British Zionist Richard Crossman Dies
Richard Crossman, who supported Zionist efforts while serving on the Anglo-American Commission of Inquiry, passes away at his home in England from liver cancer.
Ben-Gurion Dies at Age 87CIE+
David Ben-Gurion, (born David Gruen) Israel’s first Prime Minister passes away at the Tel Hashomer-Sheba Medical Center in Tel-Aviv at the age of 87.
Poet Avraham Shlonsky DiesCIE+
Avraham Shlonsky, renowned Israeli poet, editor, and translator, passes away in Tel Aviv at the age of 73.
Refuseniks Arrested Before FlightCIE+
June 15, 1970 A dozen Soviet dissidents are arrested at Leningrad’s Smolnoye Airport just before boarding a 12-seat Antonov AN-2 aircraft for an attempt to fly to freedom. Also arrested are four conspirators in the…
Findings of Jewish Quarter Excavation RevealedCIE+
December 3, 1969 Hebrew University archaeologist Nahman Avigad announces the results of his excavation of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, an area Israel captured from Jordanian forces during the June 1967…
Mount Scopus Concert Takes PlaceCIE+
A packed audience fills the amphitheater on Mount Scopus to celebrate the end of the June 1967 War and to mark the cultural unification of Jerusalem.
Zalman Shazar Is Elected as Israel’s Third PresidentCIE+
Shazar, a drafter of Israeli’s declaration of Independence who had helped Jews make Aliyah from Russia in the 1920s, becomes Israel’s third President.
Hausner Demands Death for EichmannCIE+
Israel’s Attorney General Gideon Hausner addresses the three presiding judges and demands the death penalty for Adolf Eichmann, an architect of the Nazi’s Final Solution.
Bones of Moshe Hess Brought to IsraelCIE+
Moshe Hess, a 19th century Zionist, is reburied in the Kibbutz Kinneret cemetery beside other fathers of socialist Zionism.
Eichmann Trial Begins in Jerusalem
The trial of Adolf Eichmann, architect of the Nazi Final Solution, begins in front of a special panel of three judges at the Beit Ha’am community center in Jerusalem.
Kastner Is Found Not GuiltyCIE+
Dr. Israel (Rudolf) Kastner, who had been accused of collaborating with the Nazis in the annihilation of Hungarian Jewry, is cleared of any wrongdoing by Israel’s Supreme Court.
Albert Einstein Dies
World-famous scientist and Zionist Albert Einstein dies at Princeton Hospital.
Intellectual Selig Brodetsky DiesCIE+
Shortly after assuming the Presidency of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Selig Brodetsky suffered a major heart attack.
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi Is Inaugurated as Israel’s Second PresidentCIE+
At the end of the traditional thirty-day mourning period for Israel’s first President Chaim Weizmann, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi is inaugurated as Israel’s second President in a Knesset ceremony.
First President Chaim Weizmann DiesCIE+
Chaim Weizmann, a leader of the Zionist movement and the first president of the State of Israel, dies in Rehovot after a yearlong illness.
Israel Accepts German ReparationsCIE+
January 9, 1952 The Knesset ends three days of debate by voting 61-50 to accept more than $800 million in Holocaust reparations from the Western German government over 14 years. The decision sparks protests and…
Knesset Passes Resolution for Creating Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day)
A resolution was passed by the Knesset, establishing the 27th day of Nisan as Yom Hashoah (“Holocaust Memorial Day”), a memorial day for the Jews who were victims to the Nazis.
Third Maccabiah Games BeginCIE+
The Third Maccabiah Games commence in the 50,000-seat stadium in Ramat Gan, Israel.
Iraq Allows Jews to LeaveCIE+
March 3, 1950 The Iraqi government retracts a policy banning emigration to move to Israel, on the condition that Jews give up their Iraqi citizenship when they leave the country. In addition, those who previously…
Herzl’s Body Is Reburied in IsraelCIE+
August 17, 1949 Theodor Herzl, who was buried in Vienna after his death July 20, 1904, is reburied along with his wife and parents on the Jerusalem hill that is renamed Mount Herzl in his…
Rabbi Stephen S. Wise Passes Away
Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, a stalwart of American Zionism and the Reform movement, dies at age 75.
Historian Benny Morris Is BornCIE+
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…
Israel Adopts State FlagCIE+
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.
Israel Declares IndependenceCIE+
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.
