May 15, 1941 — Palmach Is Founded
The Palmach’s founding commander, Yitzhak Sadeh (left), and Yigal Allon review troops in 1948.
The Yishuv’s Haganah military organization forms the Palmach as an elite division to protect Jews against any attack by the Axis powers or Arabs during World War II. The name is an abbreviation of Plugot Mahatz (Strike Force). Led by Yitzhak Sadeh, the Palmach has six units: three ground, one naval, one aerial and one intelligence. After the war, the Palmach smuggles in tens of thousands of Jewish refugees.
May 16, 1916 — Sykes-Picot Pact Splits Ottoman Lands
The original map included with the Sykes-Picot Agreement assigns Area A to France and Area B to Britain, with the yellow area to be an international zone.
British diplomat Mark Sykes and French diplomat Charles Georges-Picot complete a secret pact known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement, in which France and the United Kingdom agree to divide the Ottoman territories in the Middle East after World War I. The League of Nations endorses the agreement, providing the basis by which Britain establishes its mandate for Palestine and takes control of Transjordan and Iraq.
May 17, 1948 — Soviet Union Recognizes Israel
Israel State Archives
Israel’s air force got off the ground in 1948 with deliveries of aircraft from Czechoslovakia such as this Avia S-199 fighter. The Soviet Union facilitated those arms shipments.
The Soviet Union announces its official recognition of the State of Israel. Although the Communist superpower tries to suppress Jewish identity and Zionism at home and blocks Jewish emigration, it sees Israel as a potential ideological ally and as an enemy of the United Kingdom, a Soviet rival. The Soviet Union initially supplies Israel with arms for the War of Independence through intermediaries, especially Czechoslovakia.
May 18, 1965 — Spy Eli Cohen Is Executed
Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0
Eli Cohen is shown in Syria. Although his body has never been returned to Israel, the Mossad did recover the watch he is wearing in this photo.
Syria hangs Israeli spy Eli Cohen in a public square in Damascus. Cohen, who had infiltrated the highest levels of Syrian society and government as businessman Kamel Amin Thaabet, was arrested in January while transmitting secrets to Israel on an illegal radio. He was sentenced to death in March. Cohen’s accomplishments include revealing the locations of fortifications in the Golan Heights, vital intelligence in the June 1967 war.
May 19, 1950 — Iraqi Airlift Begins
Central Zionist Archives
Iraqi Jews fly to Israel as part of Operation Ezra and Nehemiah.
Two planes carrying 175 Jews leave Iraq for Israel via Cyprus, the start of Operation Ezra and Nehemiah, also known as Operation Ali Baba. Iraq became unlivable for most Jews after 1948. Despite difficulties in providing airplanes and other resources at the same time as heavy Israeli immigration from Eastern Europe, the operation brings nearly 120,000 of Iraq’s 135,000 Jews to Israel by its end in January 1952.
May 20, 1948 — Bernadotte Is Named Peace Mediator
National Photo Collection of Israel, CC BY-SA 3.0
Days before his assassination in September 1948, Count Folke Bernadotte (center) arrives in Israel with M. Simon (left) and Ralph Bunche.
The U.N. Security Council appoints Count Folke Bernadotte, a Swedish diplomat, to serve as the mediator for Middle East peace efforts five days into Israel’s War of Independence. Although he succeeds in negotiating a ceasefire in June, his proposed peace plan angers some Israelis with its call for a Jordan-Palestine union that includes Jerusalem. Lehi members assassinate Bernadotte in Jerusalem in September.
May 21, 1967 — Nasser Prepares for War
By Fritz Cohen, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0
Israeli Centurion tanks line up in the Negev to prepare for a possible Egyptian attack in May 1967.
Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser mobilizes his military reserves and moves troops into the Sinai after booting out U.N. peacekeepers May 19 and closing the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. Those actions violate agreements under which Israel withdrew from the Sinai in 1957. In an address, Nasser dares Israel to fight for freedom of the seas. On June 5, Israel launches an airstrike that begins the Six-Day War.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.
