October 13, 1969 — Allon Proposes Home Rule for West Bank
Deputy Prime Minister Yigal Allon, a retired general, reveals his plan for home rule for the roughly 650,000 West Bank Arabs who came under Israeli administration during the June 1967 war. They would have full autonomy in municipal affairs, education, religious policy, commerce and police. Only defense, foreign policy and communications would remain the purview of the Israeli military. The proposal gains no traction.
October 14, 1994 — Rabin, Peres are Awarded Nobel Prize
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announces that Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres are sharing the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat for negotiating and signing the Oslo Accords in 1993. The committee hopes that “the award will serve as an encouragement to all the Israelis and Palestinians who endeavor to establish lasting peace in the region.”
October 15, 2002 — Political Cartoonist Ze’ev Dies
Yaakov Farkash, known as Ze’ev (Wolf) and considered the father of Israeli political cartoons, dies at 79. A survivor of Buchenwald and Dachau, Farkash was introduced to Zionism in a refugee camp. He reached the Land of Israel in 1947. He worked construction and sold drawings on the side until 1953, when his first cartoon was published in Omer, a newspaper for immigrants. He drew daily cartoons for Ma’ariv, then weekly cartoons for Haaretz.
October 16, 1986 — Terrorists Capture Flyer Ron Arad
Ron Arad, 28, the navigator of an Israeli F-4 Phantom II, is captured by the Shia terrorist group Amal after bailing out over Lebanon. Amal demands $3 million and the release of 200 Lebanese and 450 Palestinians for Arad, and the negotiations fall apart. He instead is sold to the Iranians for $300,000 in December 1987. He is rumored to be executed in 1992, although reports in 2016 indicate that he was tortured to death in 1988.
October 17, 1973 — Oil is Weaponized Against Israel’s Allies
Oil ministers from Arab states cut exports by 5% and recommend an embargo of Israel’s allies in response to the U.S. military airlift to Israel during the Yom Kippur War. When President Richard Nixon asks Congress for $2.2 billion in emergency aid to Israel on Oct. 19, Libya announces an embargo against the United States, and the remaining Arab states join. By the end of the embargo in March 1974, the price of oil quadruples.
October 18, 1991 — Israel, Soviets Resume Relations
The Soviet Union and Israel resume full diplomatic relations for the first time since June 1967. The two countries, split since the Six-Day War, experienced a thaw while Mikhail Gorbachev led the Soviet Union, and they established consular ties in 1987. Full diplomatic relations are contingent on Israel’s agreement to participate in the 1991 Madrid peace conference, co-sponsored by the Soviet Union and the United States.
October 19, 1948 — Navy Fights First Major Battle
Three ships, the Haganah, the Wedgewood and the Noga, attack an Egyptian vessel unloading troops near Ashkelon in the first major battle for the Israeli navy. The Israeli ships shoot down two fighter planes and damage the Egyptian vessel, which has to be towed to Port Said. The engagement is part of a southern offensive to open a route to the Negev. The three Israeli ships formerly smuggled immigrants into Palestine.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.