 |
Middle East
The origins and history of Israel - key dates
Article published on the 2008-05-08 Latest update 2008-05-08 10:33 TU
David Ben-Gurion declares the foundation of Israel, under a picture of Theodor Herzl
(Photo: Wikimedia)
Founded in 1948, in the aftermath of the Nazi holocaust against the Jews, Israel was the realisation of the dream of Zionist theoretician Theodor Herzl. It ended the 28-year British mandate of Palestine but to the Arab occupants of the area it is remembered as the Naqba - the catastrophe that drove hundreds of thousands from their homes. Here are the key dates in the state's history.
1881: The first wave of Jewish emigration to Palestine starts, in response to anti-Semitic violence in Europe.
1890: Nathan Birnbaum, the founder of the Jewish-nationalist student group Kadimah, coins the term "Zionism" to describe the idea of separate Jewish development.
1897: First Zionist Congress, organised by Theodor Herzl, founds the Zionist Organisation and elects Birnbaum Secretary-General.
1898: Herzl launches diplomatic efforts, including meetings with Germany's Kaiser Wilhem II and Ottoman Sultan Abdulahmid II, to gain backing for the foundation of a Jewish state.
1917: British Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur Balfour writes a classified letter - to become known as the Balfour Declaration - to Lord Walter Rothschild declaring "His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" but adding that "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine".
1920: Break-up of the Ottoman Empire. The San Remo conference establishes the British Mandate of Palestine, which is endorsed by the League of Nations.
1936-1939: Arab revolt against an influx of Jewish refugees leads to Britain putting a cap on immigration.
1945: Jewish paramilitaries start armed action against British targets in Palestine after caps on Jewish immigration are maintained.
1947: Britain withdraws from the mandate and the United Nations divides Palestine into two states, one Arab, one Jewish, and declares Jerusalem an international city. The Arab League refuses to accept the decision.
1948: Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq attack Israel. A ceasefire ends with the establishment of the provisional border, the "Green Line". Jordan takes control of the West Bank and east Jerusalem, Egypt takes the Gaza Strip. According to UN estimates, 700,000 Arabs flee Israel.
1949: UN recognises Israel. Jewish immigration boosts the population from 800,000 to two million in ten years.
1956: Britain, France and Israel form a secret alliance to seize the Suez canal and attack Egypt. Israel seizes the Sinai peninsula but is forced to retreat under pressure from the US and the Soviet Union.
1964: The Palestinian National Council (PNC) establishes the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), declaring "the right of the Palestinian Arab people to its sacred homeland Palestine and affirming the inevitability of the battle to liberate the usurped part from it ..."
1967: Egypt, Syria and Jordan mass troops on Israel's borders and expel UN forces. Israel launches the Six-Day War and seizes the West Bank, Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, Sinai and the Golan Heights.
1969-1970: The PLO launches a series of attacks on Israel from Jordan. The Jordanian army attacks Palestinian camps in Black September, leading the PLO to move to Lebanon.
1973: Egypt and Syria attack Israel in the Yom Kippur War. Israel quickly fights them off but with heavy casualties, leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Golda Meir.
1977: The right-wing Likud beats the Labour Party for the first time. Egypt becomes the first Arab country to recognise Israel and President Anwar Sadat addresses the Knesset.
1982: Israel sends troops into war-torn Lebanon to try and dislodge the PLO. First Lebanese War lasts until Israeli withdrawal from most of the country four years later but occupies a 'buffer zone" in the south until 2000.
1987: An uprising in the Palestinian territories becomes known as the First Intifada and lasts six years.
1988: After King Hussein of Jordan proclaims the separation of the West bank from Jordan, the PNC declares a Palestinian state, effectively recognising Israel within pre-1967 borders.
1992: Labour's Yitzhak Rabin becomes prime minister, promising to work for peace.
1993: The Oslo Accords give the Palestinians administrative control of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, establishing the Palestinian National Authority with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat at its head. Arafat releases a press statement saying "the PLO recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security".
1995: Yitzhak Rabin assassinated at a peace rally by Jewish right-winger Yigal Amir.
2000: Peace talks between Arafat and Labour Prime Minister Ehud Barak at Camp David in the US. After their failure, the Second Intifada, known as the al Aqsa Intifada, erupts.
2001: Ariel Sharon's Likud is elected and declares a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, while starting the construction of a separation wall on the West Bank.
2006: After rocket attacks on northern Israel by the Lebanese group Hizbullah, Israel starts a five-week war which ends in a UN-brokered ceasefire and leads to the resignation of the Chief-of-Staff Dan Halutz.
2007: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agree to negotiations on all questions.
