1959 in Israel
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Events in the year 1959 in Israel.
Incumbents[edit]
- Prime Minister of Israel – David Ben-Gurion (Mapai)
- President of Israel – Yitzhak Ben-Zvi
- President of the Supreme Court – Yitzhak Olshan
- Chief of General Staff - Haim Laskov
- Government of Israel - 8th Government of Israel until 17 December, 9th Government of Israel
Events[edit]
![[icon]](File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2010) |
- 8 January – Four Egyptian MiG-17 jets penetrated Israeli airspace near Beersheba before being driven off by Israeli fighters.[1]
- 1 April – The "Night of the Ducks" scandal: A surprise Israeli military exercise to test the mobilization of the IDF's reserves causes panic throughout Israel and puts the armies of the neighboring Arab states on high alert.
- 7 April – Israel created the first Holocaust Memorial Day by vote of the Knesset in Tel Aviv, to be observed on the 27th day of Nisan, which fell on 5 May in 1959. If the 27th falls on a Friday, the observation is held on the 26th.[2]
- 5 July – David Ben-Gurion resigned as Prime Minister of Israel and new elections were called for the Knesset.[3]
- 9 July – The Wadi Salib riots begin in Haifa.
- 10 July – A memorial for Frank Foley (1884–1958) was dedicated in Harel, Israel, in the form of a forest planted in the desert. As a passport control officer at Britain's embassy in Nazi Germany, Foley flouted strict rules in order to help as many as 10,000 German Jews to leave the country.[4]
- 6 October – The Carmelit, Haifa's underground funicular railway, is opened.
- 3 November – Mapai leader David Ben-Gurion wins the fourth Israeli legislative elections, capturing 47 of the 120 seats, but still 13 short of a majority.[5]
- 4 November – Six Israeli jets and four Egyptian MiG-17s clashed in a dogfight near the border between the two nations. All planes reportedly returned safely and the battle did not lead to further action.[6]
- 17 December – David Ben-Gurion presents his cabinet for a Knesset "Vote of Confidence". The 9th Government is approved that day and the members were sworn in.
Israeli–Palestinian conflict[edit]
The most prominent events related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict which occurred during 1959 include:
Notable Palestinian militant operations against Israeli targets
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2010) |
The most prominent Palestinian fedayeen terror attacks committed against Israeli targets during 1959 include:
- 1 February – Three Israeli civilians are killed by a terrorist landmine near moshav Zavdiel.
- 15 April – An Israeli guard is killed at kibbutz Ramat Rachel.
- 27 April – Two Israeli hikers are shot at close range and killed near Masada.
- 3 October – A shepherd from kibbutz Heftziba is killed near kibbutz Yad Hana.
Notable Israeli military operations against Palestinian militancy targets
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2010) |
The most prominent Israeli military counter-terrorism operations (military campaigns and military operations) carried out against Palestinian militants during 1959 include:
Births[edit]
- 9 April – Hanny Nahmias, actress and entertainer.
- 19 July – Yehuda Meshi Zahav, Haredi social activist, founder of ZAKA (died 2022).
Deaths[edit]
- 28 January – Yosef Sprinzak (born 1885), Russian-born leading Zionist activist, an Israeli politician and the first Speaker of the Knesset.
- 20 February – Zalman Shneur (born 1887), Russian (Belarus)-born Israeli poet and writer
- 25 February – Yehudah Arazi (born 1907), Russian (Poland)-born leading Haganah commander.
- 25 February – Eliyahu Berligne (born 1866), Russian-born early Zionist leader and a founder of Tel Aviv.
- 26 February – Selig Suskin (born 1873), Russian-born Israeli agronomist and early Zionist.
- 6 April – Leo Aryeh Mayer (born 1895), Austro-Hungarian (Galicia)-born Israeli scholar of Islamic art and rector of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
- 25 July – Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog (born 1888), Russian (Poland)-born Chief Rabbi of Ireland, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of the British Mandate of Palestine and of Israel.
- 13 September – Israel Rokach (born 1896), Israeli politician, Knesset member, and mayor of Tel Aviv.
- Full date unknown – Shimon Fritz Bodenheimer - (born 1897) German-born Israeli biologist and zoologist.
Major public holidays[edit]
| This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (August 2010) |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Israel Planes Clash With Egypt MIGs", Oakland Tribune, 8 January 1959, p1
- ^ James E. Young, "Mandating the National Memory of Catastrophe", in Law and Catastrophe (Stanford University Press, 2007), p139
- ^ Avraham Avi-haï, Ben-Gurion: State-Builder (Transaction Publishers, 1974), p207
- ^ Mordecai Paldiel, Diplomat Heroes of the Holocaust (KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 2007), pp16
- ^ Neill Lochery, The Israeli Labour Party: In the Shadow of the Likud (Ithaca Press, 1997), p271
- ^ "Egypt, Israel Jet Planes in Dogfight", Oakland Tribune, 4 November 1959, p1
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1959 in Israel.
