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c. 17th C.

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c. 13th C.

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13th - 12th C.

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c.1020 BCE

c. 1000 BCE

c. 960 BCE

c. 930 BCE

722-720 BCE

586 BCE

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​

538-142 BCE

538-515 BCE

332 BCE

166-160 BCE

142-129 BCE

129-63 BCE

63 BCE

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63 BCE-313 CE

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63-4 BCE

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​

​

​

c. 20-33 

66

70

73

132-135

c. 210

​

​

313-636

c. 390

614

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636-1099

691

​

1099-1291

​

​

1291-1516

​

1517-1917

1564

1860

1882-1903

1897

1904-1914

1909

1917

​

​

1918-1948

1919-1923

1920

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1921

1922

​

​

1924

1924-1932

1925

1929

1931

1933-1939

1936-1939

1939

1939-1945

1941

1944

1947

​

1948

​

​

​

​

​

1948-1949

1949

1948-1952

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​

​

1956

1964

1967

1968-1970

1973

1975

1978

​

1979

​

1981

1982

​

1984

1985

1987

1989

​

1991

​

​

1992

1993

​

1994

​

​

1995

​

1996

​

2000

​

2001

2002

​

2005

2006

​

2007

2008

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2009

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17th-6th C. BCEBIBLICAL TIMES

(BCE - Before the Common Era)

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Abraham, Isaac, Jacob - patriarchs of the Jewish people and bearers of a belief in one God - settle in the Land of Israel.
Famine forces Israelites to migrate to Egypt.

Exodus from Egypt: Moses leads Israelites from Egypt, followed by 40 years of wandering in the desert.
Torah, including the Ten Commandments, received at Mount Sinai.
Israelites settle in the Land of Israel

 

Jewish monarchy established; Saul, first king.

Jerusalem made capital of David's kingdom.

First Temple, the national and spiritual center of the Jewish people, built in Jerusalem by King Solomon.

Divided kingdom: Judah and Israel

Israel crushed by Assyrians; 10 tribes exiled (Ten Lost Tribes).

Judah conquered by Babylonia; Jerusalem and First Temple destroyed; most Jews exiled.

THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD

Persian and Hellenistic periods

Many Jews return from Babylonia; Temple rebuilt.

Land conquered by Alexander the Great; Hellenistic rule.
Maccabean (Hasmonean) revolt against restrictions on practice of Judaism and desecration of the Temple

Jewish autonomy under Hasmoneans.

Jewish independence under Hasmonean monarchy.

Jerusalem captured by Roman general, Pompey.

 

ROMAN RULE

Herod, Roman vassal king, rules the Land of Israel;
Temple in Jerusalem refurbished

(CE - The Common Era)

​

Ministry of Jesus of Nazareth

Jewish revolt against the Romans

Destruction of Jerusalem and Second Temple.

Last stand of Jews at Masada.

Bar Kokhba uprising against Rome.

Codification of Jewish oral law (Mishna) completed.

 

FOREIGN DOMINATION

Byzantine rule

Commentary on the Mishna (Jerusalem Talmud) completed.

Persian invasion

 

ARAB RULE

On site of First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, Dome of the Rock built by Caliph Abd el-Malik.

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CRUSADER RULE

(Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem)

 

MAMLUKE RULE

 

OTTOMAN RULE

Code of Jewish law (Shulhan Arukh) published.

First neighborhood built outside walls of Jerusalem's Old City.

First Aliya (large-scale immigration), mainly from Russia.

First Zionist Congress convened by Theodor Herzl in Basel, Switzerland; Zionist Organization founded.

Second Aliya, mainly from Russia and Poland.

First kibbutz, Degania, and first modern all-Jewish city, Tel Aviv, founded.

400 years of Ottoman rule ended by British conquest;
British Foreign Minister Balfour pledges support for establishment of a "Jewish national home in Palestine"

 

BRITISH RULE

Third Aliya, mainly from Russia

Histadrut (General Federation of Labor) and Haganah (Jewish defense organization) founded.
Vaad Leumi (National Council) set up by Jewish community (Yishuv) to conduct its affairs.

First moshav (cooperative village), Nahalal, founded.

Britain granted Mandate for Palestine (Land of Israel) by League of Nations; Transjordan set up on three-fourths of the area, leaving one fourth for the Jewish national home.
Jewish Agency representing Jewish community vis-a-vis Mandate authorities set up.

Technion, first institute of technology, founded in Haifa.

Fourth Aliya, mainly from Poland.

Hebrew University of Jerusalem opened on Mount Scopus.

Hebron Jews massacred by Arab terrorists.

Etzel, Jewish underground organization, founded.

Fifth Aliya, mainly from Germany.

Anti-Jewish riots instigated by Arab terrorists.

Jewish immigration severely limited by British White Paper.

World War II; Holocaust in Europe.

Lehi underground movement formed; Palmach, strike force of Haganah, set up.

Jewish Brigade formed as part of British forces.

UN proposes the establishment of Arab and Jewish states in the Land.

 

STATE OF ISRAEL

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End of British Mandate (14 May)
State of Israel proclaimed (14 May).
Israel invaded by five Arab states (15 May).
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) established.
War of Independence

Armistice agreements signed with Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon.
Jerusalem divided under Israeli and Jordanian rule.
First Knesset (parliament) elected.
Israel admitted to United Nations as 59th member.
Mass immigration from Europe and Arab countries.

Sinai Campaign

National Water Carrier completed, bringing water from Lake Kinneret in the north to the semi-arid south.

Six-Day War; Jerusalem reunited.

Egypt's War of Attrition against Israel

Yom Kippur War

Israel becomes an associate member of the European Common Market.

Camp David Accords include a framework for comprehensive peace in the Middle East and a proposal for Palestinian self-government.

Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty signed. (still intact)
Prime Minister Menachem Begin and President Anwar Sadat awarded Nobel Peace Prize.

Israel Air Force destroys Iraqi nuclear reactor just before it is to become operative.

Israel's three-stage withdrawal from Sinai Peninsula completed.
Operation Peace for Galilee removes  Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) terrorists from Lebanon.

Operation Moses, immigration of Jews from Ethiopia.

Free Trade Agreement signed with United States.

First Intifada 

Four-point peace initiative proposed by Israel.
Start of mass immigration of Jews from former Soviet Union.

Israel attacked by Iraqi Scud missiles during Gulf war.
Middle East peace conference convened in Madrid;
Operation Solomon, airlift of Jews from Ethiopia.

Diplomatic relations established with China and India.

Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements for the Palestinians signed by Israel and PLO, as representative of the Palestinian people (Oslo Accords).

Implementation of Palestinian self-government in Gaza Strip and Jericho area.
Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty signed. (still intact)
Rabin, Peres, Arafat awarded Nobel Peace Prize.

Broadened Palestinian self-government implemented in West Bank and Gaza Strip; Palestinian Council elected.
Prime Minister Rabin assassinated at peace rally.
Fundamentalist Arab terrorism against Israel escalates.
Operation Grapes of Wrath, retaliation for Hizbullah terrorists' attacks on northern Israel.

Israel admitted to UN Western European and Others Group.
Renewed violence (Second Intifada).

Palestinian-Israeli Security Implementation Work Plan (Tenet ceasefire plan) proposed.

Israel launches Operation Defensive Shield in response to massive Palestinian terrorist attacks.
Israel begins building the anti-terrorist fence to stop West Bank terrorists from killing Israeli citizens.

Israel carries out the Disengagement Plan, ending Israel's presence in the Gaza Strip. 
The Second War in Lebanon, during which Israel carried out military operations against Hizbullah terrorism from southern Lebanon, following missile attacks and kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers.

Israel declares Gaza "hostile territory" following Hamas violent takeover of Gaza Strip.
Israel launches its Gaza Operation (Operation Cast Lead) in response to the barrage of over 10,000 rockets and mortars fired from the Gaza Strip.
The city of Tel Aviv celebrates its 100th anniversary.

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