AD 1897
Theodor Herzl founded the Zionist movement in Basel,
Switzerland, to lobby for a Jewish state in Palestine.
1917
Great Britain issued the Balfour Declaration, expressing
support for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine after World
War I (1914-1918).
1930s
Large numbers of European Jews emigrated to Palestine to flee
Nazi persecution.
1947
The United Nations (UN) agreed to a plan dividing Palestine
into separate Arab and Jewish states. Fighting broke out between Jewish groups
favoring the plan and Arab groups opposed to it.
1948
Israel officially became an independent state. Armies from
Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Transjordan (now Jordan) immediately invaded
in an attempt to destroy the Jewish state.
1949
Israel defeated the Arab invaders and acquired much of Arab
Palestine, including West Jerusalem and the northern city of ‘Akko.
1956
Egypt closed the Suez Canal and the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli
shipping. Israel invaded Egypt along with French and British forces, but they
were forced to withdraw by the United Nations.
1967
Fearing another Arab invasion, Israel destroyed the air forces
of its Arab neighbors. Israeli ground forces then defeated Arab forces in the
Six-Day War. Israel gained complete control of Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the
Golan Heights, the Sinai Peninsula, and the West Bank.
1972
Palestinian terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes at the
Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany.
1973
Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on the Jewish holy day of Yom
Kippur. After initial setbacks, Israeli forces repulsed the invasion and
captured additional Syrian territory.
1979
Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty, and Israel agreed to
withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula.
1982
Israeli forces mounted a large invasion of Lebanon in
retaliation for attacks by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on
northern Israel. The PLO withdrew from Lebanon.
1987
Palestinians in the occupied territories of the West Bank and
the Gaza Strip began a series of uprisings against Israeli rule known as the
intifada.
1988
King Hussein of Jordan withdrew his support of the West Bank
and called for the PLO to assume Jordan’s former administrative role.
1993
Israel and the PLO signed a historic peace agreement paving
the way for Palestinian self-rule in the occupied territories.
1994
Limited Palestinian self-rule was established in the Gaza
Strip and the West Bank town of Jericho. The leaders of Israel and Jordan
signed a peace treaty.
1995
Israel and the PLO signed a second peace agreement extending
limited Palestinian self-rule to all Palestinian towns in the West Bank except
Hebron. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by an Israeli opposed to
the peace agreements.
1996
Israel’s prime minister is elected by popular vote, rather
than parliament, for the first time.
2000
The 2nd Palestinian Intifada begins.
2001
Ariel Sharon elected Prime Minister.