Orna Barbivai Becomes First Female IDF Major General
Brigadier General Orna Barbivai is promoted to the rank of major general, becoming the highest-ranking female officer in the history of the IDF.
IDF Strikes 80 Gaza Targets
In response to an overnight barrage of roughly 30 rockets from the Gaza Strip toward Sderot and other Israeli towns near the border, the IDF strikes 80 Gaza targets by air.
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.
Hamas Military Chief Killed as Pillar of Defense Begins
November 14, 2012 Ahmed Jabari, the Hamas military chief, is killed in an Israel Defense Forces airstrike on Gaza that marks the start of Operation Pillar of Defense. The strike comes in response to an…
Major General Israel Tal Dies
Major General Israel Tal passes away at the age of 85. Tal is best known for heading the 1970 committee that designed and developed the Israeli-made Merkava tank.
“Lebanon” Wins Venice Film Award
For the first time since the award was introduced in 1949, an Israeli film, Lebanon, wins the Golden Lion Award at the 66th annual Venice International Film Festival.
Exodus 1947 Commander Yossi Harel Dies
Yossi Harel, commander of the Aliyah Bet ship Exodus, passes away at the age of ninety.
Gen. Moshe Levi Dies
January 8, 2008 Moshe Levi, the first Mizrahi chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, dies at age 72 of a brain aneurysm at HaEmek Medical Center in Afula a week after suffering his…
Gilad Shalit Is Captured
IDF soldier Gilad Shalit is captured by a group of Palestinian militants and is held hostage for over five years before being exchanged for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.
Ruling: Reservists Must Serve in Territories
December 30, 2002 The Israeli Supreme Court rules that Israel Defense Forces reservists may not refuse to serve in the West Bank and Gaza. Coming during the deadly violence of the Second Intifada, the ruling…
Palestinian Cabinet OKs Plan for Israeli Withdrawal
August 7, 2002 The Palestinian Authority Cabinet agrees to a truce deal proposed by Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer to withdraw the Israel Defense Forces from Palestinian-controlled parts of the Gaza Strip and from the…
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.
Top Officer Stella Levy Dies
July 19, 1999 Stella Levy, who commanded the Women’s Corps of the Israel Defense Forces in the 1960s and briefly served in the Knesset, dies. She was born in French Mandatory Syria in 1924 and…
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…
Aharon Remez, Second Commander of the Israeli Air Force, Passes Away
Major General Aharon Remez, who led Israel’s Air force in its early years and served as Ambassador to Great Britain died on April 3, 1994 in Jerusalem at the age of seventy-four from illness
Ezer Weizman Is Elected Israel’s 7th President
Ezer Weizman is elected President by the Knesset on the second ballot in a narrow vote of 66 to 53.
Nasser Friend Yeruham Cohen Dies
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…
Cabinet Halts Lavi Production
August 30, 1987 On a 12-11 vote, the Israeli Cabinet decides to end production of the Lavi fighter jet, under development since 1980 by Israel Aerospace Industries and first flown as a prototype in December…
Terrorists Capture Flyer Ron Arad
Ron Arad, the 28-year-old navigator of an Israeli F-4 Phantom II, is captured by the Shia terrorist group Amal after parachuting out of his burning aircraft over Lebanon.
Yehuda Amichai Is Awarded the Israel Prize for Poetry
Renowned Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai jointly wins the 1982 Israel Prize for poetry with Amir Gilboa.
Israel Destroys Iraq’s Nuclear Reactor
June 7, 1981 Eight Israeli F-16s fly a 2,000-mile round trip to bomb Iraq’s Osirak plutonium nuclear reactor at the Tammuz I complex 10 miles south of Baghdad. The mission, Operation Opera, succeeds at destroying…
IDF Carries Out Daring Rescue of Jewish Hostages at Entebbe
Elite Israeli military forces launch a successful rescue attempt of Israeli hostages on board a hijacked Air France flight at Entebbe Airport, Uganda. PM Netanyahu’s brother, Yoni Netanyahu is killed in operation.
Ex-IDF Chief of Staff David Elazar Dies
David Elazar, who served as Chief of Staff of the IDF in the early 1970s, passes away at the age of fifty following a heart attack.
Israel Smuggles Sa’ar Missile Boats out of Cherbourg
Israeli teams are sent to France to work in local shipyards. The Mossad established a “front” shipping company to buy the remaining boats and then return them to Israel.
