1948

 

• State of Israel proclaimed. 600,000 Jews in the land. (5 Iyar 5708 – – 14 May 1948)
• End of British Mandate – 14 May
• Israel invaded by five Arab states (15 May)
• War of Independence (May 1948 – July 1949)
• Israel Defense Forces (IDF) established 
• Armistice agreements signed with Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon
• Jerusalem divided under Israeli and Jordanian rule

 

1949

• First Government — David Ben-Gurion, Prime Minister (7 Adar 5709 — 8 March 1949)
• Israel admitted to United Nations as 59th member

 

1950

• Jordan Annexes the West Bank — (7 Iyar 5710 — 24 April 1950)
• Second Government — David Ben-Gurion, Prime Minister — (20 Heshvan 5711 – 30 October 1950)

 

1951

• Third Government — David Ben-Gurion, Prime Minister — (8 Tishrei 5712 — 8 October 1951)

 

1952

• Fourth Government — David Ben-Gurion, Prime Minister — (4 Tevet 5713 — 22 December 1952)

 

1954

• Fifth Government  — Moshe Sharett, Prime Minister — (22 Shevat 5714 — 26 January 1954)

 

1955

• Sixth Government  — Moshe Sharett, Prime Minister — (9 Tammuz 5715 — 29 June 1955)
• Seventh Government  — David Ben-Gurion, Prime Minister — (18 Heshvan 5716 — 3 November 1955)

 

1956

• Suez Crisis (Sinai Campaign)

 

1958

• Eighth Government  — David Ben-Gurion, Prime Minister — (15 Tevet 5718 — 7 January 1958)

 

1959

• Ninth Government  — David Ben-Gurion, Prime Minister — (16 Kislev 5720 — 17 December 1959)

 

1961

• Tenth Government  — David Ben-Gurion, Prime Minister — (23 Heshvan 5722 — 2 November 1961)

 

1962

• Adolf Eichmann tried and executed in Israel for his key part in the Holocaust.

 

1963

 

• Eleventh Government  — Levi Eshkol, Prime Minister — (4 Tammuz 5723 — 26 June 1963)
• Twelveth Government  — Levi Eshkol, Prime Minister — (17 Tevet 5725 — 22 December 1963)

 

1964

• National Water Carrier completed, bringing water from Lake Kinneret in the North to the semi-arid South

 

1966

• Thirteenth Government  — Levi Eshkol, Prime Minister — (20 Tevet 5726 — 2 January 1966)
• Shmuel Yosef Agnon wins Nobel Prize in Literature

 

1967

• Six Day War – Jerusalem liberated and reunited

 

1969

• Fourteenth Government  — Golda Meir, Prime Minister — (27 Adar 5729 — 17 March 1969)
• Fifteenth Government  — Golda Meir, Prime Minister — (6 Tevet 5730 — 15 December 1969)

 

1973

• Yom Kippur War

 

1974

• Sixteenth Government  — Golda Meir, Prime Minister — (16 Adar 5734 — 10 March 1974)
• Seventeenth Government — Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister — (13 Sivan 5734 — 3 June 1974)

 

1975

• Israel becomes an associate member of the European Common Market

 

1977

• Eighteenth Government  — Menahem Begin, Prime Minister — (4 Tammuz 5737 — 20 June 1977)

 

1978

• Camp David Accords & framework
• Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty signed

 

1979

• Prime Minister Menachem Begin and President Anwar Sadat awarded Nobel Peace Prize

 

1981

• Nineteenth Government  — Menahem Begin, Prime Minister — (5 Av 5741 — 5 August 1981)
• Israel Air Force destroys Iraqi nuclear reactor just before it is to become operative
• Israel’s three-stage withdrawal from Sinai completed

 

1982

• Operation Peace for Galilee removes PLO terrorists from Lebanon

 

1983

• Twentieth Government — Yitzhak Shamir, Prime Minister — (3 Heshvan 5744 — 10 October 1983)

 

1983

• Twenty-First Government — Shimon Peres, Prime Minister — (16 Elul 5744 — 13 September 1984)
• Operation Moses – Immigration of Jews from Ethiopia

 

1985

• Free Trade Agreement signed with United States

 

1986

• Twenty-Second Government — Yitzhak Shamir, Prime Minister — (17 Tishrei 5747 — 20 October 1986) 

 

1988

• Twenty-Third Government — Yitzhak Shamir, Prime Minister — (14 Tevet 5749 — 22 December 1988)

 

1990

• Twenty-Fourth Government — Yitzhak Shamir, Prime Minister — (18 Sivan 5750 — 11 June 1990)

 

1991

• Israel attacked by Iraqi Scud missiles during Gulf War
• Operation Solomon – airlift of Jews from Ethiopia
• Diplomatic relations established with China and India

 

1992

• Twenty-Fifth Government — Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister — (12 Tammuz 5752 — 13 July 1992)

 

1993

• Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements for the Palestinian Arabs signed by Israel and PLO
• Implementation of Palestinian Arab self-government in Gaza Strip and Jericho area
• Full diplomatic relations with the Holy See
• Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty signed

 

1994

• Rabin, Peres, Arafat awarded Nobel Peace Prize
• Prime Minister Rabin assassinated at peace rally

 

1995

• Twenty-Sixth Government — Shimon Peres, Prime Minister — (29 Heshvan 5756 — 22 November 1995)
• Operation Grapes of Wrath, retaliation for Hezbollah terrorists’ attacks on northern Israel
• Trade representation offices set up in Oman and Qatar

 

1996

• Twenty-Seventh Government — Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister — (1 Tammuz 5756 — 18 June 1996)

 

1999

• Twenty-Eighth Government — Ehud Barak, Prime Minister — (3 Sivan 5759 — 18 May 1999)

 

2001

• Twenty-Ninth Government — Ariel Sharon – Prime Minister — (12 Adar 5761 — 7 March 2001)

 

2003

• Thirtieth Government — Ariel Sharon – Prime Minister — (26 Adar I 5763 — 28 February 2003)

 

2005

• Israel evacuates all Jewish communities in Gaza
• Palestinian infighting starts
• Qassam rockets from Gaza attack Israel on regular basis

 

2006

• PM Sharon incapacitated by massive stroke, Olmert takes over as PM
• Hamas terrorists win election for the Palestinian Arabs
• Hezbollah war in Lebanon, massive rocket attacks on Israeli civilians in Northern Israel
• Thirty-First Government — Ehud Olmert – Prime Minister — (6 Iyar 5766 — 4 May 2006)

 

2008

• Operation Hot Winter launched on February 29, 2008 in response to Qassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip by Palestinian Arabs

 

2009

• Thirty-Second Government — Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister — (6 Nisan 5768 — 31 March 2009)

 

2013

• Thirty-Third Government — Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister — (8 Nisan 5773 — 18 March 2013)

 

2015

• Thirty-Fourth Government — Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister — (25 Iyar 5775 — 14 May 2015)