| Chairman
of the Jewish Agency: Abraham
Burg.
Head
of Department of Development and Settlement and Chairman of
Youth Aliya Institutions in Jewish Agency: Yehiel
Leket.
January
17: Activists of Alexandr Barkashov's fascist paramilitary
group Russian National Unity (RNE) disrupt a meeting between
Israeli representatives of the Jewish Agency for Israel and
local Jewish leaders in Orel. The Russian National Unity chant
"Death to the Jews" and sell copies of the antisemitic
newspaper Russian Order. However, local police authorities declare
that the RNE's actions are not "a disruption of the public
order" and refuse to intervene.
April:
The Russian Justice Ministry refuses to renew the accreditation
of the Jewish Agency. The Agency is treated as a foreign-based
international organization founded by non-Russian citizens.
The Justice Ministry explains the step by the fact that the
Jewish Agency activities allegedly violate Russian laws. A Russian
government official is quoted on the Interfax news service as
accusing the Jewish Agency of being a front for the Mossad,
Israel's intelligence service.
May:
Offices of the Jewish Agency are closed down in Russia by the
Russian authorities. The closures come in the wake of a promise
by Justice Minister Valentin Kovalyov to settle the agency issue
promptly. Newspaper articles claim that that Israeli emigration
programs being carried out in Russia "verge on interference
in [Russia's] internal affairs." The article also claims
the Agency is "bringing the most gifted Jewish children
to study in Israel," where they are "obliged to adopt
Israeli citizenship." The Jewish Agency headquarters in
Jerusalem issue a protest against the article, saying that it
was biased and contained "inaccuracies and fallacious statements."
May
2: A Memorandum
of Understanding is signed in New York between the Jewish
Agency, the World Jewish Congress and the Swiss Bankers Association
to create an Independent Commission of eminent persons, also
known as the Volcker
Commission. The commission is mandated to audit the search
for assets of Nazi victims in Swiss banks.
May:
Avraham Burg, Chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive, warns
the Knesset that giving the Israeli Chief Rabbinate sole jurisdiction
regarding conversions carried out in Israel could lead to a
schism in Israel - Diaspora relations.
June:
The Jewish Agency Assembly calls on the Israeli Government to
maintain the Law
of Return in its present form, to abstain from passing legislation
which alters the religious status quo in Israel, and to consult
with the Jewish Agency before making any changes which affect
Israel-Diaspora relations. The resolution is forwarded to Prime
Minister Netanyahu. The Assembly also calls for the establishment
of a special Jewish Agency committee to deal with these issues.
June
23: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses
the Jewish Agency Assembly.
July:
In the wake of the Russian Justice Ministry's refusal to renew
the accreditation of the Jewish Agency in Russia, a new body
is established: The Jewish Agency in the Russian Federation.
July:
Jewish Agency chairman Avraham Burg is scheduled to visit Moscow.
Burg's visit, which includea meetings with Russian officials
and leaders of Russian Jewish organizations, may hasten registration
of the new organization.
July:
Russian resident Solomon Bromberg and his sister, Israeli resident
Rivka Bromberg Feingold, are reunited after a separation of
more than 60 years, both having believed that their entire family
had been murdered during the Holocaust. The Jewish Agency takes
part in the reunification effort.
July
- August:
Some 19,000 Jewish youths are attending 37 summer camps across
the former Soviet Union.
September
- December: The Assembly resolution is affirmed by
Jewish Agency's constituent organizations: the United Jewish
Communities (UJA), the CJF, the UIA and the WZO.
September
- December:
Senior Jewish Agency staff meets with government ministers and
members of the Knesset to insist that the religious status quo
in Israel be maintained.
October
17: Local offices of the Jewish Agency can operate
legally in Russia once again.
New
immigrants 1996: 70,919.
|
January
8:
Palestinian terrorist Yihyeh
Ayyash ("The Engineer"), responsible for the murder
of 67 Israelis and the wounding of 390, is killed by an explosive
connected to his celluar phone. The Palestinians accuse Israel
of the act.
January
7: General Security Service (Shabak) head Carmi Gillon
announces his resignation.
January
9: Some 800 Palestinian security prisoners, including
500 members of Hamas, are released from prisons in Israel as
part of the Oslo II agreement.
January
10: King
Hussein of Jordan visits Israel and tours Tel Aviv and the
Lake Kinneret shore.
January
14 - 16: President Ezer Weizman visits Germany and
delivers a historic speech
in Hebrew at the German Bundestag, declaring, among other things:
"I do not forgive and I do not forget."
January
16: A terrorist shooting on the Jerusalem-Hebron road
kills an Israeli army doctor and a medic.
January
20: Palestinians vote
for the first time to elect an 88-member legislative body. Yasser
Arafat is overwhelmingly elected President.
January
22: Israel
Eldad, Lehi leader, ideologist and translator, dies at age
85.
January
28: Following a report that all blood donations from
immigrants of Ethiopian origin are systematically discarded
because of the danger of AIDS contamination, some 10,000 Ethiopian
immigrants take part in a turbulent demonstration in Jerusalem
that results in 61 persons injured, including 41 policemen.
January
30: An IDF soldier is stabbed to death by a Hamas activist
who infiltrates into an army camp.
February
9: The family of a Palestinian who has been killed
in an accident donates his organs for transplant in Israel.
February
11: Prime Minister Shimon Peres announces early elections.
February
16: Hezbollah shells 20 IDF and SLA positions simultanously.
February
18: An Israeli-Turkish agreement is signed in the area
of defense cooperation. The agreement is announced only two
months later. Turkey allows the Israeli Airforce to use its
airspace and bases. Israel undertakes to supply military hardware
and to upgrade the Turkish air force's Phantom fighter bombers.
The Arab League describes the accord as a direct threat to its
members. Egypt says that it will create new tensions in the
Middle East. The Turkish-Israeli treaty causes undisguised alarm
in Syria.
February
23: George Habash's Popular Front for the Liberation
of Palestine announces the halt of violence in the Palestinian
Authority territory.
February
25: Two Hamas suicide bombers explode themselves on
a No. 18 bus in Jerusalem and at the Ashkelon junction, respectively,
causing a total of 27 fatalities and 80 wounded.
February
26: A car driven by a Palestinian with American citizenship
rams and kills an Israeli woman and wounds 23 in Jerusalem.
A total closure is imposed on the occupied territories in light
of terrorist acts.
February
27: Yigal Amir is convicted by the Tel Aviv District
Court for the murder of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
February
28: The Shamgar Commission examining the circumstances
of the assassination publishes the finding that Rabin's murder
was a security failure.
March
3: A Hamas suicide bomber explodes himself on yet another
No. 18 bus in Jerusalem, killing 18 passengers and wounding
70. Many Purim festivities are cancelled throughout the country.
Yasser Arafat announces that quasi-military Palestinian organizations
will be declared illegal.
March
4: A suicide bomber explodes himself near Dizengoff
Center in Tel Aviv, causing 13 fatalities and some 100 wounded.
The perpetrator is a member of Hamas from Khan Yunis who was
smuggled into Israel by an Israel Arab.
March
13: The Sharm
el-Sheikh Summit opens with the participation of leaders
from 22 countries who censure terror and call for the establishment
of a framework for joint international cooperation to combat
it. Participants include Israeli Prime Minister Shimon
Peres, Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak, and US President Bill
Clinton.
March
14: US President Clinton visits Israel following the
summit, meeting with youth in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
March
31: An unexplained explosion of an IDF helicopter over
the Judean Desert takes the lives of 7 members of the crew.
April
2: An Israeli-Qatari agreement is concluded for the
establishment of commercial legations in both countries.
April
7: An Israeli-Jordanian airline is inaugurated.
April
8: A roadside bomb kills a 14-year old Lebanese boy
and wounds three of his playmates in the village of Barashit
north of the Israeli security zone. Although the IDF denies
responsibility for the attack, Hezbollah blames Israel.
April
9: Hesbollah retaliates by launching Katyusha rockets
on northern Israel which injures six Israeli civilians. That
same day, Israel responds by an attack on the village of Khirbat
Salim in which two civilians are wounded.
April
10: An IDF soldier is killed and three others are wounded
in a Hezbollah attack on their outpost in the security zone.
April
11 - 27: Operation Grapes
of Wrath is mounted by the IDF in Lebanon in retaliation
for the shelling of Israel's northern settlements.
April
18: The state basketball cup is won by Hapoel Jerusalem
which beats Maccabi Tel Aviv.
April
24: The Palestine National Council votes to amend those
portions of its charter that call for the destruction of Israel,
but does not replace it with new language.
April
28 - 30: Prime Minister Peres visits the United States.
He Signs missile defense cooperation and anti- terrorism agreements
and meets with PLO Chairman Arafat.
April
29: The first cemetery in the country under nonreligious
auspices is established in Beersheva.
May:
Hezbollah attacks against the IDF in southern Lebanon continue.
The IDF responds with artillery and air attacks.
May
2: Emil
Habibi, Arab author, Israel Prize recipient, former MK and
noted leader of the Arab population, dies.
May
8: A violent confrontation takes place between Palestinian
Authority police and IDF soldiers at the Netzarim junction in
the Gaza Strip.
May
18: Israel launches its Amos communications satellite.
May
18: The elections campaign for the 14th Knesset heats
up. A serious incident occurs when a Likud aktivist shoots a
Labor Party worker who is pasting up campaign posters.
May
19: The financial daily "Telegraph" closes
after three years of publication.
May
25: Fires rage out of control in the Galilee and Golan
Heights. Heavy damage is caused to flora, natural forests and
pasture. The Bnot Yaakov Bridge is closed for several hours
because of dense smoke.
May
29:
Elections for the 14th Knesset and the premiership are held,
the first time the two elements are split. Likud candidate Benjamin
Netanyahu tops Labor candidate Shimon Peres by a narrow margin
of 30,000 votes. He gets 50.4 percent of the votes, while Peres
gets 49.6 percent. Labor wins 34 seats in the Knesset, Likud
only 32. But under the new electoral law, the task of forming
the next government has to be assigned to Netanyahu. Forty new
MKs enter the Knesset.
May:
Members of the government coalition introduce legislation which
will alter the status quo regarding conversions to Judaism,
by giving the Israeli Chief Rabbinate sole jurisdiction regarding
conversions carried out in Israel.
June
2: The new head of the Mossad is former General Danny
Yotam, who replaces Shabtai Shavit.
June
6: The Hezbollah violates the understanding drawn up
with Israel and fires on northern Israel in several separate
incidents.
June
9: A young husband and wife are killed in a terrorist
drive-by shooting in the Bet Shemesh area.
June
10: Terrorist firing in the security zone in southern
Lebanon kills 5 IDF soldiers.
June
17: The 14th
Knesset convenes under the temporary chairmanship of the
eldest member, Shimon Peres.
June
18: Benyanim Netanyahu's government
is sworn in by the Knesset. The coalition consists of a merger
of the Likud, Tzomet and Gesher (David
Levy's list); Shas; the National Religious Party; Torah
Judaism; Israel Be'Aliyah (Russian immigrant party); and The
Third Way (a Greater Israel party). Several portfolios are not
yet assigned.
June
22 - 23: Egypt hosts the first Arab League summit in
six years to unite against Netanyahu's approach to the peace
process.
June
26: A terrorist ambush in the Jordan Valley claims
the lives of 3 IDF soldiers.
July
1: The Histadrut declares an hour-long strike by some
400,000 public service workers in protest against economic privatization
measures that fail to protect workers' rights.
July
6: Thousands of ultra-Orthodox demonstrate on the Shabbat
at Bar Ilan Street in Jerusalem, demanding to close the street,
which passes through an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood, to traffic
in the Shabbat. many more such demonstrations, some of them
violent, are to follow in the coming months.
July
8: Prime Minister Netanyahu appoints
Ariel Sharon Minister of Infrastructure.
July
9: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the US.
Differences in opinion regarding the peace process emerge in
his meeting
with President Clinton.
July
17: Most of the public sector strikes in protest against
the government's economic plan, which features privatization
and budget-cutting.
July
18: Prime Minister Netanyahu visits Egypt. President
Mubarak expresses optimism regarding the chances for peace.
July
21: The remains of IDF soldiers Rahamim
Alsheikh and Yosef Fink, who were captured in Lebanon in
1986 by terrorists, are returned to Israel in exchange for the
release of Lebanese prisoners and the transfer of the remains
of terrorists to the Hezbollah. The deal between Israel and
the Hezbollah is brokered by Germany.
July
23: Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy meets with
Arafat in the Palestinian leader's first meeting with a top
Netanyahu government official.
July
26: Another drive-by shooting by terrorists in the
Bet Shemesh area results in the death of three members of a
single family.
July
29: Windsurfer Gal
Fridman wins a bronze medal in the Olympic Games in Atlanta.
July
30: The remains are found of a missing soldier, Ilan
Sa'adon, who was kidnapped and murdered by Hamas in May
1989.
August
6: A terrorist attack on the IDF in southern Lebanon
results in the death of a soldier. IDF planes attack Hezbollah
bases in response.
August
8: Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman resigns after he
is charged with disruption of due process in the trial of Aryeh
Deri.
August
14: Sessions of the Israeli-Palestinian Joint Supreme
Civil Council resume after a prolonged break in the wake of
the terrorist acts earlier in the year.
August
15: The Supreme Court ruling on the Bar Ilan Street
issue, orders that the street remain open in Shabbat but recommends
that a public council be formed to consider the issue, including
the question of closing streets on the Shabbat.
August
18: Three forest fires in the Jerusalem hills result
in the destruction of some 300 dunams of forested area.
August
20: Friendly fire in Lebanon causes the death of a
soldier in the Givati Brigade and the serious wounding of another.
August
21: A criminal investigation is initiated against MK
David
Zucker (Meretz) in connection with his involvement in the
nonprofit body sponsoring the Camera Obscura school of photography.
August
25: A campaign is mounted in the ultra-Orthodox press
against Supreme Court Chief Justice Aharon
Barak in the wake of the court's decision on the Bar Ilan
Street issue. Threats are made on the judge's life, prompting
the stationing of guards to protect him.
August
25: President Ezer Weizman, responding to an urgent
request from Yasser Arafat, announces
he will meet with the Palestinian leader to discuss stalled
peace talks.
August:
Fighting by Hezbollah against the IDF and the SLA is continuous.
August:
Problems related to foreign workers in Israel, estimated 250,000
persons, worsen.
August:
Traffic accidents in the month of August cause the death of
61 people.
September
3: A tunnel road shortening the travel distance between
Jerusalem and the Gush Etzion and Hebron areas is inaugurated.
September
5: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat hold their first meeting. Both
sides agree to discussions on redeployment from most of Hebron,
the last West Bank town to be turned over to the Palestinians.
September
6: A fire in the Jerusalem Corridor injures 13 persons
and damages 40 homes.
September
9: MK Ehud
Barak announces his intention to contend for the chairmanship
of the Labor Party.
September
9: An IDF soldier, Sharon Edri, is missing. Kidnapping
is suspected. Extensive searches in the central part of the
country, where he was last seen, reveal nothing.
September
18: A midair helicopter crash off the Nahariya coast
results in the death of two pilots and an officer.
September
19: MK Shimon Peres announces that he will not contend
for the chairmanship of the Labor Party.
September
20: An intense skirmish between IDF and Hezbollah forces
results in two Israeli fatalities and 8 wounded.
September
24 - 30: The Tunnel
Affair in Jerusalem begins. The Ministry of Religious Affairs,
with the approval of the prime minister, opens a connecting
tunnel from the ancient Hasmonean passage-way under the Western
wall to the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. Arabs in Jerusalem
and the occupied territories riot. Confrontations between Palestinians
and the IDF result in 69 Palestinian fatalities and the death
of 11 Israeli soldiers. Protests are held in the Arab world.
The head of the General Security Service (Shabak), Ami Ayalon,
admits: "The Shabak erred in its assessments of the results
of the opening of the tunnel." Relations between Israel
and the Palestinian Authority are at a low ebb. (More.)
September
28: The UN Security Council expresses
concern about the opening of the tunnel.
October
1: President Clinton convenes an emergency Middle East
summit meeting in Washington to salvage the peace process.
October
8: President Ezser Weizman and Chairman Yasser Arafat
meet in Caesarea in an effort to calm ther atmosphere in the
wake of the tunnel affair.
October
10: An earthquake measuring 6 on the Richter scale
occurs in Israel and the region.
October
13: Joint patrols in Hebron by Israeli and Palestinian
security forces are resumed.
October
16: Members of the Palestinian Council visit the Knesset
for ther first time. Three MKs protest and are expelled from
the house.
October
21: The opposition outnumbers the coalition in a vote
of no-confidence, but the government does not fall because of
the Direct Elections Law which requires a majority of over 60
MKs in such a vote.
October
22: A right-wing extremist flings boiling tea
at MK Yael
Dayan (Labor) during a parliamentary tour in Hebron. The
man had previously been convicted of murdering an Arab.
October
22: French President Jacques
Chirac, on a visit to Israel, is outspokenly critical
of Israeli policy and procedure. (More.)
October
23: An attack on the IDF in southern Lebanon results
in the death of two soldiers and the wounding of five.
November:
A report at the beginning of the month indicates that the number
of ultra-Orthodox not recruited into the IDF is rising.
November:
A Coastal
Aeras Management Program is signed between Israel and the
Mediterranean Action Plan.
November:
To promote trade, the United States is willing to provide privileged
trade status in exports from joint Arab-Israeli projects. The
U.S. Congress establishes the Qualifying Industrial Zone (QIZ)
project in 1996.
November
2: A mass memorial rally marking a year since the assassination
of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is held in Rabin Square, Tel
Aviv. The crowd stands for a moment of silence at 9:45 p.m.,
the time of the murder.
November
4: The first meeting of a commission consisting of
"doves" of the Likud and Labor parties takes place.
The meetings will eventually lead to the Beilin-Eitan
Document. (More.)
November
9: A missile fired at an IDF tank in southern Lebanon
results in the death of one soldier and the wounding of three.
November
11: A Druze citizen of Israel from the Galilee, Azam
Azam, is arrested in Egypt on suspicion of spying for Israel.
November
18: Video
footage showing two Israeli Border Guard police beating
apparently helpless Palestinian workers arouses indignation
in Israel and abroad.
December
3: Attorney General Michael Ben-Yair announces his
resignation.
December
7: A roadmine in Lebanon kills an IDF soldier in the
Golani Brigade.
December
11: A band of three terrorists shoots and kills an
Israeli mother and her son near Bet El in the West Bank. The
Palestinian Authority arrests three suspects.
December
14: Katyusha missiles land in the western Galilee.
December
14: An IDF convoy is attacked in southern Lebanon.
December
30: A Palestinian who attempts to attack two settlers
in Kfar Darom in the Gaza Strip is shot and killed.
Inflation
in 1996 is 10.6%.
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