April 25, 1920 — British Pick First Palestine High Commissioner
San Remo Conference attendees include Japan’s Keishiro Matsui, Britain’s David Lloyd George, France’s Alexandre Millerand and Italy’s Francesco Nitti.
Meeting in San Remo, Italy, to discuss the status of the territories of the former Ottoman Empire, the World War I victors adopt a resolution that accepts the Balfour Declaration, in which Britain promised in 1917 to support the establishment of a Jewish home in Palestine. The same day, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George asks Herbert Samuel to serve as the first high commissioner for the British Mandate of Palestine.
April 26, 2008 — Exodus 1947 Commander Yossi Harel Dies
Yossi Harel meets with David Ben-Gurion. By Sir Ronald Cohen, collection of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Yossi Harel, who led four Aliyah Bet (illegal immigration) missions in 1946 and 1947, dies of a heart attack at 90. A native of Jerusalem who served with the British army in World War II, Harel commanded the Exodus 1947, carrying 4,530 Holocaust survivors, when it was intercepted by the British. The U.N. Special Committee on Palestine witnessed the survivors’ deportation, which influenced its partition proposal.
April 27, 2009 — Abbas Refuses to Recognize Israel as Jewish State
President Barack Obama brings Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Mahmoud Abbas together in New York during the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 22, 2009. By Avi Ohayon, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, speaking in Ramallah in response to a demand from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. “I do not accept it. … It is not my job to give a description of the state. Name yourself the Hebrew Socialist Republic — it is none of my business,” Abbas says. The issue of Israel as a Jewish state blocks any peace negotiations.
April 28, 1982 — Amichai, Gilboa Share Israel Prize
April 28: Yehuda Amichai’s life was typical for Israel’s founding generation: He fled Nazi Germany as a child, fought in World War II and the War of Independence, then turned to writing to engage with those experiences. By Yair Medina, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Two of Israel’s best-known poets, Yehuda Amichai and Amir Gilboa, are awarded the Israel Prize at a ceremony that also honors an archaeologist, an architect, a chemist, an economist, two educators and a politician. Amichai had a classic life story: Born in Germany, he fled the Nazis as a boy, fought for the British in World War II and for the Palmach in the War of Independence, then turned to writing inspired by those experiences.
April 29, 1956 — Ambush Near Gaza Kills Ro’i Rothberg
Moshe Dayan delivers the eulogy for Ro’i Rothberg on April 30, 1956. By Moshe Fuchs, Bamahane, courtesy of the IDF Archives.
April 30, 1992 — Mubarak Criticizes Arabs’ Failure to Make Peace
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin look to the future in Cairo on Sept. 19, 1993, six days after the signing of the Oslo Accords in Washington. By Avi Ohayon, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0.
In a radio speech, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak praises the efforts of the Palestinians to seek peace with Israel after the fifth round of talks launched by the Madrid process at the end of October 1991. He calls for Israel to “meet the Arabs halfway.” But he saves his harshest words for the leaders of other Arab states, saying they should have embraced the opportunity for a peace presented by the Camp David Accords in 1978.
May 1, 1987 — Tennis Player Pe’er Is Born
Shahar Pe’er competes at the Citi Open tennis tournament in July 2011. By Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Shahar Pe’er, Israel’s highest-ranking tennis player, male or female, of all time, is born in Jerusalem. After taking up tennis at age 6, she rises through the junior ranks and wins the Israeli championship in 2001 and the Junior Australian Open in 2004. A winner of five WTA tournaments and a two-time quarterfinalist in Grand Slam singles tournaments, she reaches No. 11 in the world rankings in 2011.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.
