1968 in Israel

1968
in
Israel

Decades:	1940s • 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s
See also:	Other events of 1968 List of years in Israel Timeline of the region of Palestine Timeline of Israeli history

Events in the year 1968 in Israel.

Incumbents

January 1 – Haim Bar-Lev is appointed as the eighth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.
January 25 – The Israeli submarine INS Dakar sinks in the Mediterranean Sea, killing 69.
May 2 – The Israel Broadcasting Authority commences television broadcasts.
August 13 – Israel's Knesset passes the Basic Law: The Government.
December 28 – 1968 Israeli raid on Lebanon: Commandos from the IDF's elite Sayeret Matkal destroy 13 civilian airplanes in the Beirut International Airport belonging to Middle East Airlines (MEA) in response to the attack on the Israeli airliner in Athens. There are no casualties reported.^[1]

The most prominent events related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict which occurred during 1968 include:

December 20 - Lieutenant-Colonel Zvi Ofer (Tzvika Ofer), commander of the elite Haruv unit, former Military Governor of Nablus and recipient of the Israeli medal of valour, is killed in action in Wadi Qelt, west of Jericho, while in pursuit of militants who had crossed the Jordan.^[2]

Notable Israeli military operations against Palestinian militancy targets
The most prominent Israeli military counter-terrorism operations (military campaigns and military operations) carried out against Palestinian militants during 1968 include:

March 21 – The Battle of Karameh takes place in the town of Karameh, Jordan between IDF forces and combined forces of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Jordanian Army.

Notable Palestinian militant operations against Israeli targets

The most prominent Palestinian terror attacks committed against Israelis during 1968 include:

July 23 – El Al Flight 426 hijacking: The only successful hijacking of an El Al aircraft takes place, when a Boeing 707 carrying ten crew members and 38 passengers is taken over by three terrorists of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The aircraft, El Al Flight 426, which was on route from Rome to Tel Aviv, is diverted to Algiers by the hijackers. Negotiations with the hijackers lasted for 40 days. Both the hijackers and the passengers, including 21 Israeli hostages, were eventually freed.^[3]
December 26 – El Al Flight 253 attack: Two PFLP militants attack an attacked an El Al plane about to depart at the Athens International Airport, firing a submachine gun and throwing grenades at the plane as it sat on the runway warming up prior to take off. An Israeli mechanic was killed in the attack and two others were injured.^[4]

January 11 – Moshe Zvi Segal (b. 1876), Russian (Lithuania)-born Israeli linguist and Talmudic scholar.
February 1 – Jacob van der Hoeden (b. 1891), Dutch-born Israeli veterinary scientist.
September 26 – Lipman Heilprin (b. 1902), Russian (Poland)-born Israeli physician.
December 20 - Zvi Ofer (b. 1932) Israeli soldier, former military governor of Nablus.^[2]

^ Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (August 13, 2000). "THE WAR OF ATTRITION AND THE CEASE FIRE - INTRODUCTION". Retrieved May 30, 2008.
^ ^a ^b Teveth, Shabtai (1969/1970) The Cursed Blessing. The story of Israel's occupation of the West Bank. Weidenfield & Nicolson. SBN 297 00150 7. Translated from Hebrew by Myra Bank. Page 347.
^ "Drama of the Desert: The Week of the Hostages". TIME. September 21, 1970. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,942267-2,00.html. Retrieved May 7, 2007.
^ Chronologies of modern terrorism. Barry Rubin, Barry M. Rubin, Judith Colp Rubin. pg 185

1968 in Asia

Sovereign states	Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Burma (Myanmar) Cambodia People's Republic of China Cyprus East Timor (Timor-Leste) Egypt Georgia India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan North Korea South Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Nepal Oman Pakistan Philippines Qatar Russia Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Thailand Turkey Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen

States with limited recognition	Abkhazia Nagorno-Karabakh Northern Cyprus Palestine Republic of China (Taiwan) South Ossetia

Dependencies and other territories	Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Hong Kong Macau