5th Israeli President Yitzhak Navon Is Born
Yitzhak Navon, Israel’s fifth president, is born in Jerusalem.
Mossad’s Meir Amit BornCIE+
March 17, 1921 Meir Amit, a career soldier who builds the Mossad into an internationally renowned intelligence agency, is born Meir Slutzky on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias. He attends agricultural…
Keren Hayesod Is FoundedCIE+
December 24, 1920 The World Zionist Congress in London launches Keren Hayesod (Hebrew for the Foundation Fund, now known in English as the United Israel Appeal) to raise money for the Zionist movement and fulfill…
Yishuv Publishes Its First Medical Journal: HarefuahCIE+
The first Hebrew language medical journal in Palestine, “HaRufuah,” is published quarterly by the Jewish Medical Association of Palestine. The journal is still published monthly by the Israel Medical Association and distributed to all its members free of charge.
Treaty of Sevres Dissolves the Ottoman EmpireCIE+
Following the San Remo conference in April 1920, a treaty is signed between the Allies and the Ottoman Empire in the town of Sevres, France, officially breaking up the Ottoman Empire.
Herbert Samuel Appointed First High Commissioner of Palestine Durin San Remo Conference
British Prime Minister David Lloyd George asks Herbert Samuel to become the first High Commissioner of Palestine.
Riots Break Out in Jerusalem’s Old City During Muslim Festival
A Muslim pilgrimage festival erupts into violence against Jews in Jerusalem, leaving nine dead and hundreds wounded.
Arab Raiders Attack Tel HaiCIE+
March 1, 1920 A Shi’ite Arab militia, accompanied by local Bedouins, attacks the Jewish agricultural settlement of Tel Hai, which has served as a border outpost in the Upper Galilee between British-controlled Palestine and French-controlled…
AJC Gives Qualified Endorsement to Balfour Declaration
Although its support of the Balfour Declaration was tepid, the AJC did recognize that a Jewish homeland could provide safety for Jews still suffering oppression in other lands.
Spy Sarah Aaronsohn DiesCIE+
Sarah Aaronsohn, a Nili intelligence operative, dies four days after shooting herself in an effort to avoid further torture and interrogation by Turkish authorities.
General, Archaeologist Yigael Yadin Is BornCIE+
March 20, 1917 Yigael Yadin, a general known for his archaeological work, is born in Jerusalem. His father is an archaeologist, and his mother is a women’s rights activist. Yadin joins the Haganah when he…
Sykes-Picot Agreement Proposes Division of Ottoman TerritoriesCIE+
A secret treaty is negotiated to divide the former Ottoman territories between Britain and France.
Correspondence Begins Between Hussein and McMahonCIE+
The Husayn-McMahon correspondence commences between the Arab leader Husayn bin-Ali and the British government official Sir Henry McMahon.
Revisionist Zionist Shmuel Katz Is BornCIE+
Shmuel Katz, a leader of Revisionist Zionism and a founder of the Herut Party in Israel, is born in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Private U.S. Aid Arrives for Jews in Palestine in WWICIE+
Responding to a plea from Henry Morgenthau, United States Ambassador to Turkey and American Jewish leaders, led by Louis Marshall and Jacob Schiff, quickly raise $50,000 in aid for the Jewish community in the Palestine.
Arthur Ruppin Purchases Land for Hebrew UniversityCIE+
Arthur Ruppin, head of the Palestine Office of the World Zionist Organization, purchases the estate of Sir John Gray Hill on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem for the purpose of building a university.
Technion Decides to Teach in HebrewCIE+
An important moment in Israel’s nation-building comes when the Kuratorium (board of trustees) of the Technion University, then under construction in Haifa, reverses its decision of October 1913 and decides that Hebrew, not German, will be the language of instruction at the new school.
Kupat Holim Clalit Is EstablishedCIE+
At the urging of Berl Katznelson, a proposal is passed among Zionist leadership creating the Kupat Holim Clalit (General Sick Fund), a still present healthcare organization in Israel.
Poet Leah Goldberg Is BornCIE+
May 29, 1911 Poet Leah Goldberg is born in Königsberg, Prussia, now Kaliningrad, Russia. Raised mostly in Kovno, Lithuania, Goldberg begins writing poetry in Hebrew and Russian around age 12. She studies at the Universities…
First Kibbutz in Israel Is EstablishedCIE+
Degania Alef is established as the first Kibbutz in Israel. The idea for a communally operated agricultural settlement in the land of Israel did not, however, originate with the founders of Degania Alef.
Tel Aviv Is Founded
Sixty-six families gathered on the sand dunes outside of Jaffa and selected lots for property in a new neighborhood called Ahuzat Bayit (“Homestead”) that became the first modern Jewish city, Tel Aviv.
British Make the Uganda Proposal
British Secretary of State for the Colonies Joseph Chamberlain and Theodor Herzl meet to discuss Jewish settlement. At this meeting, Chamberlain proposes that the Jewish state be created in Uganda.
Labor Politician Aharon Zisling BornCIE+
February 26, 1901 Aharon Zisling, one of Israel’s founding fathers, is born in the Russian Empire in Minsk, now the capital of Belarus. He immigrates to Palestine in 1914 during the Second Aliyah and emerges…
Politician Ya’akov Hazan Is BornCIE+
June 4, 1899 Ya’akov Hazan, a leader in socialist politics through Israel’s first four decades, is born in Brest Litovsk, Russia. He is a founder of the Hashomer Hatzair scouting movement in Poland in 1915…
