Law of Return Is Enacted
Introduced as part of a festive legislative session marking the anniversary of Theodor Herzl’s death, the Law of Return creates an open-door immigration policy for Jews throughout the world.
Airlift of Iraqi Jews Begins
Following the passage of March 1950 law allowing Jews to leave Iraq, the Ministry of Aliyah in Israel develops a plan to facilitate their immigration to Israel.
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.
Violence Targets Jews in Arab Cities
The U.N. General Assembly vote the previous day for the partition of Palestine sparks between Jews and Arabs in the British Mandate of Palestine and riots against Jews in Arab cities around the Middle East
Early U.S. Zionist Leader Emma Gotthiel Dies
Emma Gottheil, one of the first and most important women in Zionist leaders, passes away at her New York home at the age of 85.
Harrison Report Confirms Deplorable Conditions of DP Camps
The Harrison Report, an inquiry into the conditions of displaced persons camps in occupied Germany, reveals that many of the rumors of poor treatment of Jews are indeed true and that “we appear to be treating the Jews as the Nazis treated them, except that we do not exterminate them.”
U.S. Reveals It Will Not Bomb Nazi Death Camps
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.
U.S. Republican Convention Supports Jewish State in Palestine
At the 1944 Republican Party National Convention, New York Senator Thomas Dewey’s strong support for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine captures the attention of Zionists in Palestine and, more notably, American Jewry.
Extraordinary Zionist Conference Begins at Biltmore Hotel in New York
The Biltmore Conference will set the framework for Zionist policy in the years during and after World War II.
Maccabi Tel Aviv Ends U.S. Soccer Tour
Playing their final match of an eleven match American tour, the Maccabi Tel-Aviv Football Club loses 4-1 to an American all-star team at Yankee Stadium in front of 20,000 spectators.
Exiled Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie Arrives in Haifa
Exiled because of Italy’s incursion into Ethiopia, Selassie spends a few weeks in Jerusalem contemplating how best to gain global support for his country.
Judah Magnes Outlines Hebrew University Expansion
Opening the 1933-34 academic year, Judah Magnes, the president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, outlines an expansion plan for the university.
Palestine Jewish Agency Expands to Include World Jewish Representatives
The Jewish Agency holds its first meeting on August 12, the day after the conclusion of the Congress. With so many Jews having immigrated to the US over the previous four decades, American presence in the Jewish Agency had become financially and politically significant for Zionism’s key growth in the United States.
13th Zionist Congress Convenes in Czechoslovakia
Convened in Carlsbad, Czechoslovakia, the Thirteenth Zionist Congress discusses details of the Palestine Mandate and particularly the prerogatives of the Palestine Zionist Executive (PZE) that guide Jewish immigration and settlement in Palestine.
Zionist Leader Nahum Sokolow Meets With U.S. President
Nahum Sokolow, serving as President of the Executive Committee of the World Zionist Congress, meets with President Warren Harding in Washington, D.C.
First Nurses Graduate in the Land of Israel
Twenty-two women graduate from the Nurses’ Training Institute at Rothschild Hospital in Jerusalem. They are the first to receive nursing degrees in the Land of Israel.
Keren Hayesod Is Founded
December 24, 1920 The World Zionist Congress in London launches Keren Hayesod (Hebrew for the Foundation Fund, now known in English as the United Israel Appeal) to raise money for the Zionist movement and fulfill…
Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan Writes Article Leading to Reconstructionist Movement
Rabbi Mordechai M. Kaplan, publishes “A Program for the Reconstruction of Judaism” in the Menorah Journal. His ideology eventually leads to the creation of a fourth American Jewish denomination, the Reconstructionist movement.
First Jewish Congresswoman Bella Abzug Is Born
Bella Abzug is born in the Bronx, New York to an Orthodox Jewish immigrant family from Russia. Elected in 1970, she serves three terms in Congress and is the first Jewish woman to be elected to the House of Representatives.
Republic of Poland Minorities Treaty Is Signed
During the Paris Peace Conference, one of the major initiatives undertaken by the Allies is recognition of minority rights in European states. While addressing the rights of minorities in general, the Polish Treaty specifically mentions Jewish cultural and civil liberties.
Weizmann Sends Warning to British General
Chaim Weizmann warns that unless world Jewry secures a place of their own they will be faced by a terrible catastrophe.
Composer Leonard Bernstein Is Born
Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts to Ukrainian-Jewish parents, Leonard Bernstein is one of the most prolific composers and conductors in American history.
Balfour Declaration Is Released
In seeking official government endorsement for the Zionist cause from a great power, the leadership of the Zionist Organization successfully obtains support from the British government in 1917 by way of the Balfour Declaration.
Chaim Weizmann Joins British Admiralty
Chaim Weizmann, first President of Israel, then working as a chemist in Manchester, England, is appointed to the British Admiralty as an Honorary Technical Adviser on acetone supplies.
