September 19, 1988 — Israel Launches Satellite Ofek 1
The Ofek 1 mission made Israel the ninth nation with satellite-launching capabilities.
Israel launches its first space satellite, the 340-pound Ofek 1, from an undisclosed location. Named for the Hebrew word for horizon, Ofek 1 completes an orbit every 90 minutes at heights of 400 to 1,600 miles. The mission makes Israel the ninth country able to launch a satellite and reveals its ballistic missile capability. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres declares the civilian project to be about technology, not an arms race.
September 20, 1931 — Actress Haya Harareet Is Born
Actress Haya Harareet, shown in an MGM publicity photo, died Feb. 3, 2021, in England.
Actress Haya Harareet, best known as Judah Ben-Hur’s love interest Esther in the 1959 remake of “Ben-Hur,” is born Haya Neuberg in Haifa. She begins her acting career in 1955’s “Hill 24 Doesn’t Answer,” the first feature film produced in Israel for international distribution. She appears in Italian, U.S. and British films over the next decade. She wins acclaim but no awards for “Ben-Hur,” which grabs 11 Oscars.
September 21, 2008 — Palmach Is Integrated Into IDF
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (right) submits his resignation letter to President Shimon Peres on Sept. 21, 2008. By Avi Ohayon, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Facing corruption charges on which he is later convicted, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigns. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, elected Sept. 17 as his replacement as the Kadima party leader, tries to form a government but concedes her inability to do so Oct. 26. In the resulting Knesset election in February 2009, Kadima wins the most seats, but it is Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu who forms a governing coalition.
September 22, 2000 — Poet Yehuda Amichai Dies
President Moshe Katsav lays a wreath on the coffin of poet Yehuda Amichai in Jerusalem on Sept. 24, 2000. By Amos Ben Gershom, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Yehuda Amichai, the poet laureate of Jerusalem, dies of lymphoma at 76. Born in Germany, Amichai made aliyah with his family in 1935. He served with the British army in World War II, then with the Palmach. Themes of war, peace and loss are prominent in his poetry, including “God Takes Pity on Kindergartners,” which Yitzhak Rabin read during his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in 1994.
September 23, 1920 — Shas Rabbi Ovadia Yosef Is Born
President Shimon Peres joins a celebration at the home of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (center) in Jerusalem in February 2011. By Moshe Miller, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Ovadia Yosef, a Sephardi rabbi, politician and community leader, is born in Baghdad. He moves to Jerusalem at age 4. He is ordained at 20 and becomes Cairo’s chief rabbi at 27 before returning to Israel, where he is elected as chief rabbi in 1973. He becomes the spiritual leader of Shas when the party forms in 1983. He supports trading land for true peace. Nearly 700,000 people attend his funeral in 2013.
September 24, 1996 — Rioting Responds to New Tunnel Exit
The Western Wall Tunnel is an excavated area that runs along the wall beneath a built-up area of Jerusalem’s Muslim Quarter. Western Wall Heritage Foundation.
A northern exit from the Western Wall Tunnel to the Via Dolorosa opens to the public, leading to three days of Palestinian riots. The tunnel is an extension of the Western Wall’s plaza in an area buried and covered by buildings in the Muslim Quarter. Tourists entered and exited from the plaza until the northern exit’s construction. The project is seen as an expression of Israeli sovereignty over all of Jerusalem.
September 25, 1982 — Israelis Protest Massacre in Lebanon
Demonstrators in Tel Aviv on Sept. 25, 1982, demand an official investigation into Israel’s possible culpability for the massacre of Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon. By Miki Shuvitz, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0.
An estimated 400,000 protesters in Tel Aviv respond to the massacre in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon with a demand for an investigation into Israel’s role. The demonstration, organized by 4-year-old group Peace Now, involves roughly 10% of Israel’s population. The Lebanese Christian Phalangist militia, an Israeli ally, killed 400 to 3,500 Palestinians in the camps during the First Lebanon War.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.