Events in the year 1968 in Israel.

Incumbents

President of Israel The president of the State of Israel (, or ) is the head of state of Israel. The president is mostly, though not entirely, ceremonial; actual executive power is vested in the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet led by the Prime Minister of Israel, pr ...

– Zalman Shazar *

Prime Minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel (, Hebrew abbreviations, Hebrew abbreviation: ; , ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief executive of the Israel, State of Israel. Israel is a parliamentary republic with a President of Isra ...

–

Levi Eshkol Levi Eshkol ( ;‎ 25 October 1895 – 26 February 1969), born Levi Yitzhak Shkolnik (), was the prime minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a heart attack in 1969. A founder of the Israeli Labor Party, he served in numerous seni ...

(

Alignment Alignment may refer to: Archaeology * Alignment (archaeology), a co-linear arrangement of features or structures with external landmarks * Stone alignment, a linear arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing stones Biology * Struc ...

) * President of the Supreme Court – Shimon Agranat (1965–1976) * Chief of General Staff –

Haim Bar-Lev Haim "Kidoni" Bar-Lev (; 16 November 1924 – 7 May 1994) was a military officer during Israel's pre-state and early statehood eras and later a government minister. Biography Born Haim Brotzlewsky in Vienna and raised in Zagreb, Bar-Lev made al ...

Government of Israel The Cabinet of Israel (; ) is the cabinet which exercises Executive (government), executive authority in the State of Israel. It consists of Minister (government), ministers who are chosen and led by the Prime Minister of Israel, prime ministe ...

– 13th Government of Israel

Events

* 1 January –

is appointed as the eighth

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

of the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

. * 25 January – The Israeli submarine '' INS Dakar'' sinks in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

, killing 69. * 2 May – The

Israel Broadcasting Authority The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA; ) was Israel's public broadcaster from 1948 to 2017, succeeded by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. History The Israel Broadcasting Authority was an outgrowth of the radio station '' Kol Yi ...

commences television broadcasts. * 13 August – Israel's

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

passes the Basic Law: The Government. * 28 December – 1968 Israeli raid on Lebanon: Commandos from the IDF's elite

Sayeret Matkal Sayeret Matkal () (formerly Unit 269 or Unit 262) (English: General Staff Reconnaissance Unit), is the special reconnaissance unit (''sayeret'') of Israel's General Staff (''matkal''). It is considered one of the premier special forces units of ...

destroy 13 civilian airplanes in the Beirut International Airport belonging to

Middle East Airlines Middle East Airlines – Air Liban S.A.L. (), more commonly known as Middle East Airlines (MEA) (), is the flag carrier of Lebanon, with its head office in Beirut, near Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport. It operates scheduled internat ...

(MEA) in response to the attack on the Israeli airliner in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. There are no casualties reported.

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

The most prominent events related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict which occurred during 1968 include: * 20 December - Lieutenant-Colonel Zvi Ofer (Tzvika Ofer), commander of the elite Haruv unit, former Military Governor of

Nablus Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...

and recipient of the Israeli medal of valour, is killed in action in Wadi Qelt, west of

Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...

, while in pursuit of militants who had crossed the Jordan.Teveth, Shabtai (1969/1970) ''The Cursed Blessing. The story of Israel's occupation of the West Bank''. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. SBN 297 00150 7. Translated from Hebrew by Myra Bank. Page 347. Notable Israeli military operations against Palestinian militancy targets The most prominent Israeli military

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...

operations (

military campaign A military campaign is large-scale long-duration significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of interrelated military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war. The term derives from th ...

s and

military operations A military operation (op) is the coordinated military actions of a state, or a non-state actor, in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state or actor's favor. Operatio ...

) carried out against

Palestinian militants Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence or terrorism committed by Palestinians with the intent to accomplish political goals in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Common objectives of political violence by Pal ...

during 1968 include: * 21 March – The Battle of Karameh takes place in the town of Karameh,

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

between IDF forces and combined forces of the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...

(PLO) and the Jordanian Army. Notable Palestinian militant operations against Israeli targets
The most prominent Palestinian terror attacks committed against Israelis during 1968 include: * 23 July – El Al Flight 426 hijacking: The only successful hijacking of an

El Al EL AL Israel Airlines Ltd. (), trading as EL AL (, "Upwards", "To the Skies", or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ) is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv in September 1948, the airline has grown to serve ...

aircraft takes place, when a

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...

carrying ten crew members and 38 passengers is taken over by three terrorists of the

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP; ) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist organization founded in 1967 by George Habash. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation ...

(PFLP). The aircraft, El Al Flight 426, which was en route from Rome to

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, is diverted to

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

by the hijackers. Negotiations with the hijackers lasted for 40 days. Both the hijackers and the passengers, including 21 Israeli hostages, were eventually freed. * 4 September 1968, Terrorists bomb Tel Aviv central bus station killing 1 and injuring 51. * 26 December – El Al Flight 253 attack: Two PFLP militants attack an attacked an El Al plane about to depart at the

Athens International Airport Athens International Airport ''Eleftherios Venizelos'' , commonly initialised as AIA, is the largest international airport in Greece, serving the city of Athens and region of Attica. It began operation on 28 March 2001 (in time for the 2004 Su ...

, firing a

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine (firearms), magazine-fed automatic firearm, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to descri ...

and throwing

grenades A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade g ...

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.Chronologies of modern terrorism. Barry Rubin, Barry M. Rubin, Judith Colp Rubin. pg 185

Unknown dates

* The founding of the

moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

Givat Yoav.

Notable births

* 8 November – Zehava Ben, Israeli singer. * 14 December – Yotam Ottolenghi, chef * 28 December –

Lior Ashkenazi Lior Ashkenazi (; born 28 December 1968) is an Israeli actor, voice actor, comedian and television presenter. Regarded as one of the best performers of his generation in Israel, he is recognized for his versatile work across independent films, tel ...

, Israeli screen and stage actor.

Notable deaths

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

Major public holidays

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:1968 in Israel