Oct. 23, 1868 — Philanthropist Mond Is Born
Alfred Mond, a future member of Parliament and ardent early British Zionist, is born in England. The son of Jews, Mond is not raised Jewish. He marries in the Anglican Church and raises his children as Christians but still faces antisemitic attacks in Parliament. After the Balfour Declaration, he uses his wealth to support Jewish settlement in Palestine, including the town of Tel Mond, and helps found the Jewish Agency.
Oct. 24, 1940 — Israel’s “Moral Compass” Is Born
Yossi Sarid, a two-time Cabinet minister known as “Israel’s moral compass,” is born in Rehovot. He becomes the Mapai spokesman at age 24 and serves as a spokesman, a speechwriter and an adviser for David Ben-Gurion, Levi Eshkol and others. He serves in the Knesset from 1973 to 1983 with the Alignment, Mapai’s successor. He is part of the Meretz party when it forms in 1992 and serves as its leader from 1996 to 2003.
Oct. 25, 1976 — World Chess Olympiad Opens in Haifa
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the president of the International Chess Federation, Max Euwe, open the 22nd men’s and seventh women’s Chess Olympiad in Haifa despite a Soviet-led boycott. Only 48 of the 90-plus nations in the federation send teams, but 450 players compete, including many Russian Jews who have earned strong reputations since leaving the Soviet Union. In the absence of the Soviets, the Americans win the title.
Oct. 26, 1994 — Israel, Jordan Sign Treaty
More than 4,500 people, including President Bill Clinton, witness Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Jordanian King Hussein sign a peace treaty at the Wadi Araba crossing between Eilat and Aqaba. It is Israel’s second such treaty with an Arab neighbor. Sporadic, secret talks with Jordanian leaders took place as early as pre-state Palestine in the 1930s because both sides saw the value in peaceful relations.
Oct. 27, 1978 — Begin, Sadat Win Nobel Prize
Forty-one days after signing the Camp David Accords, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat are announced as the winners of the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize, which they receive at a ceremony Dec. 10. Begin says the prize is for all the people of Israel, and he is merely their emissary. He also notes that the negotiations to turn the Camp David agreement into a peace treaty are far from over.
Oct. 28, 1910 — First Kibbutz Is Established
The Hadera Commune arrives at Umm Juni on the banks of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) and forms the first kibbutz, Degania Alef (based on the Hebrew word dagan, grain), on land leased from the Jewish National Fund through the head of the Zionist Organization office in Palestine, Arthur Ruppin. The idea of a collective agricultural community has been part of Zionist ideology for decades but has not been successfully enacted.
Arab residents of Kfar Kassem vote in the Israeli elections Nov. 1, 1988, 32 years after the village had to bury 48 people killed by Israeli troops for violating a curfew that had been illegally moved earlier without their knowledge.
Oct. 29, 1956 — Arabs Are Massacred at Kfar Kassem
Israeli troops kill 48 Israeli Arabs returning from their fields at dusk in Kfar Kassem. The start of the Sinai campaign that day puts military units in the Arab Triangle on high alert for a possible Jordanian attack. Arab-heavy parts of Israel have been under a curfew since 1948, but Col. Yissachar Shadmi illegally makes it earlier in Kfar Kassem. The villagers are unknowingly violating the curfew when they run into soldiers with shoot-to-kill orders.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.
