History events
363 — (18th of Iyar, 4123) The first of a series of earthquakes that would last for two days rocked the Galilee
576 — (4th of Sivan, 4336) Over 500 Jews were forcibly baptized in Clermont-Ferrand, France
1096 — (18th of Iyar, 4856) Jews of Worms (Germany) were massacred by Crusaders. The survivors hid in the Bishop’s palace for one week, after which they were either murdered or forcibly baptized
1418 — (13th of Sivan, 5178) Representatives from the Jewish communities of central and northern Italy met to discuss raising funds for self-defense as well as instituting sumptuary regulations so as «not to show off in the presence of Gentiles»
1837 — (13th of Iyar, 5597) In Saxony, the Jews were empowered to organize themselves into communities with chapels of their own, and were granted citizenship, with the exception of municipal and political rights
1897 — (16th of Iyar, 5657) Anti-Jewish riots in Algeria
1921 — (10th of Iyar, 5681) Ra’anana, an agricultural settlement is founded in the Sharon region
1936 — (26th of Iyar, 5696) All Jewish national institutions in Palestine closed at noon today in mourning for Dr. Nahum Sokolow who died yesterday in London” and memorial services were held in the Jewish Agency Building with Menahem M. Ussishkin, president of the Jewish National Fund…and David Ben Gurion chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive as the principal speakers
1942 — (2th of Sivan, 5702) Another 1,420 Jews arrived in the Lodz ghetto from Brzeziny. Like the Jews who arrived the day before, their children were taken away from them. They were sent to Chelmno to be gassed.
1944 — (25th of Iyar, 5704) In Hungary deportations of Jews to Auschwitz would begin today with a total of 437,000 being shipped to the death camp through July 7, 1944
1948 — (9th of Iyar, 5708) Syrian aircraft bombed the Israeli village Kinneret and the regional school Beit Yerah, on the southwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee.
1948 — (9th of Iyar, 5708) After two days of fierce fighting a Syrian brigade including tanks overran Zemach, killing all forty-two of the Jewish defenders.
1948 — (9th of Iyar, 5708) Poland, Czechoslovakia, Uruguay, and Nicaragua recognized Israel.
1948 — (9th of Iyar, 5708) The Arab Legion captured the police fort on Mt. Scopus. The illegal occupation of Mt. Scopus would end with the June War in 1967.
1948 — (9th of Iyar, 5708) Between today and May 20, a unit of the Etzioni Brigade made repeated attempts to fight their way into the Old City at the Jaffa Gate. Despite taking heavy casualties, the Jewish fighters failed in their effort. The brigade was fighting the Arab Legion, the name given to the Jordanian Army which was trained and led by British officers.
1950 — (2th of Sivan, 5710) Israel has released the eight crewmen of an RAF flying-boat that had been forced down yesterday by Israeli fighter planes. According to the pilot, the plan was flying from Bahrain to the Suez Canal when it wandered off course due to a navigational error
1952 — (23th of Iyar, 5712) After discussing the oil situation in Israel today “in light of Britain’s refusal to grant the Jewish State credits for the purchase of crude oil stocks” the Israeli Cabinet set up “a special Ministerial committee…to prepare regulations for a fuel economy program
1977 — (1th of Sivan, 5737) Menachem Begin became Israel’s Prime Minister. Begin’s election marked a major shift in Israeli politics. Begin was a disciple of Jabotinsky, leader of the Irgun, and the polar opposite of the Labor Zionists who had dominated Israeli politics even before the state had been created. Begin proved to be more of a pragmatist than had been expected. He met with Sadat and signed the Camp David Accords which led to the swapping of the Sinai for a peace treaty with Egypt. Despite international furor, Begin bombed an Iraqi reactor, an action that people came to appreciate after the first Gulf War. Begin resigned after the death of his wife and went into a state of semi-seclusion. He passed away in 1992.
1978 — (11th of Iyar, 5738) The Jerusalem Post reported that the Israeli Government and the Jewish Agency were considering steps how to stop HIAS (the Hebrew Immigrants Aid Society), from helping Russian Jewish emigrants to go to destinations other than Israel. Only 72 out of the 1,086 Jews who left Russia in April, 1978, made their way to Israel
1980 — (3th of Sivan, 5740) In Israel, a stone marker was unveiled in a memorial forest of 3,500 trees which had been created to honor Major Noel S. Jacobs who had commanded the Jewish Company of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps
2000 — (13th of Iyar, 5760) Israeli troops began evacuating southern Lebanon “preparation for an overall pullout from the area which is to be completed by the end of July
2004 — (27th of Iyar, 5764) The IDF launched Operation Rainbow in response to the deaths of 13 soldiers, the majority of whom were killed after their armored personnel carriers were blown up in the southern Gazan town of Rafah. The goal of the eight-day operation was to uncover weapons-smuggling tunnels along the Philadelphi Corridor, and to prevent the smuggling of Strella shoulder-to-air anti-aircraft missiles from the Sinai into Gaza
2014 — (18th of Iyar, 5774) “Maccabi Electra» Tel Aviv won the Euroleague basketball final 96-86 tonight against Real Madrid in Milan in an overtime victory
People
1953 — (4th of Sivan, 5713) The Jerusalem Post reported that Abu Eliahu, 40, and Eliahu Ephraim, 45, two watchmen in the Jerusalem «corridor» were murdered by infiltrators
1965 — (16th of Iyar, 5725) Israeli spy Eli Cohen was publicly executed by the Syrians
1973 — (16th of Iyar, 5733) Israeli poet and Editor Avraham Shlonsky passed away. A native of Russia, he was a driving force in the creation of Modern Hebrew literature
2001 — (25th of Iyar, 5761) Tirza Polonsky, 66, of Moshav Kfar Haim; Miriam Waxman, 51, of Hadera; David Yarkoni, 53, of Netanya; Yulia Tratiakova, 21, of Netanya; and Vladislav Sorokin, 34, of Netanya were killed in a suicide bombing at Hasharon Mall in the seaside city of Netanya, in which over 100 were wounded
2003 — (16th of Iyar, 5763) Seven people were killed and 20 wounded in a suicide bombing on Egged bus #6 near French Hill in Jerusalem. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. Half an hour later, a second suicide bomber was killed when he was intercepted by police at a road block in northern Jerusalem. The victims: Olga Brenner, 52, of Jerusalem; Yitzhak Moyal, 64, of Jerusalem; Nelly Perov, 55, of Jerusalem; Ghalab Tawil, 42, of Shuafat; Marina Tsahivershvili, 44, of Jerusalem; Shimon Ustinsky, 68, of Jerusalem; and Roni Yisraeli, 34, of Jerusalem
2003 — (16th of Iyar, 5763) Steve Averbach “was on a bus heading to work when a Palestinian terrorist dressed as a fervently Orthodox Jew got on board. Averbach realized immediately that he was a suicide bomber. As he reached for his handgun, the terrorist blew himself up, killing seven people and seriously injuring 20, including Averbach. Israel’s internal security ministry later wrote Averbach a letter saying, “An investigation of the incident revealed that you were courageous, brave, and selfless in attempting to prevent a mortal attack.” It said the bomber had planned to blow himself up in the crowded center of town or in the bus station, where the death toll would have been far higher