History - Timeline of Jewish History - Modern Israel - 1960-1969

Date	Landmark Events
1960
18-Jan	Egypt announces USSR will finance second stage of Aswan High Dam.
20-Feb	Jordan opposes in Arab League creation of a Palestinian entity.
10-Mar	Ben-Gurion meets with President Eisenhower at White House.
26-Apr	Terrorists killed a resident of Ashkelon.
23-May	Adolf Eichmann is captured in Argentina by Israeli agents of the Mossad, who bring him to Israel for trial.
	Ben-Gurion announces in Knesset capture of Eichman
23-Jul	Shah declares that Iran recognizes Israel de facto. Egypt breaks its ties with Iran on July 25.
	Theodore Heuss is the first German president to visit Israel.
	Founding of the Jewish Reconstructionist movement (as a distinct denomination; Mordecai Kaplan): 1960s.
	Hadassah Hospital and Hebrew University Medical School is inaugurated at Ein Kerem, Jerusalem.
	Letters from the Bar Kochba archive are discovered in a dig in the Judean desert.

1961
	Operation Yachin bring Moroccan Jews to Israel.
11-Jan	The "Egoz," a ship bringing Morccan Jews to Israel - sinks.
16-Mar	IDF raids Syrian positions east of Sea of Galilee, following Syrian shelling.
9-Apr	Security Council condemns Israel for Galilee raid.
11-Apr	Eichman trial begins at Beit Ha'am in Jerusalem.
	Israel Beer, military historian and advisor to the Minister of Defense, is arrested for spying for the U.S.S.R. and is sentenced to 15 years in jail.
15-Aug	Elections for the Fifth Knesset.
September	Civil war in Yemen - Egypt and Saudi Arabia intervene.
28-Sep	Syrian military coup d'etat breaks up the UAR.
11-Dec	Eichman found guilty.
15-Dec	Eichman sentenced to death by hanging.

1962
12-Apr	Terrorists fired on an Egged bus on the way to Eilat; one passenger was wounded.
31-May	Adolf Eichmann is executed in Israel for his part in the Holocaust.
	President Ben-Zvi dies in office and Zalman Shazar is elected Israel's third president.
	Haifa University is opened.
	Archeological excavations begin at Masada, under the direction of Prof.Yigal Yadin.
	United States' sale of Hawk missiles to Israel is concluded.

1963
8-Feb	Pro-Egyptian Colonel Arif overthrows Qassim regime in Iraq
8-Mar	Officers group connected with Ba'ath party takes over power in Syria.
20-Mar	Knesset calls on West Germany to forbid its scientists to aid Egyptian missiles and arms development.
17-Apr	Egypt, Syria and Iraq agree on new federation; also call for liberation of Palestine.
23-Apr	President Yitzchak Ben-Tzvi dies.
21-May	Zalman Shazar is elected President .
16-Jun	David Ben-Gurion resigns as Prime Minister and Minister of Defense and retires. He is replaced by Levi Eshkol.
24-Jun	Prime Minister Levi Eshkol presents his government to the Knesset.
22-Jul	Nasser renounces Egypt's federation agreement with Syria and Iraq, and denounces Syria's Ba'ath party.
18-Nov	Military coup in Iraq; Arif becomes President.

1964
	Student Struggle for Soviet Union founded following U.S. march to protest Soviet anti-Jewish policies.
5-Jan	Pope Paul VI visits Israel.
14-Jan	United Arab Summit in Cairo establish Unified Military Commando to prepare for war against Israel.
28-May	The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is established in East Jerusalem.
June	National Water Carrier completed, begins operations, bringing water from Lake Kinneret in the north to the semi-arid south.
2-Jun	Eshkol ends two days of talks with President Johnson in White House.
9-Jul	Ze'ev Jabotinsky's remains are interred on Mt. Herzl.
September 5-11	Arab Summit conference in Alexandria agrees on measures to divert Jordan River headwaters.

1965
	President Lyndon B. Johnson signs into law the Immigration Act of 1965, abolishing the national origins quota system.
1-Jan	Palestinian terrorists attempted to bomb the National Water Carrier - the first attack carried out by the PLO's Fatah faction.
12-Feb	West Germany announces suspension of arms sales to Israel.
11-May	The Israel Museum in Jerusalem is founded as the country's national museum.
12-May

Israel and West Germany establish diplomatic relations.
18-May	Eli Cohen, an Israeli agent, is hanged in Damascus.
31-May	Jordanian Legionnaires fired on the neighborhood of Musara in Jerusalem, killing two civilians and wounding four.
1-Jun	Syria declares: Only solution for Palestine - elimination of Israel.
5-Jul	A Fatah cell planted explosives near Beit Guvrin, and on the railroad tracks to Jerusalem near Kfar Battir.
15-Jul	Chief of Staff Rabin says Israel has effectively deterred Arab States from diverting Jordan River headwaters.
	Teddy Kollek becomes Mayor of Jerusalem; he is re-elected six times and serves 28 years.
2-Nov	Elections for the Sixth Knesset.
29-Dec	U.S. confirms sale of tanks to Jordan.

1966
	The new Knesset building is inaugurated.
2-May	Konrad Adenauer visits Israel.
16-May	Two Israelis killed when their jeep hit a terrorist landmine in Northern Galilee. Tracks led into Syria.
18-May	Eshkol declares in Knesset Israel will not be first to introduce nuclear weapons to Middle East; calls for limitations on regional arms build-up.
19-May	U.S. confirms sale of jet fighters to Israel.
13-Jul	Two soldiers and 1 civilian killed when their truck struck a terrorist landmine near Almagor.
25-Jul	Serious clashes between Israel and Syria, followed by inconclusive Security Council debate.
4-Nov	Syria and Egypt sign mutual defence treaty providing for joint command.
14-Nov	Israel raids Samu village following incursions from Jordan.
	The Coca-Cola Company announces it will begin producing soft drinks in Israel in defiance of the the Arab Boycott.
10-Dec	Shmuel Yosef Agnon receives the Nobel Prize in Literature with another Jewish author, Nelly Sachs.

1967
January	Heavy fighting along Israel-Syria borders.
7-Apr	Israeli aircraft shoot down 7 Syrian Migs.
11-Apr	Security Council deplores Arab attacks on Israel.
14-May	Nasser declares alert in Egypt and bolsters his forces in Sinai.
15-May	Egyptian forces continue pouring into Sinai.
17-May	Egyptian President Nasser orders UN forces to evacuate the Gaza Strip and Sinai.
19-May	UN Emergency Force withdrawn at Egypt's request. Israel declares partial mobilization.
20-May	Partial mobilization of forces declared in Israel.
22-May	Egypt declares the Straits of Tiran closed to Israeli shipping.
23-May	Eshkol warns Egypt of gravity of blockade.
23-May	Security Council adjourns, having failed to take any action on Middle East crisis.
30-May	Egypt and Jordan sign mutual defence pact in Cairo.
1-Jun	National Unity Government formed; Moshe Dayan appointed Defense Minister.
5-Jun	Israeli air force attacks Egyptian, Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi air force bases, in pre-emptive strike; Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian air forces neutralized. IDF ground forces attack Egyptian forces in Sinai and the Gaza Strip. Eshol conveys message to Hussein through UN Chief of Staff inJerusalemJerusalem that Israel has no intentions of attacking Jordan. At 10:20 Jordan launches attack on Israel.Following Jordanian artillery and small arms attacks and a Jordanian incursion into the DMZ inJerusalemJerusalem, IDF forces commence operations against Jordanian military positions in Judea, Samaria, andJerusalem.
7-Jun	The Six-Day War reunites Jerusalem under Israeli control. IDF liberates Judea and Samaria.
8-Jun

IDF completes deployment in Sinai (including the Gaza Strip). Cease-fire declared with Egypt and Jordan.
9-Jun	IDF forces move against Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.
	President Nasser resigns, withdraws resignation some hours later.
10-Jun	IDF completes deployment in the Golan Heights; cease-fire declared with Syria. USSR and other East European nations, except Rumania, sever diplomatic ties with Israel.
12-Jun	Israel announces it will not withdraw to 1949 armistice lines before peace is achieved by direct negotiations.
19-Jun	President Johnson Outlines 5 point U.S. peace plan.
27-Jun	Knesset passes the Protection of Holy Places Law.
28-Jun	Israel proclaims unification of Jerusalem.
June-June	Draft resolutions denouncing Israel as aggressor, calling for evacuation of liberated territory are rejected by the General Assembly.
August	Arab summit in Khartoum state: No negotiations with Israel, no peace with Israel and no recognition of Israel.
	Open Bridges policy across the Jordan River bridges, for goods and people, is instituted.
1-Sep	Arab summit conference in Khartum proclaims policy of no peace, no recognition and no negotiations with Israel.
12-Oct	Sea-to-sea missiles fired from Egyptian missile boats sink Israeli destroyer "Eilat."
25-Oct	Israeli artillery destroys Egyptian oil refineries in Suez.
22-Nov	UN General Assembly Resolution 242 is adopted.
	Ben Gurion University of the Negev is opened.

1968
	Egypt's War of Attrition against Israel: 1968-70.
	Polish government outlaws Jewish language and institutions.
27-Jan	Submarine Dakar disappears at sea.
7-Feb	Eshkol ends two days of talks with President Johnson in Texas.
12-Mar	Nasser proclaims three stage doctrine of struggle against Israel.


Israeli army attack on PLO base at Karameh, Jordan.
26-May	First Jerusalem Day celebrated.
22-Jun	Prime Minister Levi Eshkol declares that the Jordan River is Israel's security border.
	Labor party is formed from the union of Mapai, Ahdut Ha'avodah and Rafi.
17-Jul

PLO's Palestinian National Council adopt covenant calling for Israel's destruction.
22-Jul	The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) carries out the first hijacking, diverting an El Al flight to Algiers. 32 Jewish passengers were held hostage for 5 weeks.
4-Sep	One killed and seventy-one wounded by three bombs that exploded in Tel Aviv.
October

Hijacking for El Al aircraft en route to Algeria.
8-Oct	Foreign Minister Eban offers nine point peace plan at UN General Assembly. Egypt rejects plan and demands that Ambassador Jarring work out a timetable for Israeli withdrawl from disputed areas.
27-Oct	Fighting breaks out again