October 10, 1983 — Shamir Is Named Prime Minister
Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir meets with President Ronald Reagan at the White House in March 1988. By Maggi Ayalon, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Yitzhak Shamir becomes Israel’s seventh prime minister after fellow Likudnik Menachem Begin resigns for health and personal reasons. Shamir serves until an election in July 1984, which results in a national unity government led by Shimon Peres for two years, followed by Shamir for two years. Shamir is elected prime minister again in 1988 and serves until being defeated by Labor’s Yitzhak Rabin in 1992.
October 11, 1992 — Arab Congress Rejects Partition
The Peel Commission’s partition plan in 1937 called for a Jewish state closely aligned with the geography of Jewish settlements, which had not yet established a significant presence in the Negev.
Arab leaders meeting in Cairo adopt the Resolutions of the Inter-Parliamentary Congress, a response to the British Peel Commission’s 1937 proposal to partition Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. The Arabs reject partition and call for an end to Jewish immigration but accept the “sacrifice” of allowing Jews in Palestine to remain. The British White Paper of 1939 largely adopts the Arab views on immigration and partition.
October 12, 1938 — Peace Educator Salomon Is Born
Gavriel Salomon, the author of four books, advocates coexistence programs and education to reduce tensions between Israel’s Jews and Arabs. Transferred by Matanya, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Gavriel Salomon, the founder of the Center for Research on Peace Education at Haifa University and the dean of the university’s Faculty of Education from 1993 to 1998, is born. An advocate for coexistence programs and improved Arab education, Salomon wins the Israel Prize in 2001 for his contributions to Israeli education and to the pedagogical uses of communication and computer technology.
October 13, 2011 — La Scala Hires Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim (center) chats with Israeli President Chaim Herzog (right) and German President Richard von Wieszaecker before a Jerusalem performance by the Staatskapelle Berlin in 1991. By Tsvika Israeli, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Composer Daniel Barenboim, who was born in Buenos Aires in 1942 and moved to Israel in 1952, is named the musical director of La Scala Opera House in Milan, Italy. In demand as a conductor since his debut in London in the 1960s, he expanded his conducting repertoire to include operas with a performance of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” in 1973. He served as the musical director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1991 to 2006.
October 14, 1989 — Intellectual, Ex-Knesset Member Dov Sadan Dies
Dov Sadan (left) attends the opening session of his one term in the Knesset with fellow lawmaker Gavriel Cohen on Nov. 22, 1965. By Moshe Pridan, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Israeli intellectual and former Knesset member Dov Sadan dies at 87. Sadan was born in Galicia. During World War I he joined and became a leader of HeHalutz, a Zionist youth movement. He made aliyah in 1925. He worked for daily newspaper Davar and publishing house Am Oved. He was a Hebrew University professor and led the Yiddish studies department from 1952 until 1970. He served in the Knesset from 1965 to 1968.
October 15, 1894 — Prime Minister Moshe Sharett Is Born
Moshe Sharett, shown in 1947, served as prime minister for less than two years because David Ben-Gurion came out of retirement and regained the leadership of the ruling Mapai party in mid-1955. By Hans Pinn, National Photo Collection of Israel.
Moshe Sharett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Israel’s first foreign minister and its second prime minister, is born Moshe Shertok to Zionist parents in Kherson, Ukraine. The family settles in Jaffa in 1906 in the parents’ second try at making aliyah. Sharett rises to be political director of the Jewish Agency by 1933 and forms the Jewish Brigade to fight alongside the British in World War II.
October 16, 1981 — General, Politician Moshe Dayan Dies
Moshe Dayan became the IDF chief of staff in 1953, the defense minister in 1967 and the foreign minister in 1977. By Rob Croes, Anefo, Dutch National Archive, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Moshe Dayan — who was acclaimed a hero after the 1967 war, faced criticism after the 1973 war and played a key role in the 1978 Camp David talks — dies of a heart attack in a Tel Aviv hospital at 66. A native of Ottoman Palestine, Dayan lost his left eye while fighting Vichy French forces in Syria in 1941. In the War of Independence, he oversaw the defense of the Jordan Valley, then commanded the Jerusalem front.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.