June 14, 2009 — Netanyahu Outlines Demilitarized Palestinian State
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lays out his vision for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His speech avoids specifics about borders or Jerusalem but makes five key points: Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state; creation of a demilitarized Palestinian state; a refugee resolution that does not allow Palestinian refugees into Israel; Palestinian economic development; and an end to new Israeli settlements.
June 15, 1949 — Knesset Is Updated on Israel’s Frontiers
Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett speaks to the Knesset about the status of Israel’s borders after armistice agreements have been signed with Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan (a deal with Syria is still more than a month away). Sharett says Israel is ready to negotiate borders as part of an overall peace agreement, but it intends to keep the territory gained during its War of Independence, including the Negev, the western Galilee and part of the coastal plain.
June 16, 1933 — Jewish Agency Official Haim Arlosoroff Is Killed
Two men trap and fatally shoot Haim Arlosoroff on the beach in Tel Aviv. Arlosoroff, who heads the Jewish Agency’s political department, has just returned from a mission to Germany to arrange Jewish emigration in exchange for the import of German goods in Palestine. His political enemies among the Revisionist Zionists are accused of the murder, but they say Arabs intending to assault Arlosoroff’s wife are the culprits. The crime is never solved.
June 17, 1939 — St. Louis Returns to Europe
The MS St. Louis, carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria, completes its crossing of the Atlantic back to Europe after its passengers were denied admission to Cuba or the United States. The ship left Hamburg on May 13 with 938 passengers, all of whom had landing permits for Havana, but Cuba admitted only 28. Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands and France accept the refugees, but 254 of them are killed in the Holocaust.
June 18, 1890 — JNF Land Buyer Avraham Granot Is Born
Avraham Granovsky (Granot after making aliyah in 1922) is born in Moldova. He begins working for the Jewish National Fund in 1919 in The Hague and continues after settling in Jerusalem. He leads the purchase of thousands of dunams (quarter-acres) of land, helping define the future borders of the state. He becomes JNF director-general in 1940 and invests in new settlements, including in the Negev, and plants millions of trees.
June 19, 1983 — Politician Simha Erlich Dies
Simha Erlich, the deputy prime minister in Israel’s first two Likud-led governments, dies. A native of Poland, he moved to Palestine in 1939. He started as a farmer, then studied optics and opened a lens-making factory. He served on the Tel Aviv City Council from 1955 to 1969, then in the Knesset from 1969 until his death. As finance minister from 1977 to 1979, he tried to free the economy from tight government controls, but inflation soared.
June 20, 1948 — Altalena Arrives
The Altalena, a ship operated by the Irgun, reaches the coast at Kfar Vitkin with 900 immigrants and a large cargo of weapons. Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, who formed a unified army in May to replace the various Jewish militias, demands that Irgun head Menachem Begin hand over the weapons. After landing the immigrants, the ship leaves for Tel Aviv with the weapons. When Begin ignores an ultimatum June 22, the IDF shells and sinks the Altalena.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.
