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A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

Israelis rejoice while awaiting the arrival of the rescued Entebbe hostages at Ben Gurion Airport on July 4, 1976. Photo: Ya’acov Sa’ar, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0

This week in Israeli history: June 28-July 4

Center for Israel EducationPublished June 28, 2026

June 28, 1919 — Poland Provides Legal Protections for Jews The Republic of Poland, reconstituted as an independent country after World War I, adopts its Minorities Treaty to protect various groups. In addition to general assurances, the treaty specifically...

Recha Freier receives the Israel Prize from Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1981. Photo: By Chanania Herman, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0

This week in Israeli history: Jan. 29-Feb. 4

Published January 30, 2026

Jan. 29, 2005 — Filmmaker, Writer Ephraim Kishon Dies Israeli writer, playwright and filmmaker Ephraim Kishon dies at 80 in Switzerland. His works often focus on the daily struggles of regular Israelis and the state bureaucracy. His films include...

Eliyahu Dobkin and Henrietta Szold visit the Atlit transit camp in 1943 to meet child refugees being brought to Palestine from Europe via Iran. Photo: Zoltan Kluger, National Photo Collection of Israel

This week in Israeli history: Dec. 30-Jan. 5

CENTER FOR ISRAEL EDUCATION, ISRAELED.ORGPublished December 30, 2025

Dec. 30, 1990 — Weizman Is Fired Over PLO Contacts Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir drops Science Minister Ezer Weizman from the Cabinet after accusing him of meeting with a senior PLO official in 1989 and corresponding with PLO head Yasser Arafat through...

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin meets with silver medalist Yael Arad and bronze medalist Oren Smadja on Aug. 31, 1992, to celebrate their Olympic judo success. Photo: Ya’acov Sa’ar, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0

This week in Israeli history: July 30-Aug. 5

Center for Israel Education, israeled.orgPublished July 30, 2025

July 30, 1992 — Yael Arad Wins Israel’s First Olympic Medal Tel Aviv native Yael Arad, 25, becomes the first Israeli to win an Olympic medal, taking the silver in judo in the half-middleweight (61-kilogram) class at the Summer Olympics in Barcelona....

Israelis rejoice while awaiting the arrival of the rescued Entebbe hostages at Ben Gurion Airport on July 4, 1976. Photo Ya’acov Sa’ar, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0

This week in Israeli history: June 30-July 6

Center for Israel Education, israeled.orgPublished June 30, 2025

June 30, 2012 — Yitzhak Shamir Dies Israel’s seventh prime minister, Yitzhak Shamir, dies at 96. Born Yitzhak Yzernitzky in Poland during World War I, he made aliyah in 1935 and enrolled in the Hebrew University. He joined the Irgun in 1937, then...

Yitzhak Rabin, shown in 1975, became prime minister June 3, 1974, less than five months after he was first elected to the Knesset. Photo: Ya’acov Sa’ar, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0

This week in Israeli history: May 29-June 4

Published May 29, 2025

May 29, 1979 — Dayan Addresses Peace Process Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan speaks to the Knesset about the events that culminated in the peace treaty Israel and Egypt signed two months earlier. Dayan emphasizes Israel’s commitment to peace and its...

JAN. 28: President Shimon Peres, who in 1996 was the target of protests over the dumping of Ethiopian-Israeli blood, visits the Reshit school in Jerusalem in January 2012 in response to other episodes of discrimination toward Ethiopian Jews. By Amos Ben Gershom, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0

This week in Israeli history: Jan. 27-Feb. 2

Center for Israel Education, israeled.orgPublished January 27, 2025

Jan. 27, 2006 — U.N. Holds First Holocaust Remembrance Day The first U.N.-recognized International Holocaust Remembrance Day is held on the 61st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The president of the U.N. General Assembly, Jan Eliasson, says...

Theodor Herzl addresses the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland.

This week in Israeli history: Aug. 29-Sept. 4

Published August 29, 2024

Aug. 29, 1897 — First Zionist Congress Starts Spearheaded by “The Jewish State” author Theodor Herzl, the First Zionist Congress opens in Basel, Switzerland, for three days of meetings with roughly 200 attendees. Herzl invites Jews and non-Jews...

Stella Levy, shown in 1970, commanded the IDF Women’s Corps for six years. Photo by Fritz Cohen, Israeli National Photo Collection, CC BY-SA 3.0

This week in Israeli history: July 18-24

CENTER FOR ISRAEL EDUCATION, ISRAELED.ORGPublished July 18, 2024

July 18, 1290 — England Expels Its Jews King Edward I orders the expulsion of the Jews from England, where they had settled in significant numbers only in the 11th century. Despite gaining legal protections early in the 12th century, Jews suffer massacres...

June 27: Former Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and Col. Chaim Herzog, a future president, visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem a week after the Knesset’s formal unification of the city. Photo: Meir Froiudlch, Israeli National Photo Collection, CC BY-SA 3.0

This week in Israeli history: June 27-July 3

Center for Israel Education, israeled.orgPublished June 26, 2024

June 27, 1967 — Israel Annexes East Jerusalem After capturing the roughly 2.3 square miles known as East Jerusalem from Jordan during the war in early June, Israel formally annexes that area and some surrounding West Bank land — a total of 27 square...

Joined by his wife, Aliza, Menachem Begin casts his ballot in the 1977 Knesset election, won by his Likud party. Photo: Ya’acov Sa’ar, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0

This week in Israeli History: May 14-20

Published May 14, 2024

May 14, 1947 — Soviet Envoy Backs 1-State Solution Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko addresses a special U.N. General Assembly session on Palestine and calls for the British Mandate to give way to one state shared by Jews and Arabs. But after...

This week in Israeli history: Feb. 29-March 6

This week in Israeli history: Feb. 29-March 6

Center for Israel Education, israeled.orgPublished February 29, 2024

Feb. 29, 1948 — Lehi Bombs Cairo-Haifa Train Lehi militants use mines to bomb train cars carrying British troops on the Cairo-Haifa rail line north of Rehovot, killing at least 27 soldiers. Targeting the troop cars in back spares the civilians in...

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