German Chancellor Merkel Arrives in Israel
German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives in Jerusalem for the first time in more than four years to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid growing U.S.-Europe tensions over Iran.
American Embassy Moves to Jerusalem
May 14, 2018 On the 70th anniversary of Israel’s Declaration of Independence, President Donald Trump fulfills a campaign promise and moves the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Although Israel has made Jerusalem its…
Netanyahu Makes State Visit to India
January 14, 2018 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in India’s capital, New Delhi, reciprocating a state visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel in 2017, the first by an Indian prime minister. It…
Pence Sets U.S.-Israel Goals
March 26, 2017 Two months after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Vice President Mike Pence lays out the administration’s goals for the U.S.-Israel relationship during a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual Policy…
Netanyahu Visits Trump White House
February 15, 2017 During his first month in office, President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House. It is Netanyahu’s first visit to Washington since his speech against the Iran…
David Friedman Is Named Ambassador
December 15, 2016 President-elect Donald Trump announces that he will nominate New York bankruptcy lawyer David Friedman to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Israel. Friedman, an adviser to Trump for more than 15 years…
U.S. Announces Arms Deal for Israel, Others Opposing Nuclear Iran
As fears about a nuclear Iran intensify, the United States agrees to provide Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with $10 billion in military aid.
President Obama Addresses Israeli Students
President Obama’s address is delivered in Jerusalem and broadcast on radio and television across the world.
Ex-Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir Dies
Yitzhak Shamir, Israel’s seventh Prime Minister and staunch advocate for settlements in the West Bank, passes away in Tel Aviv at the age of 96.
International Law Scholar Shabtai Rosenne Dies
September 21, 2010 Legal expert and diplomat Shabtai Rosenne, a law professor at Bar-Ilan University, dies of a heart attack at age 92. He is considered one of the most important international lawyers of the…
Richard Goldstone Presents U.N. Report
Judge Richard Goldstone, a South African Jew who had previously served as the chief UN prosecutor in both Yugoslavia and Rwanda, presents his UN-sponsored Report, “Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.”
Obama Delivers “A New Beginning” Speech at Cairo University
At the beginning of his first term, President Obama addresses the Muslim world in a speech focusing on mutual interests and respect between Muslims and the West.
Joint Understanding Signed at Annapolis Conference
November 27, 2007 Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. President George W. Bush release a joint statement of the framework of their approach and goals at the conclusion of…
Israel Expands Second Lebanon War
August 9, 2006 Israel’s Security Cabinet approves an expansion of the military offensive in southern Lebanon nearly a month after the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War. Also known as the Israel-Hezbollah War, the conflict…
First International Holocaust Remembrance Day
January 27, 2006 The first U.N.-recognized International Holocaust Remembrance Day is held on the 61st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The goal of the commemoration is to educate the nations of the world and…
Ambassador Simcha Dinitz Dies
Simcha Dinitz, a longtime Israeli diplomat who served as Israel’s Ambassador to the United States from 1973-1978, passes away at the age of 74.
Shuttle Columbia Launches With Israeli Astronaut
The Columbia space shuttle takes off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:39 AM. The shuttle explodes while reentering the earth’s atmosphere two weeks later, killing all on board. Among the seven-member crew is Ilan Ramon, an Israeli Air Force pilot and the country’s first astronaut.
Suicide Bomber Kills 15 While Bush, Sharon Meet
May 7, 2002 Prime Minister Ariel Sharon flies home to Israel, cutting short a visit to the United States, after a suicide bomber kills 15 Israelis and wounds 55 others in a pool hall in…
Powell Seeks Mideast Cease-Fire
April 11, 2002 U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell calls for an immediate West Bank cease-fire during a press conference in Madrid before he flies to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah II the day…
Israel Launches Operation to Capture Weapons Being Smuggled Into Gaza
Israeli commandos overtake a weapons ship, the Karine-A, and seize fifty tons of Iranian weapons, including a number of long-range rockets.
Christian Extremists Denied Entry to Israel
Israel refuses to let 26 Irish and Romanian tourists enter the country at the port of Haifa for being members of an extreme Christian cult.
Submarine Dakar Found After 3 Decades
May 28, 1999 The Israeli submarine Dakar, which disappeared in January 1968, is discovered between Crete and Cyprus almost 9,800 feet (nearly two miles) beneath the surface of the Mediterranean Sea. The diesel-electric Dakar, originally…
Wye River Memorandum Signed
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and U.S. President Bill Clinton sign a memorandum recommitting to the Oslo II agreement of September 1995 after nine days of negotiations at the Wye River Plantation in eastern Maryland.
106 Lebanese Civilians Killed at Qana
April 18, 1996 Israeli artillery fire strikes a U.N. compound where at least 800 Lebanese civilians are sheltering in the village of Qana in southern Lebanon. At least 13 shells hit the compound, killing 106…
