|
1950: The Jews of Iraq and Yemen Emigrate to Israel
The Iraqi government, which had treated the Jewish community
harshly, allows them to leave on the condition that they take none of
their possessions. The entire Jewish community of Yemen numbering
45,000 is airlifted to Israel.
1952: West Germany pays "Compensation"
The Government of West Germany agrees to pay money for the
losses suffered by Jews at the hands of the Nazis.
1956: Jewish forces conquer the Sinai Peninsula
Increasing numbers of Israeli citizens are being killed by
Arab infiltrators, many of them from Egypt. Equipped with quality
Russian arms, Egypt nationalises the Suez Canal, preventing ships from
sailing to and from Israel. In a lightning strike that lasts eight
days, Israeli forces invade the Sinai totally routing the Egyptian army.
1958: Who is a Jew?
A serious and prolonged controversy arises when it is
announced that anyone claiming to be a Jew will be registered as such
by the State without the need for rabbinic legal proof. The Miha
Yehudi (Who is a Jew?) controversy continues to the present.
1962: Adolph Eichmann Trial
The Nazi in charge of the implementation of the Final
Solution in World War II is captured in Argentina, tried by a court in
Jerusalem, and hanged.
1964: The Birth of the PLO
Delegates from Israel's Arab neighbours meet in Egypt to form
the Palestine Liberation Organisation, an army of Palestinian Arabs, to
carry out attacks against Jews in Israel. At the same time the more
extreme Al Fatah organisation is established independently along the
same lines as the PLO.
1967: The Six Day War
Terrorist attacks against Israel reach unbearable proportions
and Israeli intelligence learns that the Arab nations are preparing to
destroy the Jewish State. Egypt once again closes the Suez Canal and
begins deploying its forces on the borders of Israel. In a pre-emptive
strike that lasts three hours, Israeli planes attack Egypt and Syria
destroying a total of 452 Arab aircraft. During the next six days,
under the command of General Moshe Dayan, Israeli soldiers shatter the
combined forces of Egypt, Syria and Jordan. The Old City of Jerusalem
is liberated and Jewish soldiers for the first time weep and pray at
the Western Wall. Seven hundred and seventy seven Israeli soldiers are
killed in the war.
1973: The Yom Kippur War
In the early afternoon on the holiest day in the Jewish
calendar, when the nation is fasting and praying, Egypt and Syria
launch a full scale military attack on Israel. Seventy thousand
Egyptian soldiers overcome 500 Jewish soldiers defending the Suez
Canal. Within days the Israeli defence forces stage a successful
counter attack, crossing the Suez Canal into North Africa. To the
north, Israeli forces advance to within firing distance of Damascus.
After twenty days of fighting the Arab forces lose 18,500 troops and
2,100 Russian-made tanks. Two and a half thousand Israeli troops die in
the conflict.
After their defeat the Arab nations refuse to sell their oil
to nations that supported Israel, which leads to the Jewish State
becoming politically isolated.
1976: The Raid on Entebbe
When Arab terrorists hijack a plane carrying 100 Jewish
passengers and hold them hostage at Entebbe airport in Uganda, Israeli
commandos launch a spectacular rescue mission that becomes the stuff of
legends.
1977: Knesset Passes Anti-conversion Law
Due to unsubstantiated claims of Jews being bribed to
convert, the Israeli Parliament passes a law prohibiting the offer of
"material inducements" to anyone to change their religion.
1979: Peace with Egypt
The president of Egypt, Anwar Sadat, visits Jerusalem at the
invitation of Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. After long
negotiations a peace treaty is signed between the two countries, under
which all Jewish forces and settlements are withdrawn from the Sinai.
1981: Israel destroys Iraqi Nuclear Reactor
Iraq, which has always been involved in military action
against Israel, is threatening to develop the capacity for nuclear
weapons. In an unexpected action, Israeli planes bomb the nuclear
reactor near Baghdad, thus destroying a potential threat to Israel's
safety.
1982: Israel Invades Lebanon
In addition to their terrorist attacks, the PLO is bombarding
Israeli settlements near the Lebanese border. Israeli defence forces
invade Lebanon to remove the threat to the safety of northern Israel.
To demonstrate to a compliant international media that Israeli forces
are killing Lebanese women and children, the PLO position their
fighters in densely populated civilian areas. The PLO forces are
eventually overcome and have to withdraw from Beirut to other Arab
countries.
1989: Knesset Rules that Jews cannot be Christians
In a landmark ruling, on December 25th, the Knesset declares
that Jews who believe in Jesus are no longer Jewish and therefore
ineligible to settle in Israel under the terms of the Law of Return.
1990: Jews Allowed to Leave Russia
Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms in 1987 allowed Soviet Jews
greater freedom. Following the break up of the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics, a massive wave of immigrants enters Israel.
1991: The Gulf War
Iraq begins firing SCUD missiles at Israeli cities and in
eighteen waves of attacks 4,000 buildings are damaged but, though
numerous citizens die of heart failure, only a small number are killed
as a direct result of the missiles.
Messianic hope is kindled among the Orthodox community when
the leader of the Lubavitch Chabad sect, Menachem Mendel Schneerson,
predicts the coming of Messiah by the Jewish New Year. Many of his
followers claim that Messiah is already among them in the person of
their leader.
In a dramatic airlift, 15,000 Falasha Jews from Ethiopia
arrive in Israel. Although they believe themselves to be of biblical
descent, there is considerable debate among the rabbis about their
acceptance as full Jews.
1993: The White House Peace Accord
With US president Bill Clinton looking on, Israeli prime
minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, sign a historic
peace agreement on the lawn of the White House. Although Chairman
Arafat agrees to recognise Israel's right to exist (contrary to the
PLO's charter) he is reported to have assured the Arab nations that the
PLO is still committed to the destruction of the Jewish State. The
event is not greeted with unanimous approval in Israel, the Orthodox
seeing the action of Prime Minister Rabin as a betrayal of Israel's
territorial rights.
1996: Yitzhak Rabin Assassinated
The whole country is left reeling following the public
assassination of the Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. His killer, an
Orthodox student, shows no remorse for his action, claiming that he had
acted in accordance with the will of God on account of Prime Minister
Rabin's perceived betrayal of Israel. The Jerusalem Post warns that
similar attitudes were the cause of Israel's destruction and dispersion
in 70 AD.
1997: Anti-Missionary Bill
Knesset members Moshe Gafni and Nisim Zvili propose that
anyone who "possesses, prints, imports or distributes" literature that
seeks to persuade others to change their religion should be imprisoned
for one year. The Messianic Action Committee is established to oppose
the Bill.
1998: Israel's Jubilee
In the year that Israel attains its half century, the
conditions of Bill 174c are made more stringent. It is proposed that
anyone who seeks in any way to persuade someone else to change their
religion should be imprisoned for three years or face a fine of
£8,000.
In April, following an announcement by 50 Christian
organisations that they will not evangelise Jews, Nisim Zvili, one of
the co-sponsors of Bill 174c, drops his support for the proposed law.
Moshe Gafni declares his continued support for the bill.
This article first appeared in our special Israel at Fifty
Summer 1998 issue
Archive List
|
