HISTORY The birthplace of the Jewish people is the Land of Israel. There, a significant part of the nation's long history was enacted, of which the first thousand years are recorded in the Bible; there, its cultural, religious and national identity was formed; and there, its physical presence has been maintained unbroken through the centuries, even after the majority was forced into exile. During the long years of dispersion, the Jewish people did not sever or forget its bond with the Land. With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Jewish independence, lost 2,000 years earlier, was renewed. Biblical Times The Patriarchs (c.17th century BCE) Jewish history began about 4,000 years ago with the patriarch Abraham, his son Isaac and grandson Jacob. Documents unearthed in Mesopotamia, dating back to the first half of the second millennium BCE, corroborate aspects of their nomadic way of life as described in the Book of Genesis. The Bible relates how Abraham was summoned to be the founder of a new people in a new land and the bearer of a new belief in One God. When a famine spread throughout the country, Jacob, his twelve sons and their families established themselves in Goshen, east of the Nile delta in Egypt. Eventually their descendants were reduced to slavery and pressed into forced labor. Exodus and Settlement (c.13th-12th centuries BCE) After 400 years of bondage, the Israelites were led to freedom by Moses who, according to the biblical narrative, was chosen by God to take his people out of Egypt, back to the Land of Israel (Eretz Israel) promised to their forefathers. During 40 years of wandering in the Sinai desert, the Israelites received the Law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments, and were forged into a nation. The exodus from Egypt left an indelible imprint on the national memory of the Jewish people and became a symbol of liberty and freedom. Every year Jews celebrate Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Festival of the Giving of the Law) and Succot (Feast of Tabernacles), commemorating events of that time. During the next two centuries, the Israelites conquered most of the Land and relinquished their nomadic ways to become farmers and craftsmen; a degree of economic and social consolidation followed. Periods of relative peace were punctuated by times of war during which the people rallied behind leaders known as "judges," who were elevated to this position due to their political and military skills, as well as for their ability to inspire trust; they served only as long as necessary to subjugate the enemy. Subsequently, the inherent weakness of this tribal organization in face of a threat posed by the Philistines (a people from Asia Minor who had obtained a foothold on the coast) generated a desire for a ruler who would unite the tribes and convert his position into a permanent institution, with authority succeeding by inheritance. The Monarchy (c.1020-930 BCE) The first king, Saul, bridged the period between loose tribal organization and the setting up of a full monarchy under his successor, David.King David (c.1004-965 BCE) established Israel as a major power in the region by successful military expeditions, including the final defeat of the Philistines, as well as by constructing a network of friendly alliances with nearby kingdoms. Consequently, his authority was recognized from the borders of Egypt and the Red Sea to the banks of the Euphrates. At home, he set up a new administration, made Jerusalem his capital, united the twelve tribes of Israel into one kingdom and placed Jerusalem and the monarchy at the center of the country's national life. Biblical tradition endows David with many qualities, including a gift for poetry and music as revealed in the Book of Psalms, which is attributed to him. King Solomon (c. 965-930 BCE), who inherited the empire founded by his father David, directed most of his activities towards strengthening the kingdom. By treaties with neighboring kings, reinforced by politically- motivated marriages, he ensured tranquillity within the kingdom and made it equal among the great powers of the period. Solomon expanded foreign trade and promoted economic progress in the country by developing major enterprises such as copper mining and metal smelting. He fortified towns of strategic and economic importance and established new ones. Crowning Solomon's construction activities were the royal palace and the Temple in Jerusalem, which became the center of the people's national and religious life. The Bible attributes to Solomon the Book of Proverbs and the Song of Songs. Divided Monarchy (930-586 BCE) Solomon's rule was marred towards the end by discontent on the part of the populace, which had to pay heavily for his ambitious schemes. At the same time, preferential treatment of his own tribe embittered the others, and antagonism between the monarchy and the tribal separatists grew considerably. With Solomon's death, open insurrection led to the breaking away of the northern tribes and the division of the country into a northern kingdom, Israel, and a southern kingdom, Judah. The Kingdom of Israel, encompassing the territory of ten of the Israelite tribes, with its capital Samaria, lasted more than 200 years under 19 kings, while the Kingdom of Judah, on the territory of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin in the south, was ruled from Jerusalem for 400 years by an equal number of kings of the lineage of David. The expansion of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires brought first Israel and later Judah under their control. The Kingdom of Israel was crushed by the Assyrians (722 BCE), and its people carried off into exile and oblivion. Over a hundred years later, Babylonia subjugated the Kingdom of Judah, razed the Temple (586 BCE) and exiled most of its inhabitants. The First Exile (586-538 BCE) The Babylonian conquest brought an end to the First Jewish Commonwealth (First Temple Period), but did not sever the Jewish people's connection to the Land. Sitting by the rivers of Babylon, they pledged always to remember their homeland: "If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember you not; if I set not Jerusalem above my chiefest joy." (Psalms 137:5-6) The exile to Babylonia following the destruction of the First Temple (586 BCE) marks the beginning of the Jewish Diaspora. There, Judaism as a unique system of ideas and a way of life outside the Land of Israel started to develop, ultimately ensuring the people's national survival and spiritual identity and imbuing it with sufficient vitality to safeguard the future of the people as a nation. The Prophets, religious thinkers and charismatic individuals who were perceived as being endowed with a divine gift of revelation, preached in the period of the monarchy until a century after the destruction of Jerusalem (586 BCE). Whether as advisers to kings in matters relating to religion, ethics and politics, or as their critics, under the primacy of the relationship between the people and God, the prophets were guided by the firm conviction of the need for justice and issued powerful commentaries on the morality of Jewish national life. Their revelatory experiences were recorded in books of inspired prose and poetry, many of which became incorporated into the Bible. The universal and enduring appeal of the prophets derives from their call for a fundamental consideration of human values. Words such as those of Isaiah, "Learn to do good, devote yourselves to justice, aid the wronged, uphold the rights of the orphan, defend the cause of the widow," (Isaiah 1:17) continue to nourish mankind's pursuit of social justice. Foreign Domination Persian and Hellenistic Period (538-142 BCE) Following a decree by the Persian King Cyrus who had conquered Babylonia, some Jews returned to their Land. An estimated 50,000 repatriates embarked on the First Return (538 BCE) led by Zerubabel, a descendant of the House of David, and less than a century later, the Second Return was led by Ezra the Scribe. Over the next four centuries, the Jews knew varying degrees of self-rule under Persian (538-333 BCE) and later Hellenistic (Ptolemaic and Seleucid) overlordship (332-142 BCE). The repatriation of the Jews, Ezra's inspired leadership, the building of the Second Temple, the refortification of Jerusalem's walls and the establishment of the Knesset Hagedolah (Great Assembly) as the supreme religious and judicial body of the Jewish people marked the beginning of the Second Commonwealth (Second Temple Period). Within the confines of the Persian Empire, Judah was a nation centered in Jerusalem, whose leadership was entrusted to the High Priest and the Council of Elders. In the course of the Hellenistic period, the Syrian-based Seleucid rulers prohibited the practice of Judaism and desecrated the Temple, in an effort to impose Greek-oriented culture and customs on the entire population. In response, a large movement of rebellion arose (166 BCE) and was forged into a powerful fighting force. The revolt was led at first by Mattathias of the priestly Hasmonean dynasty and, upon his death, by his son, Judah, known as the Maccabee, who scored a number of victories against the Seleucid army and purified the Temple (164 BCE). These events are celebrated each year during the Festival of Hanukkah. Hasmonean Dynasty (142-63 BCE) Following further Hasmonean victories, the Seleucids (142 BCE) restored political and religious autonomy to Judea (as the Land of Israel was now called) and, with the collapse of the Seleucid kingdom (129 BCE), complete independence was achieved. The Hasmonean rulers, who became hereditary kings, regained boundaries not far short of Solomon's kingdom. During the period of the Hasmonean dynasty, which lasted about 80 years, political consolidation under Jewish rule was attained and Jewish life flourished. Under Roman Rule (63 BCE-313 CE) When the Romans replaced the Seleucids as the great power in the region, they granted the Hasmonean king, Hyrcanus II, limited authority under the Roman governor of Damascus. The Jews did not willingly accept the new regime, and the following years witnessed frequent insurrections. The last attempt to restore the former glory of the Hasmonean dynasty was made by Mattathias Antigonus (40 BCE). His defeat and death three years later at the hands of the Romans brought Hasmonean rule to an end, and the Land became a vassal state of the Roman Empire. In 37 BCE, Herod, son of an adviser to King Hyrcanus II and married to his daughter, was appointed King of Judea by the Romans. Although he had no authority in foreign policy, Herod was granted almost unlimited autonomy in the country's internal affairs and became one of the most powerful monarchs in the eastern part of the Roman empire. A great admirer of Greco-Roman culture, Herod launched a massive building program, which included the cities of Caesarea and Sebaste and the fortresses Herodium and Masada. He also remodeled the Temple into one of the most magnificent edifices of its time. But despite his many achievements, Herod failed to win the trust and support of his Jewish subjects. After Herod's death (4 BCE), the authority of his heirs was progressively diminished, mainly due to popular opposition to the Herodian dynasty, until Judea was brought under direct Roman administration (6 CE). When increasingly harsh and insensitive Roman rule became intolerable, the Jews launched a revolt (66 CE) in the last days of the Roman Emperor Nero, which ended with the total destruction of Jerusalem (70 CE) and the defeat of the last fortress of the Jews at Masada (73 CE). The destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (70 CE) by Titus, head of the Roman forces, gravely affected the Jewish people. According to the contemporary Jewish historian Josephus Flavius, an estimated one million Jews perished in the siege of Jerusalem alone, with many killed elsewhere in the country and tens of thousands sold into slavery. A last brief period of Jewish sovereignty followed the revolt of Shimon Bar Kokhba (132) during which Judea and Jerusalem were regained. However, given the massive power of the Romans, the outcome was inevitable. At the end of three years, in conformity with Roman custom, Jerusalem was "ploughed up with a yoke of oxen"; to blot out all Jewish ties with the Land, Judea was renamed Syria Palestinia and Jerusalem, Aelia Capitolina. Masada: Nearly 1,000 Jewish men, women and children who had survived the fall of Jerusalem occupied and fortified King Herod's mountaintop palace complex of Masada near the Dead Sea. For three years they held out against repeated Roman attempts to dislodge them. When the Romans finally broke through, they found that the defenders and their families had chosen to die by their own hands rather than be enslaved. Masada has become a symbol of the determination of the Jewish people to be free in its own land. The Jews and Judaism survived their encounter with Rome, even though the Temple had been destroyed and Jerusalem burnt to the ground. The small Jewish community which remained gradually recovered, reinforced from time to time by returning exiles. Institutional and communal life was reconstructed to meet the new situation without the unifying framework of a state and the Temple. The supreme legislative and judicial body, the Sanhedrin (successor of the Knesset Hagedolah), was reconvened in Yavneh (70 CE) and later in Tiberias. Priests were replaced by rabbis and, in the absence of a central place of worship, the synagogue, typified by majestic buildings at Capernaum, Korazin, Bar'am, Gamla and elsewhere, became the hub of each of the scattered communities. Halakhah (religious law) served as the common bond among the Jews and was transmitted from generation to generation. The Halakhah is the body of law which has guided Jewish life since post-biblical times. It deals with the religious obligations of Jews, both in their interpersonal relationships and in their ritual observances, and encompasses practically all aspects of human behavior birth and marriage, joy and grief, agriculture and commerce, ethics and theology. Rooted in the Bible, halakhic authority is based on the Talmud, the body of Jewish law and lore (completed c.400), incorporating the Mishnah the first written compilation (codified c.210) of the Oral Law, to which 400 years of collective effort had been devoted; and the Gemara elaboration of the Mishnah, which went on for another three centuries. To provide practical guidance to the Halakhah, concise and systematically arranged digests were composed by religious scholars beginning in the first and second centuries. Among the most authoritative of these codifications is the Shulhan Arukh, written by Joseph Caro in Safad during the 16th century. Under Byzantine Rule (313-636) By the end of the 4th century, following Emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity (313) and the founding of the Byzantine Empire, the Land of Israel had become a predominantly Christian country. Churches were built on Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Galilee, and monasteries were established in many parts of the country. The Jews were deprived of their former relative autonomy, as well as of their right to hold public positions, and were forbidden to enter Jerusalem except on one day of the year to mourn the destruction of the Temple. The Persian invasion of 614 was welcomed and aided by the Jews, who were inspired by messianic hopes of deliverance. In gratitude for their help, they were granted the administration of Jerusalem; this interlude, however, lasted only about three years. Subsequently, the Byzantine army reentered the city (629) and again expelled its Jewish population. Under Arab Rule (636-1099) The Arab conquest of the Land came four years after the death of Muhammad (632) and lasted more than four centuries, with caliphs ruling first from Damascus, then from Baghdad and Egypt. At the outset of Islamic rule, Jewish settlement in Jerusalem was resumed, and the Jewish community was granted permission to live under "protection," the customary status of non-Muslims under Islamic rule, which safeguarded their lives, property and freedom of worship in return for payment of special poll and land taxes. However,the subsequent introduction of restrictions against non-Muslims (717) affected the Jews' public conduct, religious observances and legal status, while the imposition of heavy taxes on agricultural land compelled most of them to leave their rural communities and move to towns, where their circumstances hardly improved. Increasing social and economic discrimination forced many Jews to leave the country, so that by the end of the 11th century, the Jewish community in the Land had diminished considerably and had lost some of its organizational and religious cohesiveness. The Crusader Period (1099-1291) For the next 200 years, the country was dominated by the Crusaders, who, following an appeal by Pope Urban II, came from Europe to recover the Holy Land from the infidels. In July 1099, after a five-week siege, the knights of the First Crusade captured Jerusalem and established the Latin Kingdom. Most of the city's non-Christian inhabitants were massacred; barricaded in their synagogue, the Jews defended their quarter, only to be burnt to death or sold into slavery. During the next few decades, the Crusaders extended their power over the rest of the country, through treaties and agreements, but mostly by bloody military conquests. The Crusader kingdom was that of a conquering minority confined mainly to fortified cities and castles. Thus, although the Land was under Christian domination, it did not become a Christian country. Once the Crusaders opened up transportation routes from Europe, pilgrimages to the Holy Land became popular and, concurrently, increasing numbers of Jews sought to return to their ancient homeland. Documents of the period indicate that 300 rabbis from France and England arrived in a group, with some settling in Akko (Acre), others in Jerusalem. When the Crusaders were overthrown by Saladin the Kurd (1187), the Jews were again accorded a certain measure of freedom, including the right to resettle in Jerusalem. Although the Crusaders eventually regained control of most of the country after Saladin's death (1193), their presence was limited to a network of fortified castles. A final defeat (1291) by the Mamluks, a Muslim military class which had come to power in Egypt, put an end to Crusader domination of the Land. Under Mamluk Rule (1291-1516) The Land under the Mamluks became a backwater province ruled from Damascus. Akko, Yafo and other ports were destroyed for fear of new crusades, and international commerce was interrupted. By the end of the Middle Ages, the country's urban centers were virtually in ruins, most of Jerusalem was abandoned and the small Jewish community was poverty-stricken. The period of Mamluk decline was darkened by political and economic upheavals, plagues, locust invasions and devastating earthquakes. Under Ottoman Rule (1517-1917) For the next four centuries the Land of Israel was ruled from Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks. It was divided into four districts and attached administratively to the province of Damascus. At the outset of the Ottoman era, an estimated 1,000 Jewish families lived in the country, residing mainly in Jerusalem, Nablus, Hebron, Gaza, Safad and the villages of Galilee. The community was comprised of descendants of Jews who had never left the Land as well as immigrants from North Africa and Europe. Orderly government, until the death of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magificent (1566), brought improvements and stimulated Jewish immigration. Some newcomers settled in Jerusalem, but the majority went to Safad where, by mid-16th century, the Jewish population had risen to about 10,000, and the town had become a thriving textile center as well as the focus of intense intellectual activity. During this period, the study of the Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) flourished, and contemporary clarifications of Jewish law, as codified in the Shulhan Arukh, spread throughout the Diaspora from the study houses of Safad. With a gradual decline in the quality of Turkish rule, the country was brought to a state of widespread neglect. By the end of the 18th century, much of the land was owned by absentee landlords and leased to impoverished tenant farmers. Taxation was as crippling as it was capricious. The great forests of Galilee and the Carmel mountain range were denuded of trees; swamp and desert encroached on agricultural land. The 19th century saw medieval backwardness gradually giving way to the first signs of Western progress. The European powers jockeyed for position, often through missionary activities. British, American and French scholars launched studies of biblical geography and archaeology; Britain, France, Russia, Austria and the United States opened consulates in Jerusalem. Steamships began to travel regularly between the Land and Europe; postal and telegraphic connections were installed; the first road was built connecting Jerusalem and Yafo. The Land's rebirth as a traditional crossroads of three continents was accelerated by the opening of the Suez Canal. Consequently, the condition of the country's Jews slowly improved, and their numbers substantially increased. By mid-century, overcrowded conditions within the walled city of Jerusalem motivated the Jews to build the first Jewish suburb outside the walls (1860) and, during the next quarter century, to add seven more, forming the nucleus of the New City; by 1880, Jerusalem had an overall Jewish majority. Land for farming was purchased throughout the country; new rural settlements were set up; and the Hebrew language, long restricted to liturgy and literature, was revived. The stage was being set for the founding of the Zionist movement. Zionism is derived from the word Zion, the traditional synonym for Jerusalem and the Land of Israel. The idea of Zionism the redemption of the Jewish people in its ancestral homeland is rooted in the continuous longing and deep attachment to the Land of Israel which have been an inherent part of Jewish existence in the Diaspora throughout the centuries. Political Zionism emerged in response to continued oppression and persecution of Jews in Eastern Europe and increasing disillusionment with the formal emancipation in Western Europe, which had neither put an end to discrimination nor led to the integration of Jews into their local societies. It found formal expression in the establishment of the Zionist Organization (1897) at the first Zionist Congress, convened by Theodor Herzl in Basel, Switzerland. The Zionist movement's program contained both ideological and practical elements aimed at facilitating and promoting the return of Jews to the Land; carrying out the social, cultural, economic and political revival of Jewish national life; and attaining an internationally recognized, legally secured home for the Jewish people in its historic homeland, where Jews would be free from persecution and able to develop their own lives and identity. Inspired by Zionist ideology, two major influxes of Jews from Eastern Europe arrived in the country at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. Resolved to restore their homeland by working the soil, these pioneers reclaimed barren fields from centuries of neglect, built new settlements and laid the foundations of what would later become a thriving agricultural economy. The new arrivals faced extremely harsh conditions: The attitude of the Ottoman administration was hostile and oppressive; communications and transportation were still rudimentary and insecure; swamps bred deadly malaria; and the soil itself suffered from centuries of neglect. Land purchases were restricted and construction was banned without a special permit, obtainable only in Constantinople. These and similar difficulties hampered the country's development but did not stop it. At the outbreak of World War I (1914), the Jewish population in the Land numbered 85,000, as compared to 5,000 in the early 1500s. In December 1917, British forces under the command of General Allenby entered Jerusalem, ending four centuries of Ottoman rule. Included in the British army were three battalions of the Jewish Legion, comprising thousands of Jewish volunteers. Under British Rule (1918-1948) In July 1922, the League of Nations entrusted Great Britain with the Mandate for Palestine and called upon it to facilitate the establishment of a Jewish National Home in recognition of "the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine." Britain (1922) excluded Transjordan, three quarters of the territory of the Mandate, from the applicability of the articles relating to the Jewish National Home. Thus the area (today the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan) was closed to Jewish settlement, leaving only the part west of the Jordan for the Jewish National Home. Immigration Motivated by Zionism and encouraged by British "sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations," as communicated by Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour (1917), successive waves of immigrants arrived between 1919 and 1939, each contributing to different aspects of the developing Jewish community. Some 35,000 who came between 1919 and 1923, mainly from Russia, strongly influenced the community's character and organization for years to come. These pioneers laid the foundations of a comprehensive social and economic infrastructure, developed agriculture, established kibbutzim and moshavim, and provided the labor force for the construction of housing and roads. The next influx between 1924 and 1932 of some 60,000 people, primarily from Poland, was instrumental in developing and enriching urban life. These immigrants settled mainly in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem, where they established small businesses, building firms and light industry. The last major wave of immigration before World War II took place in the 1930s, following Hitler's rise to power, and comprised some 165,000 people, mostly from Germany. The newcomers, many of whom were professionals and academics, constituted the first large-scale influx from Western and Central Europe. Their education, skills and experience raised business standards, improved urban and rural amenities and broadened the community's cultural life. Administration The British Mandate authorities granted the Jewish and Arab communities the right to run their own internal affairs. Utilizing this right, the Jewish community elected (1920) a self-governing body based on party representation. The "Assembly of the Elected," as it was called, met yearly to review its activities and elect an executive board, the National Council, which implemented its policies and programs. Financed by local resources and funds raised by world Jewry, these bodies developed and maintained a countrywide network of educational, religious, health and social services for the Jewish population. In 1922, as stipulated in the British Mandate, a "Jewish Agency" was constituted to represent the Jewish people vis-a-vis the British authorities, foreign governments and international organizations. Economic Development During the three decades of the British Mandate, development of the country gained momentum. Agriculture expanded considerably; factories were established; the waters of the Jordan River were harnessed for the production of electric power; new roads were built throughout the country; and the Dead Sea's mineral potential was tapped. The Histadrut-General Federation of Labor was founded (1920) to advance workers' welfare and provide employment by setting up cooperatively- owned enterprises in the industrial sector and marketing services for the communal agricultural settlements. Culture Day by day, a cultural life was emerging which would become unique to the Jewish community in the Land of Israel. Activities in art, music and dance developed gradually with the establishment of professional schools and studios. Galleries and halls were set up to provide venues for exhibitions and performances attended by a discriminating public. The opening of a new play, the appearance of a new book or a retrospective show by a local painter were all scrutinized in the press and immediately became the subject of discussion in coffee shops and at social gatherings. The Hebrew language was recognized as one of the three official languages of the country, alongside English and Arabic, and was used on documents, coins and stamps, and on the radio. Publishing proliferated, and the country emerged at this time as the dominant center of Hebrew literary activity. Theaters of all styles and genres opened their doors to enthusiastic audiences, accompanied by first attempts to write original Hebrew plays. Arab Opposition and British Restrictions The Jewish national revival and the efforts of the Jewish community to rebuild the country were opposed from the outset by extreme Arab nationalists. Their strong resentment erupted in periods of intense violence in 1920, 1921, 1929 and 1936-1939 when Jewish transport was harassed, fields and forests set on fire, and unprovoked attacks launched against Jewish population centers and individuals. Attempts to reach a dialogue with the Arabs, undertaken early in the Zionist endeavor, were ultimately unsuccessful. Henceforth, Zionism and Arab nationalism were polarized into apotentially explosive situation. Recognizing the opposing aims of the two national movements, the British, who had already once partitioned the territory under the Mandate (1922), recommended a further partition (1937), dividing the land west of the Jordan River into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. The Jewish leadership accepted the idea of partition and empowered the Jewish Agency to negotiate with the British government in an effort to reformulate aspects of the proposal. The Arabs were uncompromisingly opposed to any partition plan. Underground Movements: Three Jewish underground movements operated during the British Mandate period. The largest, the Haganah (est. 1920), was founded by the official body of the Jewish community as a self-defense organization to safeguard the security of the Jewish population. From the mid-1930s, it also retaliated for Arab attacks and responded to British restrictions on Jewish immigration with mass demonstrations and sabotage. The Etzel (est. 1931) rejected the self-restraint imposed by the Jewish leadership on the Haganah and initiated independent actions against both Arab and British targets. The smallest and most militant group, the Lehi, motivated mainly by its anti-British attitude, split (1940) from the Etzel because of the Etzel's acceptance of the Jewish community's ban on all armed underground activities during World War II. The three organizations were disbanded after the establishment of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in May 1948. Continuing large-scale Arab anti-Jewish riots led Britain (May 1939) to issue a White Paper imposing drastic restrictions on Jewish immigration, despite its consequence of denying European Jewry a place of refuge from Nazi persecution. This policy caused David Ben-Gurion, later Israel's first prime minister, to declare after the start of World War II: "We will fight the war as if there were no White Paper, and the White Paper as if there were no war." During the war, some 26,000 men and women of the Jewish community volunteered to join the Allied effort against the Nazi regime, serving under British command in many regiments in the army, air force and navy, as well as in the Jewish Brigade. The Jewish Brigade was formed (September 1944) as an independent Jewish military unit of the British army, with its own flag and emblem, following a prolonged effort by the Jewish community in the Land of Israel and the Zionist movement abroad to achieve recognized participation of the Jewish people in the war against the Nazis. Comprised of some 5,000 men, the Brigade saw action in Egypt, northern Italy and northwest Europe. The Holocaust During World War II (1939-1945), the Nazi regime deliberately and systematically carried out a detailed master plan to liquidate the European Jewish community, in the course of which it murdered some six million Jews, including 1.5 million children. As the Nazi German armies swept through Europe, the Jews were savagely persecuted, subjected to every conceivable pain and humiliation, and herded into ghettos, where sporadic attempts at armed resistance led to even harsher measures. From the ghettos, they were transported to camps and murdered in mass shootings or in gas chambers. Not many managed to escape the Holocaust; a few fled to other countries, some survived as partisans and others were hidden by non-Jews who did so at the risk of their own lives. Consequently, only one third, including those who had left Europe before the war, survived out of a population of almost nine million, in what were once among the most vibrant Jewish communities in the world. After the war, the British intensified their restrictions on the number of Jews permitted to come and settle in the Land. The Jewish community responded by instituting a wide network of "illegal immigration" activities; between 1945 and 1948 some 85,000 displaced persons who had survived the Holocaust were brought to the Land by secret, often dangerous routes. The British set up a naval blockade and border patrols to intercept the refugees before they reached the country and interred those they caught in detention camps on the island of Cyprus. Road to Independence The inability of Britain to reconcile the conflicting demands of the Jewish and Arab communities led the British government (April 1947) to request that the "Question of Palestine" be placed on the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly. Subsequently, a special committee was constituted to prepare proposals concerning the country's future. The Assembly voted (29 November 1947) to adopt the committee's recommendations for the establishment of two states in the area west of the Jordan River, one Jewish and one Arab. The Jewish community accepted the partition plan; the Arabs rejected it. Following the UN vote, local Arab militants, aided mainly by irregular volunteers from Arab countries, launched violent attacks against the Jewish community in an effort to frustrate the partition resolution and prevent the establishment of the Jewish state. After suffering a number of setbacks, the Jewish defense organizations routed most of the attacking forces, taking hold of the entire area which had been allotted to the Jewish state. When the British Mandate over Palestine (Land of Israel) ended (14 May 1948), the Jewish population in the Land numbered some 650,000, comprising an organized community with well-developed political, social and economic institutions. What had been built was a nation in every sense and, indeed, a state in everything but name. The State of Israel Independence Regained The State of Israel was proclaimed on 14 May 1948. Less than 24 hours later, the regular armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq invaded the country, forcing Israel to defend the sovereignty it had regained in its ancestral homeland and which had been recognized by the international community. In what became known as the War of Independence, the newly formed, poorly equipped Israel Defense Forces (IDF) repulsed the invaders in fierce intermittent fighting, which lasted for some 15 months, claiming over 6,000 Israeli lives (nearly one percent of the country's total Jewish population at the time). During the first few months of 1949, direct negotiations were conducted under UN auspices between Israel and each of the invading countries (except Iraq which refused to negotiate with Israel), resulting in armistice agreements which reflected the situation at the end of the fighting. Accordingly, the coastal plain, Galilee and the entire Negev were within Israel's sovereignty, Judea and Samaria came under Jordanian rule, the Gaza Strip under Egyptian administration and the city of Jerusalem was divided, with Jordan controlling the eastern part, including the Old City, and Israel the western sector. State-Building With the war over, Israel focused its efforts on building the state which it had struggled so long and so hard to regain. The first 120-seat Knesset (Israel's parliament) went into session following national elections (25 January 1949) in which nearly 85 percent of all eligible voters cast their ballots. Two of the people who had led Israel to statehood became the country's leaders: David Ben-Gurion, head of the Jewish Agency, was chosen as the first prime minister, and Chaim Weizmann, head of the World Zionist Organization, was elected by the Knesset as the first president. On 11 May 1949, Israel took its seat as the 59th member of the United Nations. Affirming the right of every Jew to live in Israel and following a generation-long struggle for unlimited Jewish immigration, the gates of the country were thrown open. In the first four months of independence, some 50,000 newcomers, mainly Holocaust survivors, reached Israel's shores; by the end of 1951, a total of 687,000 had arrived, over 300,000 of them refugees from Arab lands, thus doubling the Jewish population. The number of Arabs in the country dropped, as nearly 600,000 had left during the War of Independence and only about 167,000 chose to stay or had returned under a family reunification program. With the arrival of a further 300,000 Jews from Arab countries over the next few years, a virtual exchange of populations was effected between Jews from Arab lands and Arabs from Israel. The economic strain caused by the War of Independence and the need to provide for a rapidly growing population required austerity at home and financial aid from abroad. Assistance extended by the United States government, loans from American banks, contributions of Diaspora Jews and postwar German reparations were all used to build housing, mechanize agriculture, set up a merchant fleet and a national airline, exploit available minerals, develop industries and expand roads, telecommunications and electricity networks. Towards the end of the country's first decade the output of industry doubled, as did the number of employed persons, with industrial exports increasing fourfold. The vast expansion of agriculture had brought about self-sufficiency in the supply of all basic food products except meat and grains, and the area under cultivation increased dramatically. Some 50,000 acres (20,000 hectares) of mostly barren land were afforested, and trees were planted along almost 500 miles (800 km.) of highway. The educational system, which had been developed by the Jewish community in the pre-state period and now included the Arab sector, was greatly expanded. School attendance became free and compulsory for all children aged 5-14 (since 1978, it has been mandatory to age 16 and free to age 18). Cultural and artistic activity flourished, blending Middle Eastern, North African and Western elements, as Jews arriving from all parts of the world brought with them the unique traditions of their own communities as well as aspects of the culture prevailing in the countries where they had lived for generations. When Israel celebrated its tenth anniversary, the population numbered over 2,000,000. 1956 Sinai Campaign These years of state-building, however, were overshadowed by serious security problems. The 1949 armistice agreements had not only failed to pave the way to permanent peace as originally intended, but were also constantly violated. In contradiction to the UN Security Council's resolution of 1 September 1951, Israeli and Israel-bound shipping was prevented from passing through the Suez Canal; the blockade of the Straits of Tiran was tightened; incursions of terrorist squads into Israel from the neighboring Arab countries for murder and sabotage occurred with increasing frequency; and the Sinai peninsula was gradually converted into a huge Egyptian military base. Upon the signing of a tripartite military alliance by Egypt, Syria and Jordan (October 1956), the imminent threat to Israel's existence was intensified. In the course of an eight-day campaign the Israel Defense Forces captured the Gaza Strip and the entire Sinai peninsula, halting 10 miles (16 km.) east of the Suez Canal. A United Nations decision to station a UN Emergency Force (UNEF) along the Egypt-Israel border and Egyptian assurances of free navigation in the Gulf of Eilat led Israel to agree to withdraw in stages (November 1956 - March 1957) from the areas taken a few weeks earlier. Consequently, the Straits of Tiran were opened, enabling the country to develop trade with Asian and East African countries as well as to import oil from the Persian Gulf. Years of Consolidation During the country's second decade (1958-68), emphasis was placed on relations with the rest of the world. Exports doubled and the GNP increased some 10 percent annually. Israel now manufactured such previously imported items as paper, tires, radios and refrigerators, but the most rapid growth took place in the newly-established branches of metals, machinery, chemicals and electronics. Since the domestic market for locally grown food was fast approaching the saturation point, the agricultural sector began to grow a larger variety of crops for the food processing industry as well as fresh produce for export. To handle the greatly increased volume of trade, a deepwater port was built on the Mediterranean coast at Ashdod, in addition to the existing one at Haifa. Foreign relations expanded steadily, as close ties were developed with the United States, the British Commonwealth countries, most West European states and nearly all the countries of Latin America and Africa. The decade was marked by extensive programs of cooperation, as hundreds of Israeli physicians, engineers, teachers, agronomists, irrigation experts and youth organizers shared their knowhow and experience with people in other developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The Eichmann Trial: On 23 May 1960, Adolf Eichmann, one of the main organizers of the Nazi extermination program during World War II, was brought to Israel to stand trial under the Nazis and Nazi Collaborators (Punishment) Law, 1950. In the trial, which opened in April 1961, Eichmann was found guilty of crimes against humanity and the Jewish people, and was sentenced to death. After the rejection of his appeal to the Supreme Court, he was hanged on 30 May 1962. It was the only time that the death penalty has been carried out under Israeli law. In 1965, Israel exchanged ambassadors with the Federal Republic of Germany, a move which had been delayed until then because of the bitter memories held by the Jewish people of the crimes committed against them during the Nazi regime (1933-45). Vehement opposition and public debate preceded normalization of relations between the two countries. In Jerusalem, a permanent home for the Knesset was built, and facilities for the Hadassah Medical Center and the Hebrew University were constructed on alternate sites to replace the original buildings on Mount Scopus, which had to be abandoned after the War of Independence. Concurrently, the Israel Museum was established with the aim of collecting, conserving, studying and exhibiting the cultural and artistic treasures of the Jewish people. 1967 Six-Day War The prospect of another decade of relative tranquillity became increasingly remote with the escalation of Arab terrorist raids across the Egyptian and Jordanian borders, persistent Syrian artillery bombardment of agricultural settlements in northern Galilee and massive military build-ups by the neighboring Arab states. When Egypt again moved large numbers of troops into the Sinai Desert (May 1967), ordered the UN peacekeeping forces (deployed since 1957) out of the area, reimposed the blockade of the Straits of Tiran and entered into a military alliance with Jordan, Israel found itself faced by hostile Arab armies on all fronts. Having failed to restore the arrangements agreed upon following the 1956 Sinai Campaign, Israel invoked its inherent right of self defense, launching (5 June 1967) a preemptive strike against Egypt in the south, followed by a counterattack against Jordan in the east and the routing of Syrian forces entrenched on the Golan Heights in the north. At the end of six days of fighting, the previous ceasefire lines were replaced by new ones, with Judea, Samaria, Gaza, the Sinai peninsula and the Golan Heights under Israel's control. Consequently, the northern villages were freed from 19 years of recurrent Syrian bombardment; the passage of Israeli and Israel-bound shipping through the Straits of Tiran was ensured, and Jerusalem, which had been divided between Israel and Jordan since 1949, was reunified. From War to War Israel's diplomatic challenge in the summer of 1967 was to translate its military gains into a permanent peace, based on UN Security Council Resolution 242, which called for, inter alia, "acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every state in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." The Arab position, however, as formulated at the Khartoum Summit Conference (August 1967), called for "no peace with Israel, no negotiations with Israel and no recognition of Israel." In September 1968, Egypt initiated a "war of attrition," with sporadic, static actions along the banks of the Suez Canal, which gradually escalated into full-scale, localized fighting, causing heavy casualties on both sides. Hostilities ended in the summer of 1970 when Egypt and Israel accepted a renewed ceasefire along the Suez Canal. 1973 Yom Kippur War Three years of relative calm along the borders were shattered on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement, the holiest day in the Jewish year), when Egypt and Syria launched a coordinated surprise assault against Israel, (6 October 1973) with the Egyptian army crossing the Suez Canal and Syrian troops penetrating the Golan Heights. During the next three weeks, the Israel Defense Forces turned the tide of battle and repulsed the attackers, crossing the Suez Canal into Egypt and advancing to within 20 miles (32 km) of the Syrian capital, Damascus. In the following two years, disengagement-of-forces agreements between Israel and Egypt and between Israel and Syria were signed, according to which Israel withdrew from parts of the territories captured during the war. From War to Peace While the October 1973 war cost Israel a year's GNP, by the second half of 1974 the economy had returned to the level of growth and industrial expansion which had marked the period of economic recovery between 1968-73. Foreign investments grew considerably and, with Israel becoming an associate member of the European Common Market in 1975, new potential markets were opened up to Israeli goods. Tourism began to rise, and by the end of the country's third decade, the annual number of visitors passed the one million mark. The 1977 Knesset elections brought the Likud bloc, a coalition of liberal and centrist parties, to power, ending almost three decades of Labor Party dominance. Upon taking office, the new prime minister, Menachem Begin, reiterated the commitment of all previous prime ministers to work for permanent peace in the region and called upon the Arab leaders to come to the negotiating table. The cycle of constant Arab rejections of Israel's appeals for peace was broken with the visit of Egypt's President Anwar Sadat to Jerusalem in November 1977, thus making Egypt the first Arab country to accept Israel's hand in peace, extended since 1948. This breakthrough was followed by a complex negotiating process which culminated in a summit meeting of the leaders of Egypt and Israel, hosted by American President Jimmy Carter at Camp David in September 1978. A framework for peace, the Camp David Accords, was hammered out, which was intended to serve as a basis for peace not only between Israel and Egypt, but also between Israel and each of its other Arab neighbors. In addition, the Accords include a detailed proposal for negotiating the status of Judea, Samaria and Gaza (areas administered by Israel since 1967) and their inhabitants.Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty on the lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. (26 March 1979). President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for this accomplishment, which brought the 30 year state of war between their two countries to an end. Israel entered the 1980s with hopes for a decade of peace and the beginning of a dialogue with its other Arab neighbors. The year 1981 witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on strategic cooperation with the United States, which laid the groundwork for intensified collaboration between the two countries, and the destruction by the Israel Air Force of Iraq's atomic reactor just weeks before it would have become critical, thus removing the threat of nuclear obliteration. In the same decade, some of the African nations, which had severed ties with Israel as a result of Arab pressure during the 1973 oil crisis, restored contacts which gave renewed momentum to reciprocal economic relations, scientific and technical assistance, as well as to reestablishing formal diplomatic ties. In accordance with the terms of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty, Israel completed its withdrawal from the Sinai peninsula (April 1982), exchanging former ceasefire lines and armistice agreements for mutually recognized international boundaries. 1982 Operation Peace for Galilee The armistice line with Lebanon, established after the 1948 War of Independence, has never been challenged by either side. However, when confronted by repeated shellings, rocket attacks and acts of terror perpetrated by the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) from its strongholds in southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) crossed the border (June 1982) into Lebanon. "Operation Peace for Galilee" resulted in the removal from the area of the bulk of the PLO's organizational and military infrastructure, which had been imposed on southern Lebanon following the PLO's expulsion from Jordan (1970). The operation achieved its objective within a few weeks, thereby ending a decade in which thousands of Israelis had been killed and wounded and many more thousands constantly endangered. However, the instability of the Lebanese government left Israel no option but to maintain a strong Israeli presence in the region for an additional period of time. By early 1985, most IDF units were recalled from Lebanon, leaving only a limited number of troops in an area adjacent to Israel's border designated as a security zone. Domestic Challenges In the 1984 Knesset elections, the division of votes between the country's many parties gave none a plurality and led to the formation of a national unity government made up of the two major political blocs, Likud and Labor. The new government acted to control the country's spiralling inflation, which had risen to over 400 percent per year. Economic measures, including across-the-board cuts of government expenditures, as well as a freeze on wages and the exchange rate, effectively lowered the rate of inflation to 19 percent by 1986. Attention was then directed to facilitating economic growth. The Free Trade Area Agreement signed with the United States (1985) further enhanced Israel's international trade position. Since 1989, a mass wave of immigration, notably of Jews from the Soviet Union and Ethiopia, has poured into the country, highlighting Israel's historic role as the homeland for the Jewish people. The successful absorption of the newcomers into all facets of the country's life is considered one of the main challenges facing Israeli society as it approaches the year 2000. The Peace Process In late 1987, widespread violent riots (intifada) broke out in Judea, Samaria and Gaza (areas administered by Israel since 1967) in opposition to Israel's control of these areas. Believing that the final political status of the inhabitants of these areas should be determined within the framework of an overall Middle East peace settlement, Israel presented (1989) a peace initiative calling for the termination of the state of war with the Arab states; a solution for the Palestinian Arabs of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, to be negotiated with freely elected representatives of the Palestinian Arab inhabitants of these areas; peace with Jordan; and the resolution of the problem of the residents of Palestinian refugee camps in Judea, Samaria and Gaza through international efforts. The guidelines of the new government formed in the spring of 1990 gave top priority to the peace initiative. Following months of shuttle diplomacy by U.S. Secretary of State James Baker, a Middle East peace conference was convened in Madrid on 30 October 1991, under American and Soviet auspices, with the participation of delegations from Israel, Lebanon and Syria and a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation. In his address to the conference, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir stated, "Let us declare an end to war, to belligerency and to hostility. Let us march forward together, to reconciliation and peace." The formal proceedings were followed by bilateral negotiations between the parties and by multilateral talks addressing regional concerns. Archeology Archaeology in Israel has provided a valuable link between the country's present and past, with thousands of years of history unearthed at some 3,500 sites. Many finds attest to the long connection of the Jewish people with the Land of Israel, including Solomon's stables at Megiddo (Jezreel Valley), houses of the Israelite period in the City of David (Jerusalem), ritual baths at Masada, numerous synagogues and the Dead Sea scrolls, containing the earliest extant copy of the Book of Isaiah in still-readable Hebrew script. Excavations have also revealed vestiges of other civilizations which left their imprint on the Land over the centuries. All finds are recorded, and historical sites are carefully preserved and marked, for scholar and visitor alike. HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS (BCE - Before the Common Era) c. 17th century The Patriarchs c. 13th century Exodus from Egypt 13th-12th centuries Israelite settlement of Land of Israel c. 1020 Monarchy established: Saul, first king c. 1000 Jerusalem made capital of David's kingdom c. 960 First Temple, the national and spiritual center of the Jewish people, built in Jerusalem by King Solomon c. 930 Kingdom divided in two: Judah and Israel 722-720 Israel crushed by Assyrians; 10 tribes exiled (the "Ten Lost Tribes") 586 Judah conquered by Babylonia; Jerusalem and First Temple destroyed; Jews exiled to Babylonia 538-142 Persian and Hellenistic periods 538-515 First Return from Babylon; Temple rebuilt mid-5th century Second Return: Ezra and Nehemiah 332 Land conquered by Alexander the Great; Hellenistic rule 166-160 Maccabean (Hasmonean) Revolt 142-129 Jewish autonomy under Hasmonean dynasty 129-63 Jewish independence in Hasmonean kingdom 63 Pompey at head of Roman army takes Jerusalem 63 BCE-313 CE Roman rule (CE - The Common Era) 37 BCE - 4 CE King Herod 66 Jewish revolt against Rome 70 Destruction of Jerusalem and Second Temple 73 Last stand of Jews at Masada 132-135 Bar Kokhba uprising against Rome c. 210 Mishnah completed (codification of Oral Law) 313-636 Byzantine rule c. 390 Completion of Jerusalem Talmud (commentary on the Mishnah) 614 Persian invasion 636-1099 Arab rule 1099-1291 Crusader domination; Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem 1291-1516 Mamluk rule 1517-1917 Ottoman rule 1564 Publication of Shulhan Arukh (code of Jewish law) 1860 First neighborhood, Mishkenot Sha'ananim, built outside Jerusalem's walls 1882-1903 First Aliya (large-scale immigration) from Russia 1897 First Zionist Congress convened by Theodor Herzl in Basel, Switzerland; Zionist Organization founded 1904-14 Second Aliya, mainly from Russia and Poland 1909 Degania, first kibbutz, and Tel Aviv, first modern all-Jewish city, founded 1917 British end 400 years of Ottoman rule in the Land; Balfour Declaration pledges British support for establishment of a "Jewish national home in Palestine" 1918-48 British rule 1919-23 Third Aliya, mainly from Russia 1920 Histadrut (Jewish labor federation), and Haganah, (Jewish defense organization) founded Arabs mount anti-Jewish riots Jewish community sets up National Council (Vaad Leumi) to conduct its affairs 1921 First moshav, Nahalal, founded 1922 Britain granted Mandate for Palestine (Land of Israel) by League of Nations and charged with facilitating "Jewish immigration and settlement on the Land" British set up Transjordan east of the Jordan River; Jews barred from settling there Jewish Agency set up to represent Jewish community vis-a-vis Mandate authorities 1924 Technion-Israel Institute of Technology opens 1924-32 Fourth Aliya, mainly from Poland 1925 Hebrew University of Jerusalem opens on Mt. Scopus 1929 Hebron Jews massacred by Arab militants 1931 Etzel, Jewish underground organization, founded 1933-39 Fifth Aliya, mainly from Germany 1936-39 Arab militants launch anti-Jewish riots 1937 Peel Commission proposes division of country into Jewish and Arab states 1939 British White Paper limits Jewish immigration 1939-45 World War 11; Holocaust in Europe 1941 Lehi underground movement formed, split from Etzel; Palmach, strike force of Haganah, set up 1944 Jewish Brigade formed as part of British forces 1947 UN proposal calling for establishment of Arab and Jewish states in the Land 1948 British Mandate ends (14 May) State of Israel proclaimed (14 May) Israel invaded by five Arab states (15 May) War of Independence (May 1948-July 1949) Israel Defense Forces formed 1949 Armistice agreements signed with Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon (Iraq refuses) First Knesset elected Israel admitted to United Nations as 59th member 1948-52 Mass immigration from Europe and Arab countries 1950 Law of Return 1956 Sinai Campaign 1962 Adolf Eichmann executed in Israel for his part in the Holocaust after trial in preceding year 1964 National Water Carrier, bringing water from north to semi-arid south, completed 1967 Six-Day War, Jerusalem reunited 1968-70 War of Attrition 1973 Yom Kippur War 1975 Israel becomes associate member of European Common Market 1977 Likud comes to power, ending 30 years of Labor rule Egyptian President Sadat visits Jerusalem 1978 Camp David Accords signed; contain basis for settlement of Arab-Israel conflict 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty signed 1981 Memorandum of Understanding signed with United States Iraq's nuclear reactor destroyed by Israel Air Force 1982 Israel's withdrawal from Sinai completed Operation Peace for Galilee launched by Israel to put an end to PLO attacks from Lebanon 1984 National unity government formed 1985 Free Trade Zone Agreement signed with U.S. 1987 Palestinian uprising (intifada) begins 1988 Space satellite, Ofek 1, launched 1989 Four-point peace initiative proposed by Israel Mass immigration of Soviet Jews begins 1991 Saddam Hussein's Iraq attacks Israel with ground-to-ground missiles during Gulf war Under American and Soviet auspices, Middle East peace conference convenes in Madrid, with participation of Israeli, Syrian, Lebanese and Jordanian-Palestinian delegations. Bilateral and multilateral talks follow to promote peace and address regional concerns. 1992 Diplomatic relations established with China