Actress Gila Almagor Is Born
July 22, 1939 Gila Almagor, known as the “queen of the Israeli cinema and theater,” is born as Gila Alexandrowitz in Haifa four months after an Arab sniper killed her father, a policeman who immigrated…
Composer Andre Hajdu Dies
August 1, 2016 Andre Hajdu, a prolific composer and ethnomusicologist, dies at age 84 in Jerusalem. Hajdu was born in Hungary on March 5, 1932. After displaying an early aptitude for music and the arts,…
Yael Arad Wins Israel’s First Olympic Medal
July 30, 1992 Yael Arad at age 25 becomes the first Israeli to win an Olympic medal, taking the silver in judo in the half-middleweight (61-kilogram) class at the Summer Olympics in Barcelona. She dedicates…
Pregnancy Test Developer Zondek Is Born
July 29, 1891 Bernhard Zondek, the obstetrician-gynecologist who creates one of the first reliable pregnancy tests, is born in Wronke, Germany, now in Poland. Zondek moves to Berlin for his medical studies and earns his…
Writer Netiva Ben Yehuda Is Born
July 26, 1928 Netiva Ben Yehuda, a Palmach member, early Israeli feminist, acclaimed writer and media personality, is born in Tel Aviv to a father from Lithuania and a mother from Ukraine. She has two…
Judo Champ Yarden Gerbi Is Born
July 8, 1989 Israeli judo champion Yarden Gerbi is born in Kfar Saba. Her success in national and international competitions includes a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. At age…
Shvil Yisrael Founder Uri Dvir Dies
July 2, 2011 Uri Dvir, one of the founders of Shvil Yisrael (the Israel National Trail), dies at age 80 at home in Tel Aviv. Dvir was born in Tel Aviv in 1931 and began…
Israel Baseball League Plays Its First Game
The Modi’in Miracle defeats the Petach Tikvah Pioneers 9-1 in the inaugural game of the Israel Baseball League (IBL). The game is played before a crowd of more than 3,000 at Yarkon Field in Petach Tikvah.
Photographer Alex Levac Is Born
June 23, 1944 Photojournalist Alex Levac, a 2005 winner of the Israel Prize, is born in Tel Aviv. A 1967 graduate of Tel Aviv University with a degree in philosophy and psychology, Levac completes his…
Channel 1 Starts Broadcasting
May 2, 1968 Israel’s first general-interest television network begins broadcasting at 9:30 a.m. with an image of a menorah, followed by an aerial view of Jerusalem and, at 9:40, the national Yom HaAtzmaut (Independence Day)…
Hapoel Jerusalem Wins Basketball EuroCup
April 13, 2004 Hapoel Jerusalem captures its first European basketball championship and first international title by winning the ULEB Cup, also known as the EuroCup tournament, with an 83-72 victory over Real Madrid in Charleroi,…
Jewish Settlement Established at Hebron
April 4, 1968 Moshe Levinger and several other Israeli Jews pretending to be Swiss tourists check into a Hebron hotel to establish the first permanent Jewish presence in the city in almost 40 years, taking…
Miriam Ben-Porat Is Appointed Supreme Court Justice
Judges Miriam Ben-Porat and Shimon Asher are appointed to Israel’s Supreme Court by President Ephraim Katzir. Ben-Porat is the first woman to serve as a judge in Israel’s highest court.
Maccabi Tel Aviv FC (Soccer) Loses Final Match in the US
Playing their final match of an eleven match American tour, the Maccabi Tel-Aviv Football Club loses 4-1 to an American all-star team at Yankee Stadium in front of 20,000 spectators.
Singer Zohar Argov Kills Himself
November 6, 1987 Zohar Argov, a popular singer among the Mizrahi and Mediterranean communities in Israel who was known as the “The King” but was haunted by drug addiction, hangs himself in jail at age…
Gavriel Salomon Is Born
A specialist in the field of educational psychology, Gavriel Salomon served as Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Haifa from 1993-1998.
Third Maccabiah Games Begin
The Third Maccabiah Games commence in the 50,000-seat stadium in Ramat Gan, Israel.
Compulsory Education Law Is Implemented
The Compulsory Education bill, which had been passed on September 12th, enters into law. It mandates that all children between the ages of 5 and 15 attend a state-recognized educational institution.
Dada Artist Marcel Janco Is Born
May 24, 1895 Marcel Janco, a founder of the Dada movement and a major influence on modern Israeli art, is born into a wealthy family outside the Jewish quarter of Bucharest, Romania. Trained at the…
Maccabi Tel Aviv Wins Its First European Basketball Championship
Maccabi Tel Aviv defeats Mobilgirgi Varese 78-77 to win its first Euro-League basketball championship.
Homosexuality Legalized in Israel
March 22, 1988 The Knesset repeals a British Mandate-era law banning sex between people of the same gender and thereby legalizes homosexuality in Israel. The repeal is part of a package of sex and sex-crime…
Mossad’s Meir Amit Born
March 17, 1921 Meir Amit, a career soldier who builds the Mossad into an internationally renowned intelligence agency, is born Meir Slutzky on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias. He attends agricultural…
Poet Natan Yonatan Dies
March 12, 2004 Natan Yonatan, one of Israel’s greatest poets, dies at age 80. Yonatan was born in Kyiv in 1923 and soon immigrated to Palestine with his parents. A few years later the family…
LGBTQ Leader Gila Goldstein Is Born
December 18, 1947 Actress, singer and transgender-rights activist Gila Goldstein is born as Abraham Goldstein in Turin, Italy. Goldstein immigrates to Haifa as a child and is active with the Maccabi Haifa soccer club. Goldstein…
