U.N. Approves Partition PlanCIE+
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.
Immigrant Ship Kadima Briefly Reaches HaifaCIE+
The Aliyah Bet ship Kadima arrives in Haifa under British escort. All of its passengers are arrested and moved to detention camps in Cyprus.
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.
Lehi Teenager Disappears
May 6, 1947 Alexander Rubowitz, 16, is abducted in the Rehavia neighborhood of Jerusalem while on a mission for Lohamei HaHerut b’Yisrael (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel), known by the acronym Lehi or as…
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…
Britain Seeks Special U.N. Panel on PalestineCIE+
April 2, 1947 The British government notifies the United Nations of its intent to bring the question of Palestine’s future before the next U.N. General Assembly. The United Kingdom also requests a special General Assembly…
Irgun Flogs British Troops in StreetsCIE+
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 BombedCIE+
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 FightersCIE+
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,…
Jewish Resistance Blows Up Rails Across PalestineCIE+
November 1, 1945 The newly formed Jewish Resistance Movement sets off explosions at more than 150 sites along the railway system of British Mandatory Palestine and blows up three British gunboats in the Jaffa and…
Shin Bet Head Ami Ayalon Is BornCIE+
June 27, 1945 Ami Ayalon, who leads the Shin Bet and the Israeli navy, is born in Tiberias. He serves in the navy from 1963 to 1996. He volunteers for the Shayetet 13 commando unit,…
Eliyahu Golomb Passes AwayCIE+
Eliyahu Golomb, prominent leader of the Jewish defense effort in Palestine, passed away at the age of 52.
Nazis Kill Palmach Paratrooper Haviva ReikCIE+
November 20, 1944 Haviva Reik and two other paratroopers from British Mandatory Palestine are among about 40 Jewish fighters executed by the Nazis after the suppression of an uprising in Slovakia. Reik, who was born…
Hannah Senesh Is ExecutedCIE+
Hannah Senesh (Szenes), the poet and Haganah fighter who parachuted into Nazi-occupied Europe to rescue Jews, is executed by Hungarian firing squad in a Budapest prison courtyard.
U.S. Reveals It Will Not Bomb Nazi Death CampsCIE+
In a letter written to Leon Kubowitzki, head of the Rescue Department of the World Jewish Congress, US Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy states that the War Department would not order the bombing of Nazi Death Camps because they did not see it as a priority for US military resources.
Allied Army Lands at NormandyCIE+
Some 156,000 Allied troops land at Normandy and begin their fight to liberate France and ultimately all of Europe from the Nazis. D-Day is the largest seaborne invasion in history.
Journalist Ron Ben-Yishai Is Born in JerusalemCIE+
Ron Ben-Yishai, a famous war correspondent and recipient of the 2018 Israel Prize, is born in Jerusalem.
Final Communication of Mordechai Anielewicz from the Warsaw Ghetto
In his final communication, ZOB commander Mordechai Anielewicz outlines the success of the revolt even in the face of almost certain defeat.
Haganah Forms Elite Palmach
The Palmach, an elite strike force of the Haganah, goes on to play a significant role in the 1948-1949 war.
Refugee Ship Patria Is SunkCIE+
November 25, 1940 A Haganah bomb does more damage than intended to the immigrant transport ship SS Patria, which sinks within 16 minutes in Haifa’s harbor, killing 267 people, including members of the British crew,…
Munich Olympic Massacre Victim Yossef Romano Is BornCIE+
Weightlifter Yossef Romano, one of the eleven Israeli athletes murdered at the 1972 Munich Olympics, is born in Benghazi, Libya.
Irgun Radio Begins BroadcastingCIE+
March 15, 1939 Kol Tzion HaLokhemet (“Voice of the Fighting Zion”), the underground radio network operated by the Irgun, sends out its first broadcasts across Palestine as Esther Raziel-Naor hits the airwaves. The network broadcasts…
Arab Rebellion Breaks Out in PalestineCIE+
Violence between Jews and Arabs quickly escalated as Arab workers went on a six-month strike as violence erupted in different parts of British-ruled Palestine.
Mosul-Haifa Pipeline OpensCIE+
The Mosul-Haifa pipeline, which spans 590 miles, connects the Mosul oil fields and the Mediterranean Sea. It begins in Kirkuk, Iraq and ends in Haifa.
