Nov. 3, 1878 — Petah Tikvah Is Founded
Petah Tikvah is shown in 1936, two years short of its 60th anniversary.
Religious Jews determined to start an agricultural settlement leave Jerusalem and establish Petah Tikvah (“Gateway of Hope”). They purchase 3,400 dunams (roughly 756 acres) from a Greek owner near the Yarkon River and the Arab village of Mulabbis after failing to get Ottoman approval for a sale near Jericho. The settlement is abandoned before 1883, when immigrants from Russia move in. Petah Tikvah is now Israel’s fifth-largest city.
Nov. 4, 1995 — Rabin Is Assassinated
Yitzhak Rabin was in his second term as prime minister when he was assassinated.
Yigal Amir, a law student opposed to the Oslo peace process, fatally shoots Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin after a peace rally in Tel Aviv. Rabin, a native of pre-state Palestine, had played a prominent role in most of Israel’s history, including commanding the defense of Jerusalem in 1948 and serving as army chief of staff during the 1967 war, ambassador to the United States and the state’s fifth prime minister.
Nov. 5, 1990 — Meir Kahane Is Killed
Meir Kahane addresses fellow Knesset members in August 1988
Rabbi Meir Kahane, 58, is fatally shot by Egyptian-American El Sayyid Nosair in a Manhattan hotel where Kahane is speaking. Kahane was elected to the Knesset in 1984 as the head of Kach, but the party was banned from subsequent elections under a 1985 law against parties that incite racism. Kahane, a New York native who moved to Israel in 1971, compared Arabs to dogs and wanted them out of the Land of Israel.
Nov. 6, 1987 — Singer Zohar Argov Kills Himself
Zohar Argov performs during the Oriental Song Festival in Ramle in 1985
Zohar Argov, who as one of Israel’s first Mizrahi music stars is known as the “The King” but is haunted by drug addiction, hangs himself in jail at age 32 shortly after being accused of attempted rape. Argov didn’t intend to die, a police investigator concludes, but is trying to win jail concessions by appearing to be suicidal. The drugs in his system prevent him from saving himself. Argov previously served a year in prison for rape in 1978.
Nov. 7, 1944 — Hannah Senesh Is Executed
Hannah Senesh (formerly Szenes) is killed by a Hungarian firing squad in Budapest five months after being captured while entering Hungary from Yugoslavia. Senesh, a poet and Haganah paratrooper who was born in Hungary in 1921 and made aliyah in 1939, had parachuted into Nazi-occupied territory on a mission to free prisoners of war and organize Jewish resistance. Her remains were reburied on Mount Herzl in 1950.
Nov. 8, 1936 — Maccabi Tel Aviv Ends U.S. Tour
Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club completes an 11-match soccer tour of the United States with a 4-1 loss to an American all-star team in front of 20,000 people at Yankee Stadium. The Federation of Polish Jews in America arranged the tour to raise money for the relief of Polish Jewry. Proceeds also promote sports in Jewish settlements in Palestine. The tour also includes St. Louis, Boston and Chicago.
Nov. 9, 1924 — Gen. Avraham Tamir Is Born
Avraham Tamir (right) joins (from left) Aharon Barak, Ezer Weizman, Menachem Begin, Ilan Tehila, Moshe Dayan and Elyakim Rubinstein in the Israeli delegation at Camp David in September 1978.
Avraham Tamir, a military strategist who serves in the Haganah and the British army in Mandatory Palestine and rises to the rank of major general in Israel, is born. He serves in the IDF from the War of Independence through the First Lebanon War. He is part of the Israeli delegation at Camp David in 1978 and contributes to the accords’ consideration of Palestinian autonomy. He is one of the first Israeli officials to meet with Yasser Arafat.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.