Avraham (Granot) Granovsky Is Born
Avraham (Granot) Granovsky, a signatory of the Israeli Declaration of Independence and Director-General of the Jewish National Fund, is born in Moldova.
Bronislaw Huberman Dies
Known as one of the most cherished violinists of his generation, and one of the greatest Jewish musicians of all time, Bronislaw Huberman passed away at his home in Switzerland at the age of 64.
Arab Leaders in Palestine Admit Failure of Non-Cooperation
In a diary entry, Frederick Kisch, the head of the Political Department of the Jewish Agency, notes that most Arab leaders “recognize that the policy of non-cooperation with the Government has been a failure.”
Politician Ya’akov Hazan Is Born
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…
Shabbetai Zevi Declares Himself Messiah
Shabbetai Zevi was born on August 1, 1626 in Smyrna (Izmir), Turkey. A gifted scholar, he showed signs of mental instability early in his life, causing unpredictable mood swings from extreme depression to euphoria.
Teddy Kollek Is Born
Teddy Kollek, Zionist leader and long-time mayor of Jerusalem, is born in Nagyvázsony, Hungary.
Haganah Seizes Haifa
April 22, 1948 As communal violence increases with the approaching departure of British troops and expected declaration of Israeli independence, the Haganah seizes Haifa, and as many as 25,000 Arabs flee the city, possibly in…
Britain Seeks Special U.N. Panel on Palestine
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…
Aeltesten Reglement: Constitution of the Jewish Community of Berlin Is Issued
Berlin’s Jewish community reorganizes with a new constitution, the Aeltesten Reglement.
Jews in Safed Petition for Protection
Jews in Safed deliver a petition to the Ottoman Sultan seeking protection against extortion, robberies, and violence from local officials.
Resolution Seeks Zionist School Syllabus in Greece
In Salonica, the Conference of Greek Zionists adopts a resolution declaring that Jewish education in the Alliance Israelite Universelle Schools does not meet with Jewish national views and aspirations. They call for a new syllabus.
High Commissioner John Chancellor Argues to End Jewish National Home
In a dispatch to the Colonial Office, John Chancellor, serving as British High Commissioner in Palestine, argues to end the Jewish national home in Palestine.
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda Dies
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, considered the “father of modern Hebrew,” dies from tuberculosis at the age of 64 in Jerusalem. Thirty thousand mourners attend his funeral on the Mount of Olives.
First Crusaders Set Out for Holy Land
August 15, 1096 The armies of the First Crusade officially embark from Western Europe on their quest to capture the Holy Land, especially the holy city of Jerusalem, from Muslims. Jerusalem has been controlled for…
Chaim Arlosoroff Killed
June 16, 1933 Chaim Arlosoroff, the head of the Jewish Agency’s political department, is fatally shot while walking on a Tel Aviv beach at night with his wife, Sima, who has noticed and expressed concerns…
Extraordinary Zionist Conference Begins at Biltmore Hotel in New York
The Biltmore Conference will set the framework for Zionist policy in the years during and after World War II.
17 Jews Evacuated in Final Yemen Airlift
March 21, 2016 The Jewish Agency secretly brings 17 Yemeni Jews to Israel, completing an effort in recent years that snuck roughly 200 Jews from Yemen to Israel amid Yemen’s civil war. “From Operation Magic…
Arab Raiders Attack Tel Hai
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…
Labor Politician Aharon Zisling Born
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…
First Tel Aviv Soccer Derby
February 25, 1928 Soccer clubs Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv hold their first derby, or rivalry game, which is won by the home team, Maccabi, 3-0. Maccabi also wins the rematch on Hapoel’s…
Truck Bombs Kill Dozens on Ben Yehuda Street
February 22, 1948 Arab militants disguised as British troops, joined by a pair of British deserters, detonate bombs in three British military trucks and an armored car in the morning along the shopping district of…
First International Holocaust Remembrance Day
January 27, 2006 The first U.N.-recognized International Holocaust Remembrance Day is held on the 61st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The goal of the commemoration is to educate the nations of the world and…
Nazi-Hunter Tuviah Friedman Born
January 23, 1922 Tuviah Samuel Friedman, a Nazi-hunter known as “the Merciless One,” is born in Radom, Poland. Friedman survives several concentration camps during the Holocaust, which kills his parents and two siblings. As a…
Historian Benny Morris Is Born
December 8, 1948 Benny Morris, a renowned Israeli professor of history, is born on a kibbutz in Ein HaHoresh to diplomat Ya’akov Morris and journalist Sadie Morris. Morris spends some time in the United States…
