December 8, 1885 — 1st Knesset Speaker Joseph Sprinzak is Born
Joseph Sprinzak, the first speaker of the Knesset and an interim president of Israel, is born in Moscow. He and his Zionist family settle in Warsaw after Jews are expelled from Moscow in 1891. He starts the Zeirei Zion (Youth of Zion) in 1905, makes aliyah in 1910, and helps establish many of the institutions that form the state’s foundation, such as the Histadrut labor federation, the Assembly of Representatives and Bank Hapoalim.
December 9, 1987 — First Intifada Breaks Out
Riots erupt in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in what comes to be recognized as the start of the First Intifada (“awakening”). The immediate cause is the crash of an Israeli army truck Dec. 8 that killed four Palestinians. Instead of an accident, some Arabs suspect that the wreck was retaliation for the stabbing death of a Jewish businessman in Gaza on Dec. 6. The protests escalate rapidly, unleashing 20 years of pent-up anger in Gaza and the West Bank.
December 10, 1952 — Israel Inaugurates Second President
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, 68, a native of Ukraine who made aliyah in 1907, is inaugurated as Israel’s second president after 30 days of mourning for his predecessor, Chaim Weizmann. The Knesset elected him on the third ballot Dec. 8 with 62 votes against Rabbi Mordechai Nurock (42 votes) and Yitzhak Gruenbaum (five). Ben-Zvi, a signer of the Declaration of Independence in 1948, serves three terms until his death in April 1963.
December 11, 1948 — U.N. Resolution 194 Offers ‘Right of Return’
The U.N. General Assembly passes Resolution 194, addressing “the situation in Palestine” during the Israeli War of Independence. The resolution never mentions Israel by name and never talks about partition. It does address the status of refugees, saying they should be permitted to return home as soon as possible. Palestinians interpret that clause as endorsing an unlimited “right of return” for Palestinian refugees and their descendants.
December 12, 1920 — Histadrut Labor Federation is Founded
The General Federation of Jewish Labor, known as the Histadrut, is founded in Haifa as a neutral, independent trade union representing all Jewish workers in Palestine. David Ben-Gurion is elected its secretary-general in 1921. By 1927 it has 25,000 members, or 75 percent of the Jewish workforce in Palestine. The Histadrut’s services for its members include banking and health insurance. It remains a major force in the Israeli economy.
December 13, 1961 — Prosecutor Urges Death for Eichmann
After the two-day reading of a 100,000-word verdict finding Adolf Eichmann guilty of 15 charges, including murder, crimes against the Jewish people and crimes against humanity, Israeli prosecutor Gideon Hausner pleads with the three judges overseeing the trial to sentence to death the architect of the Nazi Final Solution. The court accepts the recommendation Dec. 15. Eichmann is hanged May 31, 1962, in Israel’s only use of capital punishment.
December 14, 1981 — Israel Annexes Golan Heights
The Knesset votes 63-21 to pass surprise legislation to annex the Golan Heights and apply Israeli law there in place of military administration. The Labor Party boycotts the vote because of the bill’s hasty introduction and one-day debate, and the United States joins international condemnation of the law. The move is linked to anti-Israel comments by Syrian President Hafez Assad and to the planned U.S. sale of military aircraft to Saudi Arabia.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.