Israel

country in West Asia

103 dated entries naming Israel, drawn from 62 separate years between 92 BCE and 2025 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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1st century BC

92 BCE92 BC Levant earthquake, earthquake mentioned in catalogues of historical earthquakes. An earthquake and a tsunami reportedly affected areas of the Levant, including the modern states of Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, and Syria.source

1st century

70Phannias ben Samuel, high priest of Israelsource

7th century

630Heraclius issues a decree that all Jews must become Christian; a massacre follows around Jerusalem and in Galilee (Israel), some survivors fleeing to the Daraa area.source
634July 30 – Battle of Ajnadayn: Byzantine forces (90,000 men according to Muslim sources) under Theodore are defeated by the Rashidun Caliphate near Beit Shemesh (modern-day Israel). Heraclius, who is in Emesa, flees to Antioch upon hearing news of the battle's outcome.source
638Autumn – The Arabian forces under Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah storm Caesarea Maritima, capital of Byzantine Palestine, and effect their final capture of Ascalon (modern Israel). Caliph Umar I stops the Muslim invasion, and appoints Abu Ubaidah governor of Syria.source

9th century

885Battle of Tawahin: Muslim forces (4,000 men) of the Abbasid Caliphate, under Al-Mu'tadid, are defeated near Ramlah (modern Israel) by Khumarawayh, ruler of the Tulunid dynasty. This ends the Abbasid attempt to recover Syria from the Tulunids. A large part of the Abbasid army is captured, and transported to Egypt. Khumarawayh aims for reconciliation with the caliphal government, and allows the soldiers who want to return to modern-day Iraq to depart without ransom, while offering the rest the opportunity to settle in Egypt.source

10th century

966John VII, patriarch of Jerusalem (Israel), martyredsource

11th century

1099May 26 – The Crusaders march to Haifa and along the coast under Mount Carmel to Caesarea (modern Israel), where they rest for four days in order to celebrate Whitsun (Whit Sunday).source

12th century

1101September 7 – Battle of Ramla: A Crusader force (some 1,100 men) under Baldwin I defeats the invading Fatimids at Ramla (modern Israel). Baldwin plunders the Fatimid camp and the survivors flee to Ascalon.source
1102May 17 – Battle of Ramla: The Crusaders (500 knights) under King Baldwin I are defeated by the Fatimid army at Ramla (modern Israel). Baldwin and his companions escape through the enemy lines to Arsuf.source
1112April 10 – The Crusaders fight their way back to Acre (modern Israel).source
1182July – August – Battle of Belvoir Castle: Saladin crosses into Palestine round the south of the Sea of Galilee. King Baldwin IV (the Leper) of Jerusalem marches with his army back from Oultrejordain and attacks Saladin's forces near Belvoir Castle (modern Israel). In a fierce battle, the Crusaders successfully repel Saladin's invasion. At the end of the day, each side retires, claiming the victory.source
1189October 4 – Guy of Lusignan leads the crusader forces to launch a full-on assault on Saladin's camp. With heavy casualties on both sides, neither force gains the upperhand. On October 26, Saladin moves his camp from Acre to Mount Carmel (modern Israel).source

20th century

1945June 5 – Nechama Rivlin, Israeli socialite, 10th First lady of Israel (d. 2019)source
1945May 14 – Yochanan Vollach, Israeli footballer and president of Maccabi Haifa, CEOsource
1948May 15 – 1948 Arab–Israeli War: The British Mandate of Palestine is officially terminated; expeditionary forces from Egypt, Transjordan, Syria and Iraq invade Israel and clash with Israeli forces after declaring war.source
1950January 23 – The Knesset passes a resolution that states Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.source
1950January 9 – The Israeli government recognizes the People's Republic of China.source
1952April 4 – At a tribunal in The Hague, Israel demands reparations worth $3 billion from West Germany.source
1952August 27 – Reparation negotiations between West Germany and Israel end in Luxembourg: Germany will pay 3 billion Deutsche Marks.source
1953February 11 – The Soviet Union breaks diplomatic relations with Israel, after a bomb explodes at the Soviet Embassy, in reaction to the 'Doctors' plot'.source
1953November 5 – David Ben-Gurion resigns as prime minister of Israel.source
1956November 7 – Suez Crisis: The United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution calling for the United Kingdom, France and Israel to withdraw their troops from Arab lands immediately.source
1956October 24 – The Protocol of Sèvres, a secret agreement between Israel, France and the United Kingdom, is signed, allowing the former to invade the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and occupy the Suez Canal with the support of the other two governments, giving rise to the Suez Crisis.source
1956October 29 – Suez Crisis: Israel invades the Sinai Peninsula and pushes Egyptian forces back toward the Suez Canal.source
1957January 20 – Israel withdraws from the Sinai Peninsula (captured from Egypt on October 29, 1956).source
1960May 11 – In Buenos Aires, four Mossad agents abduct fugitive Nazi German war criminal Adolf Eichmann in order that he can be taken to Israel and put on trial. This is announced on May 23 by Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion.source
1961December 11 – Adolf Eichmann is pronounced guilty of crimes against humanity for his part in The Holocaust by a war crimes tribunal of three Israeli judges. On December 15 he is sentenced to death.source
1963April 21–23 – The first election of the Supreme Institution of the Baháʼí Faith (known as the Universal House of Justice, whose seat is at the Baháʼí World Centre on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel) is held.source
1966October 4 – Israel applies for membership in the European Economic Community, which is never granted.source
1967April 7 – Six-Day War (approach): Israeli fighters shoot down 7 Syrian MIG-21s.source
1967June 10 – Six-Day War ends: Israel and Syria agree to a United Nations-mediated cease-fire.source
1967November 22 – UN Security Council Resolution 242 is adopted by the UN Security Council, establishing a set of principles aimed at guiding negotiations for an Arab–Israeli peace settlement.source
1967October 21 – An Egyptian surface-to-surface missile sinks the Israeli destroyer Eilat, killing 47 Israeli sailors. Israel retaliates by shelling Egyptian refineries along the Suez Canal.source
1968January 25 – Israeli submarine sinks in the Mediterranean Sea, killing 69.source
1969January 27 – Fourteen men, 9 of them Jews, are executed in Baghdad for spying for Israel.source
1969March 17 – Golda Meir becomes the first female prime minister of Israel.source
1970September 3–6 – Israeli forces fight Palestinian guerillas in southern Lebanon.source
1971May 15 – Israeli ambassador to Turkey Efraim Elrom is kidnapped; he is found killed in Istanbul May 25.source
1972May 30 – Lod Airport massacre: Three Japanese Red Army members operating on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – External Operations kill 26 and injure 80 people at Lod Airport, Israel.source
1972September 5–6 – Munich massacre: Eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich are murdered after eight members of the Arab terrorist group Black September invade the Olympic Village; five guerillas and one policeman are also killed in a failed hostage rescue.source
1973April 10 – Operation Spring of Youth: Israeli commandos raid Beirut, assassinating 3 leaders of the Palestinian Resistance Movement. The Lebanese army's inaction brings the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Saeb Salam, a Sunni Muslim.source
1973February 21 – Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 (Boeing 727) is shot down by Israeli fighter aircraft over the Sinai Desert, after the passenger plane is suspected of being an enemy military plane. There are 108 fatalities, and only five people on board survive (one crew member and four passengers).source
1974April 11 – The Kiryat Shmona massacre takes place in Israel.source
1976July 4 – Entebbe Raid: Israeli airborne commandos free 103 hostages being held by Palestinian hijackers of an Air France plane at Uganda's Entebbe Airport; Yonatan Netanyahu and several Ugandan soldiers are killed in the raid.source
1977May 17 – The Likud Party, led by Menachem Begin, wins the national elections in Israel.source
1977November 19 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to make an official visit to Israel, when he meets with Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, seeking a permanent peace settlement.source
1978April 22 – Izhar Cohen & the Alphabeta win the Eurovision Song Contest 1978 for Israel with their song A-Ba-Ni-Bi.source
1978March 11 – Coastal Road massacre: Palestinian terrorists kill 34 Israelis.source
1978March 14 – Operation Litani: Israeli forces invade Lebanon.source
1979February 18 – The Khomeini government in Iran cuts diplomatic relations with Israel.source
1979March 26 – In a ceremony at the White House, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel sign an Egypt–Israel peace treaty.source
1979March 31 – Milk and Honey win the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 for Israel, with the song Hallelujah.source
1979November 1 – Iran hostage crisis: Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini urges his people to demonstrate on November 4 and to expand attacks on United States and Israeli interests.source
1979September 22 – Vela incident: The "South Atlantic Flash" is observed near the Prince Edward Islands in the Indian Ocean, thought to be a nuclear weapons test conducted by South Africa and Israel.source
1980July 30 – Israel's Knesset passes the Jerusalem Law.source
1981July 17 – Lebanese Civil War: Israeli aircraft bomb Beirut, destroying multi-story apartment blocks containing the offices of PLO-associated groups, killing approximately 300 civilians and resulting in worldwide condemnation and a U.S. embargo on the export of aircraft to Israel.source
1981October 14 – Vice President Hosni Mubarak is elected President of Egypt, one week after the assassination of Anwar Sadat during a parade, by servicemen who belong to the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization led by Khalid Islambouli and oppose his negotiations with Israel.source
1982April 25 – Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula in accordance with the Egypt–Israel peace treaty of 1979.source
1982June 6 – The 1982 Lebanon War begins: Israeli forces under Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon in their "Operation Peace for the Galilee," eventually reaching as far north as the capital Beirut. The United Nations Security Council votes to demand that Israel withdraw its troops from Lebanon.source
1983May 17 – Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.source
1984June 25 – Hayim Association is founded by Rina Zaizov Marx and parents of children with cancer as paediatric oncology department in Israel.source
1984November 21 – Start of Operation Moses, the evacuation of refugee Beta Israel Ethiopian Jews from Sudan to Israel via Brussels.source
1985February 16 – Israel begins withdrawing troops from Lebanon.source
1985October 1 – Operation Wooden Leg: The Israeli air force bombs Palestine Liberation Organization headquarters near Tunis.source
1986February 11 – Human rights activist Natan Sharansky is released by Soviet authorities and leaves the country for Israel.source
1986June 4 – Jonathan Pollard pleads guilty to espionage for selling top secret United States military intelligence to Israel.source
1988April 16 – Israeli commandos kill the PLO's Abu Jihad in Tunisia.source
1989July 6 – The Tel Aviv–Jerusalem bus 405 suicide attack, the first Palestinian suicide attack on Israel, takes place.source
1990October 8 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict: In Jerusalem, Israeli police kill 17 Palestinians and wound over 100 near the Dome of the Rock mosque on the Temple Mount.source
1991October 18 – The Soviet Union restores its diplomatic relations with Israel, which have been suspended since the 1967 Six-Day War.source
1991September 11 – Lebanon hostage crisis: Israel releases 51 Arab prisoners and the bodies of nine guerrillas, paving the way for the release of the last western hostages in Lebanon.source
1993December 30 – Representatives of Israel and the Holy See sign the Fundamental Agreement Between the Holy See and the State of Israel, preparing for the establishment of diplomatic relations.source
1993September 13 – Oslo I Accord: Following initially secret talks from earlier in the year, PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin shake hands in Washington, D.C. after signing a peace accord.source
1994July 25 – Israel and Jordan sign the Washington Declaration as a preliminary to signature on October 25 of the Israel–Jordan peace treaty, which formally ends the state of war that has existed between the nations since 1948.source
1994June 15 – Israel and the Vatican establish full diplomatic relations.source
1996April 11 – The Israeli government launches Operation Grapes of Wrath, consisting of massive attacks on Lebanon, in retaliation for "terrorist attacks", and sparking off a violent series of retaliations.source
1996April 24 – At the urging of Yasser Arafat, the Palestine Liberation Organization drops its clause in Palestinian National Covenant calling for the removal of Israel (→ Legitimacy of the State of Israel). The Israeli government responds by dropping a similar clause concerning the existence of Palestine.source
1996March 3–4 – Two suicide bombs explode in Israel, killing 32 people. The Yahya Ayyash Units admit responsibility, and Palestinian president Yasser Arafat condemns the killings in a televised address. Israel warns of retaliation.source
1999May 17 – Ehud Barak is elected prime minister of Israel.source
2000September 28 – Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visits the Temple Mount in East Jerusalem, sparking an uprising that becomes the Second Intifada.source

21st century

2010September 7 – Israel becomes the 33rd member of the OECD.source
2011October 18 – Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange: Israel and the Palestinian militant organization Hamas begin a major prisoner exchange, in which the captured Israeli Army soldier Gilad Shalit is released by Hamas in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian and Israeli-Arab prisoners held in Israel, including 280 prisoners serving life sentences for planning and perpetrating terror attacks.source
2012November 14–21 – Israel launches Operation Pillar of Defense against the Palestinian-governed Gaza Strip, killing Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari. In the following week 140 Palestinians and five Israelis are killed in an ensuing cycle of violence. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is announced by Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after the week-long escalation in hostilities in Southern Israel and the Gaza Strip.source
2017December 6 – The United States officially recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital.source
2017October 12 – The United States announces its decision to withdraw from UNESCO, and is immediately followed by Israel.source
2019May 14–18 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 takes place in Tel Aviv, Israel, and is won by Dutch entrant Duncan Laurence with the song "Arcade".source
2020August 13 – Israel and the UAE agree to normalise relations, marking the third Israel–Arab peace deal.source
2020May 19 – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announces the termination of all agreements, including security ones, with Israel and the United States in response to Israel's plans to annex the Jordan Valley.source
2020October 23 – Israel and Sudan agree to normalise relations, marking the fifth Israel–Arab peace deal.source
2020September 4 – Bahrain and Israel agree to normalise relations, marking the fourth Israel–Arab peace deal.source
2022August 17 – Turkey and Israel agree to restore full diplomatic relations after a period of tensions.source
2022August 5 – August 7 – Israel launches airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, killing Islamic Jihad military leader Tayseer Jabari. Both parties agree to a ceasefire after three days of skirmish.source
2022May 11 – The Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is killed by the Israel Defence Forces while covering a raid in Jenin. Initially, Israel denied responsibility but later admitted to the killing and issued an apology.source
2023January 27 – Widespread unrest erupts in Israel following an Israeli military raid in Jenin the previous day, which killed nine Palestinians. Incendiary air balloons are launched into Israeli-populated areas following it. Israel responds with targeted airstrikes. Later the same day, seven Jewish civilians are killed in a synagogue in Neve Yaakov in a terrorist attack.source
2023October 31 – Israel intercepted a Yemeni Houthi ballistic missile with its Arrow 2 missile defense system. The interception occurred above Earth's atmosphere above the Negev Desert, making it the first instance of space combat in history.source
2023October 7 – Gaza war: Hamas launches an incursion into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,100 Israelis and taking about 240 hostages, prompting a military response from the Israel Defense Forces. Israel launches numerous air strikes on Lebanon after rockets are fired by Hezbollah and further attempts are made to penetrate Israel.source
2024April 13 – Iran launches retaliatory strikes against Israel after an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus earlier in the month.source
2024January 26 – Gaza war: The UN's International Court of Justice rules that Israel must take all measures to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza, but stops short of ordering an immediate halt to operations.source
2024September 17–18 – Thirty-two people are killed and more than 3,200 are injured after pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah militants and medics explode in two massive cyberattacks. Israel is the presumed perpetrator.source
2025December 26 – Israel becomes the first country to recognize Somaliland.source
2025January 15 – Gaza war: Israel and Hamas approve a ceasefire agreement that seeks to end the war, exchange Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and allow in international aid. It takes effect on January 19.source
2025October 1 – Israel intercepts the Global Sumud Flotilla, a fleet carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, in international waters, arresting 443 activists from 47 countries.source