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State of Israel Important Events Timeline

1453- Ottoman Empire conquers Constantinople

1492- Jews and Muslims forcibly exiled out of Spain

1516- Ottoman Empire conquers Palestine.  There are only 5,000 Jews in Palestine at this point.

1535-1577:  Jews setup Mystical epicenter of Kabbalistic learning in Safed, Palestine

1660- The Druze destroy the cities of Safed and Tiberias

1881-1906: Over 200 pogroms (massacres of Jews) in the Russian Empire

1882- 24,000 Jews now in Palestine amongst 276,000 Arabs

1882- First mass migration of mostly Russians to Palestine begins. 

1890- The Modern Hebrew language is created by Eliezer Ben Yehuda

1894- The Dreyfus affair happens in France

1896 – Zionism (Jewish Nationalism) officially established by the Austro-Hungarian Theodor Herzl

1904 – Second mass migration of mostly Russian Zionist Socialists to Palestine begins

1917- The Balfour Declaration is written to establish a Jewish State by the British

1918- 60,000 Jews now in Palestine amongst 600,000 Arabs.

1919- Third mass migration of mostly Eastern European Zionist Jews to Palestine begins

1920- Arab riots start against Jews

1921- The Jewish paramilitary organization, Haganah is formed

1923- The Revisionist Zionist Terrorist Organization, Betar, is formed

1923- The Ottoman Empire falls as a result of World War I

1924- Fourth mass migration of mostly Polish and Hungarian Zionist Jews to Palestine begins

1929- Fifth mass migration of European Zionist Jews to Palestine begins

1929- Palestine Riots where Arabs murder 133 Jews

1930- Izz ad-Din al-Qassam forms Palestinian Terrorist group

1931- 174,000 Jews now in Palestine amongst 861,000 Arabs.

1931- The Revisionist Zionist Terrorist Organization, Irgun, is formed

1933- Adolf Hitler is elected Chancellor of Germany

1933- Mass migration of European Jews to Palestine begins as a result of the Nazi Party coming to power

1936- Joseph Stalin does the “Great Purge” of the Jews

1936- 384,000 Jews now in Palestine amongst 982,000 Arabs

1936-39- Arab revolt in Palestine

1938- Haredi Anti-Zionist Jewish Group, Neturei Karta, is formed

1940- The Revisionist Zionist Terrorist Organization, Stern Gang, is formed

1940- The Holocaust against the Jews starts during World War II

1941- The Mufti of Palestine, Amin al-Husseini meets Hitler to discuss the Final Solution in December

1942- The “Final Solution” is released by Adolf Hitler in January 1942

1946- 543,000 Jews now in Palestine amongst 1.2 million Arabs

1946- Jewish Terrorist Group, Irgun, bombs the King David Hotel

1947- Palestine is partitioned by the British

1948- The State of Israel is established and the Arabs attack Israel

1948- 716,000 Jews now in the State of Israel amongst now only 156,000 Arabs (That is 1.1 million Arabs displaced in 2 years, many now living in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and neighboring countries.)

1948- Jews start being expelled from Arab and Muslim countries and forced to flee to Israel

1953- Pan-Islamist group “Hizb ut-Tahrir” with the goal of re-establishing an Islamic State is formed

1964- The PLO is formed by Yasser Arafat

1964- The “Salafi Jihadist” ideology is born with the publishing of Sayyid Qutb’s book, “Milestones.”

1967- The Six Day War.  Israel captures the West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights, and Sinai Peninsula.

1968- The Zionist Terrorist Organizations, the JDL and later “Kach”, is formed by Rabbi Meir Kahane

1973- The Arabs attack the Jews on their holiest holiday of the year, Yom Kippur.

1979- Many Iranian Jews flee to Israel as a result of the Iranian Revolution

1979- Israel makes a peace agreement with Egypt and returns the Sinai Peninsula.

1980- Jewish Terrorist Group, “Jewish Underground” is formed

1982- War with Lebanon starts

1985- Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, is formed

1987- Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are formed and the first intifada starts.

1989- A million Russians start to immigrate to Israel (24% of them are not Jewish according to Jewish law)

1993- The Oslo peace accords are signed between Rabin and Arafat.

1994- Kach terrorist, Baruch Goldstein, murders 29 Muslims in the Cave of the Patriarchs

1994- Israel makes a peace agreement with the Kingdom of Jordan

1995- Kach terrorist murders Prime Minister Rabin

2000- The second intifada starts

2004- Ahmed Yassin, the founder and leader of Hamas, is killed by Israel

2004- Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, dies.

2005- Israel withdraws from Gaza

2007- Hamas takes over control of Gaza

2008- War with Hamas-controlled Gaza

2012- War with Hamas-controlled Gaza

2014- War with Hamas-controlled Gaza

2016- 6.3 million Jews amongst 1.7 million Arabs

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