ប្រវត្តិសាស្ត្រអ៊ីស្រាអែល៖ ភាពខុសគ្នារវាងកំណែនានា

ខ្លឹមសារដែលបានលុបចោល ខ្លឹមសារដែលបានសរសេរបន្ថែម
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ជម្រះខ្លឹមសារជាភាសាផ្សេង
បន្ទាត់ទី១៖
[[អ៊ីស្រាអែល]]ទំនើបទំនងជាស្ថិតនៅស្ថានីយ៍នៃបណ្ដារាជាណាចក្រអ៊ីស្រាអែល និង យូដាបុរាណ។ តំបន់នេះ (ក៏ត្រូវបានគេស្គាល់ថាជាដែនដីនៃអ៊ីស្រាអែល និង ប៉ាលេស្ទីនផងដែរ) ជាទីកំណើតនៃភាសាអេប្រឺ ជាទីដែលគម្ពីរប៊ីបភាសាអេប្រឺត្រូវបានចងក្រងឡើង ហើយក៏ជាទីកំណើតនៃយូដាសាសនា និង [[គ្រិស្តសាសនា]]ផងដែរ។ ទីនោះមានទីស្ថានជាច្រើនដែលបូជាធ្វើពិធីគោរពដល់យូដាសាសនា [[គ្រិស្តសាសនា]] ឥស្លាមសាសនា សាម៉ាសាសនា និង ជំនឿបាហា។
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{{ប្រវត្តិសាស្ត្រអ៊ីស្រាអែល}}
[[អ៊ីស្រាអែល]]ទំនើបទំនងជាស្ថិតនៅស្ថានីយ៍នៃ[[ប្រវត្តិសាស្ត្រអ៊ីស្រាអែលនិងយូដាបុរាណ|បណ្ដារាជាណាចក្រអ៊ីស្រាអែល និង យូដាបុរាណ]]។ តំបន់នេះ (ក៏ត្រូវបានគេស្គាល់ថាជា[[ដែនដីនៃអ៊ីស្រាអែល]] និង [[ប៉ាលេស្ទីន (តំបន់)|ប៉ាលេស្ទីន]]ផងដែរ) ជាទីកំណើតនៃភាសាអេប្រឺ ជាទីដែលគម្ពីរប៊ីបភាសាអេប្រឺត្រូវបានចងក្រងឡើង ហើយក៏ជាទីកំណើតនៃ[[យូដាសាសនា]] និង [[គ្រិស្តសាសនា]]ផងដែរ។ ទីនោះមានទីស្ថានជាច្រើនដែលបូជាធ្វើពិធីគោរពដល់[[យូដាសាសនា]] [[គ្រិស្តសាសនា]] [[ឥស្លាមសាសនា]] [[សាម៉ាសាសនា]] និង [[ជំនឿបាហា]]។
 
[[ដែនដីអ៊ីស្រាអែល]]ស្ថិតនៅក្រោមឥទ្ធិពលនៃចក្រភពផ្សេងៗដែនដីអ៊ីស្រាអែលស្ថិតនៅក្រោមឥទ្ធិពលនៃចក្រភពផ្សេងៗ និង ជាស្រុកកំណើតនៃជនជាតិផ្សេងៗ ក៏ប៉ុន្តែជនជាតិ[[ជ្វីប]]មានច្រើនលើសលុបជាងគេចាប់ពីប្រហែលក៏ប៉ុន្តែជនជាតិជ្វីបមានច្រើនលើសលុបជាងគេចាប់ពីប្រហែល ១០០០ ឆ្នាំ [[មុនគ្រិស្តសករាជ]] (មុ.គ.) រហូតដល់សតវត្សទី៣ នៃគ្រិស្តសករាជ (គ.ស.)។<ref>"The Chosen Few : How Education Shaped Jewish History, 70 - 1492, by Botticini and Eckstein, Chapter 1, especially page 17, Princeton 2012"</ref>
 
ការកាន់គ្រិស្តសាសនាដោយ[[ចក្រភពរ៉ូម]]នៅសតវត្សទី៤បាននាំអោយទឹកដីភាគច្រើនជាទឹកដីគ្រិស្តសាសនាដែលអូសបន្លាយរហូតដល់សតវត្សទី៧ ជាពេលដែលតំបន់នេះត្រូវបានសញ្ជ័យដោយ[[កាលីផ្វចក្រ|ចក្រភពអារ៉ាប់]]។The adoption of Christianity by the [[Roman Empire]] in the 4th century led to a Christian majority which lasted until the 7th century when the area was conquered by the [[Caliphate|Arab Empire]].ជាពេលដែលតំបន់នេះត្រូវបានសញ្ជ័យដោយចក្រភពអារ៉ាប់។ វាជាទីដែលមានពួកឥស្លាមមានច្រើនលើសលប់រហូតដល់សម័យសង្គ្រាមឈើឆ្កាងរវាងឆ្នាំ១០៩៦ និង ១២៩១ ដែលនៅពេលនោះវាគឺជាចំណុចប្រសព្វនៃការប៉ះទង្គិចគ្នារវាងគ្រិស្តសាសនា និង ឥស្លាមសាសនា។ It gradually became predominantly Moslem until the [[Crusades]] between 1096 and 1291, when it was the focal point of conflict between Christianity and Islam. ចាប់ពីសតវត្សទី១៣ មានពួកឥស្លាមភាគច្រើនដែលមានភាសាអារ៉ាប់ជាភាសាលប់លើគេ ហើយក៏ជាភាគដំបូងនៃខេត្តស៊ីរីនៃស៊ុលតង់ចក្រម៉ាំលុក ហើយក៏ជាប៉ែកនៃចក្រភពអូតូម៉ង់រហូតដល់មាន[[យុទ្ធនាការស៊ីណៃនិងប៉ាលេស្ទីន|ការសញ្ជ័យប៊្រិថេននៅឆ្នាំ១៩១៧]]។From the 13th Century it was mainly Moslem with Arabic as the dominant language and was first part of the Syrian province of the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk Sultanate]] and then part of the [[Ottoman Empire]] until the [[Sinai and Palestine Campaign|British conquest in 1917]].ហើយក៏ជាប៉ែកនៃចក្រភពអូតូម៉ង់រហូតដល់មានការសញ្ជ័យប៊្រិថេននៅឆ្នាំ១៩១៧។
 
ចលនាជាតិជ្វីប [[ហ្ស៊ីអននិយម]] បានផុសផុលឡើងនៅចុងសតវត្សទី១៩ (ឆ្លើយតបទៅនឹងការកើនឡើងបន្តិចម្ដងៗនៃ[[បដិសាម៉ានិយម]]ឆ្លើយតបទៅនឹងការកើនឡើងបន្តិចម្ដងៗនៃបដិសាម៉ានិយម) ហើយ[[អាលីយ៉ា]]ហើយអាលីយ៉ា (អន្តោប្រវេសន៍ជនជាតិជ្វីបទៅកាន់ដែនដីអ៊ីស្រាអែល) បានកើនឡើងផងដែរ។A Jewish national movement, [[Zionism]], emerged in the late-19th century (partially in response to growing [[anti-Semitism]]) and [[Aliyah]] (Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel) increased.បានកើនឡើងផងដែរ។ បន្ទាប់ពី[[សង្គ្រាមលោកលើកទី១]] ទឹកដីអូតូម៉ង់នៅឡេវែន្ត៍បានស្ថិតនៅក្រោមការក្ដោបក្ដាប់ប៊្រិថេន និងបារាំង ហើយ[[សង្គមប្រជាជាតិ]]បានប្រគល់[[អាណត្តិប៊្រិថេនសម្រាប់ប៉ាលេស្ទីន (នីតូបករណ៍)|អាណត្តិឱ្យប៊្រិថេនដើម្បីគ្រប់គ្រងប៉ាលេស្ទីន]]ដែលវាបានក្លាយទៅជា[[ស្រុកកំណើតជនជាតិជ្វីប|ស្រុកកំណើតប្រជាជាតិជ្វីប]]។After [[World War I]], Ottoman territories in the Levant came under British and French control and the [[League of Nations]] granted the British a [[British Mandate for Palestine (legal instrument)|Mandate to rule Palestine]] which was to be turned into a [[Jewish National Home]].ហើយសង្គមប្រជាជាតិបានប្រគល់អាណត្តិឱ្យប៊្រិថេនដើម្បីគ្រប់គ្រងប៉ាលេស្ទីនដែលវាបានក្លាយទៅជាស្រុកកំណើតប្រជាជាតិជ្វីប។ គូប្រជែង ជាតិនិយមអារ៉ាប់ ក៏បានអះអាងទាមទារសិទ្ធិទៅលើអតីតទឹកដីអូតូម៉ង់ ហើយបានរិះរកវិធីដើម្បីរារាំងទេសន្តរប្រវេសន៍ជនជាតិជ្វីបចូលទៅកាន់ប៉ាលេស្ទីន ដែលនាំអោយមាន[[ការប៉ះទង្គិចអន្តរសហគមនៅប៉ាលេស្ទីនអាណត្តិ|ភាពតានតឹងអារ៉ាប់ដែលនាំអោយមានភាពតានតឹងអារ៉ាប់-ជ្វីបកើនឡើង]]។A rival [[Arab nationalism]] also claimed rights over the former Ottoman territories and sought to prevent Jewish migration into Palestine, leading to growing [[Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine|Arab–Jewish tensions]]. ជ្វីបកើនឡើង។
[[ការប្រកាសឯករាជ្យអ៊ីស្រាអែល|ឯករាជ្យអ៊ីស្រាអែល]]នៅឆ្នាំ១៩៤៨ ត្រូវបានកត់សម្គាល់ដោយទេសន្តរប្រវេសន៍ជ្វីបយ៉ាងសម្បើមពី[[ប៊្រីហា|អឺរ៉ុប]] [[Israeli Declaration of Independence|Israeli independence]] in 1948 was marked by massive migration of Jews from [[Bricha|Europe]], a [[Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries]] to Israel, and of [[1948 Palestinian exodus|Arabs]] from Israel, followed by the [[Arab–Israeli conflict]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Declaration+of+Establishment+of+State+of+Israel.htm |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |title=Declaration of Establishment of State of Israel |date=14 May 1948 |accessdate=16 April 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321213130/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Guide%20to%20the%20Peace%20Process/Declaration%20of%20Establishment%20of%20State%20of%20Israel.htm |archivedate=21 March 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> About 43% of the [[Jewish population by country|world's Jews]] live in Israel today, the largest Jewish community in the world.<ref>{{cite report |author=DellaPergola, Sergio |date=2015 |title=World Jewish Population, 2015 |url=http://www.jewishdatabank.org/Studies/downloadFile.cfm?FileID=3394 |publisher=Berman Jewish DataBank |accessdate=12 September 2016}}</ref>
 
ឯករាជ្យអ៊ីស្រាអែលនៅឆ្នាំ១៩៤៨ ត្រូវបានកត់សម្គាល់ដោយទេសន្តរប្រវេសន៍ជ្វីបយ៉ាងសម្បើមពីអឺរ៉ុប
Since about 1970, the [[United States]] has become the principal [[Israel–United States relations|ally of Israel]]. In 1979 an uneasy [[Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty]] was signed, based on the [[Camp David Accords]]. In 1993, Israel signed [[Oslo I Accord]] with the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]], followed by establishment of the [[Palestinian National Authority]] and in 1994 [[Israel–Jordan peace treaty]] was signed. Despite [[Israeli–Palestinian peace process|efforts to finalize the peace agreement]], the conflict continues to play a major role in Israeli and international political, social and economic life.
 
The [[economy of Israel]] was initially primarily socialist and the country dominated by social democratic parties until the 1970s. Since then the Israeli economy has gradually moved to capitalism and a free market economy, partially retaining the social welfare system.
 
==បុរេប្រវត្តិ==
{{Further information|Prehistory of the Levant}}
[[File:Skhul Cave.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Es Skhul]] cave]]
Between 2.6 and 0.9 million years ago, at least four episodes of [[hominine]] dispersal from Africa to the Levant are known, each culturally distinct. The oldest evidence of [[early humans]] in the territory of modern Israel, dating to 1.5 million years ago, was found in [[Ubeidiya]] near the [[Sea of Galilee]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Tchernov |first=Eitan |author-link=Eitan Tchernov |date=1988 |title=The Age of 'Ubeidiya Formation (Jordan Valley, Israel) and the Earliest Hominids in the Levant |url=http://www.persee.fr/doc/paleo_0153-9345_1988_num_14_2_4455 |journal=[[Paléorient]] |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=63–65 |doi=10.3406/paleo.1988.4455 |access-date=4 January 2017}}</ref> The flint tool artefacts have been discovered at [[Yiron]], the oldest stone tools found anywhere outside Africa. Other groups include 1.4 million years old [[Acheulean]] industry, the Bizat Ruhama group and [[Gesher Bnot Yaakov]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=17870089 |title=The oldest human groups in the Levant |publisher=Cat.inist.fr |date=2004-09-13 |accessdate=2012-08-13}}</ref>
 
In the Carmel mountain range at [[Tabun, Israel|el-Tabun]], and [[Es Skhul]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.athenapub.com/8timelin.htm|title=Timeline in the Understanding of Neanderthals|accessdate=2007-07-13}}</ref> [[Neanderthal]] and early modern human remains were found, including the skeleton of a Neanderthal female, named Tabun I, which is regarded as one of the most important human fossils ever found.<ref>Christopher Stringer, custodian of Tabun I, [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]], quoted in an exhibition in honour of Garrod; ''Callander and Smith'', 1998</ref> The excavation at el-Tabun produced the longest [[stratigraphy|stratigraphic record]] in the region, spanning 600,000 or more years of human activity,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/~pjs1011/Pams.html |title=From 'small, dark and alive' to 'cripplingly shy': Dorothy Garrod as the first woman Professor at Cambridge |accessdate=2007-07-13 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228172528/http://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/~pjs1011/Pams.html |archivedate=28 February 2009 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> from the [[Lower Paleolithic]] to the present day, representing roughly a million years of [[human evolution]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://arch.haifa.ac.il/excav.php |title=Excavations and Surveys (University of Haifa) |accessdate=2007-07-13 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313142646/http://arch.haifa.ac.il/excav.php |archivedate=13 March 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Other notable [[Paleolithic]] sites include caves [[Qesem Cave|Qesem]] and [[Manot Cave|Manot]]. The oldest fossils of [[anatomically modern human]]s found [[Recent African origin of modern humans|outside Africa]] are the [[Skhul and Qafzeh hominids]], who lived in northern Israel 120,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rincon |first=Paul |date=14 October 2015 |title=Fossil teeth place humans in Asia '20,000 years early' |url=http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34531861 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=4 January 2017}}</ref> Around 10th millennium BCE, the [[Natufian culture]] existed in the area.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bar-Yosef |first=Ofer |author-link=Ofer Bar-Yosef |date=7 December 1998 |title=The Natufian Culture in the Levant, Threshold to the Origins of Agriculture |url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/anthropology/v1007/baryo.pdf |journal=[[Evolutionary Anthropology (journal)|Evolutionary Anthropology]] |volume=6 |issue=5 |pages=159–177 |doi=10.1002/(SICI)1520-6505(1998)6:5<159::AID-EVAN4>3.0.CO;2-7 |access-date=4 January 2017}}</ref>
 
==សម័យបុរាណ==
{{Main article|History of ancient Israel and Judah}}
[[File:Ancient Orient.png|thumb|Map of the [[ancient Near East]]]]
 
===កណអាន===
{{Main article|Canaan|Djahy}}
During the 2nd millennium BCE, [[Canaan]], part of which later became known as Israel, was dominated by the [[New Kingdom of Egypt]] from c.1550 to c. 1180.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com|title=Google Books|website=books.google.com}}</ref>
 
===ពួកអ៊ីស្រាអែលដំបូងៗ===
{{Main article|Hebrews|Israelites|Biblical judges}}
{{See also|Origins of Judaism|Biblical archaeology|The Bible and history}}
[[File:Merneptah Israel Stele Cairo.JPG|thumb|upright|The [[Merneptah Stele]]. While alternative translations exist, the majority of [[Biblical Archeology|biblical archaeologists]] translate a set of hieroglyphs as "Israel," representing the first instance of the name in the historical record.]]
The first record of the name Israel (as ''{{lang|egy-Latn|ysrỉꜣr}}'') occurs in the [[Merneptah stele]], erected for Egyptian Pharaoh [[Merneptah]] (son of [[Ramses II]]) c. 1209 BCE, "Israel is laid waste and his seed is not."<ref>Stager in Coogan 1998, p. 91.</ref> [[William G. Dever]] sees this "Israel" in the central highlands as a cultural and probably political entity, more an ethnic group rather than an organized state.<ref>Dever 2003, p. 206.</ref>
 
Ancestors of the Israelites may have included [[ancient Semitic-speaking peoples|Semites]] native to [[Canaan]] and the [[Sea Peoples]].<ref>Miller 1986, pp. 78–9.</ref> McNutt says, "It is probably safe to assume that sometime during [[Iron Age]] I a population began to identify itself as 'Israelite'", differentiating itself from the [[Canaanites]] through such markers as the prohibition of intermarriage, an emphasis on family history and genealogy, and religion.<ref>McNutt 1999, p. 35.</ref>
 
Villages had populations of up to 300 or 400,<ref name=mcnutt70>McNutt 1999, p. 70.</ref><ref>Miller 2005, p. 98.</ref> which lived by farming and herding, and were largely self-sufficient;<ref>McNutt 1999, p. 72.</ref> economic interchange was prevalent.<ref>Miller 2005, p. 99.</ref> Writing was known and available for recording, even in small sites.<ref>Miller 2005, p. 105.</ref> The archaeological evidence indicates a society of village-like centres, but with more limited resources and a small population.<ref>Lehman in Vaughn 1992, pp. 156–62.</ref>
 
===អត្ថបទ និង សាសនាអេប្រឺដំបូង===
 
The first use of [[grapheme]]-based [[Proto-Sinaitic script|writing originated in the area]], probably among Canaanite peoples resident in Egypt. This evolved into the [[Phoenician alphabet]] from which all modern [[Alphabet|alphabetical writing systems]] are descended. The [[Paleo-Hebrew alphabet]] was one of the first to develop and evidence of its use exists from about 1000 BCE<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1308-alphabet-the-hebrew|title=ALPHABET, THE HEBREW - JewishEncyclopedia.com|website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref> (see the [[Gezer calendar]]), the language spoken was probably [[Biblical Hebrew]].
[[Monotheism]], the belief in a single all-powerful law-giving God is thought to have evolved among the Hebrew speakers gradually, over the next few centuries, from a number of separate cults,<ref>Othmar Keel, Christoph Uehlinger, Gods, Goddesses, and Images of God in Ancient Israel, Fortress Press (1998); Mark S. Smith, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel’s Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts, Oxford University Press (2001)</ref> leading to the first versions of the religion now known as [[Judaism]].
 
===អ៊ីស្រាអែល និង យូដា===
{{Main article|Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Judah}}
[[File:Ir-david03.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[City of David]] in Jerusalem]]
The [[Hebrew Bible]] describes constant warfare between the [[Israelites]] and the [[Philistines]], whose capital was [[Gaza City|Gaza]]. The Bible states that [[King David]] founded a dynasty of kings and that his son [[Solomon]] built a [[Solomon's Temple|Temple]]. Both David and Solomon are widely referenced in Jewish, Christian and Islamic texts. Standard Biblical chronology suggests that around 930 BCE, following the death of Solomon, the [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|kingdom]] split into a southern [[Kingdom of Judah]] and a northern [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]]. The Bible's [[Books of Kings]] states that soon after the split Pharoh "[[Shishaq]]" invaded the country, [[Sack of Jerusalem (10th century BC)|plundering Jerusalem]]. An inscription over a [[Bubastite Portal|gate at Karnak]] in Egypt recounts such an invasion by Pharoh [[Sheshonq I]].<ref>Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, page 335, Oxford 2000</ref>
 
The archaeological evidence for this period is extremely sparse, leading some scholars to suggest that this section of the Hebrew Bible (which includes texts written two centuries later) exaggerates the importance of David and Solomon.<ref>https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/1.818795, "The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Sacred Texts" by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman, Free Press 2002</ref> The earliest references to the "[[Davidic Dynasty|House of David]]" have been found at two sites, the [[Tel Dan Stele]] and the [[Mesha Stele]] (a [[Moab]]ite stele, now in the Louvre) which describes an 840 BCE invasion of [[Moab]] by [[Omri]], King of Israel. [[Jehu]], son of Omri, is referenced by [[Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III|Assyrian records]] (now in the British Museum). Modern Archaeological findings show that Omri's capital city, [[Samaria (ancient city)|Samaria]] was large and Finkelstein has suggested that the Biblical account of David and Solomon are an attempt by later Judean rulers to ascribe Israel's successes to their dynasty.
 
[[File:Kingdoms of Israel and Judah map 830.svg|thumb|upright|Kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]] and [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]]]]
In 854 BCE, an alliance between [[Ahab]] of Israel and Ben Hadad II of [[Aram Damascus]] managed to repulse the incursions of the [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]], with a victory at the [[Battle of Qarqar]]. (see the [[Kurkh Monoliths]]).<ref>Kurkh stela: https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=367117&partId=1 For original inscription see http://rbedrosian.com/Downloads3/ancient_records_assyria1.pdf page 223</ref> The Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by [[Assyria]]n king [[Tiglath-Pileser III]] around 750 BCE. The Philistine kingdom was also destroyed. The Assyrians sent most of the northern Israelite kingdom into [[Assyrian captivity of Israel|exile]], thus creating the "[[Lost Tribes of Israel]]". The [[Samaritan]]s claim to be descended from survivors of the Assyrian conquest. An Israelite revolt (724–722 BCE) was crushed after the siege and capture of [[Samaria (ancient city)|Samaria]] by the Assyrian king [[Sargon II]]. Sargon's son, [[Sennacherib]], tried and failed to [[Sennacherib's campaign in Judah|conquer]] Judah. [[Taylor prism|Assyrian records]] say he levelled 46 walled cities and [[Assyrian Siege of Jerusalem|besieged Jerusalem]], leaving after receiving extensive tribute.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.utexas.edu/courses/classicalarch/readings/sennprism.html|title=column 2 line 61 to column 3 line 49|publisher=}}</ref>
 
Modern scholars believe that refugees from the destruction of Israel moved to Judah during the rule of King [[Hezekiah]] (ruler from 715 - 686 BCE), massively expanding Jerusalem and leading to construction of the [[Siloam Tunnel]] which could provide water during a siege.<ref>{{cite book |last=Broshi |first=Maguen |title=Bread, Wine, Walls and Scrolls |url=https://books.google.com/?id=etTUEorS1zMC&pg=PA174&dq=the+main+reasons+behind+this+expansion+was+the+immigration+of+Israelites+who+came+to+Judah+from+the+Northern+Kingdom+after+the+fall+of+Samaria+in+721+BCE#v=onepage&q=the%20main%20reasons%20behind%20this%20expansion%20was%20the%20immigration%20of%20Israelites%20who%20came%20to%20Judah%20from%20the%20Northern%20Kingdom%20after%20the%20fall%20of%20Samaria%20in%20721%20BCE&f=false |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2001 |page=174 |isbn=1841272019}}</ref> The refugees brought with them new religious ideas which led, under King [[Josiah]] (ruler from 641 - 619), to the writing of the books of [[Deuteronomy]], [[Book of Joshua|Joshua]] and to the accounts of the kingship of David and Solomon in the [[Books of Kings|book of Kings]]. The books are known as [[Deuteronomist]] and considered to be a major key step in the emergence of [[Monotheism]] in Judah. They were written at a time that Assyria was weakened by the emergence of Babylon and may be a committing to text of pre-writing verbal traditions.<ref>The Social Roots of Biblical Yahwism by Stephen Cook, SBL 2004 pp 58</ref>
 
== Babylonian, Persian, Ptolemaic and Seleucid rule (586–135 BCE) ==
{{Main article|Yehud (Babylonian province)|Yehud Medinata|Coele-Syria}}
[[File:מסע גולי בבל.jpg|thumb|The route of the exiles to Babylon]]
In 586 BCE King [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] of [[Babylon]] [[Jewish–Babylonian war|conquered]] Judah. According to the Hebrew Bible, he destroyed [[Solomon's Temple]] and [[Babylonian captivity|exiled]] the Jews to Babylon. The defeat was also recorded by the Babylonians<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/c/cuneiform_nebuchadnezzar_ii.aspx |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2014-10-30 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030154541/https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/c/cuneiform_nebuchadnezzar_ii.aspx |archivedate=30 October 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>See http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/abc5/jerusalem.html reverse side, line 12.</ref> (see the [[Babylonian Chronicles]]). Babylonian and Biblical sources suggest that the Judean king, [[Jehoiachin]], switched allegiances between the Egyptians and the Babylonians and that invasion was a punishment for allying with Babylon's principal rival, Egypt. The exiled Jews may have been restricted to the elite. Jehoiachin was eventually released by the Babylonians (see [[Jehoiachin's Rations Tablets]]) and according to both the Bible and the Talmud, the Judean royal family (the [[Davidic line]]) continued as head of the exile in Babylon (the [[Exilarch]]).
 
[[File:YehudObverse 1.jpg|thumb|170px|left|Obverse of [[Yehud coinage|Yehud silver coin]]]]
In 538 BCE, [[Cyrus (Bible)|Cyrus the Great]] of [[Persia]] conquered Babylon and took over its empire. Cyrus issued a proclamation granting subjugated nations (including the people of Judah) religious freedom (for the original text see the [[Cyrus Cylinder]]). According to the Hebrew Bible 50,000 Judeans, led by [[Zerubabel]], [[Return to Zion|returned to Judah]] and [[Second Temple of Jerusalem|rebuilt the temple]]. A second group of 5,000, led by [[Ezra]] and [[Nehemiah]], returned to Judah in 456 BCE although non-Jews wrote to Cyrus to try to prevent their return. Modern scholars believe that the final Hebrew versions of the [[Torah]] and [[Books of Kings]] [[Authorship of the Bible|date from this period]], that the returning [[Israelites]] adopted an [[Aramaic script]] (also known as the [[Ashuri alphabet]]), which they brought back from Babylon; this is the current Hebrew script. The [[Hebrew Calendar]] closely resembles the [[Babylonian calendar]] and probably dates from this period.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/303554/Jewish-religious-year/34907/Origin-and-development|title=Jewish religious year|publisher=}}</ref>
 
In 333 BCE, the [[ancient Macedonians|Macedonian]] ruler [[Alexander the Great]] defeated [[Achaemenid Empire|Persia]] and [[Alexander the Great#Egypt|conquered]] the region. Sometime thereafter, the first translation of the Hebrew Bible, the [[Septuagint]], was begun in [[Alexandria]]. After Alexander's death, his generals fought over the territory he had conquered. Judah became the frontier between the [[Seleucid Empire]] and [[Ptolemaic Egypt]], eventually becoming part of the Seleucid Empire in 200 BCE at the [[battle of Panium]].
 
== Hasmonean dynasty (135–47 BCE) ==
{{Main article|Hasmonean dynasty}}
[[File:Hasmoneese rijk.PNG|thumb|upright|[[Hasmonean kingdom]]]]
In the 2nd century BCE, Seleucid ruler [[Antiochus IV Epiphanes]] tried to eradicate Judaism in favour of [[Hellenistic religion]]. This provoked the 174–135 BCE [[Maccabean Revolt]] led by [[Judas Maccabeus]] (whose victory is celebrated in the Jewish festival of [[Hanukkah]]). The [[Books of the Maccabees]] describe the uprising and the end of Greek rule.
A Jewish party called the [[Hasideans]] opposed both Hellenism ''and'' the revolt but eventually gave their support to the Maccabees. Modern interpretations see the initial stages of the uprising as a civil war between Hellenized and orthodox forms of Judaism.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/life/faithbased/2005/12/the_maccabees_and_the_hellenists.html |title=The Maccabees and the Hellenists |last=Ponet |first=James |date=22 December 2005 |work=Faith-based |publisher=Slate |accessdate=4 December 2012}}</ref><ref name="simpletoremember">{{cite web |url=http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/the_revolt_of_the_maccabees/ |title=The Revolt of the Maccabees |publisher=Simpletoremember.com |date= |accessdate=2012-08-13}}</ref>
[[File:Temple Scroll.png|thumb|upright|Portion of the [[Temple Scroll]], one of the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] written by the Essenes]]
The [[Hasmonean]] dynasty of (Jewish) [[Kohen Gadol|priest-kings]] ruled [[Judea]] with the [[Pharisees]], [[Sadducees]] and [[Essenes]] as the principal Jewish social movements. As part of the struggle against [[Hellenistic civilization]], the Pharisee leader [[Simeon ben Shetach]] established the first schools based around [[synagogue|meeting houses]].<ref>[[Paul Johnson (writer)|Paul Johnson]], ''History of the Jews'', p. 106, Harper 1988</ref> This led to [[Rabbinical Judaism]]. Justice was administered by the [[Sanhedrin]], which was a Rabbincal assembly and law court whose leader was known as the [[Nasi (Hebrew title)|Nasi]]. The Nasi's religious authority gradually superseded that of the Temple's [[Kohen Gadol|high priest]] (under the Hasmoneans this was the king).
 
The Hasmoneans continually extended their control over much of the region.<ref>{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/?id=MA-4VX5gWS4C&pg=PA210&lpg=PA210 | title = Cambridge History of Judaism, The early Roman period | volume = 2 | pages = 195, 196, 204| contribution = The Gentiles in Judaism, 125 BCE - 66 CE | last = Smith | first = Morton | date = 1999 | isbn = 0521243777 | editor1-last = Horbury | editor1-first = William | editor2-first = W D | editor2-last = Davies | editor3-first = John | editor3-last = Sturdy}}</ref> In 125 BCE the Hasmonean [[ethnarch]] [[John Hyrcanus]] subjugated [[Edom]] and forcibly converted the population to [[Judaism]].<ref>{{Cite Jewish Encyclopedia |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7972-hyrcanus-john-johanan-i |title=Hyrcanus, John (Johanan) I.}}</ref>
Hyrcanus' son [[Alexander Jannaeus]] established good relations with the [[Roman Republic]], however there was growing tension between Pharisees and Sadducces and a conflict over the succession to Janneus, in which the warring parties invited foreign intervention on their behalf.
 
== ការគ្រប់គ្រងរបស់រ៉ូម (មុ.គ. ៦៤ – គ.ស. ៣៩០) ==
{{Further information|History of the Jews in the Roman Empire}}
In 64 BCE the [[Roman Republic|Roman]] general [[Pompey#Pompey in the East|Pompey]] [[Third Mithridatic War|conquered]] Syria and [[Siege of Jerusalem (63 BC)|intervened]] in the [[Hasmonean civil war]] in Jerusalem. During the [[Siege of Alexandria (47 BC)|siege of Alexandria in 47 BCE]], the lives of [[Julius Caesar]] and his protege [[Cleopatra]] were saved by 3,000 Jewish troops sent by King [[Hyrcanus II]] and commanded by [[Antipater the Idumaean|Antipater]], whose descendants Caesar made kings of Judea.<ref>Julius Caesar: The Life and Times of the People's Dictator By Luciano Canfora chapter 24 "Caesar Saved by the Jews".</ref>
 
=== Herodian dynasty and Roman province ===
{{Main article|Herodian dynasty|Herodian kingdom|Herodian Tetrarchy|Judea (Roman province)}}
From 37 BCE to 6 CE, the [[Herodian dynasty]], Jewish-Roman client kings, descended from Antipater, ruled Judea. [[Herod the Great]] considerably enlarged the temple (see [[Herod's Temple]]), making it one of the largest religious structures in the world. Despite its fame, it was in this period that [[Rabbinical Judaism]], led by [[Hillel the Elder]], began to assume popular prominence over the [[Kohen|Temple priesthood]]. The [[Second Temple|Jewish Temple]] in [[Jerusalem]] was granted special permission not to display an effigy of the emperor, becoming the only religious structure in the [[Roman Empire]] that did not do so. Special dispensation was granted for Jewish citizens of the Roman Empire to pay a [[Fiscus Judaicus|tax to the temple]].
 
[[Augustus]] made Judea a Roman province in 6 CE, deposing the last Jewish king, [[Herod Archelaus]] and appointing a Roman governor. There was a small revolt against Roman taxation led by [[Judas of Galilee]] and over the next decades tensions grew between the Greco-Roman and Judean population centered on attempts to place effigies of the Emperor [[Caligula]] in Synagogues and in the Jewish temple.<ref>Philo of Alexandria, On the Embassy to Gaius XXX.203.</ref><ref>http://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-18.html Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus,Book 18 chapter 8</ref>
 
[[Jesus]] was born in the last years of Herod's rule, probably in the Judean city of Bethlehem. Jesus is thought to have been a Galilean Jewish reformer (from [[Nazareth]]), and was executed in Jerusalem by the Roman governor [[Pontius Pilate]] between 25 and 35 CE. All his key followers, the [[Twelve Apostles]], were Jews including [[Paul the Apostle]] (5–67 CE) who took critical steps towards creating a new religion, defining Jesus as the "Son of God". In the year 50 CE, the [[Council of Jerusalem]] led by Paul, decided to abandon the Jewish requirement of circumcision and the Torah, creating a form of Judaism highly accessible to non-Jews and with a more [[Universalism|universal notion of God]]. Another Jewish follower, [[Saint Peter|Peter]] is believed to have become the first Pope.
 
In 64 CE, the Temple High Priest [[Joshua ben Gamla]] introduced a religious requirement for Jewish boys to learn to read from the age of six. Over the next few hundred years this requirement became steadily more ingrained in Jewish tradition.<ref>The Chosen Few: How education shaped Jewish History, Botticini and Eckstein, Princeton 2012, page 71 and chapters 4 and 5</ref>
 
===សង្គ្រាមជ្វីប-រ៉ូម===
{{Main article|Jewish–Roman wars|Syria Palaestina}}
[[File:Arch of Titus Menorah.png|thumb|right|[[Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70)|Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)]]]]
In 66 CE, the Jews of Judea rose in [[First Jewish–Roman War|revolt]] against Rome, naming their new state as "Israel".<ref>Martin Goodman, ''Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations'', Penguin 2008 pp. 18–19</ref> The events were described by the Jewish leader and historian [[Josephus]], including the defence of [[Siege of Yodfat|Jotapata]], the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70)|siege of Jerusalem]] (69–70 CE) and the desperate last stand at [[Siege of Masada|Masada]] under [[Eleazar ben Yair]] (72–73 CE).
 
Josephus estimated that over a million people died in the siege of Jerusalem. The Temple and most of Jerusalem was destroyed. During the Jewish revolt, most [[History of Christianity|Christians]], at this time a sub-sect of Judaism, removed themselves from Judea. The rabbinical/[[Pharisee]] movement led by [[Yochanan ben Zakai]], who opposed the [[Sadducee]] temple priesthood, made peace with Rome and survived. After the war [[Taxation of the Jews|Jews continued to be taxed]] in the [[Fiscus Judaicus]], which was used to fund a temple to Jupiter. A [[Arch of Titus|victory arch]] erected in Rome can still be seen today.
 
Tensions and attacks on Jews around the Roman Empire led to a massive Jewish uprising against Rome from 115 to 117. Jews in Libya, Egypt, Cyprus and Mesopotamia [[Kitos War|fought against Rome]]. This conflict was accompanied by large-scale massacres of both sides. Cyprus was so severely depopulated that new settlers were imported and Jews banned from living there.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/68*.html |title=Cassius Dio — Epitome of Book 68 |publisher=Penelope.uchicago.edu |date= |accessdate=2012-08-13}}</ref>
 
In 131, the Emperor [[Hadrian]] renamed Jerusalem "[[Aelia Capitolina]]" and constructed a Temple of Jupiter on the site of the former Jewish temple. Jews were banned from living in Jerusalem itself (a ban that persisted until the Arab conquest), and the Roman province, until then known as [[Iudaea Province]], was renamed [[Syria Palaestina|Palaestina]], no other revolt led to a province being renamed.<ref>Martin Goodman, ''Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations'', Penguin 2008 p. 494</ref> The names "Palestine" (in English) and "Filistin" (in Arabic) are derived from this.
 
<!-- [[WP:NFCC]] violation: [[File:Bar Kokhba's papyrus.png|thumb|A papyrus containing [[Simon bar Kokhba|Bar Kokhba]]'s orders during [[Bar Kokhba revolt|the revolt]]]] -->
From 132 to 136, the Jewish leader [[Simon Bar Kokhba]] led another major [[Bar Kokhba revolt|revolt]] against the Romans, again renaming the country "Israel"<ref>Martin Goodman, ''Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations'', Penguin 2008 p. 490</ref> (see [[Bar Kochba Revolt coinage]]). The Bar-Kochba revolt probably caused more trouble for the Romans than the better documented revolt of 70.<ref>M. Avi-Yonah, ''The Jews under Roman and Byzantine Rule'', Jerusalem 1984 pp. 12–14</ref> Christians refused to participate in the revolt and from this point the Jews regarded Christianity as a separate religion.<ref>M. Avi-Yonah, ''The Jews under Roman and Byzantine Rule'', Jerusalem 1984 p. 143</ref> The revolt was eventually crushed by [[Emperor Hadrian]] himself. During the Bar Kokhba revolt a [[Council of Jamnia|rabbinical assembly decided]] which [[Development of the Hebrew Bible canon|books could be regarded]] as part of the [[Hebrew Bible]]: the [[Jewish apocrypha]] and Christian books were excluded.<ref>For more information see ''The Canon Debate'' edited by McDonald and Sanders, 2002 Hendrickson</ref> As a result, the original text of some Hebrew texts, including the [[Books of Maccabees]] were lost (Greek translations survived).
 
A rabbi of this period, [[Simeon bar Yochai]], is regarded as the author of the [[Zohar]], the foundational text for Kabbalistic thought. However, modern scholars believe it was written in Medieval Spain.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Jacobs|first=Joseph|author2=Broydé, Isaac|encyclopedia=Jewish Encyclopedia|title=Zohar|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=142&letter=Z#406}}</ref>
 
===ក្រោយពីការបរាជ័យរបស់ជ្វីប===
After suppressing the Bar Kochba revolt, the Romans [[Jewish diaspora|exiled]] the Jews of Judea, but not of Galilee and permitted a hereditary Rabbinical Patriarch (from the [[House of Hillel]], based in Galilee) to represent the Jews in dealings with the Romans. The most famous of these was [[Judah haNasi]] who is credited with compiling the final version of the [[Mishnah]] (a massive body of Jewish religious texts interpreting the Bible) and with strengthening the educational demands of Judaism by requiring that illiterate Jews be treated as outcasts. As a result, many illiterate Jews may have converted to Christianity.<ref>The Chosen Few: How education shaped Jewish History, Botticini and Eckstein, Princeton 2012, page 116</ref> Jewish seminaries, such as those at [[Shefaram]] and [[Bet Shearim]] continued to produce scholars and the best of these became members of the [[Sanhedrin]],<ref>M. Avi-Yonah, ''The Jews under Roman and Byzantine Rule'', Jerusalem 1984 sections II to V</ref> which was located first at [[Tzippori]] and later at [[Tiberias]].<ref>Vailhé Siméon, [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04798b.htm "Diocaesarea" in The Catholic Encyclopedia.] Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 7 November 2013.</ref> Before the Bar-Kochba uprising, an estimated 2/3 of the population of Gallilee and 1/3 of the coastal region were Jewish.<ref>M. Avi-Yonah, ''The Jews under Roman and Byzantine Rule'', Jerusalem 1984 chapter I</ref> In the Galillee, many Synagogues have been found dating from this period. However, persecution and the [[Crisis of the Third Century|economic crisis]] that affected the Roman empire in the 3rd century led to further Jewish migration from [[Syria Palaestina]] to the more tolerant Persian [[Sassanid Empire]], where a prosperous Jewish community with [[Talmudic Academies in Babylonia|extensive seminaries]] existed in the area of Babylon.
 
===រ៉ូមកាន់គ្រិស្តសាសនា===
Early in the 4th century, the Emperor [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]] made [[Constantinople]] the capital of the [[East Roman Empire]] and made [[Christianity]] the official religion. His mother, [[Helena (empress)|Helena]] made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem (326-328) and led the construction of the [[Church of the Nativity]] (Bethlehem), the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]] (Jerusalem) and other key churches that still exist. The name Jerusalem was restored to Aelia Capitolina and it became a Christian city. Jews were still banned from living in Jerusalem, but were allowed to visit, and it is in this period that the surviving [[Western Wall]] of the temple became sacred to Judaism.
 
In 351–2, another [[Jewish revolt against Gallus|Jewish revolt]] in the Galilee erupted against a corrupt Roman governor.<ref>''[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/lazare-anti.asp Antisemitism: Its History and Causes]'' by [[Bernard Lazare]], 1894. Accessed January 2009</ref> In 362, the last [[pagan]] Roman Emperor, [[Julian the Apostate]], announced plans to rebuild the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Jewish Temple]]. He died while fighting the Persians in 363 and the project was discontinued.
 
==Byzantine rule (390–634)==
{{Main article|Palaestina Prima|Palaestina Secunda}}
{{further information|Jewish revolt against Heraclius|Rabbinic Judaism|Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem}}
The Roman Empire split in 390 CE and the region became part of the (Christian) East Roman Empire, known as the [[Byzantine Empire]]. Byzantine Christianity was dominated by the (Greek) [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] whose massive land ownership has extended into the present. In the 5th century, the [[Western Roman Empire]] collapsed leading to Christian migration into the Roman province of [[Palaestina Prima]] and development of a Christian majority. Jews numbered 10–15% of the population, concentrated largely in the Galilee. Judaism was the only non-Christian religion tolerated, but restrictions on Jews slowly increased to include a ban on building new places of worship, holding public office or owning slaves. In 425, following the death of the last Nasi, [[Gamliel VI]], the [[Sanhedrin]] was officially abolished and the title of [[Nasi (Hebrew title)|Nasi]] banned. Several [[Samaritan Revolts]] erupted in this period,<ref>M. Avi-Yonah, ''The Jews under Roman and Byzantine Rule'', Jerusalem 1984 chapters XI–XII</ref> resulting in the decrease of Samaritan community from about a million to a near extinction. Sacred Jewish texts written in Palestine at this time are the [[Gemara]] (400), the [[Jerusalem Talmud]] (500) and the [[Passover Haggadah]].
 
The [[Menorah (Temple)|Jewish Menorah]], which the Romans took when the temple was destroyed, was reportedly taken to Carthage by the [[Vandals]] after the [[Sack of Rome (455)|sacking of Rome]] in 455. According to the Byzantine historian, [[Procopius]], the [[Byzantine army]] recovered it in 533 and brought it to [[Constantinople]].<ref>Procopius, ''Vandal Wars'', [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16765/16765-h/16765-h.htm#PageIV_ix_4 Book IV. ix. 5.]</ref>
 
In 611, [[Sassanid Persia]] [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628|invaded]] the Byzantine Empire and, after a long siege, [[Khosrau II]] [[Siege of Jerusalem (614)|captured Jerusalem]] in 614, with [[Revolt against Heraclius|Jewish help]], including possibly the Jewish [[Himyarite Kingdom]] in Yemen. Jews briefly governed Jerusalem when the Persians took over. The Byzantine Emperor, [[Heraclius]], promised to restore Jewish rights and received Jewish help in defeating the Persians, but reneged on the agreement after reconquering Palaestina Prima, massacring the Jews in Palestine,<ref>Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium
By Walter Emil Kaegi, Cambridge 2003 pp 205</ref> and issuing an edict banning Judaism from the Byzantine Empire. (Egyptian) [[Coptic Christians]] took responsibility for this broken pledge and fasted in penance.<ref>While the Syrians and the Melchite Greeks ceased to observe the penance after the death of Heraclius; Elijah of Nisibis (''Beweis der Wahrheit des Glaubens'', translation by Horst, p. 108, Colmar, 1886) see {{Cite Jewish Encyclopedia |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3877-byzantine-expire |title=Byzantine Expire}}</ref>
 
==Caliphates (634–1099) ==
{{main article|Jund Filastin|Jund al-Urdunn}}
According to Muslim tradition, in 620 Muhammed [[Isra and Mi'raj|was taken on spiritual journey from Mecca]] to the "farthest mosque", whose location many consider to be the [[Temple Mount]], returning the same night. In 634–636 the Arabs [[Muslim conquest of the Levant|conquered]] [[Palaestina Prima]] and renamed it [[Jund Filastin]], ending the Byzantine ban on Jews living in Jerusalem. Over the next few centuries, [[Islam]] replaced Christianity as the dominant religion of the region.
 
From 636 until the beginning of the Crusades, [[Jund Filastin]] was ruled first by [[Medina]]h-based [[Rashidun|Rashidun Caliphs]], then by the [[Damascus]]-based [[Umayyad Caliphate]] and after that the [[Baghdad]]-based [[Abbasid Caliphs]]. In 691, Umayyad Caliph [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Abd al-Malik]] (685–705) constructed the [[Dome of the Rock]] shrine on the Temple Mount. Jews consider it to contain the [[Foundation Stone]] (see also [[Kodesh Hakodashim|Holy of Holies]]), which is the holiest site in Judaism. A second building, the [[Al-Aqsa Mosque]], was also erected on the Temple Mount in 705.
 
Between the 7th and 11th centuries, Jewish scribes, called the [[Masoretes]] and located in Galilee and Jerusalem, established the [[Masoretic Text]], the final text of the [[Hebrew Bible]].
 
==Crusades and Mongols (1099–1291) ==
{{main article|Kingdom of Jerusalem}}
[[File:1099jerusalem.jpg|thumb|The [[Siege of Jerusalem (1099)|Siege of Jerusalem]], 1099, during the [[First Crusade]]]]
In 1099, the [[Crusades|first crusade]] took Jerusalem and established a [[Catholic]] kingdom, known as the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]]. During the conquest, both Muslims and Jews were indiscriminately massacred or sold into slavery.<ref>[http://www.biu.ac.il/js/rennert/history_9.html Jerusalem in the Crusader Period] Jerusalem: Life throughout the ages in a holy city] David Eisenstadt, March 1997</ref> The [[Pogroms of 1096|murder of Jews]] began as the Crusaders travelled across Europe and continued when they reached the [[Holy Land]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Prawer |first=Joshua |authorlink=Joshua Prawer |title=The History of the Jews in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem |year=1988 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0198225577}}</ref> Ashkenazi orthodox Jews still recite a [[Av HaRachamim|prayer in memory]] of the death and destruction caused by the Crusades.
 
In 1187, the [[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubid]] Sultan [[Saladin]] defeated the Crusaders in the [[Battle of Hattin]] (above [[Tiberias]]), taking Jerusalem and most of the former Kingdom of Jerusalem. Saladin's court physician was [[Maimonides]], whose work had an enormous influence on Judaism. Maimonides was [[Tomb of Maimonides|buried in Tiberias]]. A Crusader state centred round [[Acre, Israel|Acre]] survived in weakened form for another century.
 
From 1260 to 1291 the area became the [[Mongol raids into Palestine|frontier between Mongol invaders]] ([[Franco-Mongol alliance|occasional Crusader allies]]) and the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluks]] of Egypt. The conflict impoverished the country and severely reduced the population. Sultan [[Qutuz]] of Egypt eventually defeated the Mongols in the [[Battle of Ain Jalut]] (near [[Ein Harod]]), and his successors eliminated the Crusader states. The fall of the last one, the [[Kingdom of Acre]], in 1291 ended the Crusades period in the region.
 
==Mamluk rule (1291–1517) ==
{{Further information|Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)}}
Egyptian Mamluk Sultan, [[Baibars]] (1260–1277), conquered the region and the [[Mamluk]]s ruled it until 1517, regarding it as part of [[Bilad a-Sham|Syria]]. In [[Hebron]], Baibars banned Jews from worshipping at the [[Cave of the Patriarchs]] (the second holiest site in Judaism); the ban remained in place until its conquest by Israel 700 years later.<ref>''International Dictionary of Historic Places: Middle East and Africa'' by Trudy Ring, Robert M. Salkin, Sharon La Boda, pp. 336–339</ref>
 
The Mamluks, continuing the policy of the Ayyubids, made the strategic decision to destroy the coastal area and to bring desolation to many of its cities, from [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]] in the north to Gaza in the south. [[sea port|Ports]] were destroyed and various materials were dumped to make them inoperable. The goal was to prevent attacks from the sea, given the fear of the return of the crusaders. This had a long-term effect on those areas, which remained sparsely populated for centuries. The activity in that time concentrated more inland.<ref>Myriam Rosen-Ayalon, ``Between Cairo and Damascus: Rural Life and Urban Economics in the Holy Land During the Ayyuid, Maluk and Ottoman Periods'' in ''The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land'' edited Thomas Evan Levy, Continuum International Publishing Group, 1998</ref>
 
The collapse of the Crusades was followed by increased persecution and expulsions of Jews in Europe. Expulsions [[Edict of Expulsion|began in England]] (1290) and were followed by France (1306).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/gallery/expuls.HTM |title=Map of Jewish expulsions and resettlement areas in Europe. 1100-1500. |year=2005 |work=A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust |publisher=University of South Florida |accessdate=5 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/1182-jewsfrance1.asp |title=The Expulsion of the Jews from France, 1182 CE |last=Halsall |first=Paul |year=1998 |work=Internet Jewish History Sourcebook |publisher=Fordham University |accessdate=5 December 2012}}</ref> In Spain, [[History of the Jews in Spain#Turning point (1212–1300)|persecution]] of the highly integrated and successful Jewish community began, including massacres and forced conversions. During the [[Black Death]], many Jews were murdered after being accused of poisoning wells. The completion of the [[Reconquista|Christian reconquest]] of Spain led to expulsion of the Jews of [[Alhambra decree|Spain in 1492]] and [[History of the Jews in Portugal|Portugal in 1497]]. These were the wealthiest and most integrated Jewish communities in Europe. Many Jews converted to Christianity, however many [[Marrano|secretly practised Judaism]] and prejudice against converts (regardless of their sincerity) persisted, leading many former Jews to move to the New World (see [[History of the Jews in Latin America]]). Most of the expelled [[Sephardi Jews|Spanish Jews]] moved to North Africa, [[History of the Jews in Poland|Poland]], to the Ottoman Empire and to the region of [[Bilad a-Sham]], which roughly corresponds to the ancient [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)]]. In Italy, Jews living in the Papal States were required to live in [[ghetto]]s (see [[Cum nimis absurdum]]). The last compulsory Ghetto, [[Roman Ghetto|in Rome]], was abolished in the 1880s.
 
==Ottoman rule (1517–1917)==
{{Further information|Ottoman Syria}}
Under the Mamluks, the area was a province of [[Bilad a-Sham]] (Syria). It was [[Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–1517)|conquered]] by Turkish Sultan [[Selim I]] in 1516–17, becoming a part of the province of [[Ottoman Syria]] for the next four centuries, first as the [[Damascus Eyalet]] and later as the [[Syria Vilayet]] (following the [[Tanzimat]] reorganization of 1864).
 
Between 1535 and 1538 [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] built the current [[Walls of Jerusalem]]; Jerusalem had been without walls since Roman times. The construction followed the historic area of the city but left out one section which had previously been within the walls, which is now known as [[Silwan]].
 
===Old Yishuv===
{{Main article|Old Yishuv|Damascus Eyalet}}
[[File:Rabbi-Caro.jpg|thumb|upright|left|16th-century [[Safed]] rabbi [[Joseph ben Ephraim Karo|Joseph Karo]], author of the [[Shulchan Aruch|Jewish law book]]]]
From the Middle Ages on, there was small scale individual Jewish migration to the [[Land of Israel]], which increased when persecution grew elsewhere. Jewish population was concentrated in [[Jerusalem]], [[Hebron]], [[Safed]] and [[Tiberias]], known in Jewish tradition as the [[Four Holy Cities]]. In the 16th century, Spanish immigration led to Safed becoming a centre for study of the [[Kabbalah]]. [[Joseph Nasi]] was made governor of Tiberias, where he tried to encourage Jewish settlement, particularly from Italy<ref>The Ghetto of Venice by Riccardo Calimani, pg 94, Mondadori 1995</ref>. However economic decline and conflict between the Druze and the Ottomans, led to the community's decline. In 1660, a Druze [[Druze power struggle (1658–1667)#Lebanon and Galilee campaign|revolt]] led to the destruction of the major [[Old Yishuv]] cities of [[1660 destruction of Safed|Safed]] and [[1660 destruction of Tiberias|Tiberias]].<ref name="Barnay, Y 1992 p. 149">Barnay, Y. The Jews in [[Ottoman Syria]] in the eighteenth century: under the patronage of the Istanbul Committee of Officials for Palestine (University of Alabama Press 1992) {{ISBN|978-0-8173-0572-7}} p. 149</ref><ref name="Barnay, Y 1992 p. 149"/><ref name="Joel Rappel 1980 p.531">Joel Rappel, History of Eretz Israel from Prehistory up to 1882 (1980), vol. 2, p. 531. "In 1662 Sabbathai Sevi arrived to Jerusalem. It was the time when the Jewish settlements of Galilee were destroyed by the Druze: Tiberias was completely desolate and only a few of former Safed residents had returned...."</ref> In 1663 [[Sabbatai Zevi]] settled in Jerusalem, and was proclaimed as the Jewish Messiah by [[Nathan of Gaza]]. He acquired a large number of followers before going to Istanbul in 1666, where the Sultan forced him to covert to Islam. Many of his followers converted, forming a sect that still exists in Turkey, known as the [[Dönmeh]]. In the late 18th century a local Arab ''[[sheikh]]'' [[Zahir al-Umar]] created a ''de facto'' independent Emirate in the Galilee. Ottoman attempts to subdue the Sheikh failed, but after Zahir's death the Ottomans restored their rule in the area.
 
In 1799 [[Napoleon]] briefly [[French campaign in Egypt and Syria|occupied]] the country and [[Napoleon and the Jews#Bonaparte's proclamation to the Jews of Africa and Asia|planned a proclamation]] inviting Jews to create a state. The proclamation was shelved following his [[Siege of Acre (1799)|defeat at Acre]].<ref>Barbara Tuchman, Bible and Sword: How the British came to Palestine, Macmillan 1956, chapter 9</ref> In 1831, [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt]], an Ottoman ruler who left the Empire and tried to modernize Egypt, [[Egyptian–Ottoman War (1831–1833)|conquered]] Ottoman Syria and tried to revive and resettle much of its regions. His conscription policies led to a popular [[1834 Arab revolt in Palestine|Arab revolt]] in 1834, resulting in major casualties for the local Arab peasants, and massacres of Christian and Jewish communities by the rebels. Following the revolt, Muhammad Pasha, the son of Muhammad Ali, expelled nearly 10,000 of the local peasants to Egypt, while bringing loyal Egyptian peasants and discharged soldiers to settle the coastline of Ottoman Syria. Northern [[Jordan Valley (Middle East)|Jordan Valley]] was settled by his Sudanese troops.
 
[[File:Kerem Avraham, Jewish workers.jpg|thumb|Jewish workers in [[Kerem Avraham]] neighbourhood of Jerusalem (c. 1850s)]]
In 1838 there was another [[1838 Druze revolt|revolt]] by the Druze. In 1839 [[Moses Montefiore]] met with Muhammed Pasha in Egypt and signed an agreement to establish 100-200 Jewish villages in the [[Damascus Eyalet]] of [[Ottoman Syria]],<ref>Barbara Tuchman, Bible and Sword: How the British came to Palestine, Macmillan 1956, page 194-5</ref> but in 1840 the Egyptians withdrew before the deal was implemented, returning the area to Ottoman governorship. In 1844, Jews constituted the largest population group in Jerusalem and by 1890 an absolute majority in the city, but as a whole the Jewish population made up far less than 10% of the country.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/israel/advocacy/how_to_respond/establishment.asp?xflag=1 |title=How to Respond to Common Misstatements About Israel |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |year=2006 |accessdate=4 October 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mideastweb.org/palpop.htm |title=The Population of Palestine Prior to 1948 |publisher=MidEastWeb.org |year=2005 |accessdate=4 October 2006}}</ref> In 1868, the Ottomans banished the [[Bahá'u'lláh]], one of the founders of the Bahá'í Faith, to Acre where he is buried, and the movement subsequently established its global administrative centre in nearby [[Haifa]]. In 1874, Ottoman reforms led to the area of Jerusalem gaining special status as the [[Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CjuzDY-WBr8C&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&dq=mutasarrifiyya+of+jerusalem&source=bl&ots=zA66DNTub4&sig=UOSm-QBNDuU00g7EfnbobFIiY5Q&hl=en&sa=X&ei=MfTNT-f1Ds7_8QOV4ejGDA&ved=0CEQQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=mutasarrifiyya+of+jerusalem&f=false|title=Israel Or Palestine? Is the Two-state Solution Already Dead?: A Political and Military History of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict|first=Hasan Afif|last=El-Hasan|date=5 January 2018|publisher=Algora Publishing|via=Google Books}}</ref>
 
===Birth of Zionism===
{{Main article|History of Zionism|Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem}}
{{Aliyah}}
 
During the 19th century, Jews in Western Europe were increasingly granted citizenship and [[Jewish emancipation|equality before the law]]; however, in Eastern Europe, they faced growing [[History of zionism#Persecution in Russia (before the revolution)|persecution and legal restrictions]], including widespread [[pogrom]]s in which thousands were murdered, raped or lost their property. Half the world's Jews lived in the Russian Empire, where they were severely persecuted and restricted to living in the [[Pale of Settlement]]. National groups in the Empire, such as the Poles, Lithuanians and Ukrainians were agitating for independence and often regarded the Jews as undesirable aliens. The Jews were usually the only non-Christian minority and spoke a distinct language ([[Yiddish]]). An independent Jewish national movement first began to emerge in the Russian Empire and the millions of Jews who were fleeing the country (mostly to the USA) carried the seeds of this nationalism wherever they went.
 
In 1870, an agricultural school, the [[Mikveh Israel]], was founded near [[Jaffa]] by the [[Alliance Israelite Universelle]], a French Jewish association. In 1878, "Russian" Jewish emigrants established the village of [[Petah Tikva]], followed by [[Rishon LeZion]] in 1882. "Russian" Jews established the [[Bilu]] and [[Hovevei Zion]] ("Love of Zion") movements to assist settlers and these created communities that, unlike the traditional Ashkenazi-Jewish communities, sought to be self-reliant rather than dependent on donations from abroad. Existing Ashkenazi-Jewish communities were concentrated in the [[Four Holy Cities]], extremely poor and lived on donations from Europe. The new migrants avoided these communities and tended to create small agricultural settlements. In Jaffa a vibrant commercial community developed in which Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews inter-mingled. Many early migrants left due to difficulty finding work and the early settlements often remained dependent on foreign donations. Despite the difficulties, more settlements arose and the community continued to grow.
 
The new migration was accompanied by a [[revival of the Hebrew language]] and attracted Jews of all kinds; religious, secular, nationalists and [[Labor Zionism|left-wing socialists]]. Socialists aimed to reclaim the land by becoming peasants or workers and forming [[Kibbutz|collectives]]. In Zionist history, the different waves of Jewish settlement are known as "[[aliyah]]". During the [[First Aliyah]], between 1882 and 1903, approximately 35,000 Jews moved to what is now Israel. The first wave coincided with a wave of Jewish migration and [[Messianism]] among [[Yemenite Jews]] and [[Bukharan Jews]]. By 1890, Jews were a majority in [[Jerusalem]], although the country as a whole was populated mainly by Muslim (settled and nomad Bedouins) and Christian Arabs.
 
In 1896 [[Theodor Herzl]] published ''[[Der Judenstaat]]'' (''The Jewish State''), in which he asserted that the solution to growing [[antisemitism]] in Europe (the so-called "[[Jewish Question]]") was to establish a Jewish state. In 1897, the [[Zionist Organisation]] was founded and the [[First Zionist Congress]] proclaimed its aim "to establish a home for the Jewish people in Palestine secured under public law."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2004/7/Herzl+and+Zionism.htm |title=Herzl and Zionism |date=20 July 2004 |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |accessdate=5 December 2012}}</ref> However, Zionism was regarded with suspicion by the Ottoman rulers and was unable to make major progress.
 
Between 1904 and 1914, around 40,000 Jews settled in the area now known as Israel (the [[Second Aliyah]]). In 1908 the Zionist Organisation set up the Palestine Bureau (also known as the "Eretz Israel Office") in Jaffa and began to adopt a systematic Jewish settlement policy. Migrants were mainly from Russia (which then included part of Poland), escaping persecution. The first [[Kibbutz]], [[Degania Alef|Degania]], was founded by nine Russian socialists in 1909. In 1909 residents of Jaffa established the first entirely Hebrew-speaking city, [[Ahuzat Bayit]] (later renamed [[Tel Aviv]]). Hebrew newspapers and books were published, [[Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium|Hebrew schools]], Jewish political parties and workers organizations were established.
 
===World War I===
{{Main article|Occupied Enemy Territory Administration|Balfour Declaration}}
[[File:OETA Syria.png|thumb|[[Occupied Enemy Territory Administration]], 1918]]
During [[World War I]], most Jews supported the Germans because they were fighting the Russians who were regarded as the Jews' main enemy.<ref>Weizmann, the Making of a Statesman by [[Jehuda Reinharz]], Oxford 1993, chapters 3 & 4</ref> In Britain, the government sought Jewish support for the war effort for a variety of reasons including an erroneous antisemitic perception of "Jewish power" over the Ottoman Empire's [[Young Turks]] movement,<ref>[[David Fromkin]], [[A Peace to End All Peace]], part VI pp. 253–305</ref> and a desire to secure American Jewish support for US intervention on Britain's behalf.
 
There was already sympathy for the aims of [[Zionism]] in the British government, including the Prime Minister [[David Lloyd George|Lloyd George]].<ref>''God, Guns and Israel'', Jill Hamilton, UK 2004, Especially chapter 14.</ref> In late 1917, the British Army drove the Turks [[Sinai and Palestine Campaign#Palestine campaign|out of Southern Syria]],<ref>''God, Guns and Israel'', Jill Hamilton, UK 2004, Especially chapter 15</ref> and the British foreign minister, [[Lord Balfour]], sent a public letter to [[Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild|Lord Rothschild]], a leading member of his party and leader of the Jewish community. The letter subsequently became known as the [[Balfour Declaration of 1917]]. It stated that the British Government "view[ed] with favour the establishment in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] of a national home for the Jewish people". The declaration provided the British government with a pretext for claiming and governing the country.<ref>''A Line in the Sand: Britain, France and the Struggle That Shaped the Middle East'' by James Barr, Simon & Schuster 2011, pages 375-376.</ref> New Middle Eastern boundaries were decided [[Sykes–Picot Agreement|by an agreement]] between British and French bureaucrats. The agreement gave Britain control over what parties would begin to call "Palestine".
 
A [[Jewish Legion]] composed largely of Zionist volunteers organized by [[Jabotinsky]] and [[Trumpeldor]] participated in the British invasion. It also participated in the failed [[Gallipoli Campaign]]. A [[Nili|Zionist spy network]] provided the British with details of Ottoman troops.
 
==British Mandate of Palestine (1920–1948) ==
{{Main article|Mandatory Palestine}}
 
===First years===
{{See also|Jewish Agency for Israel}}
The [[British Mandate for Palestine (legal instrument)|British Mandate]] (in effect, British rule) of Palestine, including the Balfour Declaration, was confirmed by the [[League of Nations]] in 1922 and came into effect in 1923. The boundaries of Palestine initially included modern [[Jordan]], which was [[Emirate of Transjordan|removed]] from the territory by [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]] a few years later. Britain signed a treaty with the United States (which did not join the League of Nations) in which the United States endorsed the terms of the Mandate.
 
Between 1919 and 1923, another 40,000 Jews arrived in Palestine, mainly escaping the post-[[Russian Revolution|revolutionary]] chaos of Russia ([[Third Aliyah]]), as over 100,000 Jews were massacred in this period in Ukraine and Russia.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.2307/131078|first=Peter|author2=Pipe, Richard|last= Kenez|last3=Pipes|first3=Richard|title=The Prosecution of Soviet History: A Critique of Richard Pipes' The Russian Revolution |journal=Russian Review|volume=50| issue=3|year=1991|pages=345–51|jstor=131078|ref=harv}}</ref> Many of these immigrants became known as "[[wikt:pioneer|pioneers]]" (halutzim), experienced or trained in agriculture and capable of establishing self-sustaining economies. The [[Jezreel Valley]] and the Hefer Plain marshes were drained and converted to agricultural use. Land was bought by the [[Jewish National Fund]], a Zionist charity that collected money abroad for that purpose. A mainly socialist underground Jewish militia, [[Haganah]] ("Defense"), was established to defend outlying Jewish settlements.
[[File:Founding of the Hebrew University.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The opening ceremony of The [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]] visited by [[Arthur Balfour]], 1 April 1925]]
 
The French [[Franco-Syrian War|victory]] over the [[Arab Kingdom of Syria]] and the Balfour Declaration led to the emergence of [[Palestinian Nationalism]] and Arab rioting in [[1920 Nebi Musa riots|1920]] and [[Jaffa riots|1921]]. In response, the British authorities imposed immigration quotas for Jews. Exceptions were made for Jews with over 1,000 pounds in cash (roughly 100,000 pounds at year 2000 rates) or Jewish professionals with over 500 pounds. The [[Jewish Agency]] issued the British entry permits and distributed funds donated by Jews abroad.<ref>[[Peel Commission]], (Peel report) p. 172</ref> Between 1924 and 1929, 82,000 more Jews arrived ([[Fourth Aliyah]]), fleeing antisemitism in Poland and Hungary, and because the United States [[Immigration Act of 1924]] now kept Jews out. The new arrivals included many middle-class families who moved into towns and established small businesses and workshops—although lack of economic opportunities meant that approximately a quarter later left. The first electricity generator was built in Tel Aviv in 1923 under the guidance of [[Pinhas Rutenberg]], a former [[Commissar]] of St Petersburg in Russia's pre-Bolshevik [[Kerensky Government]]. In 1925 the Jewish Agency established the [[Hebrew University]] in Jerusalem and the [[Technion]] (technological university) in Haifa.
 
From 1928, the democratically elected Va'ad Leumi ([[Jewish National Council]] or JNC) became the main institution of the Palestine Jewish community ("[[Yishuv]]") and included non-Zionist Jews. As the Yishuv grew, the JNC adopted more government-type functions, such as education, health care and security. With British permission, the Va'ad raised its own taxes<ref>http://www.amalnet.k12.il/meida/history/hisi1085.htm (in Hebrew accessed 22/4/2009) [[Peel Commission]], (Peel report) pp. 48–49</ref> and ran independent services for the Jewish population.<ref>[[Peel Commission]], (Peel report) chapters 5, 8 and 16</ref> From 1929 its leadership was elected by Jews from 26 countries.
 
In 1929 tensions grew over the Kotel ([[Wailing Wall]]), a narrow alleyway where Jews were banned from using chairs or any furniture (many of the worshipers were elderly). The [[Haj Amin al-Husseini|Mufti]] claimed it was Muslim property and that the Jews were seeking control of the Temple Mount. This (and general animosity) led to the August [[1929 Palestine riots]]. The [[1929 Hebron massacre|main victims]] were the ancient Jewish community at Hebron, which came to an end. The riots led to right-wing Zionists establishing their own militia in 1931, the [[Irgun]] Tzvai Leumi (National Military Organization, known in Hebrew by its acronym "Etzel").
 
Zionist political parties provided private education and health care: the [[General Zionists]], the [[Mizrachi (political party)|Mizrahi]] and the [[Labor Zionism|Socialist Zionists]], each established independent health and education services and operated sports organizations funded by local taxes, donations and fees (the British administration did not invest in public services). During the whole interwar period, the British, appealing to the terms of the Mandate, rejected the principle of majority rule or any other measure that would give the Arab population, who formed the majority of the population, control over Palestinian territory.
 
===Increase of Jewish immigration===
{{Main article|Fifth Aliyah|Nuremberg Laws}}
In 1933, the Jewish Agency and the Nazis negotiated the [[Ha'avara Agreement]] (transfer agreement), under which 50,000 Jews would be transferred to Palestine. The Jews' possessions were confiscated and in return the Nazis allowed the Ha'avara organization to purchase 14 million pounds worth of German goods for export to Palestine (which was used to compensate the immigrants). The Nazis did not normally allow Jews to leave with any money or to take more than two suitcases. The agreement was controversial and the Labour Zionist leader who negotiated the agreement, [[Haim Arlosoroff]], was assassinated in Tel Aviv in 1933. The assassination was a long source of anger between the Zionist left and Zionist right. Arlosoroff had been the boyfriend of [[Magda Goebbels|Magda Ritschel]] some years before she married [[Joseph Goebbels]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/reich-mother-loved-to-death/171407.article|title=Reich mother loved to death|work=[[Times Higher Education]]|date=6 September 2002|accessdate=5 June 2016|last=Pine|first= Lisa |location=London}}</ref> There has been speculation that he was assassinated by the Nazis to hide the connection, which only emerged recently but there is no evidence for it.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.fr/Qui-tu%C3%A9-Arlozoroff-Tobie-Nathan/dp/2246751314?ie=UTF8&qid=1279932531&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1|title=Qui a tué Arlozoroff ?|first=Tobie|last=Nathan|date=12 May 2010|publisher=Grasset|via=Amazon}}</ref> In Palestine, Jewish immigration (and the Ha'avara goods) helped the economy to flourish. A port and oil refineries were built at Haifa and there was a growth of industrialization in the predominantly agricultural Palestinian economy.
 
Between 1929 and 1938, 250,000 Jews arrived in Palestine ([[Fifth Aliyah]]). 174,000 arrived between 1933 and 1936, after which the British increasingly restricted immigration. Migration was mostly from Europe and included professionals, doctors, lawyers and professors from Germany. German architects of the [[Bauhaus]] school made Tel-Aviv the world's only city with purely [[White City (Tel Aviv)|Bauhaus neighbourhoods]] and Palestine had the highest per-capita percentage of doctors in the world.
 
As fascist regimes emerged across Europe, persecution of Jews massively increased, and Jews reverted to being non-citizens deprived of civil and economic rights, subject to arbitrary persecution. Significantly antisemitic governments came to power in [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]] (the government increasingly boycotted Jews and by 1937 had totally excluded all Jews),<ref>Social and Political History of the Jews in Poland, 1919-1939 By Joseph Marcus, Mouton 1983, pg 366</ref> [[Hungary during World War II|Hungary]], [[Romania in World War II|Romania]] and the Nazi created states of [[Independent State of Croatia|Croatia]] and [[Slovak Republic (1939–1945)|Slovakia]], while [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] annexed [[Anschluss|Austria]] and the [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia|Czech territories]].
 
===Arab revolt and the White Paper===
{{Main article|1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine|White Paper of 1939}}
[[File:Ghaffis in Nesher 2.jpg|thumb|[[Jewish Settlement Police]] members watching the settlement [[Nesher]] during [[1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine|1936–1939 Arab revolt]]]]
Jewish immigration and Nazi propaganda contributed to the large-scale [[1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine]], a largely nationalist uprising directed at ending British rule. The head of the Jewish Agency, Ben-Gurion, responded to the Arab Revolt with a policy of "[[Havlagah]]"—self-restraint and a refusal to be provoked by Arab attacks in order to prevent polarization. The Etzel group broke off from the Haganah in opposition to this policy.
 
The British responded to the revolt with the [[Peel Commission]] (1936–37), a public inquiry that recommended that an exclusively Jewish territory be created in the [[Galilee]] and western coast (including the [[population transfer]] of 225,000 Arabs); the rest becoming an exclusively Arab area. The two main Jewish leaders, [[Chaim Weizmann]] and [[David Ben-Gurion]], had convinced the [[World Zionist Congress|Zionist Congress]] to approve equivocally the Peel recommendations as a basis for more negotiation.<ref>William Roger Louis, [https://books.google.com/books/about/Ends_of_British_Imperialism.html?id=NQnpQNKeKKAC&redir_esc=y Ends of British Imperialism: The Scramble for Empire, Suez, and Decolonization], 2006, p.391</ref><ref>Benny Morris, One state, two states:resolving the Israel/Palestine conflict, 2009, p. 66</ref><ref>Benny Morris, [https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Birth_of_the_Palestinian_Refugee_Pro.html?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&redir_esc=y The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited], p. 48; p. 11 "while the Zionist movement, after much agonising, accepted the principle of partition and the proposals as a basis for negotiation"; p. 49 "In the end, after bitter debate, the Congress equivocally approved –by a vote of 299 to 160 – the Peel recommendations as a basis for further negotiation."</ref> The plan was rejected outright by the Palestinian Arab leadership and they renewed the revolt, which caused the British to appease the Arabs, and to abandon the plan as unworkable.<ref>For more information see ''Palestine: Retreat from the Mandate, The making of British Policy, 1936–1945'' by Michael Cohen, New York 1979 Chapter 3</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Birth_of_the_Palestinian_Refugee_Pro.html?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&redir_esc=y The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited], p. 11, "The AHC renewed the revolt. Whitehall ... took vigorous steps to appease the Palestinians."</ref>
 
Testifying before the Peel Commission, Weizmann said "There are in Europe 6,000,000 people ... for whom the world is divided into places where they cannot live and places where they cannot enter." In 1938, the US called an [[Évian Conference|international conference]] to address the question of the vast numbers of Jews trying to escape Europe. Britain made its attendance contingent on Palestine being kept out of the discussion. No Jewish representatives were invited. The Nazis proposed their own solution: that the Jews of Europe be shipped to Madagascar (the [[Madagascar Plan]]).
 
With millions of Jews trying to leave Europe and every country in the world closed to Jewish migration, the British decided to close Palestine. The [[White Paper of 1939]], recommended that an independent Palestine, governed jointly by Arabs and Jews, be established within 10 years. The White Paper agreed to allow 75,000 Jewish immigrants into Palestine over the period 1940–44, after which migration would require Arab approval. Both the Arab and Jewish leadership rejected the White Paper. In March 1940 the British High Commissioner for Palestine issued an edict banning Jews from purchasing land in 95% of Palestine. Jews now resorted to illegal immigration: ([[Aliyah Bet]] or "Ha'apalah"), often organized by the [[Mossad Le'aliyah Bet]] and the Irgun. Very few Jews managed to escape Europe between 1939 and 1945. Those caught by the British were mostly [[History of the Jews in Mauritius|sent to Mauritius]].
 
===World War II and the Holocaust===
{{Further information|Aliyah Bet|History of the Jews during World War II|The Holocaust|Italian bombing of Mandatory Palestine in World War II}}
[[File:JB HQ.jpg|thumb|left|[[Jewish Brigade]] headquarters under both [[Union Flag]] and [[Flag of Israel|Jewish flag]]]]
During the [[Second World War]], the Jewish Agency worked to establish a Jewish army that would fight alongside the British forces. Churchill supported the plan but British Military and government opposition led to its rejection. The British demanded that the number of Jewish recruits match the number of Arab recruits,<ref>''Palestine: Retreat from the Mandate, The making of British Policy, 1936–1945'' by Michael Cohen, New York 1979 p. 103</ref> but few Arabs would fight for Britain, and the Palestinian leader, the [[Haj Amin al-Husseini|Mufti of Jerusalem]], joined the Nazis in Europe.
 
In May 1941, the [[Palmach]] was established to defend the [[Yishuv]] against the planned [[Axis powers|Axis]] invasion through [[North African Campaign|North Africa]]. The British refusal to provide arms to the Jews, even when Rommel's forces were [[200 days of dread|advancing through Egypt]] in June 1942 (intent on occupying Palestine) and the 1939 White Paper, led to the emergence of a Zionist leadership in Palestine that believed conflict with Britain was inevitable.<ref>''Palestine: Retreat from the Mandate, The making of British Policy, 1936–1945'' by Michael Cohen, New York 1979 pp. 122–130</ref> Despite this, the Jewish Agency called on Palestine's Jewish youth to volunteer for the British Army (both men and women). 30,000 Palestinian Jews<ref>{{cite book |last=Niewyk |first=Donald L. |title=The Columbia Guide to the Holocaust |url=https://books.google.com/?id=_QQ7AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA247&dq=30,000+Palestinian+Jews+enlisted+in+the+British+army#v=onepage&q=30%2C000%20Palestinian%20Jews%20enlisted%20in%20the%20British%20army&f=false |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2000 |page=247 |isbn=0231112009}}</ref> and 6,000 Palestinian Arabs<ref>{{cite book |last=Heynen |first=Jacques |title=Murders Without Assassins |url=https://books.google.com/?id=oKJpbFCAsPoC&pg=PA25&dq=6,000+Palestinian+Arabs+enlisted+in+the+British+armed+forces+during+World+War+II#v=onepage&q=6%2C000%20Palestinian%20Arabs%20enlisted%20in%20the%20British%20armed%20forces%20during%20World%20War%20II&f=false |publisher=Lulu |year=2008 |page=25 |isbn=9781409231141}}</ref> enlisted in the British armed forces during the war. In June 1944 the British agreed to create a [[Jewish Brigade]] that would fight in Italy.
 
Approximately 1.5 million Jews around the world served in every branch of the allied armies, mainly in the Soviet and US armies. 200,000 Jews died serving in the Soviet army alone.<ref>[http://www.yadvashem.org/holocaust/about/combat-resistance/jewish-soldiers "Jewish Soldiers in the Allied Armies"]. [[Yad Vashem]].</ref> Many of these war veterans later volunteered to fight for Israel or were active in its support.
 
A small group (about 200 activists), dedicated to resisting the British administration in Palestine, broke away from the Etzel (which advocated support for Britain during the war) and formed the "Lehi" ([[Stern Gang]]), led by [[Avraham Stern]]. In 1943, the [[USSR]] released the Revisionist Zionist leader [[Menachem Begin]] from the [[Gulag]] and he went to Palestine, taking command of the Etzel organization with a policy of increased conflict against the British. At about the same time [[Yitzhak Shamir]] escaped from the [[Irgun and Lehi internment in Africa|camp in Eritrea]] where the British were holding Lehi activists without trial, taking command of the Lehi (Stern Gang).
 
Jews in the Middle East were also affected by the war. Most of North Africa came under Nazi control and many Jews were used as slaves.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007312|title=Jews in North Africa: Oppression and Resistance|website=www.ushmm.org}}</ref> The 1941 [[1941 Iraqi coup d'état|pro-Axis coup in Iraq]] was accompanied by [[Farhud|massacres]] of Jews. The Jewish Agency put together plans for a last stand in the event of Rommel invading Palestine (the Nazis planned to exterminate Palestine's Jews).<ref>''Nazi Palestine: The Plans for the Extermination of the Jews in Palestine'' by Mallman and Cuppers, 2010</ref>
 
Between 1939 and 1945, the Nazis, [[Responsibility for the Holocaust|aided by local forces]], led systematic efforts to kill every person of Jewish extraction in Europe (The [[Holocaust]]), causing the deaths of approximately 6 million Jews. A quarter of those killed were children. The Polish and German Jewish communities, which played an important role in defining the pre-1945 Jewish world, mostly ceased to exist. In the United States and Palestine, Jews of European origin became disconnected from their families and roots. [[Sephardi Jews|Sepharadi]] and [[Mizrahi Jews]], who had been a minority, became a much more significant factor in the Jewish world. Those Jews who survived in central Europe, were [[Displaced persons camp|displaced persons]] (refugees); an [[Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry]], established to examine the Palestine issue, surveyed their ambitions and found that over 95% wanted to migrate to Palestine.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://archive.jta.org/article/1946/02/03/2743526/unrra-polls-displaced-jews-on-emigration-plans-first-vote-shows-palestine-is-favored |title=Unrra Polls Displaced Jews on Emigration Plans; First Vote Shows Palestine is Favored |publisher=JTA |date=1946-02-03 |accessdate=2012-12-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/educational_materials/shapira_survivors.asp |title=Survivors of the Holocaust - Educational Materials - Education & E-Learning |publisher=Yad Vashem |date= |accessdate=2012-12-04}}</ref><ref>Between National Socialism and Soviet Communism: Displaced Persons in Postwar Germany by Anna Holian Michigan 2011 pp 181-2</ref>
 
In the Zionist movement the moderate Pro-British (and British citizen) Weizmann, whose son died flying in the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]], was undermined by Britain's anti-Zionist policies.<ref>''Palestine: Retreat from the Mandate, The making of British Policy, 1936–1945'' by Michael Cohen, New York 1979 pp. 125–135</ref> Leadership of the movement passed to the Jewish Agency in Palestine, now led by the anti-British Socialist-Zionist party ([[Mapai]]) and led by [[David Ben-Gurion]]. In the [[Jewish diaspora|diaspora]], US Jews now dominated the Zionist movement.
 
===Illegal Jewish immigration and insurgency===
{{Main article|Bricha|Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine}}
{{See also|Anti-Jewish violence in Poland, 1944–46}}
The [[British Empire]] was severely weakened by the war. In the Middle East, the war had made Britain conscious of its dependence on Arab oil. British firms controlled Iraqi oil and Britain ruled Kuwait, Bahrain and the Emirates. Shortly after [[VE Day]], the Labour Party won the general election in Britain. Although Labour Party conferences had for years called for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, the Labour government now decided to maintain the 1939 White Paper policies.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sofer |first=Sasson |title=Zionism and the Foundations of Israeli Diplomacy |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1998 |page=41 |isbn=9780521038270}}</ref>
 
[[File:19450715 Buchenwald survivors arrive in Haifa.jpg|thumb|[[Buchenwald concentration camp|Buchenwald]] survivors arrive in [[Haifa]] to be arrested by the British, 15 July 1945]]
Illegal migration ([[Aliyah Bet]]) became the main form of Jewish entry into Palestine. Across Europe [[Bricha]] ("flight"), an organization of former [[Jewish partisans|partisans]] and [[Jewish resistance under Nazi rule|ghetto fighters]], smuggled Holocaust survivors from Eastern Europe to Mediterranean ports, where small boats tried to breach the British blockade of Palestine. Meanwhile, Jews from Arab countries began moving into Palestine overland. Despite British efforts to curb immigration, during the 14 years of the Aliyah Bet, over 110,000 Jews entered Palestine. By the end of World War II, the Jewish population of Palestine had increased to 33% of the total population.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mideastweb.org/palpop.htm |title=The Population of Palestine Prior to 1948 |publisher=MidEastWeb}}</ref>
 
In an effort to win independence, Zionists now waged a [[British–Zionist conflict|guerrilla war]] against the British. The main underground Jewish militia, the Haganah, formed an alliance called the [[Jewish Resistance Movement]] with the Etzel and Stern Gang to fight the British. In June 1946, following instances of Jewish [[Night of the Bridges|sabotage]], the British launched [[Operation Agatha]], arresting 2700 Jews, including the leadership of the Jewish Agency, whose headquarters were raided. Those arrested were held without trial.
 
In [[History of the Jews in Poland#Postwar|Poland]], the [[Kielce Pogrom]] (July 1946) led to a wave of Holocaust survivors fleeing Europe for Palestine. Between 1945 and 1948, 100,000–120,000 Jews left Poland. Their departure was largely organized by Zionist activists in Poland under the umbrella of the semi-clandestine organization ''[[Berihah]]'' ("Flight").<ref name="YV-archive3">{{cite web |url=http://collections1.yadvashem.org/notebook_ext.asp?item=51009 |title=Cracow, Poland, Postwar, Yosef Hillpshtein and his friends of the Bericha movement |publisher=Yad Vashem |accessdate=4 December 2012}}</ref> ''Berihah'' was also responsible for the organized emigration of Jews from [[History of the Jews in Romania#Post-War|Romania]], Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, totalling 250,000 (including Poland) Holocaust survivors. The British imprisoned the Jews trying to enter Palestine in the [[Atlit detainee camp]] and [[Cyprus internment camps]]. Those held were mainly Holocaust survivors, including large numbers of children and orphans. In response to Cypriot fears that the Jews would never leave (since they lacked a state or documentation) and because the 75,000 quota established by the 1939 White Paper had never been filled, the British allowed the refugees to enter Palestine at a rate of 750 per month.
 
The unified Jewish resistance movement broke up in July 1946, after Etzel [[King David Hotel bombing|bombed the British Military Headquarters]] in the King David Hotel killing 91 people. In the days following the bombing, Tel Aviv was placed under curfew and over 120,000 Jews, nearly 20% of the Jewish population of Palestine, were questioned by the police. In the US, Congress criticized British handling of the situation and delayed loans that were vital to British post-war recovery. By 1947 the Labour Government was ready to refer the Palestine problem to the newly created United Nations.
 
===United Nations Partition Plan===
{{Main article|United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine}}
[[File:UN Partition Plan For Palestine 1947.png|thumb|upright|[[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine]], 1947]]
On 2 April 1947, the United Kingdom requested that the question of Palestine be handled by the [[General Assembly of the United Nations|General Assembly]].<ref>[http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/07175de9fa2de563852568d3006e10f3?OpenDocument UNITED NATIONS: General Assembly: A/364 3 September 1947: Chapter I: The Origin and Activities of UNSCOP: A. Creation of the Special Committee: Its Terms of Reference and Composition] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603150222/http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/07175de9fa2de563852568d3006e10f3?OpenDocument |date=3 June 2012 }}</ref> The General Assembly created a committee, [[United Nations Special Committee on Palestine]] (UNSCOP), to report on "the question of Palestine".<ref>[https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/F5A49E57095C35B685256BCF0075D9C2 A/RES/106 (S-1)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806072438/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/F5A49E57095C35B685256BCF0075D9C2 |date=6 August 2012 }} of 15 May 1947 General Assembly Resolution 106 Constituting the UNSCOP: Retrieved 30 May 2012</ref> In July 1947 the UNSCOP visited Palestine and met with Jewish and Zionist delegations. The [[Arab Higher Committee]] boycotted the meetings. During the visit the British Foreign Secretary [[Ernest Bevin]] ordered an illegal immigrant ship, the ''[[Exodus 1947]]'', to be sent back to Europe. The migrants on the ship were forcibly removed by British troops at Hamburg.
 
The principal non-Zionist Orthodox Jewish (or [[Haredi]]) party, [[Agudat Israel]], recommended to UNSCOP that a Jewish state be set up after reaching a religious [[Status quo (Israel)|status quo agreement]] with Ben-Gurion regarding the future Jewish state. The agreement would grant exemption to a quota of [[yeshiva]] (religious seminary) students and to all orthodox women from military service, would make the Sabbath the national weekend, promised [[Kosher]] food in government institutions and would allow them to maintain a separate education system.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.news1.co.il/uploadFiles/781353175640107.doc |script-title=he:מכתב הסטטוס קוו |date=19 June 1947 |language=Hebrew |accessdate=5 December 2012}}</ref>
 
The majority report of UNSCOP proposed<ref>[http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/07175de9fa2de563852568d3006e10f3?OpenDocument United Nations: General Assembly: A/364: 3 September 1947: Official Records of the Second Session of the General Assembly: Supplement No. 11: United Nations Special Committee on Palestine: Report to the General Assembly Volume 1: Lake Success, New York 1947: Retrieved 30 May 2012] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603150222/http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/07175de9fa2de563852568d3006e10f3?OpenDocument |date=3 June 2012 }}</ref> "an independent Arab State, an independent Jewish State, and the City of Jerusalem", the last to be under "an International Trusteeship System".<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/2248AF9A92B498718525694B007239C6 |publisher=United Nations |date=20 April 1949 |accessdate=31 July 2007 |title=Background Paper No. 47 (ST/DPI/SER.A/47) |postscript=. |ref=harv |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103014616/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/2248AF9A92B498718525694B007239C6 |archivedate=3 January 2011 |df= }}</ref> On 29 November 1947, in [[Resolution 181]] (II), the General Assembly adopted the majority report of UNSCOP, but with slight modifications.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/0/7f0af2bd897689b785256c330061d253 |title=A/RES/181(II) of 29 November 1947 |publisher=United Nations |year=1947 |accessdate=30 May 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524094913/http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/0/7f0af2bd897689b785256c330061d253 |archivedate=24 May 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The Plan also called for the British to allow "substantial" Jewish migration by 1 February 1948.<ref>Part I paragraph 2 UN resolution 181(II), {{cite web|url=https://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/0/7F0AF2BD897689B785256C330061D253 |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2014-02-07 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906162506/http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/0/7F0AF2BD897689B785256C330061D253 |archivedate=6 September 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
 
Neither Britain nor the UN Security Council took any action to implement the resolution and Britain continued detaining Jews attempting to enter Palestine. Concerned that partition would severely damage Anglo-Arab relations, Britain denied UN representatives access to Palestine during the period between the adoption of Resolution 181 (II) and the termination of the British Mandate.<ref>[[Trygve Lie]], In the Cause of Peace, Seven Years with the United Nations (New York: MacMillan 1954) p. 163</ref> The British withdrawal was finally completed in May 1948. However, Britain continued to hold Jews of "fighting age" and their families on Cyprus until March 1949.<ref>Morris Laub, ''Last barrier to freedom: internment of Jewish holocaust survivors on Cyprus 1946–1949'', Berkeley 1985</ref>
 
===Civil War===
{{Main article|1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine}}
[[File:Jerusalem convoy.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Supply convoy on its way to [[Battle for Jerusalem (1948)|besieged]] [[Jerusalem]], April 1948]]
The General Assembly's vote caused joy in the Jewish community and discontent among the Arab community. Violence broke out between the sides, escalating into [[1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine|civil war]]. From January 1948, operations became increasingly militarized, with the intervention of a number of [[Arab Liberation Army]] regiments inside Palestine, each active in a variety of distinct sectors around the different coastal towns. They consolidated their presence in [[Galilee]] and [[Samaria]].<ref name="Yoav Gelber 2006 pp.51-56">[[#gelber|Yoav Gelber (2006)]], pp. 51–56</ref> [[Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni]] came from Egypt with several hundred men of the [[Army of the Holy War]]. Having recruited a few thousand volunteers, he organized the blockade of the 100,000 Jewish residents of Jerusalem.<ref name="Larry Collins 1971 p.7">[[#lapierre collins|Dominique Lapierre et Larry Collins (1971)]], chap. 7, pp. 131–153</ref> The [[Yishuv]] tried to supply the city using convoys of up to 100 armoured vehicles, but largely failed. By March, almost all [[Haganah]]'s armoured vehicles had been destroyed, the blockade was in full operation, and hundreds of Haganah members who had tried to bring supplies into the city were killed.<ref name="Benny Morris 2003 p.163">[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], p. 163</ref>
 
Up to 100,000 Arabs, from the urban upper and middle classes in Haifa, Jaffa and Jerusalem, or Jewish-dominated areas, evacuated abroad or to Arab centres eastwards.<ref name="Benny Morris 2003 p.67">[[#morris birth|Benny Morris (2003)]], p. 67</ref> This situation caused the US to withdraw their support for the Partition plan, thus encouraging the [[Arab League]] to believe that the Palestinian Arabs, reinforced by the Arab Liberation Army, could put an end to the plan for partition. The British, on the other hand, decided on 7 February 1948 to support the annexation of the Arab part of Palestine by [[Jordan|Transjordan]].<ref name="Henry Laurens 2005 p.83">[[#laurens|Henry Laurens (2005)]], p. 83</ref>
 
[[File:Declaration of State of Israel 1948.jpg|thumb|[[David Ben-Gurion]] proclaiming the [[Israeli Declaration of Independence]] in 1948]]
[[David Ben-Gurion]] reorganized Haganah and made conscription obligatory. Every Jewish man and woman in the country had to receive military training. Thanks to funds raised by [[Golda Meir]] from sympathisers in the United States, and Stalin's decision to support the [[Zionism|Zionist]] cause, the Jewish representatives of Palestine were able to purchase important arms in Eastern Europe.
 
Ben-Gurion gave [[Yigael Yadin]] the responsibility to plan for the announced intervention of the Arab states. The result of his analysis was [[Plan Dalet]], in which Haganah passed from the defensive to the offensive. The plan sought to establish Jewish territorial continuity by conquering mixed zones. [[Tiberias]], [[Haifa]], [[Safed]], [[Beisan]], [[Jaffa]] and Acre fell, resulting in the flight of more than 250,000 Palestinian Arabs.<ref>[[#laurens|Henry Laurens (2005)]], pp. 85–86</ref> The situation pushed the leaders of the neighbouring Arab states to intervene.
 
On 14 May 1948, on the day the last British forces left from Haifa, the [[Jewish People's Council]] gathered at the [[Tel Aviv Museum]] and proclaimed [[Declaration of Establishment of State of Israel|the establishment]] of a [[Jewish state]] in [[Eretz Israel]], to be known as the [[State of Israel]].<ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Declaration+of+Establishment+of+State+of+Israel.htm Declaration of Establishment of State of Israel: 14 May 1948: Retrieved 2 June 2012] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321213130/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Guide%20to%20the%20Peace%20Process/Declaration%20of%20Establishment%20of%20State%20of%20Israel.htm |date=21 March 2012 }}</ref>
{{clear}}
 
==State of Israel (1948–present)==
 
===War of Independence===
{{Main article|1948 Arab–Israeli War}}
[[File:Raising the Ink Flag at Umm Rashrash (Eilat).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Avraham Adan]] raising the [[Ink Flag]] marking the end of the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]]]]
Immediately following the declaration of the new state, both [[superpower]] leaders, US President [[Harry S. Truman]] and Soviet leader [[Joseph Stalin]], recognized the new state.
The [[Arab League]] members Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq refused to accept the UN partition plan and proclaimed the right of self-determination for the Arabs across the whole of Palestine. The Arab states marched their forces into what had, until the previous day, been the British Mandate for Palestine, starting the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War|first Arab–Israeli War]]. The Arab states had heavy military equipment at their disposal and were initially on the offensive (the Jewish forces were not a state before 15 May and could not buy heavy arms). On 29 May 1948, the British initiated [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 50]] declaring an arms embargo on the region. [[Czechoslovakia]] [[Arms shipments from Czechoslovakia to Israel 1947–1949|violated the resolution]], supplying the Jewish state with critical military hardware to match the (mainly British) heavy equipment and planes already owned by the invading Arab states. On 11 June, a month-long UN truce was put into effect.
 
Following independence, the [[Haganah]] became the [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF). The [[Palmach]], [[Irgun|Etzel]] and [[Lehi (group)|Lehi]] were required to cease independent operations and join the IDF. During the ceasefire, Etzel attempted to bring in a private arms shipment aboard a ship called "[[Altalena]]". When they refused to hand the arms to the government, Ben-Gurion ordered that the ship be sunk. Several Etzel members were killed in the fighting.
 
Large numbers of Jewish immigrants, many of them World War II veterans and Holocaust survivors, now began arriving in the new state of Israel, and many joined the IDF.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hagana.co.il/show_item.asp?levelId=59798&itemId=47310&itemType=3 |publisher=hagana.co.il |script-title=he:גיוס חוץ לארץ |accessdate=2007-12-11 |language=Hebrew |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081231104437/http://www.hagana.co.il/show_item.asp?levelId=59798&itemId=47310&itemType=3 |archivedate=31 December 2008 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
 
After an initial loss of territory by the Jewish state and its occupation by the Arab armies, from July the tide gradually turned in the Israelis' favour and they pushed the Arab armies out and conquered some of the territory that had been included in the proposed Arab state. At the end of November, tenuous local ceasefires were arranged between the Israelis, Syrians and Lebanese. On 1 December [[Abdullah I of Jordan|King Abdullah]] announced the union of Transjordan with Arab Palestine west of the Jordan; only Britain recognized the annexation.
 
===Armistice Agreements===
{{Main article|1949 Armistice Agreements}}
[[File:Cia-is-map2.png|thumb|upright|[[Green Line (Israel)|1949 Green Line]]]]
Israel signed [[1949 Armistice Agreements|armistices]] with Egypt (24 February), Lebanon (23 March), Jordan (3 April) and Syria (20 July). No actual peace agreements were signed. With [[1949 Armistice Agreements|permanent ceasefire]] coming into effect, Israel's new borders, later known as the [[Green Line (Israel)|Green Line]], were established. These borders were not recognized by the Arab states as international boundaries.<ref>Green Line: the name given to the 1949 Armistice lines that constituted the de facto borders of pre-1967 Israel &mdash; [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/israel/il_glos.html "Glossary: Israel"], ''[[Library of Congress Country Studies]]''</ref> The IDF had overrun [[Galilee]], [[Jezreel Valley]], [[West Jerusalem]], the [[Israeli coastal plain|coastal plain]] and the [[Negev]]. The Syrians remained in control of a strip of territory along the Sea of Galilee originally allocated to the Jewish state, the Lebanese occupied a tiny area at [[Rosh HaNikra, Israel|Rosh Hanikra]], and the Egyptians retained the Gaza strip and still had some forces surrounded inside Israeli territory. Jordanian forces remained in [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank| the West Bank]], where the British had stationed them before the war. Jordan annexed the areas it occupied while Egypt kept [[Occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt|Gaza as an occupied zone]].
 
Following the ceasefire declaration, Britain released over 2,000 Jewish detainees it was still holding in Cyprus and recognized the state of Israel. On 11 May 1949, Israel was admitted as a member of the United Nations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/gov_un_mem_dat-government-un-membership-date|title=Countries Compared by Government > UN membership date. International Statistics at NationMaster.com|website=www.nationmaster.com}}</ref> Out of an Israeli population of 650,000, some 6,000 men and women were killed in the fighting, including 4,000 soldiers in the IDF. According to United Nations figures, 726,000 Palestinians [[1948 Palestinian exodus|had fled or were evicted]] by the Israelis between 1947 and 1949.<ref>{{harvnb|Morris|2004|pp=604}}</ref> Except in Jordan, the Palestinian refugees were settled in large refugee camps in poor, overcrowded conditions. In December 1949, the UN (in response to a British proposal) established an agency ([[UNRWA]]) to provide aid to the Palestinian refugees. It became the largest single UN agency and is the only UN agency that serves a single people.
 
===1948–1955: Ben-Gurion I; Sharett===
{{Further information|Austerity in Israel|Lavon Affair|Reprisal operations}}
{{See also2|[[Provisional government of Israel|Provisional]]|[[First government of Israel|First]]|[[Second government of Israel|Second]]|[[Third government of Israel|Third]]|[[Fourth government of Israel|Fourth]]|[[Fifth government of Israel|Fifth]]|[[Sixth government of Israel|Sixth]] governments of Israel}}
A 120-seat parliament, the [[Knesset]], met first in [[Tel Aviv]] then moved to [[Jerusalem]] after the 1949 ceasefire. In January 1949, Israel held its [[Israeli legislative election, 1949|first elections]]. The Socialist-Zionist parties [[Mapai]] and [[Mapam]] won the most seats (46 and 19 respectively). Mapai's leader, [[David Ben-Gurion]], was appointed [[Prime Minister of Israel|Prime Minister]], he formed a coalition which did not include Mapam who were [[Stalinist]] and loyal to the USSR (another Stalinist party, non-Zionist [[Maki (historical political party)|Maki]] won 4 seats). The Knesset elected [[Chaim Weizmann]] as the first (largely ceremonial) [[President of Israel]]. [[Hebrew]] and [[Arabic]] were made the official languages of the new state. All governments have been [[coalitions]]—no party has ever won a majority in the Knesset. From 1948 until 1977 all governments were led by [[Mapai]] and the [[Alignment (political party)|Alignment]], predecessors of the [[Labor Party (Israel)|Labour Party]]. In those years [[Labor Zionism|Labour Zionists]], initially led by [[David Ben-Gurion]], dominated Israeli politics and the economy was run on primarily [[Socialism|socialist lines]].
 
Within three years (1948 to 1951), immigration doubled the Jewish population of Israel and left an indelible imprint on Israeli society.<ref>''Immigrants in Turmoil: Mass Immigration to Israel and its Repercussions in the 1950s and After'' Dvora Hacohen, Syracuse University Press, 2003</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www1.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st02_01&CYear=2006 |publisher=Israel Central Bureau of Statistics |accessdate=7 August 2007 |year=2006 |title=Population, by Religion and Population Group |ref=harv |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930033403/http://www1.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st02_01&CYear=2006 |archivedate=30 September 2007 |df= }}</ref> Overall, 700,000 Jews settled in Israel during this period.<ref>Benny Morris, ''Righteous Victims'', chap.VI.</ref> Some 300,000 arrived from Asian and North African nations as part of the [[Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries]].<ref name=sachar_pp395-403>Sachar, pp. 395–403.</ref> Among them, the largest group (over 100,000) was from Iraq. The rest of the immigrants were from Europe, including more than 270,000 who came from Eastern Europe,<ref>Tom Segev, ''1949. The First Israelis'', Owl Books, 1986, p.96.</ref> mainly Romania and Poland (over 100,000 each). Nearly all the Jewish immigrants could be described as [[refugee]]s, however only 136,000 who immigrated to Israel from Central Europe, had international certification because they belonged to the 250,000 Jews registered by the allies as displaced after World War II and living in [[Displaced persons camp]]s in Germany, Austria and Italy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005462 |title=Displaced Persons |work=Holocaust Encyclopedia |publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |accessdate=5 December 2012}}</ref>
 
In 1950 the Knesset passed the [[Law of Return]], which granted to all Jews and those of Jewish ancestry, and their spouses, the right to settle in Israel and gain citizenship. That year, 50,000 Yemenite Jews (99%) were [[Operation Magic Carpet (Yemen)|secretly flown]] to Israel. In 1951 Iraqi Jews were granted temporary permission to leave the country and 120,000 (over 90%) opted [[Operation Ezra and Nehemiah|to move to Israel]]. Jews also fled from Lebanon, Syria and Egypt. By the late sixties, about 500,000 Jews had left Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Over the course of twenty years, some 850,000 Jews from Arab countries (99%) relocated to Israel (680,000), France and the Americas.<ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.il VI- The Arab Refugees – Introduction] {{webarchive|url=https://www.webcitation.org/5mr4x36zY?url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/ |date=17 January 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Group seeks justice for 'forgotten' Jews |first=Warren |last=Hoge |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/world/americas/04iht-nations.4.8182206.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=5 November 2007 |accessdate=3 December 2012}}</ref> The land and property left behind by the Jews (much of it in Arab city centres) is still a matter of some dispute. Today there are about 9,000 Jews living in Arab states, of whom 75% live in Morocco and 15% in Tunisia.
 
[[File:Menachem Begin při projevu na demonstraci proti německým reparacím v Tel Avivu v únoru 1952.jpg|thumb|left|[[Menachem Begin]] addressing a mass demonstration in Tel Aviv against [[Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany|negotiations with Germany]] in 1952]]
Between 1948 and 1958, the population of Israel rose from 800,000 to two million. During this period, food, clothes and furniture had to be rationed in what became known as the [[Austerity in Israel|Austerity Period]] (''Tkufat haTsena''). Immigrants were mostly refugees with no money or possessions and many were housed in temporary camps known as [[ma'abarot]]. By 1952, over 200,000 immigrants were living in tents or prefabricated shacks built by the government. Israel received financial aid from private donations from [[American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee|outside the country]] (mainly the United States).<ref>''Mishtar HaTsena'' (in Hebrew), Dr Avigail Cohen & Haya Oren, Tel Aviv 1995</ref> The pressure on the new state's finances led Ben-Gurion to sign a [[Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany|reparations agreement]] with [[West Germany]]. During the Knesset debate some 5,000 demonstrators gathered and riot police had to cordon the building.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/1,7340,L-3306796,00.html |script-title=he:היום שבו נכבשה הכנסת (כמעט) |language=Hebrew |publisher=[[Ynet]] |accessdate=12 January 2013}}</ref> Israel received several billion marks and in return agreed to open diplomatic relations with Germany.
 
At the end of 1953, Ben-Gurion retired to [[Kibbutz]] [[Sde Boker]] in the [[Negev]].
 
In 1949, education was made free and compulsory for all citizens until the age of 14. The state now funded the party-affiliated Zionist education system and a new body created by the Haredi [[Agudat Israel]] party. A separate body was created to provide education for the remaining Palestinian-Arab population. The major political parties now competed for immigrants to join their education systems. The government banned the existing educational bodies from the transit camps and tried to mandate a unitary secular socialist education<ref>The melting pot in Israel: the commission of inquiry concerning education in the early years of the state by Tzvi Tzameret, Albany 2002 chapter 7</ref> under the control of "camp managers" who also had to provide work, food and housing for the immigrants. There were attempts to force orthodox Yemenite children to adopt a secular life style by teachers, including many instances of Yemenite children having their [[Payot|side-curls]] cut by teachers. This led to the first Israeli public inquiry (the Fromkin Inquiry),<ref>For more information see ''The melting pot in Israel'' by Tzvi Tzameret, Albany 2002</ref> the collapse of the coalition, and an [[Israeli legislative election, 1951|election]] in 1951, with little change in the results. In 1953 the party-affiliated education system was scrapped and replaced by a secular state education system and a state-run Modern Orthodox system. Agudat Israel were allowed to maintain their existing school system.
 
In its early years Israel sought to maintain a non-aligned position between the super-powers. However, in 1952, an antisemitic public trial was staged in Moscow in which a group of Jewish doctors were accused of trying to poison Stalin (the [[Doctors' plot]]), followed by a similar trial in Czechoslovakia ([[Slánský trial]]). This, and the failure of Israel to be included in the [[Bandung Conference]] (of [[Non-Aligned Movement|non-aligned states]]), effectively ended Israel's pursuit of non-alignment. On 19 May 1950, Egypt announced that the [[Suez Canal]] was closed to Israeli ships and commerce. In 1952 a [[Egyptian Revolution of 1952|military coup]] in Egypt brought [[Gamal Abdel Nasser|Abdel Nasser]] to power. The United States pursued close relations with the new Arab states, particularly the Nasser-led Egyptian [[Free Officers Movement (Egypt)|Free Officers Movement]] and [[Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia]]. Israel's solution to diplomatic isolation was to establish good relations with newly independent states in [[Africa]]<ref>"Israel's Military Aid to Africa, 1960–66", Abel Jacob in ''The Journal of Modern African Studies'', vol. 9, no. 2 (August 1971), pp. 165–187</ref> and with France, which was engaged in the [[Algerian War]].
 
In the [[Israeli legislative election, 1955|January 1955 elections]] Mapai won 40 seats and the Labour Party 10, [[Moshe Sharett]] became prime minister of Israel at the head of a left-wing coalition. Between 1953 and 1956, there were intermittent clashes along all of Israel's borders as Arab [[List of attacks against Israeli civilians before 1967|terrorism]] and breaches of the ceasefire resulted in Israeli [[Retribution operations|counter-raids]]. [[Palestinian fedayeen]] attacks, often organized and sponsored by the Egyptians, were made from [[Occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt|(Egyptian occupied) Gaza]]. Fedayeen attacks led to a growing cycle of violence as Israel launched [[Unit 101|reprisal attacks]] against Gaza.<ref>Spencer C. Tucker, Priscilla Mary Roberts (eds.). ''The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and Military History''. [[ABC-CLIO]]. p. 229. {{ISBN|978-1-85109-842-2}}</ref> In 1954 the [[Uzi]] submachine gun first entered use by the Israel Defense Forces. In 1955 the Egyptian government began recruiting former Nazi rocket scientists for a missile program.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nti.org/media/pdfs/egypt_missile.pdf?_=1316466791 |title=Egypt Missile Chronology |date=9 March 2009 |publisher=Nuclear Threat Initiative |accessdate=4 December 2012}}</ref><ref>''Nasser and the Missile Age in the Middle East'' (Contemporary Security Studies) by Owen Sirrs, Routledge 2006. {{ISBN|978-0-415-37003-5}}. The Germans involved had worked on the [[V-1 (flying bomb)|V-1]] and [[V-2 rocket|V-2]] programs.</ref>
 
Archaeologist and General [[Yigael Yadin]] purchased the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] on behalf of the State of Israel. The entire first batch to be discovered were now owned by Israel and housed in the [[Shrine of the Book]] at the [[Israel Museum]].
 
Sharett's government was brought down by the [[Lavon Affair]], a crude plan to disrupt US–Egyptian relations, involving Israeli agents planting bombs at American sites in Egypt.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/lexicon/eng/lavon_eng.htm |title=Lavon Affair |work=Lexicon of Terms |publisher=Knesset |accessdate=5 December 2012}}</ref> The plan failed when eleven agents were arrested. Defense Minister [[Pinhas Lavon|Lavon]] was blamed despite his denial of responsibility. The Lavon affair led to Sharett's resignation and Ben-Gurion returned to the post of prime minister.
 
===1955–1963: Ben-Gurion II===
{{Further information|Suez Crisis}}
{{See also2|[[Seventh government of Israel|Seventh]]|[[Eighth government of Israel|Eighth]]|[[Ninth government of Israel|Ninth]]|[[Tenth government of Israel|Tenth]] governments of Israel}}
In 1956, the increasingly pro-Soviet President Nasser of Egypt, announced the nationalization of the (French and British owned) [[Suez Canal]], which was Egypt's main source of foreign currency. Egypt also blockaded the [[Gulf of Aqaba]] preventing Israeli access to the [[Red Sea]]. Israel made a [[Protocol of Sèvres|secret agreement]] with the French at Sèvres to co-ordinate military operations against Egypt. Britain and France had already begun secret preparations for military action. It has been alleged that the French also agreed to build a [[Negev Nuclear Research Center|nuclear plant]] for the Israelis and that by 1968 this was able to produce [[Nuclear weapons and Israel|nuclear weapons]]. Britain and France arranged for Israel to give them a pretext for seizing the Suez Canal. Israel was to attack Egypt, and Britain and France would then call on both sides to withdraw. When, as expected, the Egyptians refused, Anglo-French forces would invade to take control of the Canal.
 
[[File:Israeli troops in sinai war.jpg|thumb|Israeli paratroopers dig in near the [[Mitla Pass]], 31 October 1956]]
Israeli forces, commanded by General [[Moshe Dayan]], [[Operation Kadesh|attacked]] Egypt on 29 October 1956. On 30 October Britain and France made their pre-arranged call for both sides to stop fighting and withdraw from the Canal area, and for them to be allowed to take up positions at key points on the Canal. Egypt refused and the allies commenced air strikes on 31 October aimed at neutralizing the Egyptian air force. By 5 November the Israelis had overrun the [[Sinai]]. The Anglo-French invasion began that day. There was uproar in the UN, with the United States and USSR for once in agreement in denouncing the actions of Israel, Britain and France. A demand for a ceasefire was reluctantly accepted on 7 November.
 
At Egypt's request, the UN sent an [[United Nations Emergency Force|Emergency Force]] (UNEF), consisting of 6,000 peacekeeping troops from 10 nations to supervise the ceasefire. This was the first ever UN peacekeeping operation. From 15 November the UN troops marked out a zone across the Sinai to separate the Israeli and Egyptian forces. Upon receiving US guarantees of Israeli access to the Suez Canal, freedom of access out of the Gulf of Aqaba and Egyptian action to stop Palestinian raids from Gaza, the Israelis withdrew to the Negev.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unef1backgr2.html#three |title=First United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF I) - Background |publisher=United Nations |accessdate=5 December 2012}}</ref> In practice the Suez Canal remained closed to Israeli shipping. The conflict marked the end of West-European dominance in the Middle East.
 
Nasser emerged as the victor in the conflict, having won the political battle, however the Israeli military learnt that it did not need British or French support in order to conquer Sinai and that it could conquer the Sinai peninsula in a few days. The Israeli political leadership learnt that Israel had a limited time frame within which to operate militarily after which international political pressure would restrict Israel's freedom of action.
 
In 1956, two [[Modern Orthodox Judaism|modern-orthodox]] (and [[Religious Zionism|religious-zionist]]) parties, [[Mizrachi (political party)|Mizrachi]] and [[Hapoel HaMizrachi]], joined to form the [[National Religious Party]]. The party was a component of every Israeli coalition until 1992, usually running the Ministry of Education. Mapai was once again victorious in the [[Israeli legislative election, 1959|1959 elections]], increasing its number of seats to 47, Labour had 7. Ben-Gurion remained Prime Minister.
 
In 1959, there were renewed skirmishes along Israel's borders that continued throughout the early 1960s. The Arab League continued to maintain an [[Arab League boycott of Israel|economic boycott]] and there was a dispute over water rights in the River Jordan basin. With Soviet backing, the Arab states, particularly Egypt, were continuing to build up their forces. Israel's main military [[France–Israel relations|hardware supplier was France]].
 
[[File:1961-04-13 Tale Of Century - Eichmann Tried For War Crimes.ogv|thumb|US newsreel on the trial of [[Adolf Eichmann]]]]
[[Rudolph Kastner]], a minor political functionary, was accused of collaborating with the Nazis and sued his accuser. Kastner lost the trial and was assassinated two years later. In 1958 the [[Supreme Court of Israel|Supreme Court]] exonerated him. In May 1960 [[Adolf Eichmann]], one of the chief administrators of the Nazi Holocaust, was located in Argentina by the [[Mossad]], which later kidnapped him to Israel. In 1961 he was put on trial, and after several months found guilty and sentenced to death. He was hanged in 1962 and is the only person ever sentenced to death by an Israeli court. Testimonies by Holocaust survivors at the trial and the extensive publicity that surrounded it has led the trial to be considered a turning point in public awareness of the Holocaust.<ref>"The Eichmann Trial and American Jewry: A Reassessment", Françoise S. Ouzan in ''Jewish Political Studies Review'' 19:1–2 (Spring 2007), see also [[Hannah Arendt]], ''[[Eichmann in Jerusalem]]'' (published 1963)</ref>
 
In 1961 a [[Herut]] no-confidence motion over the Lavon affair led to Ben-Gurion's resignation. Ben-Gurion declared that he would only accept office if Lavon was fired from the position of the head of [[Histadrut]], Israel's labour union organization. His demands were accepted and Mapai won the [[Israeli legislative election, 1961|1961 election]] (42 seats keeping Ben-Gurion as PM) with a slight reduction in its share of the seats. Menachem Begin's Herut party and the [[Liberal Party (Israel)|Liberals]] came next with 17 seats each. In 1962 the [[Mossad]] began assassinating German rocket scientists working in Egypt after one of them reported the missile program was designed to carry chemical warheads. This action was condemned by Ben-Gurion and led to the Mossad director, [[Isser Harel]], resignation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Isser Harel |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1422449/Isser-Harel.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=19 February 2003 |accessdate=4 November 2012}}</ref> In 1963 Ben-Gurion quit again over the Lavon scandal. His attempts to make his party [[Mapai]] support him over the issue failed. [[Levi Eshkol]] became leader of Mapai and the new prime minister.
 
===1963–1969: Eshkol===
{{Further information|Six-Day War}}
{{See also2|[[Eleventh government of Israel|Eleventh]]|[[Twelfth government of Israel|Twelfth]]|[[Thirteenth government of Israel|Thirteenth]] governments of Israel}}
In 1963 [[Yigael Yadin]] began excavating [[Masada]]. In 1964, Egypt, Jordan and Syria developed a unified military command. Israel completed work on a [[National Water Carrier of Israel|national water carrier]], a huge engineering project designed to transfer Israel's allocation of the [[Jordan river]]'s waters towards the south of the country in realization of Ben-Gurion's dream of mass Jewish settlement of the [[Negev]] desert. The Arabs responded by trying to divert the headwaters of the Jordan, leading to growing [[War over Water (Jordan river)|conflict]] between Israel and Syria.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/his_periods3.html |title=The Disaster of 1967 |accessdate=12 January 2013}}</ref>
 
In 1964, Israeli Rabbinical authorities accepted that the [[Bene Israel]] of India were indeed Jewish and most of the remaining [[Indian Jews]] migrated to Israel. The 2,000-strong Jewish community of [[Cochin Jews|Cochin]] had already migrated in 1954. Ben-Gurion quit Mapai to form the new party [[Rafi (political party)|Rafi]], he was joined by [[Shimon Peres]] and [[Moshe Dayan]]. Begin's [[Herut]] party joined with the Liberals to form [[Gahal]]. Mapai and Labour united for the [[Israeli legislative election, 1965|1965 elections]], winning 45 seats and maintaining [[Levi Eshkol]] as Prime Minister. Ben-Gurion's Rafi party received 10 seats, Gahal got 26 seats becoming the second largest party.
 
Until 1966, Israel's principal arms supplier was [[France]], however in 1966, following the withdrawal from [[Algeria]], [[Politics of grandeur|Charles de Gaulle]] announced France would cease supplying Israel with arms (and refused to refund money paid for 50 warplanes).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hnn.us/articles/751.html |title=When Did the U.S. and Israel Become Allies? (Hint: Trick Question) |last=Cristol |first=Jay |date=9 July 2002 |work=History News Network |publisher=George Mason University |accessdate=5 December 2012}}</ref> On 5 February 1966, the United States announced that it was taking over the former French and West German obligations, to maintain military "stabilization" in the Middle East. Included in the military hardware would be over 200 [[M48 Patton|M48 tanks]]. In May of that year the US also agreed to provide [[A-4 Skyhawk]] tactical aircraft to Israel.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.israeli-weapons.com/weapons/vehicles/tanks/magach/Patton_Tanks_in_Israeli_Service.htm|title=Patton Tanks in Israeli Service|website=www.israeli-weapons.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Herring |first=George C. |title=The American Century and Beyond: U.S. Foreign Relations, 1893-2014 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=E9VKDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA447&lpg=PA447&dq=He+preferred+that+arms+be+provided+through+third+parties+like+West+Germany+than+directly+from+the+United+States.+But+he+was+usually+there+for+Israel,+whether+it+be+A-4+Shyhawk+fighters,+the+first+commitment+of+combat+aircraft+for+Israel,+M-48+tanks,+or+M-113+armored+personnel+carriers.#v=onepage&q=He%20preferred%20that%20arms%20be%20provided%20through%20third%20parties%20like%20West%20Germany%20than%20directly%20from%20the%20United%20States.%20But%20he%20was%20usually%20there%20for%20Israel%2C%20whether%20it%20be%20A-4%20Shyhawk%20fighters%2C%20the%20first%20commitment%20of%20combat%20aircraft%20for%20Israel%2C%20M-48%20tanks%2C%20or%20M-113%20armored%20personnel%20carriers.&f=false |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2017 |page=447 |isbn=0190212470}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Aloni |first=Shlomo |title=Israeli A-4 Skyhawk Units in Combat |url=https://books.google.com/?id=pXKHCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT8&dq=%27limited+number+of+tactical+aircraft%27+to+Israel+followed+on+20+May+1966#v=onepage&q='limited%20number%20of%20tactical%20aircraft'%20to%20Israel%20followed%20on%2020%20May%201966&f=false |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2013 |page=8 |isbn=1849081298}}</ref> In 1966 security restrictions placed on [[Arab-Israelis]] were eased and efforts made to integrate them into Israeli life.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lustick |first=Ian |title=Arabs in the Jewish State: Israel's control of a national minority |url= |year=1980 |page=123 |isbn=0292703473}}</ref>
 
In 1966, [[Television in Israel|Black and white TV]] broadcasts began. On 15 May 1967, the first public performance of [[Naomi Shemer]]'s classic song "[[Jerusalem of Gold]]" took place and over the next few weeks it dominated the Israeli airwaves. Two days later Syria, Egypt and Jordan amassed troops along the Israeli borders, and Egypt closed the [[Straits of Tiran]] to Israeli shipping. Nasser demanded that the [[United Nations Emergency Force|UNEF]] leave Sinai, threatening escalation to a full war. Egyptian radio broadcasts talked of a coming genocide.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1627015,00.html |title=In the Shadow of the Six-Day War |last=Mcgirk |first=Tim |date=31 May 2007 |work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |accessdate=4 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sixdaywar.co.uk/timeline.htm |title=Six Day War Comprehensive Timeline |accessdate=4 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tbsjournal.com/James.html |title=Whose Voice? Nasser, the Arabs, and 'Sawt al-Arab' Radio |last=James |first=Laura M. |year=2006 |publisher=Transnational Broadcasting Studies |accessdate=4 December 2012}}</ref> On 26 May [[Gamal Abdel Nasser|Nasser]] declared, "''The battle will be a general one and our basic objective will be to destroy Israel''".<ref name="Mutawi2002p95">{{cite book|author=Samir A. Mutawi|title=Jordan in the 1967 War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g9bBJusRJIMC&pg=PA94|date=18 July 2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-52858-0|page=95|quote="On 26 May he declared, "The battle will be a general one and our basic objective will be to destroy Israel"}}</ref> Israel considered the [[Straits of Tiran]] closure a [[Casus belli]]. Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq signed defence pacts and Iraqi troops began deploying to Jordan, Syria and Egypt.<ref>The Times (London), 1st June 1967</ref> Algeria also announced that it would send troops to Egypt. Between 1963 and 1967 [[Egypt and weapons of mass destruction|Egyptian troops had tested chemical weapons]] on Yemenite civilians as part of an [[North Yemen Civil War|Egyptian intervention in support of rebels]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wcfia.harvard.edu/publications/forgotten-gas-attacks-yemen-haunt-syria-crisis|title=Forgotten Gas Attacks in Yemen Haunt Syria Crisis|publisher=}}</ref>
 
Israel responded by calling up its civilian reserves, bringing much of the Israeli economy to a halt. The Israelis set up a national unity coalition, including for the first time [[Menachem Begin]]'s party, [[Herut]], in a coalition. During a national radio broadcast, Prime Minister Levi Eshkol stammered, causing widespread fear in Israel. To calm public concern [[Moshe Dayan]] (Chief of Staff during the Sinai war) was appointed Defence Minister.
[[File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, Chief of staff Yitzhak Rabin, Gen. Rehavam Zeevi (R) And Gen. Narkis in the old city of Jerusalem.jpg|thumb|left|Gen. [[Uzi Narkiss]], Defense Minister [[Moshe Dayan]], Chief of staff [[Yitzhak Rabin]] and Gen. [[Rehavam Ze'evi]] in the [[Old City (Jerusalem)|Old City of Jerusalem]], 7 June 1967]]
 
On the morning before Dayan was sworn in, 5 June 1967, the Israeli air force launched [[Operation Focus|pre-emptive attacks]] destroying first the Egyptian air force, and then later the same day destroying the air forces of Jordan and Syria. Israel then [[Six-Day War|defeated]] (almost successively) Egypt, Jordan and Syria. By 11 June the Arab forces were routed and all parties had accepted the cease-fire called for by UN Security Council Resolutions 235 and 236. Israel gained control of the [[Sinai Peninsula]], the [[Gaza Strip]], the [[Golan Heights]], and the formerly Jordanian-controlled [[West Bank]] of the [[Jordan River]]. [[East Jerusalem]] was arguably<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lustick |first=Ian |date=January 1997 |title=Has Israel Annexed East Jerusalem? |journal=Middle East Policy |volume=V |issue=1 |pages=34–45 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Middle East Policy Council |issn=1061-1924 |oclc=4651987544 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4967.1997.tb00247.x |accessdate=8 July 2007 |url=http://www.mepc.org/journal_vol5/9701_lustick.asp |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091120090306/http://www.mepc.org/journal_vol5/9701_lustick.asp |archivedate=20 November 2009 |ref=harv}}</ref> [[Jerusalem Law|annexed]] by Israel. Residents were given permanent residency status and the option of applying for Israeli citizenship. The annexation was not recognized internationally (the Jordanian annexation of 1948 was also unrecognized).
 
Other areas occupied remained under military rule (Israeli civil law did not apply to them) pending a final settlement. The Golan was also [[Golan Heights Law|annexed]] in 1981. On 22 November 1967, the Security Council adopted [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 242|Resolution 242]], the "land for peace" formula, which called for the establishment of a just and lasting peace based on Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967 in return for the end of all states of belligerency, respect for the sovereignty of all states in the area, and the right to live in peace within secure, recognized boundaries. The resolution was accepted by both sides, though with different interpretations, and has been the basis of all subsequent peace negotiations. After 1967 the US began supplying Israel with aircraft and the Soviet block (except Romania) [[Soviet Union and the Arab–Israeli conflict|broke off relations]] with Israel. [[1968 Polish political crisis|Antisemitic purges]] led to the final migration of the last [[Polish Jews]] to Israel.
 
For the first time since the end of the British Mandate, Jews could visit the [[Old City (Jerusalem)|Old City of Jerusalem]] and pray at the [[Western Wall]] (the holiest site in modern Judaism), to which they had been denied access by the Jordanians in contravention of the 1949 Armistice agreement. The four-meter-wide public alley beside the Wall was expanded into a massive plaza and worshippers were allowed to sit, or use other furniture, for the first time in centuries. In [[Hebron]], Jews gained access to the [[Cave of the Patriarchs]] (the second most holy site in Judaism) for the first time since the 14th century (previously Jews were only allowed to pray at the entrance).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chabad.org/special/israel/points_of_interest_cdo/aid/588225/jewish/Cave-of-the-Patriarchs.htm |title=Cave of the Patriarchs |publisher=Chabad |accessdate=2 April 2015 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318073338/http://www.chabad.org/special/israel/points_of_interest_cdo/aid/588225/jewish/Cave-of-the-Patriarchs.htm |archivedate=18 March 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> A third Jewish holy site, [[Rachel's Tomb]], in [[Bethlehem]], also became accessible. [[Energy in Egypt|Sinai oil fields]] made Israel self-sufficient in energy.
 
In 1968 [[Moshe Levinger]] led a group of [[Religious Zionist]]s who created the first [[Israeli settlement|Jewish settlement]], a town near Hebron called [[Kiryat Arba]]. There were no other religious settlements until after 1974. Ben-Gurion's [[Rafi (political party)|Rafi]] party merged with the Labour-Mapai alliance. Ben-Gurion remained outside as an independent. In 1968, compulsory education was extended until the age of 16 for all citizens (it had been 14) and the government embarked on an extensive program of [[Social integration|integration]] in education. In the major cities children from mainly [[Sephardi]]/[[Mizrahi]] neighbourhoods were [[bus]]ed to newly established [[middle school]]s in better areas. The system remained in place until after 2000.
 
In March 1968, Israeli forces attacked the Palestinian militia, [[Fatah]], at its [[Battle of Karameh|base in the Jordanian town of Karameh]]. The attack was in response to land mines placed on Israeli roads. The Israelis retreated after destroying the camp, however the Israelis sustained unexpectedly high casualties and the attack was not viewed as a success. Despite heavy casualties, the Palestinians claimed victory, while Fatah and the [[PLO]] (of which it formed part) became famous across the Arab world. In early 1969, fighting broke out between Egypt and Israel along the Suez Canal. In retaliation for repeated Egyptian shelling of Israeli positions along the Suez Canal, Israeli planes made deep strikes into Egypt in the 1969–1970 "[[War of Attrition]]".
 
===1969–1974: Meir===
{{Further information|War of Attrition|Jarring Mission|Rogers Plan|Munich massacre|Yom Kippur War}}
{{See also2|[[Fourteenth government of Israel|Fourteenth]]|[[Fifteenth government of Israel|Fifteenth]]|[[Sixteenth government of Israel|Sixteenth]] governments of Israel}}
In early 1969, Levi Eshkol died in office of a heart attack and [[Golda Meir]] became Prime Minister with the largest percentage of the vote ever won by an Israeli party, winning 56 of the 120 seats after the [[Israeli legislative election, 1969|1969 election]]. Meir was the [[List of the first female holders of political offices in Asia|first female prime minister of Israel]] and the first woman to have headed a Middle Eastern state in modern times.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kort |first=Michael |title=The Handbook of the Middle East |url=https://books.google.com/?id=0xAh8wbCqEUC&pg=PT83&dq=Meir+first+woman+to+have+headed+a+Middle+Eastern+state |publisher= Twenty-First Century Books |year=2007 |isbn=9780822571438}}</ref> Gahal remained on 26 seats, and was the second largest party.
[[File:MV Netanya.jpg|thumb|MV ''Netanya'', one of the ships assigned to support boats in the [[Cherbourg Project]]]]
 
In December 1969, Israeli naval commandos [[Cherbourg Project|took five missile boats]] during the night from Cherbourg Harbour in France. Israel had paid for the boats but the French had refused to supply them. In July 1970 the Israelis [[Operation Rimon 20|shot down five Soviet fighters]] that were aiding the Egyptians in the course of the [[War of Attrition]]. Following this, the US worked to calm the situation and in August 1970 a cease fire was agreed.
 
In [[Black September in Jordan|September 1970]] [[King Hussein]] of [[Jordan]] drove the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] out of his country. On September 18, 1970, Syrian tanks invaded Jordan, intending to aid the PLO. At the request of the US, Israel moved troops to the border and threatened Syria, causing the Syrians to withdraw. The centre of PLO activity then shifted to [[Lebanon]], where the 1969 [[Cairo Agreement (1969)|Cairo agreement]] gave the Palestinians autonomy within the south of the country. The area controlled by the PLO became known by the international press and locals as "[[Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon|Fatahland]]" and contributed to the 1975–1990 [[Lebanese Civil War]]. The event also led to [[Hafez al-Assad]] taking power in Syria. Egyptian President Nasser died immediately after and was succeeded by [[Anwar Sadat]].
 
Increased [[Zionology|Soviet antisemitism]] and enthusiasm generated by the 1967 victory led to a wave of Soviet Jews applying to [[Aliyah from the Soviet Union in the 1970s|emigrate]] to Israel. Those who left could only take two suitcases. Most Jews were [[Refusenik|refused exit visas]] and persecuted by the authorities. Some were arrested and sent to [[Gulag]] camps, becoming known as [[Prisoners of Zion]]. During 1971, violent demonstrations by the [[Israeli Black Panthers]], made the Israeli public aware of resentment among [[Mizrahi]] Jews at ongoing discrimination and social gaps.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?page=article_impr&id_article=3744 |title=30 years to the Black Panthers in Israel |last=Chetrit |first=Sami Shalom |year=2003 |accessdate=4 December 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150603110755/http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?page=article_impr&id_article=3744 |archivedate=3 June 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> In 1972 the US [[Jewish Mafia]] leader, [[Meyer Lansky]], who had taken refuge in Israel, was deported to the United States.
 
At the 1972 [[Munich Olympics]], two members of the Israeli team were killed, and nine members [[Munich massacre|taken hostage by Palestinian terrorists]]. A botched German rescue attempt [[Munich Massacre|led to the death of the rest]] along with five of the eight hijackers. The three surviving Palestinians were released by the West German authorities eight weeks later without charge, in exchange for the hostages of hijacked [[Lufthansa Flight 615]].<ref name=haaretz>{{cite news|last=Greenfeter|first=Yael|title=Israel in shock as Munich killers freed|url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/israel-in-shock-as-munich-killers-freed-1.322811|accessdate=26 July 2013|newspaper=[[Haaretz]]|date=4 November 2010}}</ref> The Israeli government responded with a [[1972 Israeli air raid in Syria and Lebanon|bombing]], an [[Operation Wrath of God|assassination campaign]] against the organizers of the massacre and a [[1973 Israeli raid on Lebanon|raid on the PLO headquarters in Lebanon]] (led by future Prime Minister, Ehud Barak).
 
In 1972 the new Egyptian President [[Anwar Sadat]] expelled the Soviet advisers from Egypt. This and frequent invasion exercises by Egypt and Syria led to Israeli complacency about the threat from these countries. In addition the desire not to be held responsible for initiating conflict and an election campaign highlighting security, led to an Israeli failure to mobilize, despite receiving warnings of an impending attack.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/a-royal-s-life-1.243745 |title=A royal's life |last=Shamir |first=Shimon |date=10 April 2008 |newspaper=Haaretz |accessdate=4 December 2012}}</ref>
[[File:Israeli Tanks Cross the Suez Canal - Flickr - Israel Defense Forces.jpg|thumb|left|143rd Division crossing the [[Suez Canal]] in the direction of [[Cairo]] during the [[Yom Kippur War]], 15 October 1973]]
 
The [[Yom Kippur War]] (also known as the October War) began on 6 October 1973 (the Jewish [[Yom Kippur|Day of Atonement]]), the holiest day in the Jewish calendar and a day when adult Jews are required to fast. The Syrian and Egyptian armies launched a well-planned surprise attack against the unprepared Israeli Defense Forces. For the first few days there was a great deal of uncertainty about Israel's capacity to repel the invaders. Both the Soviets and the Americans (at the orders of [[Richard Nixon]]) [[Operation Nickel Grass|rushed arms to their allies]]. The Syrians were repulsed by the [[Valley of Tears|tiny remnant of the Israeli tank force]] on the Golan and, although the Egyptians captured a strip of territory in Sinai, Israeli forces [[Battle of Ismailia|crossed the Suez Canal]], trapping the Egyptian Third Army in Sinai and were 100 kilometres from Cairo. The war cost Israel over 2,000 dead, resulted in a heavy arms bill (for both sides) and made Israelis more aware of their vulnerability. It also led to heightened [[DEFCON|superpower tension]]. Following the war, both Israelis and Egyptians showed greater willingness to negotiate. On 18 January 1974, extensive diplomacy by US Secretary of State [[Henry Kissinger]] led to a [[United Nations Disengagement Observer Force Zone|Disengagement of Forces agreement]] with the Egyptian government and on 31 May with the Syrian government.
 
The war led the Saudi government to initiate the [[1973 oil crisis]], an oil embargo in conjunction with [[OPEC]], against countries trading with Israel. Severe shortages led to massive increases in the price of oil, and as a result, many countries broke off relations with Israel or downgraded relations, and Israel was banned from participation in the [[Asian Games]] and other Asian sporting events.
 
State funding was introduced for elected parties. The new system made parties independent of wealthy donors and gave Knesset members more power over party funding, however it also made them less dependent on existing party structures and able to take their funding elsewhere.<ref>https://www.knesset.gov.il/mmm/data/pdf/me00636.pdf accessed March 2013</ref> Prior to the December 1973 elections, Gahal and a number of right-wing parties united to form the [[Likud]] (led by Begin). In the [[Israeli legislative election, 1973|December 1973 elections]], Labour won 51 seats, leaving Golda Meir as Prime Minister. The Likud won 39 seats.
 
In May 1974, [[DFLP|Palestinians]] attacked a school in [[Ma'alot massacre|Ma'alot]], holding 102 children hostage. Twenty-two children were killed. In November 1974 the PLO was granted observer status at the UN and [[Yasser Arafat]] addressed the General Assembly. Later that year the [[Agranat Commission]], appointed to assess responsibility for Israel's lack of preparedness for the war, exonerated the government of responsibility, and held the [[David Elazar|Chief of Staff]] and [[Eli Zeira|head of military intelligence]] responsible. Despite the report, public anger at the Government led to [[Golda Meir]]'s resignation.
 
===1974–1977: Rabin I===
{{Further information|Operation Entebbe}}
{{See also|Seventeenth government of Israel}}
Following Meir's resignation, [[Yitzhak Rabin]] (Chief of Staff during the Six Day War) became prime minister. [[Modern Orthodox Jews]] ([[Religious Zionist]] followers of the teachings of [[Abraham Isaac Kook|Rabbi Kook]]), formed the [[Gush Emunim]] movement, and began an organized drive to settle the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza Strip]]. In November 1975 the United Nations General Assembly, under the guidance of Austrian Secretary General [[Kurt Waldheim]], adopted [[UN General Assembly Resolution 3379|Resolution 3379]], which asserted [[Zionism]] to be a form of racism. The General Assembly rescinded this resolution in December 1991 with [[UN General Assembly Resolution 46/86|Resolution 46/86]]. In March 1976 there was a massive [[Land Day#The protest of 1976|strike by Israeli-Arabs]] in protest at a government plan to expropriate land in the Galilee.
 
In July 1976, an [[Air France]] plane carrying 260 people was hijacked by [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – External Operations|Palestinian]] and [[Revolutionary Cells (RZ)|German]] terrorists and flown to Uganda, then ruled by [[Idi Amin Dada]]. There, the Germans separated the Jewish passengers from the non-Jewish passengers, releasing the non-Jews. The hijackers threatened to kill the remaining, 100-odd Jewish passengers (and the French crew who had refused to leave). Despite the distances involved, Rabin ordered a daring [[Operation Entebbe|rescue operation]] in which the kidnapped Jews were freed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/entebbe.html |title=The Entebbe Rescue Mission |publisher=Jewish Virtual Library |accessdate=12 January 2013}}</ref> UN Secretary General Waldheim described the raid as "a serious violation of the national sovereignty of a United Nations member state" (meaning Uganda).<ref>''National Review'', 9 July 2007, vol. LIX, no. 12</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Kurt Waldheim, Former U.N. Chief, Is Dead at 88 |first=Jonathan |last=Kandell |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/15/world/europe/15waldheim.html?pagewanted=3 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=15 June 2007 |accessdate=12 January 2013}}</ref> Waldheim was a former Nazi and suspected war criminal, with a record of offending Jewish sensibilities.<ref>{{cite news |title=Kurt Waldheim |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1554545/Kurt-Waldheim.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=15 June 2007 |accessdate=3 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://jcpa.org/article/israeli-ugandan-relations-in-the-time-of-idi-amin/ |title=Israeli-Ugandan Relations in the Time of Idi Amin |last=Oded |first=Arye |date=1 October 2006 |work=Jewish Political Studies Review |publisher=Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs |accessdate=4 December 2012}}</ref>
 
In 1976, the ongoing [[Lebanese Civil War]] led Israel to allow South Lebanese to [[Good Fence|cross the border]] and work in Israel. In January 1977, French authorities arrested [[Abu Daoud]], the planner of the Munich massacre, releasing him a few days later.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,945702-3,00.html | work=Time | title=Terrorists: L'Affaire Daoud: Too Hot to Handle | date=24 January 1977 | accessdate=4 May 2010}}</ref> In March 1977 [[Anatoly Sharansky]], a prominent [[Refusenik]] and spokesman for the [[Moscow Helsinki Group]], was sentenced to 13 years' hard labour.
 
Rabin resigned on April 1977 after it emerged that his [[Leah Rabin|wife]] maintained a dollar account in the United States (illegal at the time), which had been opened while Rabin was Israeli ambassador. The incident became known as the [[Dollar Account affair]]. [[Shimon Peres]] informally replaced him as prime minister, leading the [[Alignment (political party)|Alignment]] in the [[Israeli legislative election, 1977|subsequent elections]].
 
===1977–1983: Begin===
{{Further information|Camp David Accords|1978 South Lebanon conflict|1982 Lebanon War}}
{{See also2|[[Eighteenth government of Israel|Eighteenth]]|[[Nineteenth government of Israel|Nineteenth]] governments of Israel}}
In a surprise result, the [[Likud]] led by [[Menachem Begin]] won 43 seats in the [[Israeli legislative election, 1977|1977 elections]] (Labour got 32 seats). This was the first time in Israeli history that the government was not led by the left. A key reason for the victory was anger among [[Mizrahi Jews]] at discrimination, which was to play an important role in Israeli politics for many years. Talented small town Mizrahi social activists, unable to advance in the Labour party, were readily embraced by Begin. Moroccan-born [[David Levy (Israeli politician)|David Levy]] and Iranian-born [[Moshe Katzav]] were part of a group who won Mizrahi support for Begin. Many Labour voters voted for the [[Democratic Movement for Change]] (15 seats) in protest at high-profile corruption cases. The party joined in coalition with Begin and disappeared at the next election.
 
In addition to starting a process of healing the Mizrahi–[[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi]] divide, Begin's government included [[Agudat Israel|Ultra-Orthodox Jews]] and was instrumental in healing the Zionist–Ultra-Orthodox rift, however it did so at the cost of expanding the exemption from military service to all [[Haredi]] Jewish students of military age. This led to creation of a huge class of unemployed Haredi Jews (the exemption was conditional on attendance of a religious seminary, so they kept studying until they were too old for military service). By remaining students, they were a massive burden on the state, while also failing to participate in the military burden.
 
Begin's liberalization of the economy led to [[hyper-inflation]] (around 150% inflation) but enabled Israel to begin receiving US financial aid. Begin actively supported [[Gush Emunim]]'s efforts to settle the [[West Bank]] and Jewish settlements in the occupied territories received government support, thus laying the grounds for intense conflict with the Palestinian population of the occupied territories.
 
In November 1977, Egyptian President [[Anwar Sadat]] broke 30 years of hostility with Israel by visiting Jerusalem at the invitation of Israeli Prime Minister [[Menachem Begin]]. Sadat's two-day visit included a speech before the [[Knesset]] and was a turning point in the history of the conflict. The Egyptian leader created a new psychological climate in the [[Middle East]] in which peace between Israel and its Arab neighbours seemed possible. Sadat recognized Israel's right to exist and established the basis for direct negotiations between Egypt and Israel. Following Sadat's visit, 350 Yom Kippur War veterans organized the [[Peace Now]] movement to encourage Israeli governments to make peace with the Arabs.
 
In March 1978, eleven armed Lebanese Palestinians reached Israel in boats and [[Coastal Road Massacre|hijacked a bus]] carrying families on a day outing, killing 38 people, including 13 children. The attackers opposed the Egyptian–Israeli peace process. Three days later, Israeli forces crossed into Lebanon beginning [[Operation Litani]]. After passage of [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 425]], calling for Israeli withdrawal and the creation of the [[United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon]] (UNIFIL) peace-keeping force, Israel withdrew its troops.
[[File:Begin, Carter and Sadat at Camp David 1978.jpg|thumb|left|[[Menachem Begin]], [[Jimmy Carter]] and [[Anwar Sadat]] celebrating the signing of the [[Camp David Accords]]]]
 
In September 1978, US President [[Jimmy Carter]] invited President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin to meet with him at [[Camp David]], and on 11 September they agreed on a [[Camp David Accords|framework]] for peace between Israel and Egypt, and a comprehensive peace in the Middle East. It set out broad principles to guide negotiations between Israel and the Arab states. It also established guidelines for a West Bank–Gaza transitional regime of full autonomy for the Palestinians residing in these territories, and for a [[Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty|peace treaty between Egypt and Israel]]. The treaty was signed 26 March 1979 by Begin and Sadat, with President Carter signing as witness. Under the treaty, Israel returned the Sinai peninsula to Egypt in April 1982. The final piece of territory to be repatriated was [[Taba (Egypt)|Taba]], adjacent to [[Eilat]], returned in 1989. The [[Arab League]] reacted to the peace treaty by suspending Egypt from the organization and moving its headquarters from [[Cairo]] to [[Tunis]]. [[Sadat]] was assassinated in 1981 by [[Egyptian Islamic Jihad|Islamic fundamentalist]] members of the Egyptian army who opposed peace with Israel. Following the agreement Israel and Egypt became the two largest [[United States foreign aid|recipients]] of [[United States Agency for International Development|US military and financial aid]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/124970.pdf |title=Foreign Aid: An Introduction to U.S. Programs and Policy |last1=Tarnoff |first1=Curt |last2=Lawson |first2=Marian Leonardo |date=9 April 2009 |work=CRS Reports |publisher=Congressional Research Service |accessdate=5 December 2012}}</ref> (Iraq and Afghanistan have now [[Financial cost of the Iraq War|overtaken them]]).
 
In December 1978 the Israeli [[Merkava]] battle tank entered use with the IDF. In 1979, over 40,000 [[Iranian Jews]] migrated to Israel, escaping the [[Islamic Revolution]] there. On 30 June 1981, the Israeli air force [[Operation Opera|destroyed the Osirak nuclear reactor]] that [[France]] was building for [[Iraq]]. Three weeks later, Begin won yet again, in the [[Israeli legislative election, 1981|1981 elections]] (48 seats Likud, 47 Labour). [[Ariel Sharon]] was made defence minister. The new government [[Golan Heights Law|annexed the Golan Heights]] and banned the [[El Al|national airline]] from flying on [[Shabbat]].<ref name="shabbat">{{cite web | url=http://www.jewishgates.org/history/modhis/elal.stm | title=El-Al, Israel's Airline | publisher=Gates of Jewish Heritage |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20010222124207/http://www.jewishgates.org/history/modhis/elal.stm |archivedate = 2001-02-22}}</ref> By the 1980s a diverse set of [[Science and technology in Israel|high-tech]] industries had [[Silicon Wadi|developed]] in Israel.
 
In the decades following the 1948 war, Israel's border with [[Lebanon]] was quiet compared to its borders with other neighbours. But the 1969 [[Cairo Agreement (1969)|Cairo agreement]] gave the PLO a free hand to [[Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon|attack]] Israel from South Lebanon. The area was governed by the PLO independently of the Lebanese Government and became known as "[[Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon|Fatahland]]" ([[Fatah]] was the largest faction in the PLO). Palestinian irregulars constantly [[Katyusha rocket launcher|shelled]] the Israeli north, especially the town of [[Kiryat Shmona]], which was a Likud stronghold inhabited primarily by Jews who had fled the Arab world. Lack of control over Palestinian areas was an important factor in causing [[Lebanese civil war|civil war in Lebanon]].
 
In June 1982, the attempted assassination of [[Shlomo Argov]], the ambassador to Britain, was used as a pretext for an Israeli invasion aiming to drive the PLO out of the southern half of Lebanon. Sharon agreed with [[Chief of General Staff (Israel)|Chief of Staff]] [[Raphael Eitan]] to expand the invasion deep into Lebanon even though the cabinet had only authorized a 40 kilometre deep invasion.<ref>''Israel's Lebanon War'' by [[Ze'ev Schiff]] and [[Ehud Ya'ari]], Touchstone 1985</ref> The invasion became known as the [[1982 Lebanon War]] and the Israeli army occupied [[Beirut]], the only time an Arab capital has been occupied by Israel. Some of the [[Shi'a Islam in Lebanon|Shia]] and [[Maronites|Christian]] population of [[South Lebanon]] welcomed the Israelis, as PLO forces had maltreated them, but Lebanese resentment of Israeli occupation grew over time and the [[Amal Movement|Shia]] became gradually [[Musa al-Sadr|radicalized]] under Iranian guidance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gloria-center.org/2000/09/eisenberg-2000-09-02/ |title=Do Good Fences Make Good Neighbors?: Israel and Lebanon after the Withdrawal |last=Eisenberg |first=Laura Zittrain |date=2 September 2000 |work=Middle East Review of International Affairs |publisher=Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center |accessdate=5 December 2012}}</ref> Constant casualties among Israeli soldiers and Lebanese civilians led to growing opposition to the war in Israel.
 
In August 1982, the PLO withdrew its forces from Lebanon (moving to [[Tunisia]]). Israel helped engineer the election of a new Lebanese president, [[Bashir Gemayel]], who agreed to recognize Israel and sign a peace treaty. Gemayal was assassinated before an agreement could be signed, and one day later [[Phalange|Phalangist]] Christian forces led by [[Elie Hobeika]] entered two Palestinian refugee camps and [[Sabra and Shatila massacre|massacred]] the occupants. The massacres led to the biggest [[anti-war protest|demonstration]] ever in Israel against the war, with as many as 400,000 people (almost 10% of the population) gathering in Tel Aviv. In 1983, an [[Kahan commission|Israeli public inquiry]] found that Israel's defence minister, Sharon, was indirectly but personally responsible for the massacres.<ref>{{cite news |title=Belgium opens way for Sharon trial |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2662635.stm |newspaper=BBC News |date=15 January 2003 |accessdate=3 December 2012}}</ref> It also recommended that he never again be allowed to hold the post (it did not forbid him from being Prime Minister). In 1983, the [[May 17 Agreement]] was signed between Israel and Lebanon, paving the way for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory through a few stages. Israel continued to operate against the PLO until its eventual departure in 1985, and kept a small force stationed in Southern Lebanon in support of the [[South Lebanon Army]] until May 2000.
 
===1983–1992: Shamir I; Peres I; Shamir II===
{{Further information|1983 Israel bank stock crisis|South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000)|First Intifada|Gulf War}}
{{See also2|[[Twentieth government of Israel|Twentieth]]|[[Twenty-first government of Israel|Twenty-first]]|[[Twenty-second government of Israel|Twenty-second]]|[[Twenty-third government of Israel|Twenty-third]]|[[Twenty-fourth government of Israel|Twenty-fourth]] governments of Israel}}
[[File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Patriot missiles being launched to intercept an Iraqi Scud missile.jpg|thumb|Patriot missiles launched to intercept an Iraqi Scud over Tel Aviv during the Gulf War]]
In September 1983, Begin resigned and was succeeded by [[Yitzhak Shamir]] as prime minister. The [[Israeli legislative election, 1984|1984 election]] was inconclusive, and led to a power sharing agreement between [[Shimon Peres]] of the Alignment (44 seats) and Shamir of Likud (41 seats). Peres was prime minister from 1984 to 1986 and Shamir from 1986 to 1988. In 1984, continual discrimination against Sephardi Ultra-Orthodox Jews by the Ashkenazi Ultra-Orthodox establishment led political activist [[Aryeh Deri]] to leave the [[Agudat Israel]] party and join former chief [[Rabbi Ovadia Yosef]] in forming [[Shas]], a new party aimed at the non-Ashkenazi Ultra-Orthodox vote. The party won 4 seats in the first election it contested and over the next twenty years was the third largest party in the Knesset. Shas established a nationwide network of free Sephardi Orthodox schools. In 1984, during a severe [[1983–85 famine in Ethiopia|famine]] in [[Ethiopia]], 8,000 [[Beta Israel|Ethiopian Jews]] were [[Operation Moses|secretly transported]] to Israel. In 1986 [[Natan Sharansky]], a famous Russian human rights activist and Zionist [[refusenik]] (denied an exit visa), was released from the [[Gulag]] in return for two Soviet spies.
 
In June 1985, Israel withdrew most of its troops from Lebanon, leaving a residual Israeli force and an Israeli-supported [[South Lebanon Army|militia]] in [[southern Lebanon]] as a "[[Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon|security zone]]" and buffer against attacks on its northern territory. Since then, IDF [[South Lebanon conflict (1982–2000)|fought]] for many years against the [[Shia Islam|Shia]] organization [[Hezbollah]], which became a growing threat to Israel. By July 1985, Israel's [[1983 Israel bank stock crisis|inflation]], buttressed by complex [[index linking]] of salaries, had reached 480% per annum and was the highest in the world. Peres introduced [[1985 Israel Economic Stabilization Plan|emergency control of prices]] and cut government expenditure successfully bringing inflation under control. The currency (known as the [[old Israeli shekel]]) was replaced and renamed the [[Israeli new shekel]] at a rate of 1,000 old shkalim = 1 new shekel. In October 1985, Israel responded to a Palestinian terrorist attack in Cyprus by [[Operation Wooden Leg|bombing]] the PLO headquarters in Tunis. Growing Israeli settlement and continuing occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, led to the [[First Intifada|first Palestinian Intifada]] (uprising) in 1987, which lasted until the [[Madrid Conference of 1991]], despite Israeli attempts to suppress it. [[Human rights]] abuses by Israeli troops led a group of Israelis to form [[B'Tselem]], an organization devoted to improving awareness and compliance with human rights requirements in Israel.
 
In August 1987, the Israeli government cancelled the [[IAI Lavi]] project, an attempt to develop an independent Israeli fighter aircraft. The Israelis found themselves unable to sustain the huge development costs, and faced US opposition to a project that threatened US influence in Israel and US global military ascendancy. In September 1988, Israel launched an [[Ofeq]] reconnaissance satellite into orbit, using a [[Shavit]] rocket, thus becoming one of only eight countries possessing a capacity to [[Timeline of first orbital launches by country|independently launch satellites]] into space (two more have since developed this ability). The Alignment and Likud remained neck and neck in the [[Israeli legislative election, 1988|1988 elections]] (39:40 seats). Shamir successfully formed a national unity coalition with [[Alignment (political party)|the Labour Alignment]]. In March 1990, Alignment leader [[Shimon Peres]] engineered a defeat of the government in a non-confidence vote and then tried to form a new government. [[The dirty trick (Israel)|He failed]] and Shamir became prime minister at the head of a right-wing coalition.
 
In 1990, the [[Soviet Union]] finally permitted free [[Aliyah from the Commonwealth of Independent States in the 1990s|emigration of Soviet Jews to Israel]]. Prior to this, Jews trying to leave the USSR faced [[Refusenik (Soviet Union)|persecution]]; those who succeeded arrived as refugees. Over the next few years some one million Soviet citizens migrated to Israel. Although there was concern that some of the new immigrants had only a very tenuous connection to Judaism, and many were accompanied by non-Jewish relatives, this massive wave of migration slowly transformed Israel, bringing large numbers of highly educated Soviet Jews and creating a powerful Russian culture in Israel.
 
In August 1990, Iraq invaded [[Kuwait]], triggering the [[Gulf War]] between Iraq and a large allied force, led by the [[United States]]. Iraq attacked Israel with 39 [[Scud missile]]s. Israel did not retaliate at request of the US, fearing that if Israel responded against Iraq, other Arab nations might desert the allied coalition. Israel provided gas masks for both the Palestinian population and Israeli citizens, while Netherlands and the United States deployed [[MIM-104 Patriot|Patriot defence batteries]] in Israel as protection against the Scuds. In May 1991, during a 36-hour period, 15,000 [[Beta Israel]] (Ethiopian Jews) were [[Operation Solomon|secretly airlifted]] to Israel. The coalition's victory in the Gulf War opened new possibilities for regional peace, and in October 1991 the US President, [[George H.W. Bush]], and Soviet Union Premier, [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], jointly convened a [[Madrid Conference of 1991|historic meeting in Madrid]] of Israeli, Lebanese, Jordanian, Syrian, and Palestinian leaders. Shamir opposed the idea but agreed in return for loan guarantees to help with absorption of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. His participation in the conference led to the collapse of his (right-wing) coalition.
 
===1992–1996: Rabin II; Peres II===
{{Further information|Oslo Accords|Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin}}
{{See also2|[[Twenty-fifth government of Israel|Twenty-fifth]]|[[Twenty-sixth government of Israel|Twenty-sixth]] governments of Israel}}
In the [[Israeli legislative election, 1992|1992 elections]], the [[Labor Party (Israel)|Labour Party]], led by [[Yitzhak Rabin]], won a significant victory (44 seats) promising to pursue peace while promoting Rabin as a "tough general" and pledging not to deal with the PLO in any way. The pro-peace Zionist party [[Meretz]] won 12 seats, and the Arab and communist parties a further 5, meaning that parties supporting a peace treaty had a full (albeit small) majority in the Knesset. Later that year, the Israeli electoral system was changed to allow for direct election of the prime minister. It was hoped this would reduce the power of small parties (mainly the religious parties) to extract concessions in return for coalition agreements. The new system had the opposite effect; voters could split their vote for prime minister from their (interest based) party vote, and as a result larger parties won fewer votes and smaller parties becoming more attractive to voters. It thus increased the power of the smaller parties. By the 2006 election the system was abandoned.
 
[[File:Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - Life of Lt. Gen. Yitzhak Rabin, 7th IDF Chief of Staff in photos (8).jpg|thumb|[[Yitzhak Rabin]], [[Bill Clinton]], and [[Yasser Arafat]] during the [[Oslo Accords]] signing ceremony at the [[White House]] on 13 September 1993|alt=A man in a dark suit on the left shakes the hand of a man in traditional Arab headdress on the right. Another man stands with open arms in the centre behind them.]]
On 25 July 1993, Israel carried out a week-long [[Operation Accountability|military operation]] in Lebanon to attack [[Hezbollah]] positions. On 13 September 1993, Israel and the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO) signed the [[Oslo Accords]] (a Declaration of Principles)<ref>[http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Peace/dop.html Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302173924/http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Peace/dop.html |date=2 March 2017 }} Jewish Virtual Library</ref> on the South Lawn of the [[White House]]. The principles established objectives relating to a transfer of authority from Israel to an interim [[Palestinian Authority]], as a prelude to a final treaty establishing a Palestinian state, in exchange for mutual recognition. The DOP established May 1999 as the date by which a permanent status agreement for the West Bank and Gaza Strip would take effect. In February 1994, [[Baruch Goldstein]], a follower of the [[Kach and Kahane Chai|Kach]] party, killed 29 Palestinians and wounded 125 at the [[Cave of the Patriarchs]] in [[Hebron]], which became known as the [[Cave of the Patriarchs massacre]]. Kach had been barred from participation in the 1992 elections (on the grounds that the movement was racist). It was subsequently made illegal. Israel and the PLO signed the [[Gaza–Jericho Agreement]] in May 1994, and the [[Agreement on Preparatory Transfer of Powers and Responsibilities]] in August, which began the process of transferring authority from Israel to the Palestinians. On 25 July 1994, Jordan and Israel signed the [[Israel–Jordan peace treaty|Washington Declaration]], which formally ended the [[war|state of war]] that had existed between them since 1948 and on 26 October the [[Israel–Jordan Treaty of Peace]], witnessed by US President [[Bill Clinton]].<ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Guide%20to%20the%20Peace%20Process/Main%20Points%20of%20Israel-Jordan%20Peace%20Treaty Main Points of Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty 26 October 1994] Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs</ref><ref>[http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/peacetreaty.html Treaty of Peace between The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and The State of Israel] King Hussein website</ref>
 
Prime Minister [[Yitzhak Rabin]] and PLO Chairman [[Yasser Arafat]] signed the [[Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip|Israeli–Palestinian Interim Agreement]] on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on 28 September 1995 in Washington. The agreement was witnessed by President Bill Clinton on behalf of the United States and by Russia, Egypt, Norway and the European Union, and incorporates and supersedes the previous agreements, marking the conclusion of the first stage of negotiations between Israel and the PLO. The agreement allowed the PLO leadership to relocate to the occupied territories and granted autonomy to the Palestinians with talks to follow regarding final status. In return the Palestinians promised to abstain from use of terror and changed the [[Palestinian National Covenant]], which had called for the expulsion of all Jews who migrated after 1917 and the elimination of Israel.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mideastweb.org/plocha.htm|title=PLO Covenant (Charter) 1968|website=www.mideastweb.org}}</ref>
 
The agreement was opposed by [[Hamas]] and other Palestinian factions, which launched [[List of Palestinian suicide attacks#1990s|suicide bomber attacks]] at Israel. Rabin had a [[Israeli Gaza Strip barrier|barrier]] constructed around Gaza to prevent attacks. The growing separation between Israel and the "[[Palestinian Territories]]" led to a labour shortage in Israel, mainly in the construction industry. Israeli firms began importing [[Demographics of Israel#Foreign workers|labourers]] from the [[Philippines]], [[Thailand]], [[China]] and [[Romania]]; some of these labourers stayed on without visas. In addition, a growing number of Africans began illegally migrating to Israel. On 4 November 1995, a far-right-wing [[Yigal Amir|religious Zionist]] opponent of the [[Oslo Accords]], [[Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin|assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin]]. In February 1996 Rabin's successor, [[Shimon Peres]], called early elections. In April 1996, Israel launched an [[Operation Grapes of Wrath|operation]] in southern Lebanon as a result of Hezbollah's [[Katyusha rocket launcher|Katyusha]] [[List of Lebanese rocket attacks on Israel|rocket attacks]] on Israeli population centres along the border.
 
===1996–2001: Netanyahu I; Barak===
{{Further information|2000 Camp David Summit}}
{{See also2|[[Twenty-seventh government of Israel|Twenty-seventh]]|[[Twenty-eighth government of Israel|Twenty-eighth]] governments of Israel}}
The May 1996 [[Israeli legislative election, 1996|elections]] were the first featuring [[Israeli prime ministerial election, 1996|direct election of the prime minister]] and resulted in a narrow election victory for [[Likud]] leader [[Binyamin Netanyahu]]. A spate of suicide bombings reinforced the Likud position for security. [[Hamas]] claimed responsibility for most of the bombings. Despite his stated differences with the [[Oslo Accords]], Prime Minister Netanyahu continued their implementation, but his prime ministership saw a marked slow-down in the Peace Process. Netanyahu also pledged to gradually reduce US aid to Israel.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/boldaid.html |title=Israel's Bold Initiative to Reduce U.S. Aid |publisher=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org |date= |accessdate=2012-08-13}}</ref>
 
In September 1996, a [[Western Wall Tunnel#Northern exit|Palestinian riot]] broke out against the creation of an exit in the Western Wall tunnel. Over the subsequent few weeks, around 80 people were killed as a result.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/548443.stm |title=Mayor halts Temple Mount dig |publisher=BBC News |accessdate=5 May 2009 | date=3 December 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0015_0_15349.html |title=Palestinian Authority |publisher=Jewish Virtual Library}}</ref> In January 1997 Netanyahu signed the [[Hebron Protocol]] with the Palestinian Authority, resulting in the redeployment of Israeli forces in [[Hebron]] and the turnover of civilian authority in much of the area to the Palestinian Authority.
 
In the [[Israeli legislative election, 1999|election]] of July 1999, [[Ehud Barak]] of the Labour Party became Prime Minister. His party was the largest in the Knesset with 26 seats. In September 1999 the [[Supreme Court of Israel]] ruled that the use of torture in interrogation of Palestinian prisoners was illegal.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://stoptorture.org.il/en/skira90-99 |title=1990-1999 &#124; הוועד הציבורי נגד עינויים בישראל |publisher=Stoptorture.org.il |date= |accessdate=2012-08-13 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120807200124/http://www.stoptorture.org.il/en/skira90-99 |archivedate=7 August 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> On 21 March 2000, [[Pope John Paul II]] arrived in Israel for a historic visit.
 
On 25 May 2000, Israel unilaterally [[South Lebanon conflict (1982–2000)#2000: Israeli withdrawal|withdrew]] its remaining forces from the "security zone" in southern Lebanon. Several thousand members of the [[South Lebanon Army]] (and their families) left with the Israelis. The UN Secretary-General concluded<ref>[https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2000/20000618.sc6878.doc.html Security Council endorses Secretary-General's conclusion on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon as of 16 June] United Nations, 18 June 2000</ref> that, as of 16 June 2000, Israel had withdrawn its forces from Lebanon in accordance with [[UN Security Council Resolution 425]]. Lebanon claims that Israel continues to occupy Lebanese territory called "[[Sheba'a Farms]]" (however this area was governed by Syria until 1967 when Israel took control).<ref>Kaufman, Asher (Autumn 2002). "Who owns the Shebaa Farms? Chronicle of a territorial dispute". Middle East Journal (Middle East Institute) 56 (4): 576–596.</ref> The Sheba'a Farms provided [[Hezbollah]] with a ruse to maintain warfare with Israel.<ref>{{cite news |title=Syria politics: Fêted |url=http://viewswire.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=VWArticleVW3&article_id=1413555726 |newspaper=Economist Intelligence Unit |date=15 July 2008 |accessdate=4 November 2012}}</ref> The Lebanese government, in contravention of the UN Security Council resolution, did not assert sovereignty in the area, which came under Hezbollah control. In the Fall of 2000, [[2000 Camp David Summit|talks were held at Camp David]] to reach a final agreement on the Israel/Palestine conflict. Ehud Barak offered to meet most of the Palestinian teams requests for territory and [[concession (politics)|political concessions]], including Arab parts of east Jerusalem; however, Arafat abandoned the talks without making a counterproposal.<ref>[http://www.iris.org.il/camp_david2.htm Israeli Proposal to Palestinians and Syria] Information Regarding Israel's Security (IRIS)</ref>
 
Following its withdrawal from South Lebanon, Israel became a member of the [[Western European and Others Group]] at the United Nations. Prior to this Israel was the only nation at the UN which was not a member of any group (The Arab states would not allow it to join the Asia group), which meant it could not be a member of the Security Council or appoint anyone to the International Court and other key UN roles. Since December 2013 it has been a permanent member of the group.<ref>https://www.un.org/depts/DGACM/RegionalGroups.shtml see the note at the bottom.</ref>
 
In July 2000, [[Aryeh Deri]] was sentenced to 3 years in prison for bribe taking. Deri is regarded as the mastermind behind the rise of Shas and was a government minister at the age of 24. Political manipulation meant the investigation lasted for years. Deri subsequently sued a Police Officer who alleged that he was linked to the traffic-accident death of a witness, who was run over in New York by a driver who had once been in the employ of an associate of Deri.<ref>{{cite news |author= Dalia Shehori |date=5 March 2003 |title='If I could sue the judges for libel, I would': Aryeh Deri sues a police commander to clear his name |url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/if-i-could-sue-the-judges-for-libel-i-would-1.17233 |newspaper=Haaretz |accessdate=2 April 2015}}, see also {{cite web |date=16 January 2011 |title=<bdi dir="rtl">מה חלקו של אריה דרעי ברצח חמותו אסתר ורדבר?</bdi> |language=he |trans-title=What was the share of Aryeh Deri in the murder of his mother-in-law Esther Bradbury |url=http://bektzara.blogspot.co.il/2012/10/blog-post_8671.html |publisher=חדשות בקצרה בתמונות ומסמכים (News briefs, photos and documents) |accessdate=2 April 2015}}</ref>
 
On 28 September 2000, Israeli opposition leader [[Ariel Sharon]] visited the Al-Aqsa compound, or [[Temple Mount]], the following day the Palestinians launched the [[al-Aqsa Intifada]]. David Samuels and Khaled Abu Toameh have stated that the uprising was planned much earlier.<ref name=toameh>{{cite web |accessdate=29 March 2006 |url=http://www.mafhoum.com/press3/111P55.htm |title=How the war began |author=Khaled Abu Toameh}}</ref><ref name=atlantic>{{cite news |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2005/09/in-a-ruined-country/304167/ |title=In a Ruined Country |last=Samuels |first=David |date=September 2005 |work=[[The Atlantic]] |accessdate=5 December 2012}}</ref> In October 2000, Palestinians destroyed [[Joseph's Tomb]], a Jewish shrine in [[Nablus]].
 
The [[Arrow (Israeli missile)|Arrow missile]], a missile designed to destroy [[ballistic missile]]s, including [[Scud missile]]s, was first deployed by Israel. In 2001, with the Peace Process increasingly in disarray, Ehud Barak called a [[Israeli prime ministerial election, 2001|special election for Prime Minister]]. Barak hoped a victory would give him renewed authority in negotiations with the Palestinians. Instead opposition leader [[Ariel Sharon]] was elected PM. After this election, the system of directly electing the Premier was abandoned.
 
===2001–2006: Sharon===
{{Further information|Second Intifada|Israeli West Bank barrier|Israel's unilateral disengagement plan}}
{{See also2|[[Twenty-ninth government of Israel|Twenty-ninth]]|[[Thirtieth government of Israel|Thirtieth]] governments of Israel}}
[[File:Westbank barrier.png|thumb|upright|The [[Israeli West Bank barrier]] route built (red), under construction (pink) and proposed (white), {{as of|2011|6|lc=on}}]]
The failure of the peace process, increased Palestinian terror and occasional [[2000–2006 Shebaa Farms conflict|attacks]] by [[Hezbollah]] from Lebanon, led much of the Israeli public and political leadership to lose confidence in the Palestinian Authority as a peace partner. Most felt that many Palestinians viewed the peace treaty with Israel as a temporary measure only.<ref>{{cite book |last=Karsh |first=Efraim |title=Islamic Imperialism: A History |url=https://books.google.com/?id=LmZP3mixescC&pg=PA181&dq=many+Palestinians+viewed+the+peace+treaty+with+Israel+as+a+temporary+measure+only#v=onepage&q=many%20Palestinians%20viewed%20the%20peace%20treaty%20with%20Israel%20as%20a%20temporary%20measure%20only&f=false |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2006 |page=181 |isbn=0300106033}}</ref> Many Israelis were thus anxious to disengage from the Palestinians. In response to a wave of [[List of Palestinian suicide attacks#2000s|suicide bomb attacks]], culminating in the "[[Passover massacre]]" (see [[List of Israeli civilian casualties in the Second Intifada]]), Israel launched [[Operation Defensive Shield]] in March 2002, and Sharon began the construction of a [[Israeli West Bank barrier|barrier]] around the West Bank. Around the same time, the Israeli town of [[Sderot]] and other Israeli communities near Gaza became subject to constant [[Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel|shelling]] and mortar bomb attacks from Gaza.
 
Thousands of Jews from Latin America began [[Aliyah from Latin America in the 2000s|arriving]] in Israel due to economic crises in their countries of origin. In January 2003 separate [[Israeli legislative election, 2003|elections]] were held for the Knesset. Likud won the most seats (27). An anti-religion party, [[Shinui]], led by media pundit [[Tommy Lapid]], won 15 seats on a secularist platform, making it the third largest party (ahead of orthodox [[Shas]]). Internal fighting led to Shinui's demise at the next election. In 2004, the [[African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem|Black Hebrews]] were granted permanent residency in Israel. The group had begun migrating to Israel 25 years earlier from the United States, but had not been recognized as Jews by the state and hence not granted citizenship under Israel's [[Law of Return]]. They had settled in Israel without official status. From 2004 onwards, they received citizen's rights.
 
The Sharon government embarked on an extensive program of construction of [[Desalination#Israel|desalinization plants]] that freed Israel of the fear of drought. Some of the Israeli desalinization plants are the largest of their kind in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.water-technology.net/projects/israel/|title=Ashkelon Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) Plant, Israel|website=Water Technology}}</ref>
 
In May 2004, Israel launched [[Operation Rainbow (2004)|Operation Rainbow]] in southern Gaza to create a safer environment for the IDF soldiers along the [[Philadelphi Route]]. On September 30, 2004, Israel carried out [[Operation Days of Penitence]] in northern Gaza to destroy the launching sites of Palestinian rockets which were used to attack Israeli towns. In 2005, all Jewish settlers were evacuated from [[Gaza Strip|Gaza]] (some forcibly) and their homes demolished. [[Israel's unilateral disengagement plan|Disengagement from the Gaza Strip]] was completed on 12 September 2005. Military disengagement from the northern West Bank was completed ten days later.
 
In 2005 Sharon left the Likud and formed a new party called [[Kadima]], which accepted that the peace process would lead to creation of a Palestinian state. He was joined by many leading figures from both Likud and Labour.
 
Hamas won the [[Palestinian legislative election, 2006]], the first and only genuinely free Palestinian elections. Hamas' leaders rejected all agreements signed with Israel, refused to recognize Israel's right to exist, refused to abandon terror, and occasionally [[Hamas–UNRWA Holocaust dispute|claimed the Holocaust was a Jewish conspiracy]]. The withdrawal and Hamas victory left the status of Gaza unclear, Israel claimed it was no longer an occupying power but continued to control air and sea access to Gaza although it did not exercise [[sovereignty]] on the ground. Egypt insisted that it was still occupied and refused to open border crossings with Gaza, although it was free to do so.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biu.ac.il/Besa/MSPS83.pdf |title=Is Gaza Occupied? Redefining the Legal Status of Gaza |last=Samson |first=Elizabeth |date=January 2010 |work=Mideast Security and Policy Studies |publisher=Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies |accessdate=12 January 2013}}</ref>
 
On April 2006 [[Ariel Sharon]] was incapacitated by a severe [[haemorrhagic stroke]] and [[Ehud Olmert]] became [[Prime Minister of Israel|Prime Minister]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2003/3/Ehud+Olmert.htm |title=Ehud Olmert |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |accessdate=5 December 2012}}</ref>
 
===2006–2009: Olmert===
{{Further information|Start-up Nation|2006 Hamas cross-border raid|2006 Lebanon War|Gaza War (2008-09)}}
{{See also|Thirty-first government of Israel}}
[[Ehud Olmert]] was elected Prime Minister after his party, [[Kadima]], won the most seats (29) in the [[Israeli legislative election, 2006]]. In 2005 [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]] was officially elected president of Iran; since then, Iranian policy towards Israel has grown more [[Israel–Iran proxy conflict|confrontational]]. Israeli analysts believe Ahmadinejad has worked to undermine the peace process with arms supplies and aid to Hezbullah in South Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/03/politics-iranrsquos-anti-israel-rhetoric-aimed-at-arab-opinion/ |title=Iran’s Anti-Israel Rhetoric Aimed at Arab Opinion |last=Porter |first=Gareth |date=9 March 2009 |publisher=Inter Press Service |accessdate=4 December 2012}}</ref> and is [[Iran and weapons of mass destruction|developing nuclear weapons]], possibly for use against Israel.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Threats_to_Israel/Iran.html |title=Potential Threats To Israel: Iran |publisher=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org |date=2008-05-06 |accessdate=2012-08-13}}</ref> Iranian support for Hezbollah and its nuclear arms program are in contravention of UN Security Council resolutions [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559|1559]] and [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747|1747]]. Iran also [[International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust|encourages Holocaust denial]]. Following the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, Hezbollah had mounted periodic attacks on Israel, which did not lead to Israeli retaliation. Similarly, the withdrawal from Gaza led to incessant shelling of towns around the Gaza area with only minimal Israeli response. The failure to react led to criticism from the Israeli right and undermined the government.
 
On 14 March 2006, Israel carried out an [[Operation Bringing Home the Goods|operation]] in the Palestinian Authority prison of [[Jericho]] in order to capture [[Ahmad Sa'adat]] and several Palestinian Arab prisoners located there who assassinated Israeli politician [[Rehavam Ze'evi]] in 2001. The operation was conducted as a result of the expressed intentions of the newly elected Hamas government to release these prisoners. On 25 June 2006, a Hamas force crossed the border from Gaza and [[2006 Hamas cross-border raid|attacked]] a tank, capturing Israeli soldier [[Gilad Shalit]], sparking [[2006 Israel–Gaza conflict|clashes]] in Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/5142376.stm |title=In pictures: Gaza crisis |date=3 July 2006 |publisher=BBC News |accessdate=5 December 2012}}</ref>
[[File:Idf back from lebanon.jpg|thumb|left|[[Nahal Brigade]] soldiers returning after the [[2006 Lebanon War]]]]
 
On 12 July, Hezbollah [[Zar'it-Shtula incident|attacked Israel]] from Lebanon, shelled Israeli towns and attacked a border patrol, taking two dead or badly wounded Israeli soldiers. These incidents led Israel to initiate the [[2006 Lebanon War|Second Lebanon War]], which lasted through August 2006. Israeli forces entered some villages in Southern Lebanon, while the air force attacked targets all across the country. Israel only made limited ground gains until the launch of [[Operation Changing Direction 11]], which lasted for 3 days with disputed results. Shortly before a UN ceasefire came into effect, Israeli troops [[Battle of Wadi Saluki|captured Wadi Saluki]]. The war concluded with Hezbollah evacuating its forces from Southern Lebanon, while the IDF remained until its positions could be handed over to the [[Lebanese Armed Forces]] and [[UNIFIL]].
 
In 2007 education was made compulsory until the age of 18 for all citizens (it had been 16). Refugees from the [[War in Darfur|genocide in Darfur]], mostly Muslim, arrived in Israel illegally, with some given Asylum.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1931160,00.html |title=Israel's Illegal Immigrants — and Their Children |last=Kalman |first=Matthew |date=21 October 2009 |work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |accessdate=4 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Immigration/SudaneseRefugees.html |title=Sudanese Refugees in Israel |last=Scheinerman |first=Naomi |work=Jewish Virtual Library |publisher=American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise |accessdate=4 December 2012}}</ref> [[Illegal immigration from Africa to Israel|Illegal immigrants]] arrived mainly from Africa in addition to foreign workers overstaying their visas. The numbers of such migrants are not known, and estimates vary between 30,000 and over 100,000.
 
An American billionaire casino owner, [[Sheldon Adelson]], set up a free newspaper [[Israel Hayom]] with the express intention of reducing the influence of the dominant (centre-left) newspaper [[Yediot Ahronot]] and causing a right-ward shift in Israeli politics by supporting Netanyahu.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2016/israel|title=Israel|website=freedomhouse.org}}</ref>
 
In June 2007, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in the course of the [[Battle of Gaza (2007)|Battle of Gaza]],<ref name=Guardian>{{cite news|title=Hamas takes control of Gaza|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jun/15/israel4|accessdate=3 June 2010|newspaper=Guardian|date=15 June 2007 | location=London | first1=Ian | last1=Black | first2=Mark | last2=Tran}}</ref> seizing government institutions and replacing Fatah and other government officials with its own.<ref name="intern_fight_p14-15">{{cite book | title= Internal fight: Palestinian abuses in Gaza and the West Bank | pages= 14–15 | author2= Human Rights Watch | first1= Fred | last1= Abrahams | publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] | year= 2008 | authorlink2= Human Rights Watch }}</ref> Following the takeover, Egypt and Israel imposed a partial [[Blockade of the Gaza Strip|blockade]], on the grounds that Fatah had fled and was no longer providing security on the Palestinian side, and to prevent arms smuggling by terrorist groups. On 6 September 2007, the Israeli Air Force [[Operation Orchard|destroyed]] a nuclear reactor in Syria. On 28 February 2008, Israel launched a [[Operation Hot Winter|military campaign]] in Gaza in response to the constant firing of [[Qassam rocket]]s by Hamas militants. On July 16, 2008, Hezbollah [[2008 Israel-Hezbollah prisoner swap|swapped]] the bodies of Israeli soldiers [[Ehud Goldwasser]] and [[Eldad Regev]], kidnapped in 2006, in exchange for the Lebanese terrorist [[Samir Kuntar]], four [[Lebanese prisoners in Israel|Hezbollah prisoners]], and the bodies of 199 Palestinian Arab and Lebanese fighters.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Israeli-experts-say-many-Lebanese-are-not-celebrating|first=Nathan|last=Cohen|newspaper=[[The Jerusalem Post]]|date=17 July 2008|title=Israeli experts say many Lebanese are not celebrating}}</ref>
 
Olmert came under investigation for corruption and this led him to announce on 30 July 2008, that he would be stepping down as Prime Minister following election of a new leader of the [[Kadima]] party in September 2008. [[Tzipi Livni]] won the election, but was unable to form a coalition and Olmert remained in office until the general election. Israel carried out [[Operation Cast Lead]] in the Gaza Strip from 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009 in response to rocket attacks from Hamas militants,<ref name=gw>{{cite news|title=Gaza 'looks like earthquake zone' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7838618.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=20 January 2009 |accessdate=3 December 2012 |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/5ga097JZR?url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7838618.stm |archivedate=6 May 2009 |deadurl=yes |df=dmy-all }}</ref> leading to a decrease of [[List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2009|Palestinian rocket attacks]].<ref name="Shabak">{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/2010Review.pdf |title=Data and Trends in Terrorism |date=25 December 2010 |work=Annual Summary |publisher=Israel Security Agency |accessdate=5 December 2012}}</ref>
 
===2009–present: Netanyahu II===
{{Further information|2011 Israeli social justice protests|Tamar gas field|Operation Pillar of Defense|2014 Israel–Gaza conflict}}
{{See also2|[[Thirty-second government of Israel|Thirty-second]]|[[Thirty-third government of Israel|Thirty-third]]|[[Thirty-fourth government of Israel|Thirty-fourth]] governments of Israel}}
In the [[Israeli legislative election, 2009|2009 legislative election]] Likud won 27 seats and Kadima 28; however, the right-wing camp won a majority of seats, and President Shimon Peres called on Netanyahu to form the government. Russian immigrant-dominated [[Yisrael Beiteinu]] came third with 15 seats, and Labour was reduced to fourth place with 13 seats. In 2009, Israeli billionaire [[Yitzhak Tshuva]] announced the discovery of [[Tamar gas field|huge natural gas reserves]] off the coast of Israel.<ref>{{cite news |title=Israel Billionaire Tshuva Strikes Gas, Fueling Expansion in Energy, Hotels |first1=David |last1=Wainer |first2=Calev |last2=Ben-David |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-04-21/israel-billionaire-tshuva-strikes-gas-fueling-expansion-in-energy-hotels.html |newspaper=Bloomberg |date=22 April 2010 |accessdate=3 December 2012}}</ref>
 
On 31 May 2010, an [[Gaza flotilla raid|international incident]] broke out in the Mediterranean Sea when foreign activists trying to break the [[Blockade of the Gaza Strip#Naval blockade|maritime blockade]] over Gaza, clashed with Israeli troops. During the struggle, nine Turkish activists were killed. In late September 2010 took place [[Direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians (2010-2011)|direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians]] without success. As a defensive countermeasure to the rocket threat against Israel's civilian population, at the end of March 2011 Israel began to operate the advanced mobile air defence system "[[Iron Dome]]"<ref name=atSpecs>{{cite web |url=http://www.army-technology.com/projects/irondomeairdefencemi/ |title=Iron Dome Air Defense Missile System, Israel |publisher=army-technology.com |accessdate=18 August 2011}}</ref> in the southern region of Israel and along the border with the Gaza Strip.
[[File:Israel Housing Protests Tel Aviv August 6 2011b.jpg|thumb|[[2011 Israeli social justice protests|Protest]] in [[Tel Aviv]] on 6 August 2011]]
 
On 14 July 2011, the [[2011 Israeli housing protests|largest social protest in the history of Israel]] began in which hundreds of thousands of protesters from a variety of [[socio-economic]] and religious backgrounds in Israel protested against the continuing rise in the [[cost of living]] (particularly housing) and the deterioration of public services in the country (such as health and education). The peak of the demonstrations took place on 3 September 2011, in which about 400,000 people demonstrated across the country.
 
In October 2011, [[Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange|a deal was reached]] between Israel and [[Hamas]], by which the kidnapped Israeli soldier [[Gilad Shalit]] was released in exchange for 1,027 [[Palestinian prisoners in Israel|Palestinians]] and [[Arab citizens of Israel|Arab-Israeli]] prisoners.<ref>[http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-10/17/c_131194865.htm Hamas to gain politically from prisoner swap deal] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140105105418/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-10/17/c_131194865.htm |date=5 January 2014 }}. News.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-20.</ref><ref name=autogenerated8>{{cite news|last=Mishra|first=Harinder|title=Israel to release 1,027 prisoners for its lone soldier|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/israel-to-release-1027-prisoners-for-its-lone-soldier/854824.html|accessdate=16 October 2011|newspaper=[[IBN Live]]|date=12 October 2011|location=Jerusalem}}</ref> In March 2012, Secretary-general of the [[Popular Resistance Committees]], [[Zuhir al-Qaisi]], a senior PRC member and two additional Palestinian militants were assassinated during a [[Israeli targeted killings|targeted killing]] carried out by Israeli forces in Gaza.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-israel-gaza/israel-kills-palestinian-militants-in-gaza-strike-idUSBRE8280W820120309|title=Israel kills 10 Palestinian militants in Gaza strikes|date=9 March 2012|publisher=|via=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17319054|title=Israeli strikes 'kill 12' in Gaza|date=10 March 2012|publisher=|via=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> The Palestinian armed factions in the Gaza Strip, led by the [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad|Islamic Jihad]] and the [[Popular Resistance Committees]], fired a massive amount of rockets towards southern Israel in retaliation, sparking five days of [[March 2012 Gaza-Israel clashes|clashes]] along the Gaza border.
 
In May 2012, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached an agreement with the Head of Opposition [[Shaul Mofaz]] for [[Kadima]] to join the government, thus cancelling the early election supposed to be held in September.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4226125,00.html |title=No elections: Kadima to join government |publisher=[[Ynetnews]] |date=1995-06-20 |accessdate=2012-08-06}}</ref> However, in July, the Kadima party left Netanyahu's government due to a dispute concerning [[Plesner Committee|military conscription for ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel]].<ref>{{cite news |date=17 July 2012 |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18870666 |publisher=BBC News |title=Kadima quits Israel government over conscription law |accessdate=2 April 2015}}</ref>
 
In June 2012, Israel [[Israeli transfer of Palestinian militant bodies (2012)|transferred the bodies of 91 Palestinian suicide bombers and other militants]] as part of what Mark Regev, spokesman for Netanyahu, described as a "humanitarian gesture" to [[Palestinian Authority|PA]] chairman [[Mahmoud Abbas]] to help revive the peace talks, and reinstate direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.france24.com/en/20120531-palestinian-territories-bodies-israel-return-conflict |title=Israel returns bodies of 91 Palestinians |publisher=France 24 |accessdate=1 June 2012}}</ref> On 21 October 2012, United States and Israel began their biggest joint air and missile defence exercise, known as [[2012 US-Israel military exercise|Austere Challenge 12]], involving around 3,500 US troops in the region along with 1,000 IDF personnel, expected to last three weeks.<ref>[http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/10/2012102195738284839.html US and Israel launch joint military drill], ''Al Jazeera''. 21 October 2012</ref> Germany and Britain also participated.<ref>[http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-15/u-dot-s-dot-israeli-military-exercise-sending-message-to-iran U.S.-Israeli Military Exercise Sending Message to Iran] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140817063133/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-15/u-dot-s-dot-israeli-military-exercise-sending-message-to-iran |date=17 August 2014 }}</ref> In response to over a hundred rocket attacks on southern Israeli cities, Israel began an [[Operation Pillar of Defense|operation]] in Gaza on 14 November 2012, with the targeted killing of [[Ahmed Jabari]], chief of Hamas military wing, and airstrikes against twenty underground sites housing long-range missile launchers capable of striking Tel Aviv. In January 2013, construction of the [[Israel–Egypt barrier|barrier]] on the Israeli-Egyptian border was completed in its main section.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-israel-africa-immigration-20130103,0,3410875.story |title=Israel completes most of Egypt border fence |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=2 January 2013}}</ref>
 
Benjamin Netanyahu was elected Prime Minister again after the [[Likud Yisrael Beiteinu]] alliance won the most seats (31) in the [[Israeli legislative election, 2013|2013 legislative election]] and formed a coalition government with secular centrist [[Yesh Atid]] party (19), rightist [[The Jewish Home]] (12) and Livni's [[Hatnuah]] (6), excluding Haredi parties. Labour came in third with 15 seats.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21745344 | work=BBC News | title=Israel PM Netanyahu 'reaches coalition deal' | date=14 March 2013}}</ref> In July 2013, as a "good will gesture" to restart [[2013 Israeli-Palestinian peace talks|peace talks]] with the Palestinian Authority, Israel agreed to release 104 Palestinian prisoners, most of whom had been in jail since before the 1993 Oslo Accords,<ref name="Wash Post 2013-07-28">{{cite news |author=William Booth |author2=Orly Halpern |author3=Anne Gearan |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-to-free-104-palestinian-prisoners/2013/07/28/390ad8d2-f7a3-11e2-a954-358d90d5d72d_story.html |title=Peace talks set to begin after Israel agrees to free 104 Palestinian prisoners |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=28 July 2013 |accessdate=2 April 2015}}</ref> including militants who had killed Israeli civilians.<ref name="Wash Post 2013-07-28"/><ref>{{cite news |author=[[Isabel Kershner]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/13/world/middleeast/israel-names-palestinian-prisoners-to-be-released.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2& |title=Timing of Israeli Housing Plans May Be Part of a Political Calculation |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=13 August 2013 |page=A6 |accessdate=2 April 2015}}</ref> In April 2014, Israel suspended peace talks after Hamas and Fatah agreed to form a unity government.<ref>[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4513046,00.html Sanctions and suspended talks - Israel responds to Palestinian reconciliation] [[Ynet News]] 24 April 2014</ref>
 
Following an escalation of rocket attacks by Hamas, Israel started an [[Operation Protective Edge|operation]] in the Gaza Strip on 8 July 2014,<ref>{{cite news |author=[[Steven Erlanger]] |author2=[[Isabel Kershner]] |title=Israel and Hamas Trade Attacks as Tension Rises |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/09/world/middleeast/israel-steps-up-offensive-against-hamas-in-gaza.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=9 July 2014 |page=A1 |accessdate=2 April 2015}}</ref> which included a ground incursion aimed at destroying the [[Palestinian tunnel warfare in the Gaza Strip|cross-border tunnels]].<ref>{{cite news |title='Gaza conflict: Israel and Palestinians agree long-term truce'|url=http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28939350|publisher=BBC News|date=27 August 2014}}</ref> Differences over the budget and a [[Basic Law proposal: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People|"Jewish state" bill]] triggered early elections in December 2014.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/israel-s-benjamin-netanyahu-fires-2-ministers-election-likely-1.2857502|title=Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu fires 2 ministers, election likely|agency=CBC News|date=2 December 2014}}</ref> After the [[Israeli legislative election, 2015|2015 Israeli elections]], Netanyahu renewed his mandate as Prime Minister when [[Likud]] obtained 30 seats and formed a right-wing coalition government with [[Kulanu]] (10), [[The Jewish Home]] (8), and Orthodox parties [[Shas]] (7) and [[United Torah Judaism]] (6), the bare minimum of seats required to form a coalition. The [[Zionist Union]] alliance came second with 24 seats.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/06/middleeast/israel-election-coalition/ |title=Benjamin Netanyahu forms a coalition government for Israel |newspaper=CNN |date=6 May 2015}}</ref>
 
==Demographics==
{{main article|Demographic history of Palestine}}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;float:center;"
|+ Population of the Land of Israel 65–650<ref>''The Chosen Few'' by Botticini and Eckstein Princeton 2012, p. 17</ref>
|-
!
! 65
! 100
! 150
! 300
! 550
! 650
|-
| align=left | Estimated Jewish Population (thousands)
| 2,500
| 1,800
| 1,200
| 500
| 200
| 100
|-
| align=left | Estimated Total Population
| 3,000
| 2,300
| 1,800
| 1,100
| 1,500
| 1,500
|}
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;float:center;"
|+ Development of Israel by decade<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st02_01&CYear=2012 |title=Population, by Population Group |date=11 September 2012 |publisher=Israel Central Bureau of Statistics |accessdate=1 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st02_27&CYear=2012 |title=Jewish Population in the World and in Israel |date=11 September 2012 |publisher=Israel Central Bureau of Statistics |accessdate=1 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=ny_gdp_pcap_cd&idim=country:ISR |title=GDP per capita (current US$) |date=30 April 2013 |work=Google Public Data Explorer |publisher=World Bank |accessdate=1 May 2013}}</ref>
|-
!
! 1950
! 1960
! 1970
! 1980
! 1990
! 2000
! 2010
|-
| align=left | [[Demographics of Israel|Population]] (thousands)
| 1,370.1
| 2,150.4
| 3,022.1
| 3,921.7
| 4,821.7
| 6,369.3
| 7,695.1
|-
| align=left | [[Historical Jewish population comparisons|World Jewry percentage]]
| 6%
| 15%
| 20%
| 25%
| 30%
| 38%
| 42%
|-
| align=left | [[List of countries by past and future GDP (nominal) per capita|GDP per capita]] (current US$)
|
| 1,366
| 1,806
| 5,617
| 11,264
| 19,859
| 28,522
|}
 
==See also==
{{portal|Israel|History}}
{{div col||25em}}
* [[Archaeology of Israel]]
* [[Hebrew calendar]]
* [[History of the Arab–Israeli conflict]]
* [[History of Israeli nationality]]
* [[History of Jerusalem]]
* [[History of the Jews and Judaism in the Land of Israel]]
* [[History of the Middle East]]
* [[History of Palestine]]
* [[History of Zionism]]
* [[Jewish history]]
* [[Jewish military history]]
* [[LGBT history in Israel]]
* [[List of Israeli museums]]
* [[List of Jewish leaders in the Land of Israel]]
* [[List of years in Israel]]
* [[Politics of Israel]]
* [[Postage stamps and postal history of Israel]]
* [[Timeline of Israeli history]]
{{div col end}}
 
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
 
==Further reading==
{{refbegin|40em}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/peel1.html |title=The Peel Commission Report |date=July 1937 |accessdate=12 January 2013}}
* Berger, Earl ''The Covenant and the Sword: Arab–Israeli Relations, 1948–56'', London, Routledge K. Paul, 1965.
* Bregman, Ahron ''A History of Israel'', Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002 {{ISBN|0-333-67632-7}}.
* {{Cite book|last=Bright|first=John|title=A History of Israel|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|year=2000|url=https://books.google.com/?id=0VG67yLs-LAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Bright+History+of+Israel#v=onepage&q&f=false|isbn=9780664220686}}
* Butler, L. J. ''Britain and Empire: Adjusting to a Post-Imperial World'' I.B. Tauris 2002 {{ISBN|1-86064-449-X}}
* {{Cite book|last=Coogan|first=Michael D., ed.|title=The Oxford History of the Biblical World|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1998|url=https://books.google.com/?id=zFhvECwNQD0C&dq=The+Oxford+History+of+the+Biblical+World&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false|isbn=9780195139372}}
* Cahill, Jane M. "Jerusalem at the Time of the United Monarchy"
* Darwin, John ''Britain and Decolonisation: The Retreat from Empire in the Post-War World'' Palgrave Macmillan 1988 {{ISBN|0-333-29258-8}}
* Davis, John, ''The Evasive Peace: a Study of the Zionist-Arab Problem'', London: J. Murray, 1968.
* {{Cite book |last=Dever |first=William |title=Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From? |publisher=Eerdmans |year=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=8WkbUkKeqcoC&dq=Who+were+the+early+Israelites,+and+where+did+they+come+from%3F&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=&f=false |isbn=9780802809759}}
* [[Walter Eytan|Eytan, Walter]] ''The First Ten Years: a Diplomatic History of Israel'', London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1958
* [[Martin Gilbert|Gilbert, Martin]] ''Israel: A History'', New York: Morrow, 1998 {{ISBN|0-688-12362-7}}.
* Horrox, James ''A Living Revolution: Anarchism in the Kibbutz Movement'', Oakland: AK Press, 2009
* [[Chaim Herzog|Herzog, Chaim]] ''The Arab–Israeli Wars: War and Peace in the Middle East from the War of Independence to Lebanon'', London: Arms and Armour; Tel Aviv, Israel: Steimatzky, 1984 {{ISBN|0-85368-613-0}}.
* Israel Office of Information ''Israel's Struggle for Peace'', New York, 1960.
* {{Cite book|last=Killebrew|first=Ann E.|title=Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity: An Archaeological Study of Egyptians, Canaanites, and Early Israel, 1300–1100 B.C.E.|publisher=Society of Biblical Literature|year=2005|url=https://books.google.com/?id=VtAmmwapfVAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Biblical+peoples+and+ethnicity:+an+archaeological#v=onepage&q&f=false|isbn=9781589830974}}
* [[Walter Laqueur|Laqueur, Walter]] ''Confrontation: the Middle-East War and World Politics'', London: Wildwood House, 1974, {{ISBN|0-7045-0096-5}}.
* Lehman, Gunnar. "The United Monarchy in the Countryside"
* Lucas, Noah ''The Modern History of Israel'', New York: Praeger, 1975.
* {{Cite book|last=McNutt|first=Paula|title=Reconstructing the Society of Ancient Israel|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|year=1999|url=https://books.google.com/?id=hd28MdGNyTYC&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=Reconstructing+the+Society+of+Ancient+Israel++By+Paula+M.+McNutt#v=onepage&q=&f=false|isbn=9780664222659}}
* {{Cite book|last=Miller|first=James Maxwell|last2=Hayes|first2=John Haralson|title=A History of Ancient Israel and Judah|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|year=1986|isbn=0-664-21262-X|url=https://books.google.com/?id=uDijjc_D5P0C&dq=A+history+of+ancient+Israel+and+Judah++By+James+Maxwell+Miller,+John+Haralson+Hayes&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=&f=false}}
* {{Cite book|last=Miller|first=Robert D.|title=Chieftains of the Highland Clans: A History of Israel in the 12th and 11th Centuries B.C.|publisher=Eerdmans|year=2005|url=https://books.google.com/?id=Gtm7NtK87poC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Chieftains+of+the+highland+clans#v=onepage&q=&f=false|isbn=9780802809889}}
* Morris, Benny ''1948: A History of the First Arab–Israeli War'', Yale University Press, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-300-12696-9}}.
* [[Conor Cruise O'Brien|O'Brian, Conor Cruise]] ''The Siege: the Saga of Israel and Zionism'', New York: Simon and Schuster, 1986 {{ISBN|0-671-60044-3}}.
* [[Michael Oren|Oren, Michael]] ''Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002 {{ISBN|0-19-515174-7}}.
* Rubinstein, Alvin Z. (editor) ''The Arab–Israeli Conflict: Perspectives'', New York: Praeger, 1984 {{ISBN|0-03-068778-0}}.
* Lord Russell of Liverpool, ''If I Forget Thee; the Story of a Nation's Rebirth'', London, Cassell 1960.
* Sachar, Howard M. ''A History of Israel'', New York: Knopf, 1976 {{ISBN|0-394-48564-5}}.
* Samuel, Rinna ''A History of Israel: the Birth, Growth and Development of Today's Jewish State'', London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1989 {{ISBN|0-297-79329-2}}.
* Schultz, Joseph & Klausner, Carla ''From Destruction to Rebirth: The Holocaust and the State of Israel'', Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1978 {{ISBN|0-8191-0574-0}}.
* [[Tom Segev|Segev, Tom]] ''The Seventh Million: the Israelis and the Holocaust'', New York: Hill and Wang, 1993 {{ISBN|0-8090-8563-1}}.
* Shapira Anita. ‘’Israel: A History’’ (Brandeis University Press/University Press of New England; 2012) 502 pages;
* [[Avi Shlaim|Shlaim, Avi]], The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World (2001)
* Stager, Lawrence, "Forging an Identity: The Emergence of Ancient Israel"
* [[Jacob Talmon|Talmon, Jacob L.]] ''Israel Among the Nations'', London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1970 {{ISBN|0-297-00227-9}}.
* {{Cite book|last=Vaughn|first=Andrew G.|last2=Killebrew|first2=Ann E., eds.|title=Jerusalem in Bible and Archaeology: The First Temple Period|publisher=Sheffield|year=1992|url=https://books.google.com/?id=yYS4VEu08h4C&dq=Jerusalem+in+Bible+and+archaeology:+the+First+Temple+period++By+Andrew+G.+Vaughn,+Ann+E.+Killebrew&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=&f=false|isbn=9781589830660}}
* [[Michael Wolffsohn|Wolffsohn, Michael]] ''Eternal Guilt?: Forty years of German-Jewish-Israeli Relations'', New York: Columbia University Press, 1993 {{ISBN|0-231-08274-6}}.
{{refend}}
 
==External links==
{{Spoken Wikipedia-2 |{{Start date|2008|03|30}} |Wikipedia - History of the State of Israel - Historical background.ogg |Wikipedia - History of the State of Israel - History of Israel.ogg}}
*[http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/History/Pages/Facts%20about%20Israel-%20History.aspx Facts About Israel: History] at the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]]
*[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29123668 Israel profile - Timeline] at the [[BBC News Online]]
*[https://www.knesset.gov.il/review/main.aspx?lng=3 History of Israel] at the [[Knesset]] website
*[https://www.archives.gov.il/en/ Official website] of the [[Israel State Archives]]
*{{dmoz|Regional/Middle_East/Israel/Society_and_Culture/History}}
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