January 17 – Lieutenant-General
Dan Halutz, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, resigns while inquiries into the performance of the
Israel Defense Forces in the action against
Hezbollah continue.[1]
January 24 – President
Katsav holds a press conference broadcast live on Israeli news broadcasts in which he accuses journalists of persecuting him and judging him before all the evidence has been presented and before actually being convicted. In addition, he also accuses the police, who he claims did everything to prove that he is guilty.
June 13 – In the
2007 Presidential Election, the
Knesset elects
Shimon Peres as the
ninth president of the State of Israel, by a second-round vote of 86 for and 23 against, following the withdrawal in his favour of the other two candidates. In the first round, Peres had failed to obtain an absolute majority in the 120-member Knesset receiving 58 votes, against 38 for
Reuven Rivlin and 21 for
Colette Avital. (Peres does not assume office until July 15.)
June 28 – President
Katsav's lawyers reach a controversial
plea bargain with Israel’s attorney general,
Menachem Mazuz. According to the deal, Katsav would plead guilty to several counts of
sexual harassment and indecent acts and receive a suspended jail sentence, and pay compensation to two of his victims. The more serious rape charges brought by the initial employee, A., have been dropped, as well as Katsav's original charges of her blackmailing him.
June 7–15 –
Battle of Gaza:
Hamas takes control of the entire
Gaza Strip after numerous gun battles, and establishes a separate government while
Fatah remains in control of the
West Bank. This in practice divides the area administered by the
Palestinian Authority into two. Chairman
Mahmoud Abbas and the more moderate
Fatah party advocate a Palestinian Arab state alongside Israel, while Prime Minister
Ismail Haniya and the Islamist
Hamas party reject Israel's right to exist.
November 27 – The
Annapolis Conference is held in
Annapolis, the capital of the US state of
Maryland. The conference marks the first time a
two-state solution is articulated as the mutually agreed-upon outline for addressing the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The conference ends with the issuing of a joint statement from all parties.
Notable Palestinian militant operations against Israeli targets
May 2 –
Hamas and
Islamic Jihad launch at least 18 rockets into Israel, damaging a road, hitting a car in a commercial center of
Sderot, killing an Israeli woman and lightly wounding 2 others.
May 21 – A man is killed in
Sderot after a rocket landed near the car in which he was sitting.
September 10 – Two
Qassam rockets are fired from
Beit Hanun at the
Zikim Army Base in Israel located near the Gaza Border. One of them lands safely in the
Negev, but the other lands near unfortified
barracks (Zikim military base) at the base where Israeli
recruits were sleeping. This resulted in at least 66 wounded, with at least 10 moderately to seriously. 69 soldiers were wounded by the rocket, 60+ of them had only light-to moderate shrapnel wounds, but four of them were injured seriously. One of the four had to have his leg
amputated, and another was in a critical condition. Both
Islamic Jihad and PRC claimed responsibility.[15][16]
Notable Israeli military operations against Palestinian militancy targets
This section needs expansion. You can help by
adding to it. (October 2010)
April 7 – Israeli helicopters fire at least two
missiles into the northern
Gaza Strip. The missile killed a
Palestinian militant "while mounting an operation near the border" in a statement released by
Islamic Jihad.[17]
May 17 –
Gaza–Israel conflict: An Israeli aircraft bombs a building of the
Hamas-run Executive Force in
Gaza, killing at least one person and injuring about 45 others.[18]
May 20 –
Gaza–Israel conflict: An
IAF plane fires a missile at house of
Hamas lawmaker
Khalil al-Haya, killing eight people (6 of whom were civilians) and wounding many others; Al-Haya was not at his house at the time of the strike.[19]
Notable deaths
January 2 –
Teddy Kollek (born 1911), Hungarian-born Israeli Mayor of
Jerusalem (1965–1993) – natural causes.[20]
January 16 –
Yuri Stern (born 1949), Russian-born Israeli politician – cancer.
February 24 –
Mordechai Breuer (born
1921), German-born Israeli Bible researcher and orthodox rabbi.
March 17 –
Tanya Reinhart (born
1943), Israeli linguist and peace activist – stroke.[21]
March 19 –
Shimon Tzabar (born
1926), Israeli artist, author, poet and former Haaretz columnist – pneumonia.
January 17 – Lieutenant-General
Dan Halutz, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, resigns while inquiries into the performance of the
Israel Defense Forces in the action against
Hezbollah continue.[1]
January 24 – President
Katsav holds a press conference broadcast live on Israeli news broadcasts in which he accuses journalists of persecuting him and judging him before all the evidence has been presented and before actually being convicted. In addition, he also accuses the police, who he claims did everything to prove that he is guilty.
June 13 – In the
2007 Presidential Election, the
Knesset elects
Shimon Peres as the
ninth president of the State of Israel, by a second-round vote of 86 for and 23 against, following the withdrawal in his favour of the other two candidates. In the first round, Peres had failed to obtain an absolute majority in the 120-member Knesset receiving 58 votes, against 38 for
Reuven Rivlin and 21 for
Colette Avital. (Peres does not assume office until July 15.)
June 28 – President
Katsav's lawyers reach a controversial
plea bargain with Israel’s attorney general,
Menachem Mazuz. According to the deal, Katsav would plead guilty to several counts of
sexual harassment and indecent acts and receive a suspended jail sentence, and pay compensation to two of his victims. The more serious rape charges brought by the initial employee, A., have been dropped, as well as Katsav's original charges of her blackmailing him.
June 7–15 –
Battle of Gaza:
Hamas takes control of the entire
Gaza Strip after numerous gun battles, and establishes a separate government while
Fatah remains in control of the
West Bank. This in practice divides the area administered by the
Palestinian Authority into two. Chairman
Mahmoud Abbas and the more moderate
Fatah party advocate a Palestinian Arab state alongside Israel, while Prime Minister
Ismail Haniya and the Islamist
Hamas party reject Israel's right to exist.
November 27 – The
Annapolis Conference is held in
Annapolis, the capital of the US state of
Maryland. The conference marks the first time a
two-state solution is articulated as the mutually agreed-upon outline for addressing the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The conference ends with the issuing of a joint statement from all parties.
Notable Palestinian militant operations against Israeli targets
May 2 –
Hamas and
Islamic Jihad launch at least 18 rockets into Israel, damaging a road, hitting a car in a commercial center of
Sderot, killing an Israeli woman and lightly wounding 2 others.
May 21 – A man is killed in
Sderot after a rocket landed near the car in which he was sitting.
September 10 – Two
Qassam rockets are fired from
Beit Hanun at the
Zikim Army Base in Israel located near the Gaza Border. One of them lands safely in the
Negev, but the other lands near unfortified
barracks (Zikim military base) at the base where Israeli
recruits were sleeping. This resulted in at least 66 wounded, with at least 10 moderately to seriously. 69 soldiers were wounded by the rocket, 60+ of them had only light-to moderate shrapnel wounds, but four of them were injured seriously. One of the four had to have his leg
amputated, and another was in a critical condition. Both
Islamic Jihad and PRC claimed responsibility.[15][16]
Notable Israeli military operations against Palestinian militancy targets
This section needs expansion. You can help by
adding to it. (October 2010)
April 7 – Israeli helicopters fire at least two
missiles into the northern
Gaza Strip. The missile killed a
Palestinian militant "while mounting an operation near the border" in a statement released by
Islamic Jihad.[17]
May 17 –
Gaza–Israel conflict: An Israeli aircraft bombs a building of the
Hamas-run Executive Force in
Gaza, killing at least one person and injuring about 45 others.[18]
May 20 –
Gaza–Israel conflict: An
IAF plane fires a missile at house of
Hamas lawmaker
Khalil al-Haya, killing eight people (6 of whom were civilians) and wounding many others; Al-Haya was not at his house at the time of the strike.[19]
Notable deaths
January 2 –
Teddy Kollek (born 1911), Hungarian-born Israeli Mayor of
Jerusalem (1965–1993) – natural causes.[20]
January 16 –
Yuri Stern (born 1949), Russian-born Israeli politician – cancer.
February 24 –
Mordechai Breuer (born
1921), German-born Israeli Bible researcher and orthodox rabbi.
March 17 –
Tanya Reinhart (born
1943), Israeli linguist and peace activist – stroke.[21]
March 19 –
Shimon Tzabar (born
1926), Israeli artist, author, poet and former Haaretz columnist – pneumonia.