, De Philippe studied music, ballet and half a dozen languages before committing to…
The 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, an annual competition between member countries of the European Broadcasting Union, is held in Jerusalem.
September 12, 1977 Singer, composer and producer Idan Raichel is born in Kfar Saba, Israel. His music incorporates Israeli, Middle Eastern, Ethiopian and other international sounds. Lacking family musical roots, he takes up the accordion…
April 25, 1975 Singer-songwriter-musician Ehud “Udi” Davidi is born. He grows up in Kedumim, a settlement established in the northern West Bank by the Gush Emunim movement, and is active in the Bnei Akiva youth…
July 6, 1973 Otto Klemperer, a legendary German Jewish conductor and composer, dies at 88 at home in Zurich. Born in 1885 in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland), Klemperer began playing music at age 4….
April 12, 1971 Singer Eyal Golan is born Eyal Biton in Rehovot, Israel, to a family of Yemenite and Moroccan Jewish ancestry. He lives in Rehovot until 2010, when he moves to Tel Aviv. Known…
December 21, 1968 Assaf Gavron, a writer and musician, is born in Arad to English immigrants. Gavron spends his childhood in Motza Illit, near Jerusalem. He studies media and communication at Goldsmiths’ College in London…
A packed audience fills the amphitheater on Mount Scopus to celebrate the end of the June 1967 War and to mark the cultural unification of Jerusalem.
The Voice of Israel Song Festival was created in 1960 as part of Israel’s Independence Day celebration and as an opportunity to showcase Israel’s emerging culture.
March 24, 1966 An instructional program in math, geared toward seventh- and ninth-graders in 32 schools in the middle of the country, becomes Israel’s first television broadcast. The Israeli government has viewed television as a…
The concept of a national museum originated in the early years of Zionist settlement in the Yishuv. Boris Schatz, the founder of the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts, opened the Bezalel Museum in 1912.
April 14, 1961 Illana Shoshan, who wins the 1980 Miss Israel title after finishing second in the 1978 teen pageant, is born in Kfar Saba, Israel. In a public vote held in 2010 to celebrate…
November 19, 1957 Singer Ofra Haza, the youngest of nine children, is born in Tel Aviv to a family who had emigrated from Yemen. Haza grows up in the impoverished Hatikvah Quarter, where she is…
Shlomo Mintz, violinist and conductor, is born in Moscow.
November 18, 1951 Yoni Rechter, considered one of Israel’s greatest musicians, is born in Tel Aviv. He is the son of architect Ya’akov Rechter and stepson of actress Hanna Meron. He pursues music as a…
Filmmaker Amos Gitai, known for documentaries and features on the Middle East, the Israeli-Arab conflict and Holocaust memory in Europe, is born to architect Munio Weinraub and teacher Efratia Margalit in Haifa.
June 20, 1950 Israel’s first Festival of Jewish Music begins in Jerusalem and runs until July 1. It is arranged by the Music Department of the Israeli government’s Ministry of Education and Culture and the…
Israeli folk rock singer-songwriter and composer Shlomo Artzi is born on Moshav Alonei Abba, southeast of Haifa.
September 16, 1949 Israel becomes a member of UNESCO, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Based in Paris, UNESCO has the purpose of creating peace and security by encouraging international collaboration in education, natural…
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