Key Dates in Israel's History

1896 - 1947 | 1948 - 1967 | 1968 - 1973 | 1974 - 1979

| 1981 - 1987 | 1991 - 1995 | 1996 - 1999 | 2000 - 2001

| 2002 - 2003 | 2004 - 2005 | 2006 - 2010 |

1896 - 1947
February 14, 1896	Publication of Theodor Herzl’s treatise “The Jewish State”
August 29, 1897	Opening of the First Zionist Congress at Basel, Switzerland
November 2, 1917	Issuing of Balfour Declaration: British support for a “Jewish Homeland”
April 24, 1920	Britain assigned mandatory power over Palestine at the San Remo Conference
August 23, 1929	Arab attack on Jewish community of Hebron
April 15, 1936	Arab revolt begins
May 17, 1939	British White Paper limiting Jewish immigration to Palestine
December 1945	Initiation of Arab League Boycott (on the Jewish community of Palestine)
July 22, 1946	Irgun bombs King David Hotel
February 14, 1947	Britain gives UN responsibility for Palestine
November 29, 1947	UN Partition Plan approved (Resolution 181)
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1948 - 1967
May 14, 1948	Declaration of the State of Israel
May 15, 1948 - January 1949	Outbreak of War of Independence. Ends January 1949
January 25, 1949	Israel’s first national election takes place; David Ben-Gurion elected Prime Minister
May 1950	Operation Ali Baba; brings 113,000 Iraqi Jews to Israel
September 1950	Operation Magic Carpet completed; 47,000 Yemeni Jews brought to Israel
October 29 -November 6, 1956	Suez Campaign
October 10, 1959	Creation of Fatah
January 1964	Creation of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
January 1, 1965	Fatah attack on Israeli water system
May 15 - 22, 1967	Egyptian Mobilization in the Sinai/Closure of the Tiran Straits
June 5 - 10, 1967	Six Day War
November 22, 1967	Adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 242
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1968 - 1973
April 4, 1968	Establishment of Jewish settlement in Hebron
July 18, 1968	Hijacking of El Al airliner by PLO
February 1 - 4, 1969	Arafat becomes PLO Chairman
March 8, 1969	War of Attrition begins, lasts to August 1970
September 5, 1972	Massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at Munich Olympics
October 6 - 24, 1973	Yom Kippur War
October 17, 1973	Arab Oil Embargo
October 22, 1973	Adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 338
November 5, 1973	Kissinger begins shuttle diplomacy
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1974 - 1979
May 15, 1974	Terrorist Attack on school in northern Israeli town of Ma’alot
November 10, 1975	“Zionism is Racism” resolution passed by the UN
November 19, 1977	Egyptian President Anwar Sadat visits Jerusalem
September 17, 1978	Camp David accords signed
March 26, 1979	Egypt-Israel peace treaty signed
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1981 - 1987
June 7, 1981	Israel attacks Iraq's Osiraq nuclear reactor
June 6, 1982	Operation "Peace for the Galilee" launched; start of Lebanon War
November 1984	Operation Moses airlifts 7000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel
October 7, 1986	Hijacking of Achille Lauro
December 8, 1987	Start of the Intifada
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1991 - 1995
January 16	Gulf War; Iraq launches SCUD missiles at Israel
May 24, 1991	Operation Solomon brings 14000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel
October 30, 1991	Madrid Peace Conference
December 16, 1991	UN repeals “Zionism is Racism” resolution
September 13, 1993	Israel-Palestinian Declaration of Principles announced
December 30, 1993	Israel and Vatican sign “Fundamental Agreement”
February 25, 1994	Jewish gunman kills 29 Palestinian worshippers in Hebron
April 6, 1994	Afula suicide bombing
May 4, 1994	Agreement on the Gaza Strip and Jericho reached
May 13, 1994	Israel withdraws from Jericho, followed by Gaza on May 18
July 1, 1994	Arafat enters Gaza
October 9, 1994	Hamas kidnaps and kills an Israeli soldier
October 14, 1994	Rabin, Peres, and Arafat awarded Nobel Peace Prize
October 19, 1994	Tel Aviv bus bombing, kills 13
October 26, 1994	Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty
December 1, 1994	Transfer of West Bank administrative control to Palestinians
January 22,1995	Beit Lid suicide bombing, kills 21
April 9, 1995	Gaza suicide bombings, kills 8
September 28, 1995	Signing of Oslo II agreement
November 4, 1995	Assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
November 13	Israel redeploys from Palestinian population centers
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1996 - 1999
January 20, 1996	First Palestinian elections
February 25, 1996	Jerusalem/Ashkelon suicide bombings, kill 27
March 3, 1996	Bombing of bus in downtown Jerusalem kills 19
March 4, 1996	Bombing outside main Tel Aviv mall, kills 13
September 24, 1996	Palestinian "Tunnel Riots" erupt
January 17, 1997	Israel withdraws from Hebron
March 13, 1997	Jordanian soldier kills 7 Israeli schoolgirls
July 30, 1997	Hamas suicide bomber explodes in a Jerusalem market, killing 16
September 4, 1997	Three bombs on Jerusalem pedestrian mall, kill 5, injure 181
October 23, 1998	Israel-Palestinian “Wye Memorandum” signed
December 10, 1998	Palestinians vote to change PLO charter in presence of President Clinton
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2000 - 2001
May 24, 2000	Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon
July 11 - 25, 2000	Camp David Summit
September 29, 2000	Outbreak of widespread Palestinian violence, “Second Intifada” begins
October 12, 2000	Two Israeli soldiers lynched by Palestinian mob in Ramallah
June 1, 2001	Suicide bombing of Tel Aviv night club, kills 21 youths
August 9, 2001	Suicide bombing at pizzeria in Jerusalem, kills 15
December 1, 2001	Suicide bombing in pedestrian mall in central Jerusalem, kills 11 youths
December 2, 2001	A suicide bomber of a bus in Haifa, kills 15
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2002 - 2003
January 4, 2002	Israel intercepts massive Palestinian arms shipment on Karine A ship
March 2, 2002	Suicide bombing outside a bar mitzvah party in Jerusalem, kills 11
March 9, 2002	Suicide bombing of Jerusalem cafe, kills 11
March 12, 2002	Hezbollah operatives open fire on Israeli vehicles in Kibbutz Metzuba, kill 6
March 27, 2002	Suicide bomber kills 30 at Passover seder at Netanya hotel
March 29, 2002	IDF begins Operation Defensive Shield to uproot terrorist infrastructure in West Bank
March 31, 2002	Suicide bombing in Haifa restaurant, kills 15
April 10, 2002	Suicide bombing of bus traveling from Haifa to Jerusalem, kills 8
April 12, 2002	Female suicide bomber attacks Jerusalem market, kills 6
May 7, 2002	Suicide bombing at Rishon Le-Zion billiards hall, kills 15
June 5, 2002	Suicide bombing of bus in Meggiddo Junction, kills 17
June 18, 2002	Suicide bus bombing in Jerusalem, kills 18
July 31, 2002	Suicide bombing of cafeteria at Hebrew University, kills 9
August 4, 2002	Suicide bombing of bus in Meron Junction, kills 9
September 19, 2002	Suicide bus bombing in Tel Aviv, kills 6
October 21, 2002	Car bomb kills 14 people on a bus at Karkur Junction
November 21, 2002	Suicide bombing of Jerusalem bus, kills 11
November 28, 2002	Gunman attacks Likud Party headquarters in Beit Shean, kills 6
January 5, 2003	Two simultaneous suicide bombings in Tel Aviv, kill 23
March 5, 2003	Suicide bombing of Haifa bus, kills 17
April 20, 2003	Suicide bombing at Mike’s Place, a Tel-Aviv blues club, kills 3
April 30, 2003	The “Road Map for Peace” is presented by the Quartet to the Israelis and Palestinians
May 18, 2003	Suicide bombing of Jerusalem bus, kills 7
June 11, 2003	Suicide bombing of Jerusalem bus, kills 17
August 19, 2003	Suicide bombing of Jerusalem bus, kills 24
September 8, 2003	Suicide bombing on Jerusalem bus, kills 9
September 8, 2003	Suicide bombing of Jerusalem cafe, kills 8
October 4, 2003	Suicide bombing at Haifa cafe, kills 21
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2004 - 2005
January 29, 2004	Suicide bombing on Jerusalem bus, kills 11
January 29, 2004	Israel swaps prisoners with the terrorist group Hezbollah; releases 435 Arab prisoners in return for the remains of murdered soldiers and a kidnapped Israeli businessman
February 22, 2004	Suicide bombing of Jerusalem bus kills 8
March 14, 2004	Double suicide bombing at an Ashdod port, kills 8
August 31, 2004	Two simultaneous suicide bombing in Beersheba kills 16
November 11, 2004	Yasir Arafat dies in a Paris hospital
December 23, 2004	The first phase of PA municipal elections are held; Hamas secures nearly half the seats
February 25, 2005	Suicide bombing at Tel Aviv nightclub, kills 5
February 26, 2005	The Knesset gives final approval to the Disengagement Plan, rejects calls for a national referendum
July 12, 2005	Suicide bombing of Netanya mall kills 5
August 17- 22, 2005	Evacuation of settlers from the Gaza Strip
August 23, 2005	Evacuation of four settlements in the northern West Bank completed
September 12, 2005	Israeli military completes withdrawal from the Gaza
December 5, 2005	Suicide bombing of a shopping mall in Netanya kills 5
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2006 - 2010
January 4, 2006	Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon incapacitated by massive stroke; Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appointed Acting Prime Minister
January 26, 2006	Palestinian parliamentary elections; Hamas wins 74 seats in the132-seat legislature
April 17, 2006	Suicide bombing near the old central bus station in Tel Aviv kills 11
June 25, 2006	IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit is kidnapped by Hamas from IDF army post; Israel responds with military operation
July 12, 2006	Hezbollah sparks the second Lebanon War when they cross the border into Israel and attack an Israeli military patrol, killing eight soldiers and kidnapping two others
August 11, 2006	The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopts Resolution 1701 for cease fire in the Lebanon War
June 15, 2007	Hamas takes over Gaza
November 27, 2007	Forty-six nations gather at Annapolis, Maryland for a U.S.-hosted conference intended to renew Israeli Palestinian peace talks
March 6, 2008	A Palestinian gunman attacked a Jerusalem yeshiva, killing 8.
July 16, 2008	Hezbollah releases the bodies of captive Israeli soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, whose kidnapping sparked the Second Lebanon War.
December 27, 2008	In response to increasing rocket barrages Israel launches Operation Cast Lead against Hamas in Gaza
January 18, 2009	Israel signs a unilateral ceasefire. Twelve hours later Hamas agrees to a week-long ceasefire.
March 31, 2009	Benjamin Netanyahu is sworn in as Israel’s Prime Minister
March 31, 2010	Israel intercepts a flotilla of six ships enroute to Gaza.
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* through March 2009