American, French, and Italian troops supervise the evacuation of around 15,000 PLO forces from Lebanon’s capital. Terrorists and Syrian forces leaving Beirut are one of Israel’s principal goals during the 1982 Lebanon War.
President Ronald Reagan announces a plan to sell military aircraft to Saudi Arabia.
June 7, 1981 Eight Israeli F-16s fly a 2,000-mile round trip to bomb Iraq’s Osirak plutonium nuclear reactor at the Tammuz I complex 10 miles south of Baghdad. The mission, Operation Opera, succeeds at destroying…
In 1950, the Knesset passes a law that states, “Whereas with establishment of the state of Israel, Jerusalem once more becomes the capital.” In 1980, the Knesset elevates the law to a Basic Law, giving the political status of Jerusalem increased legislative weight.
Sixteen months after Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s historic visit to Jerusalem and Knesset address, the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty is signed at the White House in Washington.
February 14, 1978 President Jimmy Carter announces a plan to sell advanced fighter jets to Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Coming three months after Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s visit to Israel, the proposal draws swift…
Five major points regarding Israel were made at the White House Middle East Policy review meeting on April 19, 1977.
The United Nations passes UN Resolution 3379, which defines Zionism as a form of racism and racial discrimination. It passes with a vote of 72 in favor, 35 against, and 32 abstentions.
After a breakdown in diplomatic talks between Gerald Ford and PM Yitzhak Rabin, seventy-six Senators sign a letter to the President stressing the importance of both military and economic assistance to Israel.
A wide-ranging agreement on expanded economic cooperation provides short term relief to Israel’s struggling economy.
The US undertakes a “reassessment” of the Washington-Israel relationship, creating enormous tension between the US executive branch and the Israeli government.
March 18, 1974 The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, led by Arab oil producers, lifts the oil embargo it had placed on the United States for resupplying Israel during the Yom Kippur War. OPEC also…
February 27, 1974 U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger arrives in Tel Aviv from Damascus with a list of 65 Israeli prisoners held by Syria since the Yom Kippur War in October 1973, along with…
Convened under the co-chairmanship of the United States and Soviet Union, the Geneva Middle East Conference is “aimed at establishing a just and durable peace in the Middle East.”
At the end of the October 1973 War, after several miscommunications, the first Egyptian-Israeli Military Talks between Generals commenced. These talks take place at 1am in Israeli-controlled territory, 101 kilometers from Cairo.
Oil ministers from Arab states cut exports by 5% and recommend an embargo of Israel’s allies in response to the U.S. airlift of military supplies to Israel during the Yom Kippur War.
July 1, 1973 Col. Yosef “Joe” Alon, a military attache at the Israeli Embassy to the United States, is shot five times in his driveway in Chevy Chase, Maryland, after attending a farewell party for…
Known as Operation Diamond, the plan to recover a functional, Russian-made MIG-21 fighter jet succeeds after the Mossad cuts a deal with disillusioned Iraqi-Christian fighter pilot Munir Redfa. As part of the deal, Redfa receives $1 million, Israeli citizenship for himself and his family, and guaranteed full-time employment.
May 19, 1966 The Johnson administration announces that it will sell A-4 Skyhawk light bombers to Israel, marking the first sale of U.S. warplanes to Israel and a shift from France to the United States…
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…
July 14, 1958 Iraqi army officers stage a coup and overthrow and kill King Faisal. Also killed is Iraq’s crown prince, whose body is left hanging outside the Defense Ministry. Iraqis celebrate, but Western powers…
January 30, 1958 At a meeting in Ankara, Turkey, U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles tells Baghdad Pact states that the United States is committed to assisting their defense programs. This statement is seen…
In a nationally televised address to the American people, President Dwight Eisenhower discusses the tense situation in the Middle East in the aftermath of the October 1956 Suez War.
The Knesset debates Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion’s announcement that Israeli troops would withdraw from Sinai following the 1956 Suez War.
