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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

DEC. 17: Henry Kissinger, meeting with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in September 1975, later that year spoke of an Israel much smaller than the country that emerged from the 1967 war. Photo: Israeli Government Press Office

This week in Israeli history: Dec. 15-21

Center for Israel Education, israeled.orgPublished December 15, 2022

Dec. 15, 1999 — U.S. Fund Buys Stake in Israeli Water San Francisco-based venture fund Aqua International Partners buys a 25% stake in Israeli bottled water company Mayanot Eden (Eden Springs) for $47.5 million, financing the company’s expansion...

SEPT. 17: Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski play chess at Camp David during a break in the September 1978 negotiations.

This week in Israeli history: Sept. 15-21

CENTER FOR ISRAEL EDUCATION, IsraelEd.orgPublished September 15, 2022

Sept. 15, 2009 — Goldstone Presents Gaza War Report Judge Richard Goldstone, a South African Jew who prosecuted 1990s war crimes in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, presents his U.N.-sponsored “Report on the Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.” The...

APRIL 22: Jewish fighters patrol during the battle for Haifa in April 1948.

This week in Israeli history: April 21-27

CENTER FOR ISRAEL EDUCATION, israeled.orgPublished April 21, 2022

April 21, 1947 — 2 Jewish Militants Kill Themselves Moshe Barazani, 20, of Lehi (the Stern Gang) and Meir Feinstein, 19, of the Irgun kill themselves with a grenade smuggled into their prison in Jerusalem to prevent the British from hanging them...

APRIL 10: Golda Meir wishes her successor as prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, good luck during her farewell party in Jerusalem on June 4, 1974. Photo: Ya’acov Sa’ar, Israeli Government Press Office

This week in Israeli history: April 7-13

CENTER FOR ISRAEL EDUCATIONPublished April 7, 2022

April 7, 1973 — Israel Fourth in First Eurovision Bid Ilanit, Israel’s first entry in the annual Eurovision Song Contest, finishes fourth out of 17 nations with the song “Ey-sham,” a dramatic ballad featuring “the garden of love.” Her result...

MARCH 26: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin shake hands at the White House signing ceremony for the peace treaty March 26, 1979. Photo by Ya’acov Sa’ar, Israeli Government Press Office

This week in Israeli history: March 24-30

CENTER FOR ISRAEL EDUCATION, Israeled.orgPublished March 24, 2022

March 24, 1993 — Weizman Is Elected President Ezer Weizman, a nephew of Israel’s first president, Chaim Weizmann, is elected the nation’s seventh president on a 66-53 vote in the Knesset. A native of Tel Aviv, Weizman is one of the founders of...

MARCH 14: Black Panthers march along Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv on May Day in 1973. Photo by Moshe Milner, Israeli Government Press Office

This week in Israeli history: March 10-16

CENTER FOR ISRAEL EDUCATION, ISRAELED.ORGPublished March 10, 2022

March 10, 1970 — Law of Return’s Jewish Definition Is Amended Israel’s 1950 Law of Return is amended to change the definition of “who is a Jew” after two high-profile cases involving a Jewish convert to Catholicism and an interfaith marriage....

National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger (left) speaks with President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State William Rogers (right) on Feb. 23, 1973, two days before secretly meeting with Egypt’s Hafez Ismail.

This week in Israeli history: Feb. 24-March 2

CENTER FOR ISRAEL EDUCATIONPublished February 24, 2022

Feb. 24, 1942 — Struma Is Sunk by Soviet Sub A Soviet submarine sinks the refugee transport SS Struma in the Black Sea in the belief that it is an enemy ship. Only one of the 769 Jewish refugees survives. The Struma, a converted cattle transport...

Feb. 11: Natan Sharansky has his wife, Avital, by his side after his arrival in Israel on Feb. 11, 1986. By Nati Harnik, Israeli Government Press Office

This week in Israeli history: Feb. 10-16

CENTER FOR ISRAEL EDUCATION, ISRAELED.ORGPublished February 10, 2022

Feb. 10, 1913 — Air Force Builder Charles Winters Is Born Charles Winters, who helps Israel build its first air force, is born in Brookline, Massachusetts. Winters, who is not Jewish, works as a government purchasing agent during World War II and runs...

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon meets with the father of abducted soldier Benny Avraham during a military memorial service in September 2001. In January 2004, Sharon approved an exchange that brought Avraham’s body, along with those of two other soldiers captured and killed by Hezbollah, back to Israel. Photo: Moshe Milner, Israeli Government Press Office

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

CENTER FOR ISRAEL EDUCATIONPublished January 27, 2022

Jan. 27, 2006 — First U.N. 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...

AUG. 17: Theodor Herzl’s casket is in place for his state funeral at what is now Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on Aug. 17, 1949. Photo by David Eldan, National Photo Collection of Israel

This week in Israeli history: Aug.12-18

CENTER FOR ISRAEL EDUCATIONPublished August 13, 2021

August 12, 1991 — Nasser Friend Yeruham Cohen Dies Yeruham Cohen, known for befriending Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser, dies at 75. Born into a Yemeni family in Tel Aviv, Cohen was fluent in Arabic. He was an intelligence aide to Gen. Yigal Allon, and...

AUG. 5: Members of Unit 101, including Ariel Sharon (standing, second from left), pose with Moshe Dayan after a successful operation in 1955, by which time the unit was part of the Paratroopers Brigade instead of an independent force. Dayan had opposed Unit 101’s creation in 1953. Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

This week in Israeli history: Aug. 5-11

CENTER FOR ISRAEL EDUCATIONPublished August 5, 2021

August 5, 1953 — Special Forces Unit 101 Is Formed Unit 101, an independent special forces section of the Israel Defense Forces, is launched with about 20 soldiers under the command of Ariel Sharon to provide a rapid, nimble response to terrorist attacks...

JULY 30: Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin meets with silver medalist Yael Arad and bronze medalist Oren Smadja on Aug. 31, 1992, to celebrate their Olympic success. Photo by Ya’acov Sa’ar, Israeli Government Press Office

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

CENTER FOR ISRAEL EDUCATIONPublished July 29, 2021

July 29, 1891 — Pregnancy test developer Zondek is born Bernhard Zondek, the obstetrician-gynecologist behind one of the first reliable pregnancy tests, is born in Wronke, Germany, now in Poland. He and Jewish colleague Selmar Aschheim in 1928 develop...

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