April 4, 1968 — Jews Re-Establish Presence in Hebron
Moshe Levinger and several other Israelis pretending to be Swiss tourists check into a Hebron hotel to establish the first permanent Jewish presence in the city since the 1929 massacre of 67 Jewish residents. The next day, they declare they are not leaving. Eventually, Israel lets the group stay at an adjacent military base, which becomes Kiryat Arba. Miriam Levinger leads the resettlement of Hebron’s Old Jewish Quarter in 1979.
April 5, 1999 — M-Systems Patents USB Flash Drive
Kfar Saba-based M-Systems files a U.S. patent application for the first USB flash drive, which can store 8 megabytes, five times the memory of most floppy disks. The light, portable USB flash drive, introduced as DiskOnKey, helps end floppy disks. The patent is granted Nov. 14, 2000, and IBM begins selling M-Systems’ flash drives under its own brand a month later. Competitor SanDisk acquires M-Systems in 2006 for stock worth $1.55 billion.
April 6, 1923 — Justice Netanyahu Is Born
Shoshana Netanyahu, the second female Israeli Supreme Court justice, is born in Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland). Her family makes aliyah to Haifa when she is 1. She serves in the Israel Air Force’s Judge Advocate General unit during the War of Independence and marries Elisha Netanyahu, Benjamin’s uncle, after the war. She becomes a magistrate judge in 1969, a district judge in 1974 and a Supreme Court justice in 1981. She retires April 4, 1993.
April 7, 1977 — Maccabi Tel Aviv Wins European Basketball Title
Maccabi Tel Aviv, whose international basketball success has made it Israel’s sports ambassadors, wins its first European championship by defeating the two-time defending champions, Mobilgirgi Varese of Italy, by one point. Just as celebrated is Maccabi’s semifinal upset over CSKA Moscow, 91-79, in a game played in a Belgian village because the Soviet Union has not had diplomatic ties with Israel since the June 1967 war.
April 8, 1960 — U.N. Head Protests Egypt’s Seizure of Cargo
U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold for the first time publicly criticizes Egypt for confiscating Israeli cargo on ships using the Suez Canal. Israel fought Egypt in 1956 because of the closure of the canal and the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. Israel conditioned its withdrawal from the Sinai on the freedom of navigation, but Egypt began seizing cargo in 1959. Hammarskjold’s criticism and subsequent negotiations fail to restore Israel’s canal rights.
April 9, 1921 — President Navon Is Born
Yitzhak Navon, Israel’s fifth president, is born in Jerusalem. He fights in the Irgun and Haganah, writes books and musicals, serves in positions throughout the Israeli government, chairs the Executive Committee of the World Zionist Movement, and is a Knesset member for the Rafi and Labor parties. He is elected president in 1978, then turns down a chance to seek a second term in 1983, opting to return to the Knesset. He dies Nov. 7, 2015.
April 10, 2002 — Suicide Bomber Kills 8 on Haifa Bus
Eight passengers on a commuter bus in Haifa, including the 18-year-old niece of Israel’s U.N. ambassador, are killed in a suicide bombing claimed by both Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The attack comes on the eve of a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and is part of a surge in Second Intifada violence after an Israeli military offensive in the West Bank, which itself is a response to deadly attacks around Passover.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.