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 TargetsCIE+
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 IranCIE+
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 BeginsCIE+
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 DiesCIE+
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 AwardCIE+
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 DiesCIE+
Yossi Harel, commander of the Aliyah Bet ship Exodus, passes away at the age of ninety.
Gen. Moshe Levi DiesCIE+
January 8, 2008 Moshe Levi, the first Mizrahi chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, dies at 72 of a brain aneurysm at HaEmek Medical Center in Afula a week after suffering his second…
Hamas Abducts Soldier Gilad Shalit
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 TerritoriesCIE+
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 WithdrawalCIE+
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 GazaCIE+
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 DiesCIE+
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 DecadesCIE+
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…
IDF Sends Medical Mission to MacedoniaCIE+
April 6, 1999 An Israel Defense Forces medical mission flies to Macedonia (now North Macedonia) to care for refugees from sectarian violence in Kosovo. The 70-person mission includes 12 physicians of various specialties, most of…
Military Helicopter Collision Kills 73CIE+
A collision of helicopters ferrying troops and supplies to southern Lebanon kills 73 Israeli military personnel.
Aharon Remez, Second Israeli Air Force Commander, DiesCIE+
Maj. Gen. Aharon Remez, who led Israel’s Air Force in its early years and served as ambassador to Great Britain, dies in Jerusalem at 74.
Ezer Weizman Is Elected Israel’s 7th PresidentCIE+
Ezer Weizman is elected President by the Knesset on the second ballot in a narrow vote of 66 to 53.
First Israeli Scales Mount EverestCIE+
May 12, 1992 Doron Erel, the 33-year-old son of Holocaust survivors who made aliyah on the Exodus 1947, becomes the first Israeli to reach the summit of Mount Everest in an expedition with 13 other…
Nasser Friend Yeruham Cohen DiesCIE+
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…
PLO Militant Abu Jihad Is Killed at Home in TunisCIE+
PLO leader Khalil al-Wazir, the architect of a number notorious terrorist attacks against Israelis, is killed by Israeli Special Forces in his home in Tunis.
Cabinet Halts Lavi ProductionCIE+
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 AradCIE+
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.
U.S., Israel Agree to Cooperate on Strategic Defense InitiativeCIE+
Israel and the United States sign a secret agreement for Israeli participation in Strategic Defense Initiative (“Star Wars”) research.
