October 31, 1924 — Educator Rabbi Yehuda Amital Is Born
Rabbi Yehuda Amital teaches at Yeshivat Har Etzion in September 1997. By Amos Ben Gershom, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Rabbi Yehuda Amital, the founder of Yeshivat Har Etzion, is born in Romania. He survives eight months in a Nazi labor camp in 1944. He establishes his yeshiva in Gush Etzion as a less doctrinaire school than many others. Deeply concerned about the divide between secular and religious Jews in Israel, Amital launches the Meimad movement in 1988 as a moderate alternative to the National Religious Party.
November 1, 1965 — Eshkol’s Party Wins Sixth Knesset Election
Prime Minister Levi Eshkol casts his ballot in the Knesset election Nov. 1, 1965. By Moshe Pridan, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, David Ben-Gurion’s hand-picked successor but then his political rival, retains his office when the Alignment, a merger of Eshkol’s Mapai and Ahdut Ha’Avoda, wins 45 of the 120 seats in the election for the sixth Knesset. Rafi, a Mapai breakaway Ben-Gurion founded after falling out with Eshkol, earns 10 seats, the fourth-largest bloc. Rafi and the Alignment parties merge to form the Labor Party in 1968.
November 2, 1917 — British Issue Balfour Declaration
Arthur Balfour’s letter conveys the news to Lord Rothschild that the British government supports the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
The British foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour, reveals his government’s endorsement of “the establishment in Palestine of a Jewish national home” in a letter to the head of the British Zionist Organization. The Balfour Declaration is discussed during the 1919 Paris peace conference and the 1920 San Remo Treaty talks, and its contents are included in the Articles of the Palestine Mandate, ratified by the League of Nations in 1922.
November 3, 1878 — Petah Tikvah Is Founded
Petah Tikvah is shown in 1936, two years short of its 60th anniversary. By Zoltan Kluger, National Photo Collection of Israel.
Religious Jews determined to start an agricultural settlement leave Jerusalem and establish Petah Tikvah (“Gateway of Hope”). They purchase 3,400 dunams (roughly 840 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 within a few years, but in 1883 Russian immigrants move in. The city now has more than a quarter-million residents.
November 4, 1995 — Rabin Is Assassinated
Yitzhak Rabin was in his second term as prime minister when he was assassinated. By Ya’acov Sa’ar, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0.
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.
November 5, 1933 — Hebrew U. Presents Expansion Plan
Hebrew University President Judah Magnes delivers his year-opening speech Nov. 5, 1933. Courtesy of Arthur Goren from “Dissenter in Zion,” 1982.
Judah Magnes, the president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, outlines a plan for the university’s expansion during a speech marking the start of the academic year. His plan includes the hiring of 14 professors who have lost their jobs in Nazi Germany for being Jewish. U.S. organizations, including the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, raise $60,000 to support the German professors.
November 6, 1987 — Singer Zohar Argov Kills Himself
Zohar Argov performs during the Oriental Song Festival in Ramle in 1985. By Nati Harink, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0.
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 doesn’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 served a year in prison for rape in 1978.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.