1996 in Israel
Events in the year 1996 in Israel.
Incumbents
Events
- January 10 – King Hussein of Jordan arrives for his first visit in Tel Aviv.
- January 26 - Israel gives $400,000 to the widow of a Moroccan waiter who was mistakenly identified as Hassan Salameh and killed in Norway, 1973.
- February 19 - Israel successfully test fires its Arrow-2 anti-ballistic missile.[1]
- March 27 - Yigal Amir, assassin of Yitzhak Rabin, sentenced to life in prison.[2]
- March 28 - Shamgar Commission report published.[3]
- April 11 – Operation Grapes of Wrath: The Israeli government launches the Operation, consisting of massive attacks on Lebanon, in retaliation for prior terrorist attacks, and sparking off a violent series of retaliations.
- April 18 – Operation Grapes of Wrath: Amid heavy fighting between the Israeli Defense Forces and Hezbollah during "Operation Grapes of Wrath" over a hundred Lebanese civilians whom had taken refuge to escape the fighting are killed at the village of Qana when Israeli artillery shelled the area of a UN compound near Qana while firing at members of Hezbollah.
- April 27 – Operation Grapes of Wrath: The conflict de-escalated following a ceasefire agreement banning attacks on civilians.
- May 30 – The Likud Party, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, wins a narrow victory in the Israeli general election.
- June 18 – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presents his cabinet for a Knesset "Vote of Confidence". The 27th Government is approved that day and the members were sworn in.
- November 5 – Israeli Druze Azzam Azzam is arrested in Egypt on suspicion of spying for Israel. Later on, a military court in Cairo sentenced Azzam Azzam to 15 years imprisonment with hard labor.
- December 30 – Netanyahu proposed budget cuts, sparking protests from 250,000 workers, who went on strikes across Israel.
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The most prominent events related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict which occurred during 1996 include:
- April 24 - After a two day meeting in Gaza City the PNC adopts two resolutions amending the PLO Charter.
- September 24 – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorize the opening of an exit in the Arab Quarter of Jerusalem for the Western Wall Tunnel, which prior Prime Minister Shimon Peres had instructed to be put on hold for the sake of peace.[4] This sparked violent riots throughout the West Bank and northern Gaza Strip. Over the subsequent three days, 16 Israeli soldiers and about 60 Palestinian civilians were killed in the riots.[5]
Notable Palestinian militant operations against Israeli targets
The most prominent Palestinian militant acts and operations committed against Israeli targets during 1996 include:
- January 19 - Three Hamas members are killed in an attack on an Israeli army roadblock. One Israeli soldier is injured.
- February 25 – Ashqelon bus station bombing. Killing two Israelis. Hamas claims responsibility for the bombing.
- February 25 – First Jerusalem bus 18 suicide bombing: A Hamas suicide bomber blows himself up in a commuter bus in Jerusalem, killing 26 and injuring 80 others.
- March 3 – Second Jerusalem bus 18 suicide bombing: A Hamas suicide bomber detonates a bomb on a bus in Jerusalem, killing 19 and injuring six others.
- March 4 – Dizengoff Center suicide bombing: A Hamas suicide bomber detonates a bomb outside the Dizengoff Center, Tel Aviv's largest shopping mall, killing 20 and wounding 75 others, including children celebrating the Jewish Purim holiday.
- December 11 – PFLP gunmen attack a car carrying Israeli settlers near the settlement of Bet El, killing a woman and her 12-year-old son.
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 1996 include:
Unknown dates
Notable deaths
- January 22 – Israel Eldad (b. 1910), Austro-Hungarian (Galicia)-born Israeli independence fighter and Revisionist Zionist philosopher.
- May 2 – Emil Habibi (b. 1922), Israeli Arab author, Knesset member and public activist.
- May 26 – Haika Grossman (b. 1919), Polish-born Israeli politician and member of Knesset. Zionist leader in Europe, a partisan and a participant in the ghetto uprisings in Poland and Lithuania
- August 27 – Yair Rosenblum (b. 1944), Israeli composer.
- December 25 - Michael Bruno (b. 1932), German-born former governor of Israel's central bank and a Chief Economist of the World Bank.
Major public holidays
See also
Notes
External links
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1996 in Asia
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Sovereign
states |
- Afghanistan
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Bhutan
- Brunei
- Burma (Myanmar)
- Cambodia
- People's Republic of China
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- Thailand
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- United Arab Emirates
- Uzbekistan
- Vietnam
- Yemen
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States with limited
recognition |
- Abkhazia
- Nagorno-Karabakh
- Northern Cyprus
- Palestine
- Republic of China (Taiwan)
- South Ossetia
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Dependencies and
other territories |
- Christmas Island
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- Hong Kong
- Macau
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