Israel and Jordan Sign Armistice Agreement
Israel’s War of Independence ends with the signing of individual armistice agreements between the newly established Jewish state and Jordan, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon in 1949.
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.
Navy Fights First Major Battle
During the fourth day of Operation Yoav, the fledgling Israeli Navy engages in its first major battle off the coast of Ashkelon, Israel.
Lehi Assassinates U.N. Envoy Bernadotte
September 17, 1948 Count Folke Bernadotte, a diplomat sent by the United Nations to mediate between Israel and the Arabs during the War of Independence, is assassinated in Jerusalem by members of Lehi (the Stern…
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.
U.S. Opposes Stationing Troops in Israel
The US rejects a UN request that US Marines be temporarily stationed in Jerusalem to support an Israeli-Arab military truce agreement. The US continues its policy of supporting diplomacy in the region, while maintaining politically-strategic, military distance.
Abba Eban Explains Six-Day War to U.N. Security Council
June 6, 1967 After leaving Jerusalem at the start of the Six-Day War the previous day, Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban speaks to the U.N. Security Council to explain the pre-emptive Israel Defense Forces attacks…
The Altalena Arrives
The Altalena arrives off the coast of Kfar Vitkin from France carrying 900 immigrants and a large stockpile of weapons.
Ben-Gurion Delivers Report to Provisional Government
David Ben-Gurion delivers a report to the Provisional Government on the status of the 1948 War with neighboring Arab states, discussions with the United Nations, and the domestic needs of a young country at war.
First Battle for Latrun Takes Place
Going against the advice of some of his top military advisors, PM Ben-Gurion orders an assault on the fortress of Latrun, considered a key component of liberating Jerusalem.
Bernadotte Named U.N. Peace Mediator
May 20, 1948 Count Folke Bernadotte is appointed by the U.N. Security Council as the mediator for Middle East peace efforts five days into the Israeli War of Independence. Bernadotte was born in Sweden in…
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.
Golda Meir Secretly Meets With King Abdullah in Amman
The second secret meeting between the two is a last-ditch effort to persuade Transjordan to stay out of an impending war with the soon-to-be declared State of Israel.
Hadassah Medical Convoy Massacre Takes Place
Arab forces ambush a medical convoy en route to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus, Jerusalem. Seventy-nine people, mostly doctors and nurses are killed in the attack.
Ben-Gurion Outlines Five Keys to Success in 1948 Independence War
Ben-Gurion feared that there were too many decision-making centers in the Yishuv and that urgency and immediacy demanded one single voice.
Davidka Mortar First Used
March 13, 1948 The Davidka, a mortar designed and manufactured at the Mikveh Israel agricultural school for use in Israel’s fight for independence, is used in combat for the first time in an attack on…
Cairo-Haifa Train Bombed
February 29, 1948 Jewish militants from the Lehi underground group mine train cars carrying British troops on the Cairo-Haifa line north of Rehovot. The attack uses one or more bombs placed on the tracks and…
Violence Against Jews in Arab Cities
Following the United Nations vote for the Partition of Palestine on the previous day, violence ensues between Jews and Arabs in the British Mandate of Palestine. The first phase of Israel’s War of Independence begins.
U.N. Approves Partition Plan
The United Nations General Assembly passes Resolution 181 by a vote of 33-13 with 10 abstentions. The Resolution recommended the creation of separate Arab and Jewish states in Palestine, linked by an economic union.
Gromyko Addresses the United Nations
Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko proposes a unitary state for Palestine, but vows to support partition if it is deemed the only workable solution.
Irgun Blasts Prisoners out of Acre
May 4, 1947 The Irgun sets off explosives at 4:22 p.m. to blast open a hole in the wall of the Acre (Akko) fortress, used as a prison by the British Mandatory authorities, in an…
Irgun Conducts Night of the Beatings
December 29, 1946 The underground militant movement Irgun carries out the Night of the Beatings, an effort across Palestine to flog British soldiers in retribution for the lashing of captured Irgun members. Irgun members abduct…
Jerusalem’s King David Hotel Is Bombed
Members of the Irgun, a Jewish military organization that is absorbed into the IDF during the 1948 War, bomb the British administrative headquarters in Palestine, based in the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. Twenty-eight British, forty-one Arabs, and seventeen Jews are killed.
British Round Up Resistance Fighters
June 29, 1946 The British military launches Operation Agatha, a two-week series of raids and arrests of Jewish resistance fighters, on a day that comes to be known as Black Sabbath. Involving some 17,000 soldiers,…
