David Ben-Gurion Biography

Appointed Party Leader of the Mapai Labour Party

Appointed Chairman of the Zionist Council

Declares the State of Israel

Appointed Prime Minister of Israel, 1st term

Jerusalem is divided with Jordan ruling the east & Israel the west of the city

Britain surrenders its mandate over Palestine

The Arabs invade Israel on the day the British mandate ends

1st day of the War of Independence

Appointed Prime Minister of Israel, 2nd term

End of the War of Independence

Elected Prime Minister, Israels 1st national election

Elected Prime Minister, Israels 1st national election

Israel signs an armistice with Egypt

Israel signs an armistice with Syria. Israel signs an armistice with Jordan

Israel becomes a member of the United Nations

Israel abolishes restrictions on immigration

Government supports the large-scale airlift of Jews from Yemen.

Flights bring Yemeni Jewish communities to the new Israeli state.

Operation Ali Baba begins, brings 113,000 Iraqi Jews to Israel

Operation Magic Carpet completed; 47,000 Yemeni Jews brought to Israel

The main Operation Magic Carpet airlift is completed.

Tens of thousands of Yemeni Jews have been transported to Israel.

Ends 8 months of ministerial crisis by forming a coalition Government

Ends 8 months of ministerial crisis by forming a coalition Government

Nasser steps up the blockade of Israeli ports & suppoorts Arab rebels at Gaza

Israel invades Gaza

Israel invades Sinai

Egyptian pressure on Israeli maritime access increases while tensions around Gaza also intensify.

Appointed Prime Minister of Israel, 3rd term

Ben-Gurion authorises senior Israeli participation in secret talks with Britain and France at Sevres.

Meets the French Prime Minister to discuss the invasion of Egypt to oust Nasser

Meets the French Prime Minister to discuss the invasion of Egypt to oust Nasser

Signs the secret Protocol of Sevres setting out the coordinated Israeli, British, and French plan against Egypt.

Ben-Gurion signs the Sevres protocol committing Israel to begin the Sinai operation.

Ben-Gurion accepts the secret plan giving Israel military objectives along Sinai and the Gulf of Aqaba.

Ben-Gurion gives final political approval for the Sinai offensive.

Authorises the Israeli attack on Egypt, framing it as a campaign to end fedayeen attacks and open navigation.

Israel invades the Gaza Strip & the Sinai Peninsula & make rapid progress towards the Suez Canal Zone

Israel invades the Gaza Strip & the Sinai Peninsula & make rapid progress towards the Suez Canal Zone

Israel launches Operation Kadesh, invading the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula and advancing toward the Suez Canal Zone.

Israel invades the Gaza Strip & the Sinai Peninsula & make rapid progress towards the Suez Canal Zone

Israel captures Gaza and the Gaza Strip during the Sinai Campaign.

Israeli forces move into Gaza as part of the Sinai Campaign during the Suez crisis.

Faces American and United Nations pressure to withdraw Israeli forces from captured Egyptian territory.

Ben-Gurion reports major Israeli gains as forces advance across Sinai.

Ben-Gurion's government begins consolidating control over captured positions in Sinai and Gaza.

Ben-Gurion hails the capture of Sharm el-Sheikh as restoring Israeli access through the Straits of Tiran.

Ben-Gurion considers international ceasefire demands while Israeli forces hold Sinai and Gaza.

Under United Nations pressure Israel withdraws from Gaza

The 10th anniversary of Israels statehood is celebrated with a military parade

Egypt renews the Israeli blockade through the Suez canal

Egypt restricts Israeli use of the Suez Canal, limiting maritime transit through the strategic waterway.

Creation of Fatah

Israeli agents capture Adolph Eichmann in Argentina

Eichmann is found guilty of crimes committed in the Holocaust & executed in Israel. Adolph Eichmann, Gestapo official and Nazi war criminal, is hanged near Tel Aviv, Israel, for his role in the Nazi murder of over one million Jews

Eichmann is found guilty of crimes committed in the Holocaust & executed in Israel

Israel welcomes its 1,000,000th immigrant

JFK offers Israel assistance against aggression

Israeli premier David Ben-Gurion resigns

Death of David Ben-Gurion, Israels first Prime Minister

Death of David Ben-Gurion