September 27, 1955 — Egypt Announces Czech Arms Deal
Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser reveals that Czechoslovakia will supply his nation large Soviet weaponry, including tanks, MiG-15 fighter planes and heavy bombers. The Czechs were crucial arms suppliers for Israel in the 1948 war, and the switch to Egypt influences Israel’s decision to go to war in 1956. The deal represents 85% of all foreign weapons sent to the Middle East between 1951 and 1956.
September 28, 1995 — Oslo II Creates PA
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat sign the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement, known as Oslo II, at a White House ceremony attended by Jordan’s King Hussein as well as President Bill Clinton. The deal establishes the Palestinian Authority as an elected, self-governing body and says neither side should take unilateral action on the status of the West Bank or Gaza Strip.
September 29, 1947 — Arab Committee Rejects U.N. Partition Plan
The Arab Higher Committee for Palestine formally rejects the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine’s partition plan, which calls for separate Jewish and Arab states and an international zone around Jerusalem. The Jewish Agency accepts the plan days later. The United Nations created the committee at the request of Britain, which found its mandate challenged by violence between Jews and Arabs and against the British.
September 30, 1986 — Nuclear Leaker Mordechai Vanunu Returns
Mordechai Vanunu, a nuclear technician who in 1985 leaked details to the British press about Israel’s nuclear program after he was fired from a job at the reactor at Dimona and left the country for Australia, is brought back to Israel to face trial for espionage. An undercover Mossad agent lured Vanunu from London to Italy for capture. He is convicted in 1988 and serves 16 years in prison, spending most of that time in isolation.
October 1, 1981 — Aircraft to be Sold to Saudi Arabia
President Ronald Reagan announces a plan to sell F-15 fighter jets and Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) planes to Saudi Arabia. Israel adamantly opposes the sale, but Reagan says, “It is not the business of other nations to make American foreign policy.” He says the sale is not a threat to Israel. Despite the opposition of 59% of Americans in a Harris Poll, the AWACS sale moves ahead, and the first planes are delivered in 1985.
October 2, 1947 — Jewish Agency Embraces Partition Plan
David Ben-Gurion, the chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency since 1935, formally accepts the partition plan proposed by the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine, which a month earlier released its report recommending the division of the British Mandate of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. Ben-Gurion says the priorities of Palestine’s Jews are defense, a Jewish state and a resolution with the Arabs, in that order.
October 3, 2005 — Choreographer Sarah Levy-Tanai Dies
Sarah Levy-Tanai, a choreographer who incorporated Mizrahi and Ashkenazi elements and won the Israel Prize in art, music and dance in 1973, dies at age 94 or 95 (the Jerusalem native was never sure whether she was born in 1910 or 1911). The daughter of Yemeni parents, she founded the Inbal Dance Theater in 1949 and directed it into the 1990s. As a teacher, she also wrote plays and composed songs and dances for kindergartners.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.