Doctors Begin 4-Month Strike
March 2, 1983 One of Israel’s largest and longest labor actions begins when the Israel Medical Association launches a strike to protest the government’s refusal to grant doctors a substantial pay raise after nearly 11…
First Tel Aviv Soccer Derby
February 25, 1928 Soccer clubs Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv hold their first derby, or rivalry game, which is won by the home team, Maccabi, 3-0. Maccabi also wins the rematch on Hapoel’s…
Children’s Author Miriam Roth Born
February 16, 1910 Miriam Roth, whose Hebrew writing elevates children’s literature in Israel, is born in the Slovakian region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. She attends various Jewish schools, including one run by her father, and…
Helene’s Palace Believed to Be Found
December 6, 2007 An Israeli archaeological dig discovers the remains of a 2,000-year-old mansion in the Old City of Jerusalem that is believed to have belonged to Queen Helene of Adiabene. Archaeologists say the building…
Law Passed to Prevent Discrimination in Schools
December 4, 2000 The Knesset passes legislation proposed by Ehud Barak, who is Israel’s education minister as well as its prime minister, to prevent discrimination in schools and educational centers. The Pupils’ Rights Law draws…
Holocaust Survivor Dies as World’s Oldest Man
August 11, 2017 Holocaust survivor Yisrael Kristal, recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s oldest living man and one of the 10 longest-lived men ever, dies in Haifa one month before his…
Writer Aharon Megged Dies
March 23, 2016 Aharon Megged, who won almost every literary prize in Israel, including the S.Y. Agnon Prize, Prime Minister’s Prize, President’s Prize and 2003 Israel Prize, dies in Tel Aviv at age 95. He…
Physicist Jacob Bekenstein Dies
August 16, 2015 Physicist Jacob Bekenstein, whose work on black holes advanced efforts to create a theory of quantum gravity, dies of a heart attack at age 68 in Helsinki, Finland, where he is scheduled…
Actress Orna Porat Dies
August 6, 2015 Stage and screen actress Orna Porat dies at age 91 in Tel Aviv. She was born Irene Klein, a German Christian, near Cologne in 1924. She turned toward atheism and socialism in…
Filmmaker Avraham Heffner Dies
September 19, 2014 Actor, screenwriter, director and producer Avraham Heffner dies at age 79 in Tel Aviv. He was born in Haifa in 1935 and served in the Nahal army band during his time in…
Singer Arik Einstein Dies at 74
November 26, 2013 Arik Einstein, one of Israel’s most beloved singers and songwriters, dies of an aortic aneurysm in Tel Aviv at age 74. The national outpouring of grief includes a gathering of thousands of…
Musician Shmulik Kraus Dies
February 17, 2013 Shmulik Kraus dies from swine flu in Tel Aviv at age 77 after a long career as one of Israel’s most influential musicians. Kraus was born in Jerusalem on July 1, 1935,…
Knesset Passes “Photoshop Law”
The Knesset adopts the “Photoshop Law” to prevent adult fashion and commercial models from losing weight to the detriment of their health, or appearing unhealthily underweight in ads, negatively effecting body image issues amongst Israelis.
Daniel Barenboim Is Named Musical Director of La Scala Opera House
Israeli composer Daniel Barenboim is named musical director of the prestigious La Scala Opera House in Milan, Italy.
March of the Million Challenges Cost of Living
Demonstrating against the rising costs of living and economic inequalities in Israel, more than 450,000 protestors fill the streets throughout the country. It is the largest demonstration in Israel’s history.
International Law Scholar Shabtai Rosenne Dies
September 21, 2010 Legal expert and diplomat Shabtai Rosenne, a law professor at Bar-Ilan University, dies of a heart attack at age 92. He is considered one of the most important international lawyers of the…
Yossi Benayoun Signs Contract with Chelsea Football Club
Chelsea Football Club, one of Europe’s most prized teams, offers Yossi Benayoun, one of Israel’s top soccer players, a three-year, multimillion-dollar deal.
Israeli Jazz Festival Opens in New York
Acclaimed jazz artist John Zorn hosts the first annual Israeli Jazz Festival at “The Stone,” his New York City venue.
Crystallographer Yonath Wins Nobel in Chemistry
Ada Yonath was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Jerusalem, then under the British Mandate. Yonath’s family was poor and lived in a four-room apartment that they shared with two other families.
Gangster Yaakov Alperon Dies in Car Bombing
November 17, 2008 Organized-crime leader Yaakov Alperon, 53, a suspected murderer who has survived as many as three assassination attempts, is driving home from a court hearing for two of his sons in Tel Aviv…
Herod’s Tomb Is Discovered
May 8, 2007 A public announcement reveals that the tomb of King Herod the Great has been found at Herodium in the Judean Desert of the West Bank in an excavation led by archaeologist Ehud…
First Kisufim Conference of Jewish Writers is Held in Israel
Organized by Israeli author Aharon Applefeld and politician Natan Sharansky, the Kisufim Conference opened in Jerusalem.
Rapist Benny Sela Escapes
November 24, 2006 Benny Sela, convicted in 2000 of being the “Tel Aviv serial rapist,” escapes while being transported to a court hearing in Tel Aviv. While handcuffed, he eludes two police guards and scales…
Israel Hosts First International Dance Sport Competition in Ashdod
More than 3,000 spectators attend the Ten-Dance European Cup, the first international dance sports competition to be held in Israel.
