December 4

History events
1586 — Opening of the Whitehall conference of English notables on the question of the readmission of Jews into England
1891 — The Jaffa-Jerusalem Railway line reached Deir Aban (today’s Beit Shemesh) as it made its way from the seacoast to the City of David
1942 — During the Holocaust, two Christian women, Zofia Kossak and Wanda Filipowicz risked their lives by setting up the Council for the Assistance of the Jews in Warsaw
1952 — The Jerusalem Post reported that ….. the cabinet approved the resignation of Lt.-Gen Yigael Yadin, the second chief of General Staff, and appointed Maj.-Gen. Mordechai Makleff as his successor. Yigael Yadin was one of those amazing figures who helped to form Israel in the early days of the Jewish state. A sabra, born in 1917, Yadin was the son of the famed Eliezer Sukenik of Dead Scrolls fame. Just prior to, and during the War for Independence, Yadin was the acting chief of staff of the Jewish military forces. After the war he was the first chief of staff of the IDF and created the mold for the military that is followed to this day. After leaving the military, Yadin pursued a career in archaeology which was so successful that almost overshadowed his military successes. He passed away in 1984
1990 — An Israeli military court sentenced 12 Palestinian guerrillas today to 30 years ….. in prison for a foiled seaborne raid in May that prompted Washington to sever its contacts with the Palestine Liberation Organization. Israeli forces killed 4 Palestinians and captured 12 in the attempted speedboat raid on beaches near Tel Aviv. The captured men were convicted last month of membership in a terrorist group, illegal possession of arms and attempted murder. The Palestine Liberation Front, a P.L.O. faction led by Abul Abbas, was behind the assault
2011 — The epicenter of an earthquake felt across northern Israel today was in the Hula and Sea of Galilee (Kinneret) area, the Geophysical Institute of Israel stated

People
1647 — (17th of Kislev, 5408) Madeira Island native Jacob Israel Belmont, the husband of Simha (Gimar) Vaz and the father of Moses Belmont who came to Amsterdam in 1614 where he helped to found the Portuguese Jewish community with Jacob Tirado and Solomon Palache passed away today
1892 — Birthdate of Francisco Franco. Whatever his other short-comings, Franco has a surprisingly positive record when it comes to the Holocaust. For most of the war, he did not close the border with France to escaping Jews. He did not return Jewish refugees to the Nazis and allowed many of his foreign legations to provide letters of transit making it possible for thousands to escape Hitler’s Henchmen
1917 — Birthdate of Olympic fencing champion Daniel Bukantz, the decorated WW II combat veteran who also had a successful career as a dentist and who was one the five members on the U.S. foil team at the 1956 Olympics which was made up entirely of Jews
1975 — (29th of Kislev, 5736) Hannah Arendt passed away