Dec. 27, 2008 — Operation Cast Lead Begins
Israel launches Operation Cast Lead in Gaza after Hamas breaks a 6-month-old, Egyptian-brokered cease-fire. Nearly 12,000 rockets have been fired into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip in eight years, including roughly 3,000 in 2008 alone, before Israel launches the 22-day operation with three goals: to stop rocket fire at civilians; to stop Hamas terrorist attacks; and to stop weapons smuggling into Gaza.
Dec. 28, 1917 — Britain Picks Arab Advocate as Jerusalem Governor
Ronald Storrs, a veteran of the British Foreign Service in Egypt and the British campaign against the Ottoman Turks in World War I, is named the military governor of recently captured Jerusalem by Gen. Edmund Allenby. A weak supporter of Zionism who advocates Arab interests, Storrs survives Jewish calls for his resignation in 1921 and serves as the civil governor of Jerusalem and Judea until 1926.
Dec. 29, 1901 — JNF Is Founded
The Jewish National Fund, known in Hebrew as Keren Kayemeth L’Israel, is launched after an impassioned speech from Theodor Herzl inspires the Fifth Zionist Congress to approve the idea on a 105-82 vote. The concept of a dedicated fund for land purchases goes back to Rabbi Judah Alkalai in the mid-19th century and was proposed at the First Zionist Congress in 1897. JNF becomes famous in the Diaspora for its blue donation boxes.
Dec. 30, 2002 — Ruling: Reservists Must Serve in Territories
The Israeli Supreme Court rules that IDF reservists may not refuse to serve in the West Bank and Gaza. Issued during the Second Intifada, the ruling finds that those who agree to military service give up the right to be conscientious objectors on where to serve. The court fears that allowing soldiers to refuse certain assignments will turn “the people’s army … into an army of peoples,” a particular danger “in a polarized society such as ours.”
Dec. 31, 1973 — Golda Meir Wins Election
Israelis elect the eighth Knesset, and the Labor-led Alignment wins 39.6% of the votes, keeping Prime Minister Golda Meir in power. The dominant issues are the economy, which is racked by inflation, and increasing terrorism. The election was postponed from October after the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War. Although Meir survives criticism about the war now, the backlash and the Agranat Commission’s report force her to resign in April 1974.
Jan. 1, 1995 — Full Yom Kippur War Report Is Released
The full, 1,500-page Agranat Report, the government’s official assessment of the Israel Defense Forces’ performance during the October 1973 war, is released to the public, with the exception of 48 pages containing classified information. Shimon Agranat’s commission published a preliminary report in April 1974, but the full report was not scheduled for release until 2004. The Ma’ariv newspaper petitioned for early publication.
Jan. 2, 2002 — Smuggled Arms Are Seized Before Reaching Gaza
Israeli navy commandos take off from Eilat in helicopters at night to intercept the Karine-A, a ship carrying 50 tons of Iranian weapons from Yemen to Gaza. The commandos seize the shipment before dawn Jan. 3 without firing a shot. The Palestinian Authority purchased the arms, including long-range Katyusha rockets, despite Yasser Arafat’s declaration of a cease-fire in the Second Intifada in mid-December 2001.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.