April 19, 1956 — Writer Gadi Taub is Born
Gadi Taub, a leading interpreter of modern Zionism, is born in Jerusalem. Taub’s maternal grandparents moved to Mandatory Palestine in the 1920s; his father arrived in 1939 after escaping from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. A Hebrew University instructor, author and newspaper columnist, he is a critic of the settlement movement and a supporter of a Palestinian state. He also writes novels and works on films and TV series.
April 20, 1965 — Shrine of the Book Opens
The Shrine of the Book, built to house the Dead Sea Scrolls, opens as a wing of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The architecture has historical and biblical significance, including a white domed roof inspired by the lids of the jars that held the scrolls, a corridor representative of the caves at Qumran, and a black-and-white color scheme reflecting the scrolls’ description of the battle of the Sons of Light and Sons of Darkness.
April 21, 1947 — 2 Jewish Militants Kill Themselves to Avoid Hanging
Moshe Barazani, 20, of Lehi (the Stern Gang) and Meir Feinstein, 19, of the Irgun kill themselves with a grenade smuggled into their prison in Jerusalem to prevent the British from hanging them the next morning. Iraq-born Barazani had been caught with a grenade meant for the assassination of a British officer, and Jerusalem native Feinstein had been captured after participating in the sabotage of a railway station. They met in prison.
April 22, 2013 — Israel-Turkey Reconciliation Talks Begin
A high-level, three-member Israeli delegation visits Ankara, Turkey, for reconciliation talks with Turkey’s government under the auspices of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry after President Barack Obama brought the two countries together a month earlier. Relations broke down after nine Turkish citizens were killed in May 2010 in an Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara, part of a six-ship flotilla trying to break the naval blockade of Gaza.
April 23, 2014 — Palestinian Authority, Hamas Briefly Reconcile
Hamas and the Fatah-led Palestine Liberation Organization announce an agreement to end the violent seven-year rift that has left Hamas in control of the Gaza Strip while Fatah has ruled the Palestinian Authority-controlled parts of the West Bank. Because Israel refuses to negotiate with Hamas, which doesn’t accept Israel’s existence, the reconciliation pact ends peace negotiations facilitated by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
April 24, 1924 — Hapoel Haifa Soccer Club is Founded
Hapoel Haifa, a charter member of the Israel Football Association in 1928, is founded at a meeting held during Passover. In addition to launching the first labor-led soccer club in Mandatory Palestine, the organization has branches involved with worker movements and other sports. The Histadrut labor federation’s financial struggles in the 1990s lead to the team’s sale to fishing tycoon Rob Shapira and its first top-level championship in 1999.
April 25, 1920 — 1st Palestine High Commissioner is Named
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.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.