Zionist Leaders Debate Land Purchase Strategies
Zionist leaders debate how to confront proposed British restrictions on Jewish land purchase in Palestine.
Rav Abraham Isaac Kook’s Funeral
80,000 mourners, approximately a quarter of the Jewish population in Palestine, line the streets of Jerusalem for the funeral of Rav Abraham Isaac Kook. He passed away the day before from cancer.
Archaeologist Ehud Netzer Is Born
May 13, 1934 Archaeologist Ehud Netzer is born in Jerusalem to teachers Joseph and Pua Menczel. After graduating from the Technion with a degree in architecture in 1958, Netzer earns a doctorate in archaeology from…
Judah Magnes Outlines Hebrew University Expansion
Opening the 1933-34 academic year, Judah Magnes, the president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, outlines an expansion plan for the university.
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…
Recha Freier Establishes Youth Aliyah in Germany
The same day that Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul Von Hindenburg, Recha Freier establishes the Committee for the Assistance of Jewish Youth.
Palestine Post Prints First Edition
December 1, 1932 The Palestine Post, the precursor of The Jerusalem Post, prints and distributes 1,200 copies of its first, eight-page edition. Founded by Gershon Agron, a Ukrainian-born immigrant from the United States, The Palestine…
First Maccabiah Games Open in Tel Aviv
The first Maccabiah Games, an international Jewish Olympics, open in Tel Aviv.
Author Aharon Appelfeld Is Born
Aharon Appelfeld, an Israeli author, professor, and Holocaust survivor, is born near Czernowitz, Ukraine (then part of Romania).
British PM MacDonald Rejects Passfield White Paper
The White Paper contained distinct threats to the geography of the Jewish National Home. The subsequent nine years saw unprecedented growth of Jewish demographic and physical presence in Palestine.
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.”
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.
Mapai Party Is Founded in Tel Aviv
David Ben-Gurion of Ahdut Ha’avodah and Joseph Sprinzak of Hapoel Hatzair recognize that their parties have more in common with each other than they have differences and begin moving towards a merger. The Mapai party is the result.
Palestine Jewish Agency Expands to Include World Jewish Representatives
The Jewish Agency holds its first meeting on August 12, the day after the conclusion of the Congress. With so many Jews having immigrated to the US over the previous four decades, American presence in the Jewish Agency had become financially and politically significant for Zionism’s key growth in the United States.
First Tel Aviv Soccer Derby
Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv hold their first soccer derby, a 3-0 Maccabi win.
Israeli Philanthropist Stef Wertheimer Is Born in Germany
Born in Kippenheim, Germany in 1926, Stef Wertheimer immigrates to Mandatory Palestine in 1937. A philanthropist and ardent peace activist, Wertheimer has dedicated more than $100 million of his own money to build industrial parks in the Galilee.
Jericho Earthquake Kills 300-Plus
July 11, 1927 A major earthquake strikes Jericho just after 3 p.m., killing between 300 and 500 people and injuring at least 700 others. Measured at a magnitude of 6.3, the quake lasts about five…
Ahad Ha’am Dies
January 2, 1927 Ahad Ha’am, the leader of the movement for cultural Zionism, dies in Mandatory Palestine. He was born Asher Zvi Hirsch Ginsberg on Aug. 18, 1856, in a village near Kyiv, Ukraine, and…
Tehiya Founder Geulah Cohen Is Born
December 25, 1925 Politician and activist Geulah Cohen, the founder of the Tehiya party, is born in Tel Aviv. Cohen becomes involved with political movements in Mandatory Palestine when she is young, and she joins…
Hebrew University Opens
The Hebrew University officially opens in Jerusalem on Mount Scopus with Zionist and British leaders joined by representatives from universities across the world.
Gen. Avraham Tamir Is Born
November 9, 1924 Avraham Tamir, a military strategic mastermind who rises to the rank of major general, is born. He is one of the first Israeli officials to meet with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and…
Restrictive U.S. Immigration Act of 1924 Boosts Jewish Immigration to Palestine
Unable to immigrate to the US, many European Jews immigrate to the land of Israel. Between 1924 and 1929, the period known as the Fourth Aliyah, 82,000 Jews arrive in Palestine.
Hasidic Zionist Rabbi Friedman Ben-Shalom Is Born
November 8, 1923 Rabbi Yisrael Meir Friedman Ben-Shalom, a sixth-generation descendant of Rebbe Yisrael of Rizin, is born in Bohush, Romania, to a Hasidic and Zionist family. Friedman Ben-Shalom joins Hashomer Hatzair, the secular Zionist…
Syria Gains Control of Golan Heights
In border designations for states drafted primarily by Britain and France after WWI, the new state of Syria gains control of the Golan Heights.
