March 15, 1972 — Hussein Proposes Federal Plan
Jordan’s King Hussein proposes to end the Arab-Israeli conflict by forming a Jordanian-Palestinian federation encompassing the West Bank and Jordan under his monarchy. The kingdom would have a regional capital in East Jerusalem and a regional and national capital in Amman. Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir rejects the plan as a unilateral measure that fails to recognize Israel’s rights. Arab states and the PLO also reject it.
March 16, 1722 — Jewish Berliners Receive New Constitution
Berlin’s Jewish community is reorganized under the Aeltesten Reglement after Prussian authorities issue new statutes regulating the community. The new constitution reinforces Jewish communal autonomy within Prussia, which insists on the collective responsibility of the Jewish population. The constitution establishes two permanent chief elders with the help of a board elected every three years.
March 17, 1921 — Mossad’s Meir Amit is Born
Meir Amit, a career soldier who builds the Mossad into an internationally renowned intelligence agency, is born Meir Slutzky on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias. He joins the Haganah at age 15, serves as a battalion commander during the War of Independence and is second in command to Moshe Dayan during the 1956 Suez war. Appointed to head the Mossad in 1963, he stays until 1969.
March 18, 1974 — OPEC Lifts Oil Embargo
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries lifts the oil embargo it had placed on the United States in the fall of 1973 for resupplying Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The embargo quadrupled gasoline prices and produced long lines at U.S. gas stations. The belief that a disengagement pact between Egypt and Israel would lead to a similar deal between Israel and Syria led OPEC to end the embargo.
March 19, 1999 — Hanoch Levin Premieres Last Play
Hanoch Levin’s final play, “Requiem,” makes its debut at the Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv. The play is based on three short stories by Anton Chekhov. Levin dies of bone cancer at age 56 later in 1999 after a three-decade career in which he wrote some 50 plays, 34 of which were produced and most of which were satirical. Prime Minister Ehud Barak praises Levin as “one of the greatest playwrights that Israel has ever had.”
March 20, 1917 — General, Archaeologist Yigael Yadin is Born
Yigael Yadin, a general known for his archaeological work, is born in Jerusalem. As the head of operations for the IDF, his strategies prove vital against Egypt in the War of Independence, and he becomes the IDF’s second chief of staff in 1949. He retires from the military in 1952 and focuses on archaeology. His important excavations include Masada, Hatzor, Megiddo and the Dead Sea caves.
March 21, 2013 — Obama Addresses Israeli Youth
During the first foreign trip of his second term, U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to 600 university students in Jerusalem in an address broadcast on television and radio. He urges Israeli youths to embrace a peaceful future with the Palestinians, pleads for a two-state solution and declares that those who reject Israel’s right to exist “might as well reject the earth beneath them or the sky above because Israel is not going anywhere.”
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.