The history of Israel is replete with dates and names, and dates back to the fact that the Jewish people settled in Israel in the 13th century BC. And 200 years later, the 1st Kingdom of Israel was formed, which collapsed in 928 BC. into Israel and Judah.
In 722 BC. The Assyrians conquered the kingdom of Israel in 586 BC. The kingdom of Judah was captured by the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar.
After 47 years, Israel became part of the Achaemenid state. In 332 BC. Alexander the Great captured the country. In the 3rd century. BC. Israel became part of the Hellenistic Seleucid state. A century later, the Maccabean Wars began - the population fought against forced Hellenization.
In 63 BC. Roman legionaries conquered Israel. And already in the 6th year of Christ, the country turned into a Roman province - Palestine.
60 years later, the eight-year Jewish War began. The people rebelled against the Romans, but were defeated. Rome continued to dominate the country.
In 395, Israel became part of Byzantium. Subsequently, the conquest of the country by slaves began. In 1099, the result of the 1st Crusade was the formation of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, which was defeated by the Egyptians. Israel became part of Egypt. In 1516 the country became part of the Ottoman Empire.
1918 was marked by the entry of British troops into the country. England, under the mandate of the League of Nations, governed the territory of Israel until May 1948,
On May 14, 1948, one day before the end of the British Mandate for Palestine, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the creation of an independent Jewish state on the territory allocated according to the UN plan. The very next day, the League of Arab States declared war on Israel and five Arab states (Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq and Transjordan) attacked the new country, thereby starting the First Arab-Israeli War (referred to in Israel as the “War of Independence”) .
After a year of fighting, a ceasefire agreement was adopted in July 1949 with Egypt, Lebanon, Transjordan and Syria, according to which the Western Galilee and the corridor from the coastal plain to Jerusalem were also under the control of the Jewish state; Jerusalem was divided along the ceasefire line between Israel and Transjordan.
Since 1952, military cooperation between Israel and the United States began. Four years later, the Sinai War broke out, which was directed against Egypt. The chain of wars continued with the Arab-Israeli war, which began in 1967. Israel occupied parts of Syria, Egypt, Jordan, and eastern Jerusalem.
On October 6, 1973, on Yom Kippur (Judgment Day) - the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, when all Jewish believers are in synagogues - Egypt and Syria simultaneously attacked Israel. For the Israeli government, this war came as a complete surprise. The Yom Kippur War ended on October 26. Despite significant losses, the attack by the Egyptian and Syrian armies was successfully repelled by the IDF, after which the troops returned to their previous positions
Six years later, at Camp David (USA), Israel and Egypt sign a peace agreement. Egypt received rights to the Sinai Peninsula and other disputed territories.
In 1993, a peace agreement was signed between the State of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization on the creation of the Palestinian Authority. However, the final solution to this problem is still very far from completion.
The State of Israel was formed in 1948 on territory considered sacred by the world's three greatest religions - Christianity, Judaism and Islam. It is therefore not surprising that heated controversy surrounds her story. But in order to understand the Israelis, you should familiarize yourself with their point of view.
Ancient period of history
The history of the State of Israel began about 4 thousand years ago (about 1600 BC) with the biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Book of Genesis tells how Abraham, born in the Sumerian city of Ur, located in the southern part of modern Iraq, was commanded to go to Canaan and find people who worshiped To the One God. After a famine began in Canaan, Abraham's grandson Jacob (Israel) with his twelve sons and their families went to Egypt, where their descendants were enslaved.
Modern scholars are constantly detailing and clarifying our understanding of the historical context of the events described in the Bible. But the powerful events of the Hebrew Bible represent the cornerstone of Jewish identity. So, after several generations had grown up in slavery in Egypt, Moses led the Jews to freedom, to the revelation of the Ten Commandments at Sinai, and to slowly form into a nation during forty years of wandering. Joshua (Jesus) stood at the head of the process of conquering Canaan, the Promised Land, a land of plenty - milk rivers and jelly banks, where the children of Israel would have to build a highly moral and spiritual society that would become “a light for the Gentiles.” The Exodus from Egypt, which remains forever in consciousness, is celebrated annually by Jews, regardless of where they are on that day. This holiday of freedom is called Passover or Jewish Passover.
Biblical kingdoms of Israel (c. 1000-587 BC)
Jews settled the central, hilly part of Canaan and lived there for over a thousand years before the birth of Jesus Christ. These were the years of biblical judges, prophets and kings. David, an Israelite warrior during the reign of King Saul, defeated the giant Goliath and secured victory over the Philistines. He founded his kingdom with its capital in Jerusalem, which became the most powerful in the region. His son Solomon built it in the 10th century BC. e. First Temple in Jerusalem. Through marriages, he formed political alliances, developed foreign trade, and promoted domestic prosperity. After his death, the kingdom was divided into two parts - the kingdom of Israel in the north with its capital Shechem (Samaria) and the kingdom of Judah in the south with its capital Jerusalem.
Exile and return
The small kingdoms of Judah quickly became involved in a power struggle between the rival empires of Egypt and Assyria. Around 720 BC e. The Assyrians defeated the northern kingdom of Israel and consigned its inhabitants to oblivion. In 587 BC. The Babylonians destroyed Solomon's Temple and expelled almost everyone, even the poorest Jews, to Babylon. Throughout the period of exile, the Jews remained faithful to their religion: “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, forget me, my right hand” (Book of Psalms 137:5). After the conquest of Babylon by the Persians in 539 BC. Cyrus the Great allowed the exiles to return home and rebuild the Temple. Many Jews remained in Babylon, and in each big city their communities began to appear and grow on the Mediterranean coast. Thus, a model of coexistence between Jews living in the land of Israel and Jewish communities in the “outside” world, which are collectively called the diaspora (dispersion), began to take shape.
In 332 BC. conquered this region. After his death in 323 BC. his empire was divided. Judea eventually ended up in the Syrian part, which was ruled by the Seleucid dynasty. Their policy of imposing Hellenistic (Greek) influence caused resistance, which resulted in a rebellion led by the priest Mattathias (or Matthias, which in Hebrew means “gift of Yahweh”) and his son Judah, nicknamed Maccabeus, who in 164 BC AD re-dedicated the desecrated Temple. The victory won on that day is celebrated with a holiday called Hanukkah. They founded the royal family of the Jews - the Hasmoneans, or Maccabees, which ruled Judea until the Roman commander Pompey captured Jerusalem in 63 BC. After this, the Jewish state was absorbed by the Roman Empire.
Roman power and Jewish revolts
N 37 BC The Roman Senate appointed Herod as king of Judea. He was given unlimited freedom of action in internal affairs, and Herod quickly became one of the most powerful kings of the subject kingdoms in the eastern part of the Roman Empire. Herod kept his subjects under tight control and engaged in extensive construction. It was he who built the cities of Caesarea and Sebaste, as well as the fortresses of Herodion and Masada. He rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem, turning it into one of the most magnificent buildings of his time. Despite his many achievements, he was never able to win the trust and support of his Jewish subjects.
After the death of Herod in 4 AD. began years of political instability, civil disobedience and the rise of messianism. Disparate Jewish groups united together against the cruel and corrupt Roman procurators. In 67 AD e. A general Jewish uprising began. Emperor Nero sent his general Vespasian with three legions to Judea. After Nero's suicide in 68 AD. e. Vespasian took the imperial and mountain throne and directed his son Titus to continue the campaign to pacify Judea. In 70 AD e. Roman armies began a siege of Jerusalem, and on the ninth day of the month of Av according to the Jewish calendar, the Temple was burned to the ground. All other buildings were also completely destroyed, with the exception of three towers, and the city's inhabitants were captured. A group of Zealots took refuge in the fortress of Masada, a fortified palace complex built by Herod on an inaccessible mountain plateau overlooking the Dead Sea. In 73 AD. After many years of attempts to drive the defenders out of the fortress, the Romans managed to besiege the fortress with the help of an army of ten thousand people. When the Romans finally broke through protective wall, they discovered that all but five of the defenders of Masada, men, women and children, preferred to commit suicide rather than be crucified or driven into slavery.
A second Jewish revolt, much better organized, took place in 131. Its spiritual leader was Rabbi Akiba, and the general leadership was provided by Simon Bar Kochba. The Romans were forced to leave Jerusalem. A Jewish administration was established there. Four years later, in 135 AD, at the cost of very heavy losses on the part of the Romans, Emperor Hadrian managed to suppress the uprising. Jerusalem was rebuilt as a Roman city dedicated to Jupiter and named Aelia Capitolina. Jews were forbidden to enter it. Judea was renamed Palestine Syria.
Byzantine rule (327-637)
After the destruction of the Jewish state and the establishment of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, the country became predominantly Christian and became a place of Christian pilgrimage. In 326, Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine, visited the Holy Land. Churches began to be built in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Galilee, and monasteries began to appear throughout the country. The Persian invasion in 614 devastated the country, but Byzantium regained its dominance in 629.
First Muslim period (638-1099)
The first Muslim occupation began four years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad and continued for more than four centuries. In 637, Jerusalem was captured by Caliph Omar, who was distinguished by his extraordinary tolerance towards both Christians and Jews. In 688, Caliph Abd el-Malik of the Umayyad dynasty ordered the construction of the majestic Dome of the Rock mosque to begin on the site of the Temple on Mount Moriah. It was from here that the Prophet Muhammad was ascended during his famous “Night Journey”. Al-Aqsa Mosque was built next to the Dome of the Rock mosque. In 750, Palestine came under the control of the Abbasid Caliphate. They began to rule it from the new capital of the Abbasids - Baghdad. In 969, it came under the rule of Shiite Muslims from Egypt - the Fatimids (known in Europe as the Saracens). The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was destroyed, and Christians and Jews were under severe oppression.
Crusades (1099-1291)
In general, during the time of Muslim rule, Christians were not prevented from worshiping their shrines in Jerusalem. In 1071, the nomadic tribes of the Seljuk Turks, who had recently converted to Islam, defeated the Byzantine emperor at the Battle of Manzikert, near Lake Van, and forced the Fatimids to withdraw from Palestine and Syria. In 1077 they closed access to Jerusalem to Christian pilgrims. In 1095, the Byzantine emperor and pilgrims turned to Pope Urban II for help. In response, he called for a Crusade or Holy War to liberate the Holy Land from the pagans. In the period from 1096 to 1204. Four major military campaigns of European Christians in the Middle East took place.
In July 1099, after a siege that lasted five weeks, a Crusader army led by Godfrey of Bouillon captured Jerusalem. The invaders carried out a terrible massacre, destroying all its non-Christian inhabitants and burning the synagogues along with the Jews in them. Godfrey founded the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. After Godfrey's death in 1100, power in the kingdom passed to his brother Baldwin. From the middle of the 12th century, the territories occupied by Christians were forced to constantly defend themselves, despite the fact that the great military-religious orders of the Knights Hospitaller and Templar had already been created.
In 1171, the Seljuk Turks of Mosul destroyed Fatimid rule in Egypt and installed their protege, the Kurdish commander Saladin, as ruler. This had a profound impact on the region. Saladin literally swept through Galilee and in the battle of the village of Hyttin, not far from Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee), defeated the army of the crusaders led by Guy de Lusignan and captured Jerusalem in 1187. Only the cities of Tire, Tripoli and Antioch remained in the hands of Christians. In response, the Europeans organized the Third Crusade. It was led by Richard the Lionheart. Under his command, the crusaders managed to recapture a narrow strip along the coast, Acre, but not Jerusalem. Having concluded a truce with Saladin, Richard returned to Europe. Subsequent campaigns led by European monarchs, including the future King of England Edward I, did not bring any results. Eventually, the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt recaptured Palestine and Syria. The last Christian stronghold ended its existence in 1302.
Reign of the Mamluk dynasty (1291-1516)
The Mamluk dynasty, which descended from slave warriors of Turkish and Circassian origin, ruled Egypt from 1250 to 1517. Under their rule, Palestine entered a period of decline. Ports were destroyed in order to prevent new crusades, which led to a sharp decline in trade. In the end, the entire country, including Jerusalem, was simply abandoned. Small Jewish communities were devastated and reduced to poverty. During the final period of Mamluk rule, the country suffered from power struggles and natural disasters.
Reign of the Ottoman Empire (1517-1917)
In 1517, Palestine became part of the expanding Ottoman Empire and became part of the vilayet (province) of Damascus-Syria. The walls that surround Jerusalem today were built by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1542. After 1660, it became part of the Saida vilayet in Lebanon. At the beginning of Ottoman rule, the region was inhabited by approximately 1,000 Jewish families. They represented the heirs of those Jews who had always lived here, and immigrants from other parts of the Ottoman Empire. In the 18th century, work began on the construction of the Hurva synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem. In 1831 Muhammad Ali, Viceroy of Egypt, nominally subject to Turkish Sultan, occupied the country and opened it up to European influence. Although the Ottoman rulers reclaimed direct rule in 1840, Western influence was unstoppable. In 1856, the Sultan issued an Edict of Tolerance for all religions in the Empire. After this, the activities of Christians and Jews in the Holy Land intensified.
The desire to return to the land of Israel (in Hebrew, Eretz Israel) was heard in church services and remained in the consciousness of the Jewish people since the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. e. The belief that the Jews would return to Zion was part of Jewish messianism. Thus, long before the invention of Zionism as a political movement, the deep attachment of Jews to the Holy Land found expression in aliyah ("ascent" or immigration) to the Land of Israel. Supported by Jewish philanthropists, Jews came from countries such as Morocco, Yemen, Romania and Russia. In 1860, Jews founded the first settlement outside the walls of Jerusalem. Before the start of Zionist colonization, there were quite large Jewish settlements in Safed, Tiberias, Jerusalem, Jericho and Hebron. Overall, the country's Jewish population increased by 104 percent between 1890 and 1914.
Balfour Declaration
The Balfour Declaration of 1917 became a means of ensuring the security of the Jewish historical homeland. In it, Great Britain stated that it was interested in the idea of establishing a national Jewish state in Palestine.
At the same time, during the First World War, agreements were reached with national Arab leaders encouraging action against Ottoman rule. After the end of the war, the Ottoman Empire split into Chisti, and the newly formed League of Nations gave Britain a mandate to govern Palestine on both banks of the Jordan River.
British Mandate (1919-1948)
The terms of the Palestine Mandate, contained in Article 6 of the Balfour Declaration, required that Jewish immigration and settlement construction be facilitated and encouraged while ensuring the rights and places of settlement of other population groups whose interests should not be infringed. At the same time, the basis was the principle that independence should be established in the mandated territory as soon as possible. Thus, by making contradictory promises, Britain found itself embroiled in a nearly impossible mission. One of its first actions was the formation in 1922 of the Emirate of Transjordan on the east bank of the Jordan River. Jews were allowed to settle only in western Palestine.
Immigration
Between 1919 and 1939, successive waves of Jewish immigrants began to be accepted into Palestine. Naturally, this led to the expansion and growth of the local Jewish community, or yishuv. Between 1919 and 1923, about 35 thousand Jews arrived, mainly from Russia. They laid the foundations for a developed socio-economic infrastructure, established a foothold on the land and created unique public and cooperative forms of agricultural settlements - kibbutzim and moshavim.
The next wave of immigrants, about 60 thousand people, arrived between 1924 and 1932. It was dominated by immigrants from Poland. They settled in cities and contributed to their development. These immigrants settled primarily in the new city of Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem, where they engaged in small business and light industry, and founded construction companies. The last serious wave of immigration occurred in the thirties of the 20th century, after Hitler came to power in Germany. The new arrivals, some 165 thousand people, many of whom were members of the intelligentsia, constituted the first large-scale wave of immigration from Western and Central Europe. They had a tangible impact on the cultural and commercial future of the Jewish community.
The opposition of Palestinian Arabs to Zionism resulted in mass riots and brutal murders, which occurred in Hebron, Jerusalem, Safed, Zaif, Motza and other cities in the twenties of the last century. In 1936-1938. Hitler's Germany and its political allies financed the general Arab uprising under the leadership of the Jerusalem mufti Haj Amin el-Husseini, during which the first clashes between paramilitary groups of Arabs and Jews took place. Britain responded by creating the Peel Commission in 1937, which recommended dividing the territory into Arab and Jewish states, while maintaining British control over Jerusalem and Haifa. The Jews reluctantly accepted this plan, but the Arabs rejected it.
The threat of war with Germany became increasingly obvious, and Great Britain, concerned about the mood of the Arab countries, revised its policy towards Palestine in Malcolm MacDonald's White Paper (May 1939). At the same time, Jewish immigration was practically stopped and the purchase of land by Jews was prohibited. Jews from Europe were essentially prohibited from taking refuge in Palestine. They found themselves alone with their fate. Ships carrying Jewish immigrants from Europe were turned back. Some went to seek refuge in other countries of the world, and some were drowned. After the White Paper, the outraged and shocked Yishuvah reconsidered its relationship with Great Britain and began to pursue a more aggressive and militant Zionist policy.
Jewish underground
During the British Mandate, there were three underground Jewish organizations. The largest of these was the Haganah, founded in 1920 by the Labor Zionist movement to protect and ensure the security of the Jewish community. It arose in response to the ban on demonstrations and sabotage by workers imposed on Jewish immigrants. Etzel, or Irgun, was created by the opposition nationalist revisionist movement in 1931. Subsequently, the head of this organization was Menachem Begin, who became Prime Minister of Israel in 1977. These formations were engaged in conducting secret military operations against the Arabs and the British. The smallest and least extremist organization, Lehi, or Stern Gang, began its terrorist activities in 1940. All three movements were dissolved after the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.
Jewish volunteers from Palestinian lands in World War II
With the outbreak of World War II, the Yishuv focused on supporting Britain in the war with Germany. More than 26,000 members of the Palestinian Jewish community served in the British armed forces, army, air force and navy. In September 1944, the Jewish Brigade was created as a separate military formation of the British Armed Forces with its own flag and emblem, in which about 5 thousand people served. This brigade took part in combat operations in Egypt, northern Italy and northwestern Europe. After the defeat of Nazi Germany and its allies, many of those who served in the brigade took part in secret operations to transport Jewish Holocaust survivors to Palestine.
Holocaust
It is impossible to view the conflict in the Middle East in isolation from the Nazi Holocaust. The Jews, whom fate had scattered across many countries of the world, could not even imagine the horrors that were in store for them during the Second World War. The Nazi regime systematically, on an industrial basis, was engaged in the elimination of Jews from Europe, destroying six and a half million people, including one and a half million children. After German armies They captured one European country after another, the Jews were herded together like cattle and locked in ghettos. From there they were taken to concentration camps, where they died of hunger and disease, died during mass executions or in gas chambers. Those who managed to slip through the Nazi delirium fled to other countries or joined partisan detachments. Some of them were hidden by non-Jews, risking their lives. Only a third of the Jews living in Europe before the war managed to survive. Only after the end of the war did the world learn about the extent of the genocide and how far humanity had fallen. For most Jews, regardless of their previous positions, the question of organizing a Jewish state and national refuge has become a pressing human need and moral imperative. This became an expression of the Jews' desire to survive and preserve themselves as a nation.
Post-World War II period
After the end of the war, Britain increased restrictions on the number of Jews who could come and settle in Palestine. The Yishuv responded by organizing “illegal immigration,” organizing a network of activists who rescued Holocaust survivors. Between 1945 and 1948, despite the blockade of sea routes by the British fleet and the presence of patrols on the border, about 85 thousand Jews were brought illegally, often along dangerous routes. Those who were caught were sent to internment camps in Cyprus or returned to Europe.
Jewish resistance to the British Mandate intensified. The escalating violence involved an increasing number of diverse Jewish underground groups. The peak of this confrontation came in 1946, when a terrorist attack was organized on the headquarters of the British armed forces at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. Ninety-one people died as a result. Great Britain referred the issue of increasing tension in Palestine to the United Nations. The UN Special Committee organized a visit to Palestine and made its recommendations.
On November 29, 1947, with the support of the United States and the Soviet Union, despite fierce opposition from Palestinian Arabs and neighboring Arab states, the UN voted to divide Palestine into two - a Jewish and an Arab state. This decision was greeted with joy by the Zionists and rejected by the Arabs. Mass unrest began in Palestine and many Arab countries. In January 1948, while Britain was still nominally in control of the area, the Arab Liberation Army, organized by the Arab League, arrived in Palestine and joined the local paramilitary organizations and militia. They invited the world's media to observe specially organized maneuvers.
Britain announced its intention to leave in May and refused to hand over power to both Arabs, Jews and the UN. In the spring of 1948, Arab armed forces blocked the road connecting Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, thereby cutting off the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the rest of the Jewish population.
War for independence
On May 14, 1948, the day the British finally left, the creation of the State of Israel with a population of 650 thousand people was officially proclaimed. Its first president was Chaim Weizmann, and its prime minister was David Ben-Gurion. The Declaration of Independence declared that the State of Israel would be open to the immigration of Jews from all countries.
The next day, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq attacked Israel. It was, in essence, a battle for existence. As a result of this conflict, thousands of Palestinian Arabs were forced to seek refuge in neighboring Arab countries, where, in the absence of a peace treaty, they remained refugees. At the time of the ceasefire in January 1949, the Israelis managed not only to push Arab troops abroad, but also to significantly increase the territory allocated to them by UN decision. Subsequently, most of the territory designated by the UN for the location of an Arab state, including the Eastern
Jerusalem and the Old City were annexed by Jordan
Israel's population has doubled in the four years since 1948. The displaced Jews from Europe were joined by 600 thousand Jews fleeing persecution in Arab countries. Safe absorption by the structures of a small state of such a number of newly arrived people from completely different cultures, at a time when this state itself was still forming its own infrastructure, had no precedents in history and can be considered the greatest achievement.
The main events in the history of the State of Israel that occurred after 1948
Over the 60 years of its existence, the State of Israel has grown and strengthened in all respects, and primarily in economic and socio-demographic ones. Despite a hostile environment, Israel survived wars, took its rightful place in the international community, built a democratic society and encouraged its development, and became a world leader in science and high technology.
1949 Israel is admitted to the UN.
1956 Sinai War
In 1955, Egyptian President Gamal Abd el-Nasser blockaded the Gulf of Aqaba, cutting off the port of Eilat. In 1956, Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal and closed it to the passage of foreign ships, which led to a military conflict involving France, Great Britain and Israel. In October, the Israeli army took control of the Sinai Peninsula. Having received international assurances that its vital sea routes would be open, Israel withdrew its troops in March 1957.
1960 Eichmann trial
Adolf Eichmann, the chief leader of the Nazi Final Solution program, was kidnapped and taken from Argentina by Israeli secret agents. He was tried in an Israeli court and found guilty of crimes against humanity and the Jewish people. By court verdict, he was executed on May 30, 1962. This is the only death sentence imposed in the history of the State of Israel.
1967 Six Day War
President Nasser secured the withdrawal of UN security troops patrolling the ceasefire line on the border with Israel, sent Egyptian troops into Sinai and blocked shipping traffic in the Straits of Tiran, blocking the port of Eilat. The armies of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Algeria were preparing for a new military aggression against Israel.
On the morning of June 5, Israeli aviation struck an unexpected blow, completely destroying the aircraft of the Egyptian Air Force. Ground forces entered the Sinai Peninsula and quickly advanced to the Suez Canal). Having successfully repelled the attack of the armed forces of Jordan and Syria, Israeli troops occupied the entire Sinai Peninsula and East Jerusalem. West Bank of the Jordan River, Gaza Strip, Syrian fortifications on the Golan Heights. The war ended in six days. The Soviet Union, which supported the Arab states, breaks off diplomatic relations with Israel.
1972 Beginning of a wave of Palestinian terrorism
During the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972, territories from the Palestinian organization Black September took eleven athletes of the Israeli team hostage. The unsuccessful operation of the German special services, undertaken to free them, ended in tragedy: all the hostages died.
1973 Yom Kippur War
The armies of Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur (Judgment Day), a time of sacred prayer and strict fasting. In the first days of the war, the Israeli army was defeated and suffered losses. But two weeks later the situation ended with the defeat of the Arab troops. An investigation into the reasons for the unpreparedness of the army and government for this war was carried out by a special commission, headed by the Chairman of the Supreme Court Shimon Agranat. The results of the investigation led to resignations in the army command.
1976, Entebbe
An Air France plane en route from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists and landed in Uganda. Israeli troops flew to Africa and, in a courageous and dramatic operation, freed passengers held hostage at Entebbe airport.
1979 Peace Treaty with Egypt
In 1979, following the historic speech of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in the Knesset in Jerusalem (1977) and the signing of the Camp David Accords under the auspices of US President Jimmy Carter (1978), Israel and Egypt signed a peace agreement in Washington. This was the first peace treaty with an Arab country.
1981 Bombing of a nuclear reactor in Iraq
In June 1981, Israeli aircraft bombed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor as it was preparing to restart, ending the immediate threat posed by Saddam Hussein's regime's nuclear weapons program.
1982 Invasion of Lebanon
From Lebanon, militants from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), led by Yasser Arafat, launched a series of attacks on Israeli towns and villages in the north of the country. To destroy PLO bases, Israeli troops launched Operation Peace to Galilee, invaded Lebanon and briefly occupied Khayrut, where the PLO headquarters was located. PLO fighters fled to Tunisia in disgrace. Later, a “security zone” was created along the Israeli-Lebanese border, which until 2000 was jointly controlled by the Israel Defense Forces and the South Lebanese Army.
1984 As a result of the elections, a government of national unity was formed, in which the post of prime minister, by agreement on rotation, was alternately occupied by Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Shamir. Thanks to the efforts of this cabinet, Israel is overcoming the economic crisis.
1987 First intifada
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank staged violent demonstrations against the Israeli occupation. The protesters pelted Israeli soldiers and police with a hail of stones and Molotov cocktails. Aggressive attacks against Israeli civilians have become more frequent. The Israel Defense Forces managed to stop street riots and rampant violence by 1991.
1989 One million emigrants from the Soviet Union
In the USSR with the end cold war and the fall of the Iron Curtain lifted the ban on Jewish emigration to Israel. In the early 90s, the largest wave of repatriates from the republics of the former Soviet Union arrived in the country - almost a million people.
1991 Gulf War
After the American-led coalition invaded Iraq in January-February 1991, Saddam Hussein began firing Scud ballistic missiles into Israel. Fortunately, most of them missed their targets, and they were not equipped with chemical warheads.
1991 Peace Conference in Madrid
From October 30 to November 1, the International Conference on the Middle East was held in Madrid, convened at the initiative of the USSR and the USA and designed to advance the peace process in all areas of resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. The conference was attended by delegations from the USSR, USA, European Union, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt.
On October 18, Moscow and Jerusalem restore diplomatic relations in full. From this moment on, bilateral cooperation between Russia and Israel is developing increasingly.
1993 Negotiations in Oslo
Closed Palestinian-Israeli negotiations in Oslo resulted in a declaration of principles aimed at mutual recognition and an end to violence. The signing of the declaration, which took place on September 13, 1993, was preceded by an exchange of letters between PLO Chairman Arafat and Prime Minister Rabin. In the messages, the PLO renounced the use of terrorist acts, recognized the right to exist of Israel, and also committed itself to seeking a peaceful resolution to the conflict. In response, Israel recognized the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in negotiations to resolve the conflict. Israel confirmed that after the elections to the Palestinian self-government bodies, all power would gradually transfer to local governing structures, and expressed its readiness to develop trade and economic contacts. In Oslo in September 1995, Prime Minister Rabin and PLO Chairman Arafat signed an agreement that incorporated the fundamental agreements reached in 1993.
1994 Conclusion of a peace treaty with Jordan
On October 26, 1994, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and King Hussein signed a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan. The normalization of relations led to agreement between the parties on issues of state borders and the use of water resources, the resolution of controversial issues peacefully, cooperation in the field of security, and an increase in the volume of trade and economic partnership.
1995 Assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
On November 4, 1995, at a peace rally in Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was shot dead by a Jewish fanatic who was seeking the abolition of the Palestinian-Israeli agreements.
1996 Suicide bombers from the Islamist fundamentalist group Hamas carried out several attacks in Israeli cities to derail the peace process and discredit the efforts of the government of Shimon Peres.
1997 Hebron Protocol
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and representatives of the Palestinian Authority signed a protocol regulating the jurisdiction of the parties in the management of Hebron, after the document came into force, Israel would withdraw military units from the city.
1998 At negotiations at Wye River Plantation, Prime Minister Netanyahu and PLO Chairman Arafat entered into an agreement that fixed the agreements reached in Oslo.
2000 Negotiations at Camp David
In July, US President Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Barak and PLO Chairman Arafat met at Camp David to hammer out a final agreement. The Israeli side made enormous concessions, but Arafat refused to sign the agreement.
2000 Second Intifada (Al-Aqsa Intifada)
Mass riots among Palestinians began on September 28, after opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount, although his visit was officially announced and agreed in advance with the Palestinian authorities. During the Second Intifada, Palestinian suicide bombers entered Israeli cities, detonating bombs in buses, markets, shopping malls and entertainment events.
2002 In response to an increase in terrorist attacks by Palestinian militants, the government led by Sharon continues to crack down on them. Many leaders and militants of extremist units have been arrested, Yasser Arafat is blocked in his residence in Ramallah. Construction of the so-called “Security Fence” has begun along the perimeter of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
2003 Road Map
On May 25, 2003, based on UN Security Council Resolution 1515, a peace plan called the “Road Map” was adopted, developed by a quartet of mediators - the USA, Russia, the UN and the EU. The document provided for three stages in achieving an Israeli-Palestinian settlement.
The Palestinians have not fulfilled their obligations under the first stage." Road map"(recognition of Israel's right to exist, unconditional cessation of terrorist acts and incitement to them). The radical movements Hamas and Islamic Jihad have vowed to continue terrorism against Israel.
2005 Summit Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh
After the death of PLO Chairman Arafat on November 11, 2004, Mahmoud Abbas was elected President of the Palestinian Authority in January 2005.
In February, Prime Minister Sharon, President Abbas, Egyptian President Mubarak and King Abdullah of Jordan met in Egypt to discuss peace. The end of the intifada was announced, but the terrorists continued their subversive activities; Hamas, from the Gaza Strip, intensified rocket attacks on the southern regions of Israel. In response, Israel froze the planned transfer of control of Palestinian cities and carried out an anti-terrorist operation.
2005 At the end of April, on the eve of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Victory over Nazism, the first visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Israel took place; negotiations with Prime Minister Sharon gave new impetus to the positive dynamics of bilateral relations.
2005 Israel withdrew settlements and military forces from the Gaza Strip
In August, Sharon's government unilaterally evacuated 8,000 settlers and destroyed 21 Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, followed by a complete withdrawal of Israeli armed forces.
2006 Middle East reshuffle
Ariel Sharon left Likud and created a new centrist party, Kadima. After some time, due to a serious illness, Sharon is unable to continue working. His deputy, Ehud Olmert, took over the government and led the party to electoral victory.
In the Palestinian Authority, the Islamist organization Hamas, which declared its goal to destroy Israel, won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council, defeating in the elections the supporters of the moderate wing of the Fatah movement, which advocates a peaceful resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
2006 Israel's war against Hezbollah
From southern Lebanon, the extremist group Hezbollah, backed by Iran and Syria, launched a series of rocket and mortar attacks and captured two soldiers on Israeli territory. The Israel Defense Forces conducted in southern Lebanon military operation against Hezbollah, which changed the “rules of the game”: Hezbollah and similar groups realized that terrorist crimes will not go unpunished.
2007 Hamas seizes power in the Gaza Strip
In the summer of 2007, Hamas Islamists carried out an armed coup, seizing power in the Gaza Strip. The territories in the West Bank remained under the administration of Mahmoud Abbas.
2007 International Conference in Annapolis
On November 27, the International Conference on the Middle East Settlement took place in Annapolis, which was attended by the leaders of more than fifty states and international organizations, including the Quartet of mediators (Russia, the USA, the European Union and the UN). E. Olmert and M. Abbas managed to overcome contradictions and continue dialogue on all issues related to the implementation of the Road Map plan.
2008 Operation Cast Lead
For eight years, starting in 2000, Palestinian militants from various terrorist groups from the Gaza Strip fired homemade rockets into southern Israeli cities with varying degrees of intensity. In November 2008, Hamas intensified its attacks, launching massive daily rocket and mortar strikes. In response, on December 27, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Cast Lead, which ended on January 18, 2009 with the withdrawal of military units from the Gaza Strip after the destruction of most militants, terrorist infrastructure, arms smuggling channels and bases of the Islamist group Hamas.
2008 The 60th anniversary of the State of Israel was marked by significant events in bilateral relations with Russia: the abolition of visas for mutual trips of citizens of both countries (September) and the transfer of ownership rights to the Sergievskoye Metochion in Jerusalem to Russia (December).
In the post-war period in the USSR, any religion was oppressed, and the “Jewish question” became international problem. First of all, this is explained by the fact that the Jewish intelligentsia supported socialist ideals at a time when religious communities were practically unable to carry out their activities. In the USSR there were no days off on days associated with religious holidays. Moreover, government agencies worked six days a week and any traditional holidays fell on working days.
Joseph Stalin proved himself to be an active supporter of the creation of the state of Israel. Since Britain administered the territory of Palestine until 1948, Stalin's policies against the British Mandate and Arab allies played a historical role.
The modern and independent State of Israel came into existence in May 1948. On the day that Israel declared itself a separate state, an army from Syria, Egypt and Jordan invaded its territory. Thanks to the effective and rapid military assistance provided Soviet Union, the Israelis managed to repel the attack, but the Arab-Israeli conflict is the main problem of the state at the present time.
After the end of the first war, Israeli policy was aimed at building the state for which the Jewish people had fought so long and hard. During the general elections, two political leaders were chosen who would later lead the struggle for Israeli independence. Chaim Weizmann became the first president of the state, and David Ben-Gurion became the prime minister. In just the first ten years of Israel's existence, the release industrial products doubled and the number of employees quadrupled. The education system, culture, art, construction - everything was in the development stage. On Israel's tenth anniversary, the population has already surpassed the two million citizen mark.
Israel today
Israel is a small country of amazing beauty, which is known throughout the world for its epoch-making history. Currently, the independent Israeli state is famous for its great achievements in the fields of medicine, economics, science and industry. Israel will soon become the leading country in world tourism. Currently, the state is visited by more than two million people annually. In just 66 years, Israel has achieved such enormous successes despite difficult conditions and constant attacks from Palestine. Perhaps this state level is due to the fact that the Jewish people honor their traditions and will never exchange their beliefs, but will strive for a prosperous future and come up with new ideas aimed at
- a new sovereign independent state. Today many people ask the question: “Israel, how was it formed?” This is what this article will discuss.
It all started like this. After the resolution of the UN General Assembly decided in 1947 on November 29 to divide the lands of Palestine under the British Mandate into two independent sovereign states - Jewish and Arab, intensive active preparations began to be made to declare independence.
At the same time, Britain refuses to cooperate in the division of the Palestinian lands into two independent states and announces its intentions to withdraw its troops and civilian personnel from the territory under British mandate. The withdrawal of armed forces and civilian personnel is planned by the UK by mid-May 1948.
It must be said that the Americans tried to put diplomatic pressure on the Jewish Agency, trying to achieve a postponement of the proclamation of an independent Jewish sovereign state.
American diplomats and the entire leadership of the country had doubts about the ability of the new Jewish state to withstand the conflict with the Arabs. The United States also refused to support the plan to partition the Palestinian lands, while a plan was proposed to transfer them to the trusteeship of the United Nations until an agreement was reached between the Arabs and Jews.
The emergence of Israel was not very easy: governments objected Western Europe, constant tangible pressure from the United States State Department, disagreements in the People's Council, as well as intra-party disagreements. But, despite all the objections and disagreements, David Ben Gurion insisted on the formation of a sovereign state before the expiration of Britain's mandate.
On May 12, 1948, the people's government decided to declare independence, and within two days. The decision was made by Vego by only six votes to four.
And already on May 14, 1948, David Ben Gurion proclaimed the formation of Israel as an independent sovereign Jewish state. A few hours before the end of the British Mandate for Palestine, in the museum, in the building of the former home of Meir Dizengoff, in the city of Tel Aviv at 16-00 an announcement was made about the emergence of Israel.
The time of 16-00 was chosen in such a way that the proclamation ceremony would end before the onset of Saturday - “Shabbat”. The place where independence was declared was chosen in such a way as to avoid religious or party overtones. And the building - inconspicuous and not pompous - was chosen with caution and fear of possible bombings.
On the morning of May 14, invitations to the ceremony for the proclamation of the independence of the State of Israel were sent out by messengers, with the added request that the event be kept secret.
Interesting fact: the final version of the text of the Declaration of Independence was approved literally one hour before the start of the ceremony and was hastily typed on a typewriter. A passing car delivered the Declaration of Independence to the museum building at 15:59, a minute before the official declaration of independence of the state and the start of the ceremony.
On the way to the place of proclamation of the sovereign state of Israel, a car with the text of the declaration was stopped by police for speeding. The driver who was carrying the declaration did not have a license, but he told the policeman that he was disrupting the ceremony of declaring an independent state, and therefore the driver was released and even avoided a fine. After the declaration of independence was read, it was signed by 25 members of the People's Council. At the same time, the declaration also provided space for the signatures of twelve members of the People's Council, who were locked in Jerusalem besieged by the Arabs.
The ceremony of the formation of Israel was broadcast on the Kol Israel radio station. Since then, the official year of Israel's founding has been considered 1948.
What happened after Ben Gurion declared the independence of Israel. The very next day after the proclamation of the formation of Israel, the armies of five Arab countries belonging to the League of Arab States - Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Transjordan - attacked the new young state and began military operations against the newly proclaimed country.
The Secretary General of the League of Arab States promised: “This will be a terrible war, completely aimed at destruction, it will be the dirtiest and most terrible massacre.” Since then, May 15 in Israel has become the Day of Disaster, that is, the day of the Nakba.
The first state to officially recognize the de facto sovereign state of Israel as the United States. US President Truman on May 14 at 6:11 p.m. announced US recognition of Israel. This was done immediately, 11 minutes after Ben Gurion declared Israeli independence in Tel Aviv.
The first country to recognize the Jewish independent state fully, officially - de jure, was the Soviet state. This was done on May 17, three days after Israel declared independence. Israel's Independence Day, May 14, is considered a national holiday. Like everything else in Israel, Israelis celebrate Independence Day according to a special calendar, according to the Jewish calendar - 5 Yair.
The main, first document of Israel, as soon as it was formed, was the Declaration of Independence. It talks about the basic principles.
The first government of the new state was the Provisional Government. On May 14, 1948, when independence was declared, the People's Council signed a decree in which it formally legitimized its powers and by this decree was transformed from People's Council to the Provisional Government.
Temporary operated from May 14, 1948 to March 1949. In March 1949, Israel held its first elections, which formed the Israeli Knesset - its government. It was the first government elected in an independent state by election.
The date of the formation of Israel as a state is considered to be May 14, 1948. On this significant day, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the provisional Jewish government, announced to the world the creation of an independent Jewish state. Chaim Weizmann was proclaimed president, and the capital was Tel Aviv. Already on May 17, the USSR and the USA recognized Israel.
History The history of the formation of Israel as a state
The history of the formation of Israel as a state is long and tragic. We can say with complete confidence that it began at least three thousand years ago. The long-suffering Jewish people had to go through many trials on the way to creating their own state.
Ancient history The first formation of Israel as a state occurred in the 10th century BC in the Eastern Mediterranean. It was called the Kingdom of Israel. But his independent existence was very short-lived. Since the 7th century BC it has been subject to numerous conquests. Since the year of formation of Israel as a state is considered to be 1948, it turns out that the Jewish people lost their Homeland for more than 26 centuries! In 63 BC, the kingdom of Israel was captured by the powerful Roman Empire. The captured territory brought the Romans a lot of various problems. One of the most acute is religious: Judaism prohibited the exaltation of the Roman emperor as a deity and, accordingly, the worship of him. But it was a necessary condition for citizens of the empire. The path to the formation of the State of Israel was not short.
In 135 AD, an unsuccessful uprising of the local population against the Roman authorities took place in one of the provinces. This event radically influenced the future fate of the people living there. The Roman emperor decided to evict the Jews from his territory as punishment. Other peoples came to the province previously inhabited by them. This is how the first Jewish communities appeared, not only on the territory of the Roman Empire, but also far beyond its borders. Years later, they began to appear on Slavic lands.
After the split of the Roman Empire in 395 into the Eastern (Byzantine) and Western parts, Palestine went to the former, remaining its province until 619. From 614 to 629, Persia conquered Palestine. Afterwards it again became a province of Byzantium. The Jewish population, due to the constant massacres and persecutions started by Emperor Heraclius, decreased greatly. In the Middle Ages By 636, Muslims conquered Palestine from Byzantium. And for the next six centuries, this territory was controlled either by the Umayyad Caliphate, or by the Abbasids, or by the Crusaders. The year 1099 was marked by the founding of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which arose thanks to the efforts of the Crusaders. But by 1260, Palestine was completely conquered by the Mamluk dynasty.
Relatively peaceful times reigned for several centuries. However, already in 1517, the territory of modern Israel was conquered by the Ottoman Turks. The country was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire for 400 years, until 1917. During this historical period, Jews had the status of "dhimmi". They had certain civil rights and freedom of religion, but at the same time there were a number of restrictions.
For example, a ban on riding horses and carrying weapons. Prerequisites for the formation of Israel - the Jewish state Only at the end of the 19th century did Jews begin to strive to return to their historical lands. After 1881, the first settlers left for Palestine. The next massive wave of immigration occurred in the lead-up to the First World War. In the territories that belonged to the Ottoman Empire, Jews began to create their own settlements without claiming independence. People mostly moved to Palestine based on their religious beliefs. But there were many Jews who planned to build socialist communes on the territory of this country.
The formation of Israel as a state was also facilitated by the fact that on November 2, 1917, Arthur Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, wrote an official letter to Lord Rothschild, who at that time was the representative of the British Jewish community. It said that the state government was seriously thinking about creating a national home for Jews in Palestine.
What was the purpose of this declaration?
Firstly, this is the acquisition by Great Britain of the right to control after the war the lands of Palestine, on which the creation of a zone of international control was originally intended.
Secondly, it is the hope that Jews living in America will force their government to enter World War I, thereby supporting the dwindling Allied forces.
Thirdly, this is pressure on Jews living in Russia in order to prevent the spread of Bolshevik ideology and the exit Russian Empire from the war.
Consequences of the declaration When did the First end World War, Palestine became a British mandate. Jews began to emigrate to it en masse, which became the first step towards the formation of the state of Israel. By the time World War II began, there were 500 thousand Jews in Palestine, with another 100 thousand added by the end of the war. And they continued to move to these lands, which caused violent discontent among the Arab population of Palestine. The Arabs demanded that the government stop this.
The government met them halfway, despite the fact that during the war the world community accused the British of preventing Jews from escaping the Nazi regime to the countries of the Middle East. In Great Britain, it was decided to introduce entry quotas for foreign Jews, but these quotas were not always observed.
The situation became extremely tense by the end of the thirties, when a huge number of immigrants from Germany caused an uprising of Palestinian Arabs. And then, from 1939, Great Britain categorically prohibited the migration of Jews to the territories it controlled. During the Second World War
The path to the formation of Israel as a state was long and thorny. David Ben-Gurion, who was the leader of the Jewish community, decided to begin violent protests against British control of Palestine. Since 1944, Jews began to openly show their disobedience and commit daring Act of terrorism. International Zionist societies, as well as the United States, did not stand aside.
The pressure on London began to intensify. The British government was blamed for the deaths of Jewish refugees who tried to enter Palestine illegally across the sea, but were intercepted by British border guards, who returned the unfortunates to Europe, where they died at the hands of the Nazis. After World War II When World War II finally ended, the formation of Israel as a state became a truly pressing issue. Britain's Mandate for Palestine remained in effect.
In August 1945, the World Zionist Congress, and then US President G. Truman, who succumbed to pressure from the Jewish communities of his country, proposed that Great Britain allow the resettlement of more than a million Jews to Palestine. But London did not accept this proposal, as politicians foresaw unrest in Arab countries. Already in October, representatives of Middle Eastern countries stated that US attempts to make Palestine a Jewish state would inevitably lead to war. Meanwhile, the terrorist attacks continued. In July 1946, the headquarters of the British military administration was blown up by Zionist terrorists.
Almost 100 British citizens died. British government decision Great Britain was economically dependent on the United States and did not want to quarrel. But London did not need a conflict with the Arabs. Therefore, in 1947, Britain refused to control Palestine.
h The lands decided to divide into three parts (42% to the Arabs, 56% to the Jews, and 2% of the lands, which included Jerusalem and Bethlehem, to the UN). The Arab countries did not accept this resolution. Bloody clashes between Jews and Arabs began to occur more and more often. The situation has reached its climax. Arabs began to leave the country en masse. Great Britain, not wanting to get involved in the war, withdrew its troops from Palestine on May 14, 1948 and announced the termination of its mandate. Long-awaited event
Unfortunately, diplomats from other countries were unable to translate the Arab-Jewish dialogue into a peaceful direction. Soon after the formation of the State of Israel and the declaration of its independence, several Arab states started a war with it. But gradually Israel was recognized by almost all countries of the world. The role of the USSR in the creation of the Jewish state The USSR, together with the United States, assisted in the formation of the state of Israel. The most significant role among the Jews of Palestine belonged to emigrants from the Russian Empire. They spread the ideas of socialism. Ben-Gurion was also from Russia. A few years after the October Revolution, he came to the USSR on a friendly visit. Once upon a time, Jews contributed to the spread of Bolshevik ideology in the Russian Empire. And at that moment, Stalin expected support from the Russian Jews of Palestine in his plans to increase the influence of the USSR on the affairs of the Middle East and oust Great Britain from there. But the loyalty of the Soviet leader was short-lived. Anti-Semitic sentiments began to be encouraged in the USSR, and Jews were no longer allowed to leave the country.
After the collapse of the USSR, Jews began to leave en masse for permanent residence in Israel.