Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Resigns
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigns amid charges of corruption and financial improprieties.
Sharon Singles Out Arafat After Haifa Bombing
March 31, 2002 Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declares Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat “the enemy of Israel and the enemy of the free world” in an angry, five-minute, mid-Passover address to the nation after…
Ben-Gurion Forms First Elected Government
March 8, 1949 David Ben-Gurion’s Knesset-leading Mapai party joins the United Religious Front, the Progressive Party, the Sephardi and Mizrahi Communities, and the Arab-led Democratic List of Nazareth to form a government after Israel’s first…
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…
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.
Netanyahu Invites Kadima, Labor to Join Coalition
February 20, 2009 Benjamin Netanyahu, whose Likud finished second in the Feb. 10 election, receives the mandate to form a government from President Shimon Peres and surprisingly offers to bring leading rivals Kadima and Labor…
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…
Agreement on the Gaza Strip and Jericho Area Is Signed
The Agreement on the Gaza Strip and Jericho Area, the first of its kind to grant Palestinians a measure of autonomy, is signed by Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat in a ceremony in Cairo.
PLO and Israel Recognize Each Other’s Existence
After nine months of secret contacts mediated by Norwegian diplomats, the PLO and Israel recognize each other’s existence.
11th Knesset Election Results in National Unity Government
When neither party receives a majority of the votes in the eleventh Israeli Knesset elections, the Labor and Likud parties form a coalition government.
Begin, Likud Elected to Lead Israeli Government in Landslide
Bolstered by the support of Jews from North Africa and the Middle East, Likud’s victory ends the Labor movement’s hegemony over Israeli politics.
Rabin First Becomes Prime Minister
June 3, 1974 Having defeated Shimon Peres in an election for Labor Party leader, Yitzhak Rabin formally succeeds Golda Meir as prime minister when he presents his coalition government to the Knesset for approval. He…
Israeli Black Panthers Meet With Prime Minister Meir About Mizrahi Jews
Emerging in the early seventies, to protest against the social injustices felt by the Mizrahi Jews in Israel, the Black Panthers staged a number of demonstrations in the country and began to generate widespread support.
Ben-Gurion Visits Eisenhower
March 10, 1960 Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower meet for more than two hours at the White House. “This was the first opportunity I have had of seeing President Eisenhower…
39 Egyptians, 8 Israelis Killed in IDF Raid on Gaza
Two Israeli paratrooper platoons made up of approximately fifty IDF soldiers storm an Egyptian army camp in Gaza. The raid is a reprisal for continued fedayeen (Palestinian militants) attacks against Israeli civilians.
David Ben-Gurion Visits Tennessee Valley Authority Projects
Ben-Gurion’s trip, the first visit by an Israeli Prime Minister to the US, includes a tour of hydroelectric and water projects in Tennessee and Alabama.
Palmach Integrates With IDF
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion summons dozens of Palmach commanders for a conference. There he announces a plan to dismantle the elite, underground fighting unit and integrate it into the newly established Israel Defense Forces.
Israel Declares Independence
On Friday afternoon in the Tel Aviv Museum, David Ben-Gurion, chairman of the Provisional State Council, declares Israel’s independence. The United States is the first country to recognize the new and already besieged state of Israel.
Shimon Peres Is Born
The only politician in Israeli history to hold the positions of both President and Prime Minister, Shimon Peres is born in Belorussia to Yitzchak and Sara Perski.
