A Super Short History of Israel

My sister-in-law asked me for a super short history of Israel for a project she's doing and I wrote up the following. Pundits, revisionists and post zionists be damned (don't you know, post zionism is dead!).

ANCIENT ISRAEL

Ancient Israel is defined by the bible and the history of Judaism

• 2000 BC: Abraham, founding father of Judaism arrived to Caanan, the ancient land of Israel
• 957 BC: King Solomon, built the First Holy Temple in Jerusalem
• 586 BC: 1st holy temple destroyed by the Babylonians
• 538: 2nd Holy Temple is Built
• Between 37 and 31 AD: King Herod fortified Masada
• 70 AD: 2nd Holy Temple was destroyed by the Romans
• 132-135 AD: During the Jews last revolt against the Romans in 73 AD Masada was destroyed Following this Revolt Jews were expelled for the most part from Ancient Israel by the Romans, leaving scattered survivors. And leaving the Jews exiled from their homeland for more than a millennia.

INTERIM ISRAEL

Interim Israel is defined by the birth of Zionism (the belief in a national home for the Jewish people) and Jewish immigration to British Mandated Palestine (ancient and modern Israel).

• In the late 1800's with Russian Pogroms, and after 1800 years without a state of their own, Jewish national identity began to awaken.
• In the mid 1890'sTheodore Herzyl founded the Zionist movement that started discussing a Jewish national homeland in ancient Israel, at that time occupied by the Ottoman Empire.
• In 1916, control of the southern portion of the Ottoman Empire was "mandated" to France and Britain under the Sykes-Picot Agreement after Ottoman backed Germany lost WWI and subsequently the British obtained possession of ancient Palestine.
• In 1917, the Balfour Declaration was written by the British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour called for "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people." The land of Israel at that time had no national sovereignty, like the majority of the middle east. It did have populations of Jews and Arabs alike.
• In 1922, a legal commission for the administration of the territory of Palestine (ancient Israel) was assigned to the British by the League of Nations which included all of modern day Israel and Jordan.
• Over the course of years British Mandated Palestine, which was initially established by the British to become the national home for the Jewish people, was whittled down significantly.
• During WWII and the holocaust, Jewish refugees fleeing Hitler's army illegally immigrated to Israel, inspite of significant British attempts to stop them, often sending them back to their death in Europe when caught.

MODERN ISRAEL

Modern Israel is very much defined by Independence and War

• In May 1948 Israel declares independence.
• In 1967, Israel fought a war with Arab countries and won, gaining control of the West Bank (and East Jerusalem), the Golan Heights from Syria, Sinai and Gaza from the Egyptians.
• In 1973, the Arab nations attacked Israel on Yom Kippur in what is known as the Yom Kippur war, the holiest day of the year in Judaism. Arab forces were eventually defeated again.
• In 1982 Israel invades Lebanon after years of shelling and terrorist attacks by the PLO against Northern Israel.
• In 1993 the Oslo Accords are signed between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Leader Yasser Arafat which were supposed to lead to a historic reconciliation and eventually peace between the two peoples.
• In 1995 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated and the Palestinians unleash a wave of suicide bombings claiming almost 1000 Israeli lives.
• Palestinian uprisings or "Intifadas" take place from 1987 to 1993, and from 2000 through 2005.
• In 2000 after 18 years, Israel pulls its forces out of Southern Lebanon.
• In 2006 the Second Lebanon war took place in which Hizbulla, a proxy army of Iran based in Lebanon, kidnapped three Israeli soldiers, and after years of on and of shelling of Northern Israeli communities.
• In 2009 the New Israeli Shekel (Israeli currency) is added to the international basket of currencies.
• In 2010 Israel enters the Organization of Economic Co-Operation and Development.

Today Israel is a well developed economy that was only slightly affected by the global financial crisis and has fully recovered. Unemployment has reached pre-crisis levels of about 6.5% percent. Tourism, a major part of Israel's economy has reached historic proportions in October, where the country is enjoying record breaking occupation of hotels and foreign visitors.

The Israeli real estate market is has experienced a 50% increase in the past three years, leading to speculation of a real-estate bubble. It is currently anticipating further conflict with Iran in a confrontation regarding Iranian nuclear ambitions, and with Lebanon and Palestinian run Gaza both which have been provided with proxy Iranian armies in the form of Hizbulla (in Lebanon), and Hamas (in Gaza), funded, trained and armed by Iran.