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.
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…
January 10, 1996 Jordan’s King Hussein makes his much-anticipated first public visit to Israel, almost 15 months after the two countries signed a peace treaty. The king co-pilots a Jordanian army helicopter to the Sde…
Matti Shmulevitz, a member of the underground Lehi and an advisor to Menachem Begin, passes away at the age of 75 one day after collapsing during a chess game in Tel Aviv.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement, sometimes referred to as Oslo II, in a ceremony at the White House.
The Board of Governors of the American Jewish Committee adopts a new Policy Statement on Israel-Diaspora Relations.
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Jordanian King Hussein sign a peace treaty at the Wadi Arava Border Crossing between Eilat, Israel and Aqaba, Jordan.
Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. At the time, Rabin is Prime Minister of Israel and Peres is Foreign Minister.
Hamas terrorists abduct Israeli soldier Nachshon Wachsman from the Bnai Atarot junction in central Israel by offering him a ride while wearing kippot, playing Hasidic music and carrying a prayer book.
El Al flight 1862, a 747 cargo plane flight bound from New York to Tel Aviv, crashes into an apartment complex in Bijlmermeer, an Amsterdam suburb.
Delivering a Labor Day speech in Cairo that is broadcast on Egyptian radio, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak discusses issues relating to the peace process.
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.
Relations between Israel and the USSR began to improve under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev. In 1987, the two countries established consular ties which coincided with the Soviet Union’s easing of restrictions on Jewish life and eventually opening the gates of immigration to Israel.
August 12, 1991 Yeruham Cohen, an Israeli intelligence officer known for his friendship with Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser, dies at age 75. Cohen was born into a Yemeni family in Tel Aviv in 1916 and…
After a distinguished career in the service of Zionism and Israel, Eliahu Eilat passes away in Jerusalem at the age of 86.
Arthur Goldberg, former United States Supreme Court Justice, Secretary of Labor, and American Ambassador to the United Nations, passes away at the age of 81 at his home in Washington, DC. Goldberg was an important drafter of UN Resolution 242 following the June 1967 War.
Jonathan Pollard, accused of spying for Israel, is sentenced to life in prison for espionage. He is later released in 2015.
Israel and the United States sign a secret agreement for Israeli participation in Strategic Defense Initiative (“Star Wars”) research.
World-famous Soviet refusenik Anatoly Shcharansky is released after eight years in a Siberian labor camp and flies to his new life as Natan Sharansky in Israel.
June 14, 1985 Two Lebanese Shiite terrorists armed with grenades and handguns hijack TWA Flight 847, a 727 traveling from Cairo to San Diego with scheduled stops in Athens, Rome, Boston and Los Angeles, shortly…
The President, seeking reconciliation with Europe, angers Jewish leaders in the US and Israel with his planned visit to a Nazi military cemetery.
December 16, 1984 Israeli humanitarian and peace activist Abie Nathan arrives in famine-struck Ethiopia with a plane full of relief supplies donated by Jews worldwide. The $300,000 shipment includes equipment to build a refugee camp…
In 1984, there were approximately 20,000 Jews in Morocco. Both Israelis and Arabs were suspicious of the May 13-14 Conference on the Jewish Communities of Morocco which was held in Rabat.
Palestinian militant factions unsuccessfully challenge Arafat’s control during the First Lebanon War.
