The 1950s

TIMELINE 12 · THE 1950S

The 1950s

1950 to 1959 Conflict Rule and borders Diplomacy and law Settlement Faith and learning Literature and arts

EARLIER ERAS ZOOM: 1800 TO TODAY

Canaan Kings Rome Empires 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s

The young state takes in immigrants from Arab countries, passes the Law of Return and fights the Sinai campaign of 1956.

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TURNING POINTS ALSO IN THIS DECADE

Operation Magic Carpet. In flights that began in 1949, the Yemenite Jewish airlift brings nearly 49,000 Jews from Yemen and

Aden to Israel by September 1950.

1950 Jul 5 The Law of Return. Every Jew has the right

to immigrate to Israel and take citizenship.

1950 to 1952 Operation Ezra and Nehemiah. Airlifts

bring about 120,000 Jews from Iraq to

Israel.

The reparations agreement. Israel and

West Germany sign in Luxembourg. Menachem Begin leads a violent protest

outside the Knesset in January over the

talks.

1954 to 1955 The Lavon Affair. Israeli agents recruit Egyptian Jews for failed bombings in Egypt.

Two are executed, and Defense Minister

Pinhas Lavon resigns, with Ben-Gurion

returning to the post.

1956 Oct 29 to Nov 7 The Sinai War. After Egypt nationalizes the

Suez Canal, Israel, Britain and France plan

the attack in secret at Sèvres. Israel takes

Sinai in days. The United States and the Soviet Union force a withdrawal, completed

in March 1957.

1950 Apr 24 Territory: Jordan annexes Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem.

1951 Jul King Abdullah of Jordan is assassinated in Jerusalem. 1951 Jul 30 Election: Mapai wins 45 seats. 1951 Sep Egypt bars Israeli shipping from the Suez Canal.

1952 Jul The Free Officers coup in Egypt brings Nasser to power. 1952 Nov Chaim Weizmann dies. 1953 Yad Vashem is founded by law to remember the Holocaust. 1953 The Israel Prize is created.

1953 Oct The Qibya raid draws sharp international criticism. 1953 Dec Ben-Gurion resigns and moves to Sde Boker. 1954 Jan 26 Moshe Sharett becomes prime minister while Ben-Gurion rests at Sde Boker. 1954 Mar Gunmen kill 11 Israelis on a bus at Scorpion Pass.

1950s to 1960s Jews arrive from Arab countries and Iran and reshape Israeli society.

1955 Yehuda Amichai publishes his first poems, Now and in Other Days.

1955 Jul 26 Election: Mapai wins 40 seats. 1955 Sep Egypt announces an arms deal with Czechoslovakia. 1955 Nov 3 Ben-Gurion returns as prime minister.

1956 Jul Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal. 1956 Oct Border police kill 48 Arab citizens at Kafr Qasim. 1956 Nov A UN emergency force deploys in Sinai and Gaza. 1956 Nov Thousands of Jews leave Egypt after the Sinai War. 1957 France agrees to help build the Dimona reactor. 1957 Mar Territory: Israel completes its withdrawal from Sinai and Gaza. 1958 The Hebrew University opens its new campus at Givat Ram in Jerusalem.

1958 Israel begins building the Dimona reactor. 1958 Feb Egypt and Syria merge into the United Arab Republic. 1958 Jul A coup in Iraq and a crisis in Lebanon alarm Israel’s neighbors and its allies.

1959 Jul Riots break out in Haifa’s Wadi Salib over discrimination against Jews from North Africa. 1959 Nov 3 Election: Mapai wins 47 seats.

1950s

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