Jan. 31, 1961 — Ben-Gurion Resigns Over Lavon Affair
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion resigns, triggering Israeli elections in August, to protest a Cabinet decision to exonerate Pinchas Lavon for his role in a botched Israeli spy operation in Egypt in 1954. Lavon had resigned as defense minister in 1954, although an investigative committee was inconclusive about what went wrong. The Lavon Affair resurfaced in 1960 over revelations that two senior officers had given false testimony against Lavon.
Feb. 1, 1979 — Khomeini Returns to Iran
Two weeks after a popular uprising forced the Shah to flee, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Iran after 15 years in exile. Under his guidance, Iran votes in March to establish an Islamic republic and later enacts two constitutions that give ultimate power to Shia clerics. Iran’s Jews become second-class citizens, and a third of them emigrate within two years. Decades of close military and economic ties between Iran and Israel come to an end.
Feb. 2, 1965 — Sale of Waqf Property Is Approved
The Knesset revises the Absentees’ Property Law to allow a government office to maintain, rent or sell property held in a waqf, an endowment created under Islamic law. Any proceeds are meant to benefit absentee owners whenever Israel achieves peace with its neighbors, but in the meantime, the law enables Israel to use as much land as possible to accommodate its rapid population growth since independence.
Feb. 3, 1980 — Actress Hanna Rovina Dies
Hanna Rovina, eulogized as “the high priestess of the Hebrew theater,” dies in Ra’anana at 91. Born near Minsk, she gave up teaching Hebrew in Warsaw so she could make her stage debut in Moscow in 1918 with a new Hebrew company that became Israel’s national theater, Habima. She starred as Leah in the premiere of “The Dybbuk” in 1922 and returned to the role for every Habima revival of the play until 1957.
Feb. 4, 1921 — Greek Zionists Demand New Lessons in Jewish Schools
Meeting in Salonica, the Conference of Greek Zionists adopts a resolution declaring that the education provided at the Alliance Israelite Universelle Schools does not support Jewish national aspirations and seeking a new syllabus. Established in Paris in 1860, the Alliance Israelite operates schools to uplift impoverished Jews throughout the Sephardi world. The schools promote Western values and Jewish emancipation but not Zionism or Hebrew.
Feb. 5, 1879 — Engineer Pinhas Rutenberg Is Born
Engineer Pinhas Rutenberg, credited with bringing electricity to British Mandatory Palestine, is born in Ukraine. He becomes involved in Russian revolutionary politics, is drawn to Zionism while in exile in Italy and helps form the British army’s Jewish Legion during World War I. He moves to Palestine in 1919 and builds out the electrical grid, first with diesel generators, then with hydroelectric plants of his own design.
Feb. 6, 1951 — Raid on Arab Village Kills 9
Israeli soldiers launch an overnight raid across the Green Line on Sharafat, home to about 200 Arabs just south of Jerusalem, in retaliation for a deadly Arab raid into Israel that used the village as a base. The Israeli troops destroy two houses and kill nine villagers, including five children age 13 and under. The mission is part of an escalating cycle of Arab infiltrations into Israel and Israeli retaliations into the West Bank and Gaza.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.