Nov. 1, 1945 — Jewish Resistance Blows Up Rails Across Palestine
The newly formed Jewish Resistance Movement sets off explosions at more than 150 sites along the railway system of British Mandatory Palestine and blows up three British gunboats in the Jaffa and Haifa harbors in synchronized attacks known as the Night of the Trains. Palmach units carry out most of the sabotage, but Irgun and Lehi fighters are among an estimated 1,000 men involved. Killed are two Jews, four Arabs and two Britons.
Nov. 2, 1955 — Ben-Gurion Regains Premiership
Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, returns to the post, replacing his successor, Moshe Sharett. Ben-Gurion largely retired in 1953, but he was named the defense minister Feb. 17, 1955, after the Lavon Affair, a covert mission gone wrong in Egypt. Sharett soon resigned amid rising tensions with Ben-Gurion. Ben-Gurion’s Mapai won 40 Knesset seats in the resulting election in July, enabling him to form a governing coalition.
Nov. 3, 1840 — Ottomans, Allies Capture Acre
Austrian, British and Ottoman forces commanded by Austrian Archduke Friedrich bombard the port city of Acre and drive out the Egyptian garrison. More than 1,100 Egyptians are killed in the brief battle, part of the Second Egyptian-Ottoman War. Acre is Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali’s last stronghold and the storage site for most of his artillery. After the defeat, he agrees to drop claims over Crete and western Arabia.
Nov. 4, 1966 — Syria, Egypt Sign Defense Treaty
Egypt and Syria sign a mutual defense treaty and create a joint military command amid constant, low-level violence on the Israeli-Syrian border. U.S. intelligence reports suggest that the Soviets have pushed the treaty on their two client states to provide a united front against Israel. The joint command proves to be a fiction in the June 1967 war, however, when Syrian forces hold back while Egypt bears the brunt of the initial fighting.
Nov. 5, 1933 — Hebrew U. Presents Expansion Plan
Judah Magnes, the president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, outlines a plan for the university’s expansion during a speech marking the start of the academic year. His plan includes the hiring of 14 professors who have lost their jobs in Nazi Germany for being Jewish. U.S. organizations, including the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, raise $60,000 to support the German professors.
Nov. 6, 1884— Hovevei Zion Holds First Gathering
By P. Kruse via National Library of Israel.
Delegates gather in Katowice — now in Poland, then part of Prussia — for the first conference of the Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) movement, which has spread rapidly in Europe from its roots in Russia and Romania. Leon Pinsker, who has inspired Zionist aspirations with the publication of his “Autoemancipation” pamphlet in 1882, organizes the gathering, which pledges to support settlement in the Land of Israel.
Nov. 7, 1944 — Hannah Senesh Is Executed
Hannah Senesh (formerly Szenes) is killed by a Hungarian firing squad in Budapest five months after being captured while entering Hungary from Yugoslavia. Senesh, a poet and Haganah paratrooper who was born in Hungary in 1921 and made aliyah in 1939, had parachuted into Nazi-occupied territory on a mission to free prisoners of war and organize Jewish resistance. Her remains are reburied on Mount Herzl in 1950.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.