Writer Gadi Taub Is Born
April 19, 1956 Writer and academic Gadi Taub, a leading commentator on the meaning of modern Zionism, is born in Jerusalem. Taub’s grandparents were Zionist pioneers who arrived in Palestine in the 1920s during the…
Hadassah Medical Center Breaks Ground
June 5, 1952 Having been forced to evacuate its campus on Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus after the massacre of 78 medical people April 13, 1948, Hadassah breaks ground on the Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center at…
Rock Star Yoni Rechter Is Born
November 18, 1951 Yoni Rechter, considered one of Israel’s greatest musicians, is born in Tel Aviv. He is the son of architect Ya’akov Rechter and stepson of actress Hanna Maron. He pursues music as a…
Filmmaker Amos Gitai Born in Haifa
Filmmaker Amos Gitai, known for documentaries and features on the Middle East, the Israeli-Arab conflict and Holocaust memory in Europe, is born to architect Munio Weinraub and teacher Efratia Margalit in Haifa.
Third Maccabiah Games Begin
The Third Maccabiah Games commence in the 50,000-seat stadium in Ramat Gan, Israel.
First Festival of Jewish Music Opens in Jerusalem
June 20, 1950 Israel’s first Festival of Jewish Music begins in Jerusalem and runs until July 1. It is arranged by the Music Department of the Israeli government’s Ministry of Education and Culture and the…
Airlift of Iraqi Jews Begins
Following the passage of March 1950 law allowing Jews to leave Iraq, the Ministry of Aliyah in Israel develops a plan to facilitate their immigration to Israel.
Rock Singer Shlomo Artzi Is Born
Israeli folk rock singer-songwriter and composer Shlomo Artzi is born on Moshav Alonei Abba, southeast of Haifa.
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.
Israel Joins UNESCO
September 16, 1949 Israel becomes a member of UNESCO, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Based in Paris, UNESCO has the purpose of creating peace and security by encouraging international collaboration in education, natural…
Herzl’s Body Is Reburied in Israel
August 17, 1949 Theodor Herzl, who was buried in Vienna after his death July 20, 1904, is reburied along with his wife and parents on the Jerusalem hill that is renamed Mount Herzl in his…
Poet Elisheva Bikhovsky Dies
March 27, 1949 Elisheva Bikhovsky, one of the “four mothers” of modern Hebrew poetry, dies of cancer at age 60 in Tiberias and is buried at Kvutzat Kinneret, a kibbutz. A native of Russia with…
Israel Adopts State Flag
The iconic flag with two blue stripes and a blue Star of David at its center becomes the official Israeli flag more than five months after the establishment of the state.
Cinema Director Alon Garbuz Is Born
September 9, 1948 Alon Garbuz, the director of the Tel Aviv Cinematheque for four decades, is born in Givatayim, the youngest of three brothers. The oldest, Aharon, becomes a leader in the Histadrut labor federation…
Violinist Pinchas Zukerman Is Born
July 16, 1948 Classical musician and conductor Pinchas Zukerman is born in Tel Aviv. At 4, he begins playing the recorder, then the clarinet, and by 8 he is playing the violin and studying at…
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…
Nobel Laureate Aaron Ciechanover Born
Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Aaron Ciechanover is born in Haifa to parents who emigrated from Poland before World War II.
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…
Journalist Ron Ben-Yishai Is Born in Jerusalem
Ron Ben-Yishai, a famous war correspondent and recipient of the 2018 Israel Prize, is born in Jerusalem.
Musician Ariel Zilber Is Born
September 22, 1943 Singer-songwriter Ariel Zilber is born in Tel Aviv to Bracha Zefira, a singer, and Ben Ami Zilber, a violinist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He attends a nonreligious boarding school on Kibbutz…
Pianist/Conductor Daniel Barenboim Is Born
November 15, 1942 Conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim is born in Buenos Aires to Russian-Jewish immigrants. At age 5, he begins taking piano lessons from his father, who remains his teacher. He moves to Israel…
Composer Nurit Hirsch Is Born
August 13, 1942 Nurit Hirsch, a musician and composer, is born in Tel Aviv. From a young age, she plays piano at a theater, a ballet studio and a quartet club. She plays in a…
Ehud Manor Is Born
July 13, 1941 Singer, songwriter and media personality Ehud Manor is born to Russian immigrant parents in Binyamina. A graduate of the University of Cambridge, Manor composes about 1,200 songs and translates 600 others into…
Nobel Laureate Dan Shechtman Born
January 24, 1941 Dan Shechtman, a Nobel Prize-winning chemist, is born in Tel Aviv. He earns his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering in 1966, master’s in materials engineering in 1958 and doctorate in materials science in…
