For four millenia, the Jewish homeland hassurvived either as dream or reality. A nomadic tribe began migratinginto the Land of Canaan in the early second millenium B.C.E. Theirhistory of wandering, exodus and eventual conquest of Canaan, whichthey renamed Israel, forms the core story of the Bible. Scholarsdisagree on the Bible’s historical accuracy, but doubtless thispeople’s common story gave them a sense of shared destiny andpurpose.

Jerusalem first fell in 587 B.C.E., and the peopleof Judah were sent into 50 years of Babylonian exile. AfterBabylonia’s defeat, they returned to rebuild their Temple, reclaimingJerusalem as Jewish, though the land remained under Persian, Greek,then Roman rule.

In 70 C.E., the Romans destroyed the Temple andrenamed the country Palestine.

The land first saw Christian rule, then, foralmost 12 centuries, Muslim domination. The Jewish Diaspora meanwhilespread throughout the world .

Jews retained a presence in Palestine, and in the19th century began to form settlements there. By 1880, their numberhad reached 25,000. In 1881, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda arrived in Jerusalem,and worked to make Hebrew the language of the Jews ofPalestine.

In 1897, Theodor Herzl, a Viennese journalist,founded Zionism as a nationalist political movement.

In 1917, British Foreign Secretary Lord ArthurJames Balfour recognized the Jewish people’s right to a national homein Palestine that did not impinge on the rights of non-Jewishresidents. The following year, the British took Palestine from itsOttoman rulers and governed by international mandate.

As Britain sought to quell Arab discontent, itimposed strict immigration quotas against Jews in Palestine. Jewishsettlements also faced Arab attacks. Jews fought back withclandestine immigration, settlement and underground resistance toBritish rule. By 1948, there were 650,000 Jews in Palestine.

In the aftermath of the Holocaust, internationalpressure for a Jewish state increased. By 1947, Britain turned overresponsibility for Palestine to the United Nations, which partitionedPalestine into Arab and Jewish entities. Jews accepted the plan;Arabs rejected it.

May 14, 1948:Britain ends its mandate, withdraws its troops. In Tel Aviv, DavidBen-Gurion proclaims the State of Israel. The following day, the Warof Independence breaks out between Israel and its five Arabneighbors.

Jan. 7, 1949: Thewar ends. Jordan takes control of the Old City of Jerusalem and theWest Bank. Egypt controls the Gaza Strip. Tens of thousands ofPalestinian Arabs disperse to refugee camps and other nations.

July 5, 1950: TheLaw of Return proclaims that every Jew has the right to immigrate toIsrael.

1951-1956: Over3,000 armed clashes and 6,000 acts of sabotage claim 400 Israelislives. When Egypt bars Israeli shipping through the Suez Canal,Israel, France and Britain attack, capturing the Sinai Peninsula andthe Gaza Strip. Under U.S. and U.N. pressure, Israel retreats fromboth, but shipping remains open.

May 1964: ThePalestine Liberation Organization is founded.

June 5, 1967: TheSix Day War begins. After Egypt bars Israeli access to its Red Seaport, Israel launches a strike against Egypt and Syria, destroyingmost of both countries’ air forces on the ground. Jordan joins thefighting. Israel is victorious, conquering the Golan Heights, theGaza Strip, Sinai, the Old City of Jerusalem and the WestBank.

1967-1974:Palestinian terrorists attract worldwide attention, murdering, amongothers, 11 Israeli atheletes at the Munich Olympics, 18 children inKiryat Shemona and 16 children in Ma’alot.

Oct. 6, 1973: TheYom Kippur War. Ignoring both diplomatic overtures and intelligencereports, Israel is caught by surprise. After suffering heavycasualties, Israeli forces retain control of 1967 territories.

Nov. 1977: EgyptianPresident Anwar Sadat visits Israel.

March 26, 1978:Sadat, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and President JimmyCarter sign the Camp David Accords, establishing peace between Egyptand Israel.

1982-1986: Israelinvades Lebanon to oust the PLO. Over 600 Israeli soldiers die in theconflict. Israel retains de facto control of Southern Lebanon.

1987: Palestinianyouths begin the intifadah, a grass-roots violent revolt against Israeli rule in theWest Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem.

Aug. 1991: Followingthe Persian Gulf War, the Middle East Peace Conference opens inMadrid. By 1993, Palestinians and Israelis are conducting secretpeace talks in Oslo.

Sept. 13, 1993: Onthe White House lawn, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, PresidentBill Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signDeclaration of Principles outlining a plan for Palestinian self-rulein the West Bank and Gaza.

July 1, 1994: Arafatreturns to Gaza as head of the Palestinian Authority.

1994-1996: A seriesof terrorist attacks claim dozens of Jewish victims.

Nov. 4, 1995:Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated by an Israeli Jewish law school studentin Tel Aviv, less than a mile from the hall where David Ben-Guriondeclared the nation’s independence.

April 30, 1998: The50th anniversary of the State of Israel, according to the Hebrewdate, 4 Iyar, 5708. — Robert Eshman,Managing Editor

Vital Statistics

Size

Israel: 21,060 square kilometers (roughly the sizeof New Jersey)

Per Capita Income

1960 $3,361

1998 $17,000

Gross Domestic Product

1960 $7.1 billion

1998 $95.8 billion

Exports

1949 $43 million

1998 $28.8 billion

Population

1948 872,700

1996 5,759,400

Population Density

1948 68 persons per sq. km

1998 255 persons per sq. km

People

Jews 80.5 percent

Muslims 14.6 percent

Christians 3.2 percent

Druze 1.7 percent

Infant Mortality

1948 47.3

1998 6.8

Sources: Israel Central Bureau of Statistics; “AHistorical Atlas of the Jewish People” (Knopf, 1992); “Israel: TheHistorical Atlas” (Macmillan, 1993). Regis Mencer, director of publicaffairs, Consul General of Israel; Paul Miller and Rachel Perse ofthe University of Judaism library contributed to this page.