May 17, 1977 — Likud Wins First Election
Joined by his wife, Aliza, Menachem Begin casts his ballot in the 1977 Knesset election, won by his Likud party.
The right-leaning Likud coalition claims an upset victory in the Knesset election, putting Menachem Begin in a position to become prime minister and end three decades of leadership by Mapai (the predecessor of Labor) and its allies on the left. Created by Ariel Sharon in 1973 and descended from the Revisionist Zionist movement of Ze’ev Jabotinsky, Likud rides support from Mizrahi Jews to win 43 Knesset seats.
May 18, 1954 — Ex-Hebrew U. President Selig Brodetsky Dies
Selig Brodetsky served as the president of the World Maccabi Union, which oversees the Maccabi Games.
Selig Brodetsky, Judah Magnes’ successor as the president of the Hebrew University, dies two years after resigning because of his declining health. He was born in Ukraine and raised in England. He became deeply involved in Zionism while studying mathematics at Cambridge. He was a University of Leeds professor and worked with England’s Zionist Organization before taking the Hebrew University presidency in 1949.
May 19, 1950 — Iraqi Airlift Begins
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
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 cease-fire 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, 2017 — Spy Shulamit Cohen-Kishik Dies
Shulamit “Shula” Cohen-Kishik, a native of Argentina who spied for the Mossad, dies at age 100 in Jerusalem. Her marriage to a Lebanese Jewish businessman in the 1930s enabled Cohen-Kishik to develop close connections with important people in Lebanon. Code-named “The Pearl,” she used those relationships to gather intelligence from 1948 until her arrest in 1961. Being a mother saved her from execution.
May 22, 1975 — Senators Urge Ford to Stand With Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin visits President Gerald Ford at the White House in June 1975, three months after the U.S. reassessment of Middle East policy.
Responding to President Gerald Ford’s decision to suspend economic assistance and reduce arms shipments to Israel over its attitude toward negotiations, 76 U.S. senators sign a letter opposing the Ford reassessment of policy. The senators stress the need for Israel to receive enough aid to deter attacks. Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson (D-Washington) also amends a defense appropriations bill to be favorable to Israel.
May 23, 1969 — Arab Politician Hanin Zoabi Is Born
Hanin Zoabi, a member of the Knesset from 2009 to 2019, is born in Nazareth. She works as a teacher and a civil rights activist before running for Israel’s parliament in 2006 with Balad, an Arab party. Three years later, she becomes the first Arab woman to win a Knesset seat as part of a predominantly Arab party. She opposes Israel’s existence, however, and calls for a single state that’s home to Arabs and Jews.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.