1985 in Israel

1985
in
Israel

Decades:	1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s
See also:	Other events of 1985 List of years in Israel Timeline of the region of Palestine Timeline of Israeli history

Events in the year 1985 in Israel.

Incumbents

February 16 – Israel begins withdrawing troops from Lebanon.
March 10 – Twelve IDF soldiers are killed in a suicide car attack near Metulla.
June 11 – HaBonim disaster: 22 are killed in collision between a bus and a train near Kibbutz HaBonim.
July – The 1985 Maccabiah Games are held.
September 4 – The Israeli new shekel (NIS) is introduced. It does not replace the old shekel as Israel's official currency until January 1, 1986.
October 5 – Ras Burqa massacre: An Egyptian soldier shoots and kills seven Israeli vacationers (including four children) at Ras Burqa, a beach resort in the Sinai peninsula.
November 21 – Jonathan Pollard is arrested in the United States by the FBI and subsequently convicted of spying for Israel.

The most prominent events related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict which occurred during 1985 include:

Notable Palestinian militant operations against Israeli targets

The most prominent Palestinian Arab terror attacks committed against Israelis during 1985 include:

April 9 – A Palestinian Arab suicide car bomber drives an explosive-laden vehicle into an Israeli army patrol, killing 2 soldiers.^[1]
September 25 – An Arab terrorist cell takes over an Israeli yacht off the coast of Larnaca, Cyprus and kills its three Israeli occupants. An elite section of the PLO known as Force 17 claims responsibility for the attack.
October 7 – The Italian cruise ship MS Achille Lauro is hijacked in the Mediterranean Sea by Palestinian Arab militants. The hijackers' original aim was to use the ship to slip into Israel. However, crew members discover them cleaning weapons, and the group then seizes control of the ship; holding the passengers and crew hostage, they direct the vessel to sail to Tartus, Syria, and demand the release of 50 Palestinian Arabs then in Israeli prisons. During the incident, the militants kill the passenger Leon Klinghoffer, a 69-year-old wheelchair-bound Jewish American, and throw him overboard.
December 27 – Palestinian Arab militants from Abu Nidal's militant group open fire at the counters of El Al in the airports of Rome and Vienna. 18 Israelis were killed and 40 were injured.^[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 1985 include:

October 1 – Operation Wooden Leg: Following the attack in Cyprus, the Israeli Air Force bombs PLO Headquarters near Tunis.

January 18 – Mordechai Bentov (b. 1900), Russian (Poland)-born Israeli journalist and politician.
January 31 – Menachem Bader (b. 1895), Austro-Hungarian (Galicia)-born Haganah member and Israeli politician.
April 24 – Yitzhak Kahan (b. 1913), Austro-Hungarian (Galicia)-born Israeli jurist, sixth President of the Supreme Court of Israel.
September 29 – Yona Wallach (b. 1944), Israeli poet.
October 6 – Noah Moses (b. 1912), publisher and editor of Yedioth Ahronoth.
December 7 – Shlomo Rosen (b. 1905), Austro-Hungarian (Austrian Silesia)-born Israeli politician and minister.
November 30 – Joseph Zaritsky (b. 1985), Russian (Ukraine)-born Israeli painter.
Full date unknown
- Benjamin Akzin (b. 1904), Russian (Latvia)-born early Zionist activist and Israeli university professor.
- Moshe Rudolf Bloch (b 1902), German-born Israeli scientist.
- Moshe Rachmilewitz (b. 1898), Russian (Belarus)-born leading Israeli doctor.
- Eliezer Smoli (b. 1901), Russian (Ukraine)-born Israeli writer, famous for his children's books.

1985 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